Crassus’ fire brigade

• 10 January 2019

Marcus Licinius Crassus was one of the richest Romans in history. One of his ways to become rich was organizing a “fire brigade”.

It is worth mentioning that in the half of the 1st century BCE in Rome, there were no firefighting services. On the other hand, fire was a common cataclysm in Rome. To a large extent, wooden buildings and city crush meant that a small spark was enough to start a fire that spread easily.

But how did the Crassus’ “fire brigade” work? At the time when the fire broke out Crassus with his “firemen” (a group of 500 slaves – architects and builders) appeared on the spot and first bought the building with the earth for a very low price, and only then his people proceeded to extinguish the fire. In this way, Crassus became the owner of a large part of Roman real estate.