Literature Crassus is a major character in Howard Fast's 1951 novel Spartacus. Crassus is a major character in the 1956 Alfred Duggan novel Winter Quarters. The novel follows two fictional Gallic nobles who join Julius Caesar's cavalry and then find their way into the service of Marcus' son, Publius Licinius Crassus, in Gaul. The characters eventually become clients of Publius Crassus, and, by extension, his father Marcus. The second half of the novel is related by its Gallic narrator from within the ranks of Crassus' doomed army en route to do battle with Parthia. The book depicts an overconfident and militarily incompetent Crassus up to the moment of his death. Crassus is a major character in the 1992 novel Arms of Nemesis by Steven Saylor. He is portrayed as the cousin and patron of Lucius Licinius, the investigation of whose murder forms the basis of the novel. He also has minor appearances in Roman Blood and Catalina's Riddle. In David Drake's Ranks of Bronze (1986), the Lost Legion is the major participant, although Crassus himself has been killed before the book begins. Crassus is a major character in Conn Iggulden's Emperor series. The story of the battle of Carrhae is the centerpiece of Ben Kane's novel The Forgotten Legion (2008). Crassus is depicted as a vain man with poor military judgment. Crassus is a major character in Robert Harris' novel Lustrum (published as Conspirata in the USA), the sequel to Imperium, which both chronicle the career of Marcus Tullius Cicero. Crassus is a major character in the novels Fortune's Favourites and Caesar's Women by Colleen McCullough. He is portrayed as a brave but mediocre general, a brilliant financier, and a true friend of Caesar. Ballet Crassus (Russian: Красс) has a principal role in Aram Khachaturian's 1956 ballet Spartacus. Drama Film Crassus is a principal character in the 1960 film Spartacus, played by actor Laurence Olivier. The film is based on Howard Fast's 1951 novel of the same name. Crassus is the antagonist in the 1962 film The Slave, played by actor Claudio Gora. A highly fictionalized version of Crassus called Marcus Crassius is an enemy figure in the film Amazons and Gladiators (2001), played by Patrick Bergin. They mention his defeating Spartacus and that Caesar exiles him due to his popularity to a poor province, where he's very cruel to the populace; he conquers the Amazons, under Queen Zenobia (who