Pompeius and Crassus didn’t like each other, and by 57 they were angry enough with each other to stop their coorporation.
This would not have mattered very much, if not both men still had their armies in Italy.
Rome was once again on the brink of civil war, when Caesar offered himself as a neutral negotiater.
The agreement the three men made was very surprising.
Caesar persuaded the two men to combine their power with his. Caesar was not exstraordinary powerful, but hos success
in Gaul was a big help.
Crassus was a great politician, but he wanted to win military glory. Therefore he had Syria. Syria itself was not very hard
to rule, but the Parthian Empire threatened the eastern provinces.
Pompeius was a great general, but he wanted to be a good politician.
Therefore he had the province of Spain, but he was given the right to stay in Rome.
Caesar was both a great politician and a great general. However he was in need of money, and therefore he was given
Gaul for five more years.
In this way everybody got what they wanted.
The problems was solved, and Rome had avoided civil war.
At least as long as Caesar could prevent Crassus and Pompeius from killing each other.
Back to the index.