Main Menu | List of entries | finished

CRASSUS. Marcus Licinius Crassus, c.112-53 B.C., came from an influential Roman family. In 59 B.C. he formed, with Caesar and Pompey, the first triumvirate. He was slain in the Parthian campaign in 53 B.C. His reputation for great wealth seemed to have been known among the Parthians, for they poured molten gold down his throat. This incident, taken from Florus's Epitomia III.11, emphasizes Crassus's avarice, and it appears in Purg. XX.116-117. John L. Lowes suggests Li Hystore de Julius Cesar, by Jehan de Tuim, as a source Chaucer may have known. Crassus is also a figure of avarice in Gower's Confessio Amantis V.2068-2224, in The Tale of Virgil's Mirror.

Crassus appears in a stanza on avarice, Tr III.1387-1393. [Mida]

Crassus, Latin for "coarse-grained," is the family name of the clan Licinia; it appears medially, Tr III.1391.


Dante, Divine Comedy, ed. and trans. C.S. Singleton, II, 1: 220-221; Florus, Epitome of Roman History, ed. and trans. E.S. Forster, 208-213; John Gower, The Complete Works, ed. G.C. Macaulay, III: 4-5; J.L. Lowes, "Chaucer and Dante." MP 14 (1917): 136.
From CHAUCER NAME DICTIONARY
Copyright © 1988, 1996 Jacqueline de Weever
Published by Garland Publishing, Inc., New York and London.

Main Menu | List of entries | finished