But he never
remitted his attentions to Licinia till he got possession of the
property.
II. Now, the Romans say that the many good qualities of Crassus were
obscured by one vice, avarice; but the fact appears to be that one
vice, which was more predominant in his character than all the rest
hid his other vices. They allege, as the chief proof of his avarice,
the mode in which he got his money and the amount of his property.
Though he did not at first possess above three hundred talents, and
during his first consulship he dedicated the tenth part of his
property to Hercules,[8] and feasted the people, and gave every Roman
out of his own means enough to maintain him for three months; yet,
before the Parthian expedition, upon making an estimate of his
property, he found it amount to seven thousand one hundred talents.
The greatest part of this, if one must tell the truth, though it be a
scandalous story, he got together out of the fire and the war, making
the public misfortunes the source of his wealth; for, when Sulla took
the city, and sold the property of those whom he put to death,
considering it and calling it spoil, and wishing to attach the infamy
of the deed to as many of the most powerful men as he could, Crassus
was never tired of receiving or buying. Besides this, observing the
accidents that were indigenous and familiar at Rome, conflagrations,
and tumbling down of houses owing to their weight and crowded state,
he bought slaves, who were architects and builders.
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