*** Now talking in #suburbansenshi
*** Topic is '-= We're not trying to draw ANY parallels... no, REALLY =-' .
<FireFly_9> In 70 B.C., Rome was still a Republic, which placed very strict limits on what Rulers could do, and more importantly NOT do. But an ambitious minor politician and extremely wealthy man, Marcus Licineus Crassus, had no intentions of enduring such limits to his personal power, and so contrived a plan.
<FireFly_9>
<FireFly_9> Crassus seized upon the slave revolt led by Spartacus in order to strike terror into the hearts of Rome, whose garrison Spartacus had already defeated in battle. But Spartacus had no intention of marching on Rome itself, a move he knew to be suicidal. Spartacus and his band wanted nothing to do with the Roman empire and had planned from the start merely to loot enough money from their former owners in the Italian countryside to hire a mercenary fleet in which to sail to freedom.
<FireFly_9>
<FireFly_9> Sailing away was the last thing Crassus wanted Spartacus to do. He needed a convenient enemy with which to terrorize Rome itself for his personal political gain. So Crassus bribed the mercenary fleet to sail without Spartacus, then positioned two Roman legions in such a way that Spartacus had no choice but to march on Rome.
<FireFly_9>
<FireFly_9> Terrified of the impending arrival of the much-feared army of gladiators, Rome declared Crassus Praetor. Crassus then crushed Spartacus' army and even though Pompeii took the credit, Crassus was elected Consul of Rome the following year.
<FireFly_9>
<FireFly_9> With this maneuver, the Romans surrendered their Republican form of government. Soon would follow the first Triumvirate, consisting of Crassus, Pompeii, and Julius Caesar, followed by the reign of the god-like Emperors of Rome.
*** Disconnected