Too expensive even for Crassus

Explanation: At the Battle of Carrhae, Marcus Licinius Crassus, the richest man in Rome and governor of Syria, was in command of hard-pressed Roman forces under attack from Persian horse archers and lancers. Seeing no way out of it, his troops forced him to negotiate for surrender with the Persians.

The Persians ended his subscription to life, and then dressed up a Roman prisoner who looked like Crassus to humiliate him.