is line of thought, Plutarch shows the reader that even though Crassus was very popular, he was not consistently in the good graces of the people as he was often feared by the public:As a politician Crassus was singularly inconsistent, neither a steadfast friend nor an implacable enemy. Where his self-interest was involved he found no difficulty in breaking off an attachment or in making up a quarrel. …. He was strong because he was popular and because he was feared – particularly because he was feared. It is shown time and time again by Plutarch that Crassus was an extremely greedy man and his virtues were often overcome by gluttony. This is a lesson to the reader that those who are avaricious can never truly be good.In the case of Crassus, a new passion, in addition to his old weakness of avarice, began to show itself. The glorious exploits of Caesar made Crassus also long for trophies and triumphs. … This passion of his gave him no rest or peace until it ended in an inglorious death and a national disaster. As Crassus’s life went on his greed grew into a greater and more destructive form. He was now not only greedy, but also power and glory hungry. Plutarch uses this as a lesson of what not to do, and makes a strong claim that this manifestation of greed is what ultimately brings Crassus to his death. Because of his pursuit for military glory, Crassus loses his sense and makes rash decisions that were not in the best interests of Rome or the soldiers that he was leading. All he could think about was winning more battles and conquering more territory. He was so focused on this that he disregarded all reason, ignoring the well thought out advice of his generals. “But Crassus paid no attention to them or to anyone else who gave any advice other than to press forward.” There are many moral lessons that can be derived from Plutarch’s emphasis on this shortcoming of Crassus. ...
