We find that you Romans have not got very good memories about the terms of treaties. — Parthian general Surena, upon confronting Crassus and his invading legions.1 Who was Marcus Licinius Crassus (ca. 112-53 BCE )?  Like a modern-day financier, he was a predatory (usurious) lender; like a modern-day oligarch, he acquired vast real-estate holdings […]