Crassus led a Roman army into Parthia in 53 BC seeking military glory, despite objections. Outnumbered, his formation was vulnerable to Parthian cavalry and archers. His son Publius was lured away and killed, weakening Roman morale. The next day, Crassus met with the Parthians under a flag of truce and was killed, leading to a devastating Roman defeat with 20,000 killed and 10,000 captured. This humiliating loss heightened tensions between Rome and Parthia for decades.

1. ROME
The Parthian
War
Political
Developments in
the Late Republic

2. The Story
of
the Parthian
War

3. The story of the Parthian War
Crassus was interested in a war against Parthia
because it would prove that he was a military
leader like the other two members of the first
triumvirate, Pompey and Caesar. The notoriously
wealthy Marcus Crassus was around sixty and
hearing-impaired when he embarked on the
Parthian invasion.
Some Romans objected to the war against
Parthia. Cicero calls it a war nulla causa (“with no
justification”), on the grounds that Parthia had a
treaty with Rome. The tribune Ateius Capito put
up strenuous opposition, and infamously
conducted a public ritual of execration as Crassus
prepared to depart.
Crassus

4. Despite protests and dire
omens, Marcus Crassus left
Rome on November 14, 55
BC. Publius Crassus joined him
in Syria during the winter of
54–53 BC, bringing with him
the thousand Celtic cavalry
troopers from Gaul who
remained loyal to their young
leader until death.
In 54 BC, Crassus invaded
Parthia (a region in the
modern day middle east) with
35000 men.
Bronze statue of a
Parthian nobleman
believed to be General
Surena

5. In 53BC he invaded again. It did not go
to plan.
After being informed of the presence of
the Parthian army, Crassus panicked. His
general Cassius recommended that the
army be deployed in the traditional
Roman fashion, with infantry forming
the centre and cavalry on the wings. At
first Crassus agreed, but he soon
changed his mind and redeployed his
men into a hollow square, each side
formed by twelve cohorts. This
formation would protect his forces from
being outflanked, but at the cost of
mobility. The Roman forces advanced
and came to a stream. Crassus' generals
advised him to make camp, and attack
the next morning in order to give his
men a chance to rest. Publius, however,
was eager to fight and managed to
convince Crassus to confront the
Parthians immediately.

6. The Parthians went to great lengths to
intimidate the Romans. First they beat a
great number of hollow drums and the
Roman troops were unsettled by the loud
and cacophonous noise. Surena then
ordered his cataphracts to cover their
armour in cloths and advance. When they
were within sight of the Romans, they
simultaneously dropped the cloths,
revealing their shining armour. The sight
was designed to intimidate the Romans,
but Surena was impressed by the lack of
effect it had. Though he had originally
planned to shatter the Roman lines with a
charge by his cataphracts, he judged that
this would not be enough to break them
at this point. Thus, he sent his horse
archers to surround the Roman square.
Crassus sent his skirmishers to drive the
horse archers off, but they were driven
back by the latter's arrows. The horse
archers then engaged the legionaries.
The banquet of Crassus

7. The legionaries were protected by
their large shields (scuta) and
armour (re-enactment with
composite bows do not answer the
question whether arrows can
penetrate mail), but these could not
cover the entire body. Some
historians describe the arrows
partially penetrating the Roman
shields, and nailing the shields to
the limbs of the Roman infantry.
Other historians state that the
majority of wounds inflicted were
nonfatal hits to exposed limbs. The
Romans repeatedly advanced
towards the Parthians to attempt to
engage in close-quarters fighting,
but the horse archers were always
able to retreat safely, loosing
Parthian shots as they withdrew.
Coin of Shah Orodes II.

8. The legionaries then
formed the testudo
formation, in which they
locked their shields
together to present a
nearly impenetrable front
to missiles. However, this
formation severely
restricted their ability in
melee combat. The
Parthian cataphracts
exploited this weakness
and repeatedly charged
the Roman line, causing
panic and inflicting heavy
casualties. When the
Romans tried to loosen up
their formation in order to
repel the cataphracts, the
latter rapidly retreated and
the horse archers resumed
shooting at the now more
exposed legionnaires.

9. Crassus now hoped that his legionaries
could hold out until the Parthians ran out
of arrows. However, Surena used
thousands of camels to resupply his
horse archers. Upon realizing this,
Crassus dispatched his son Publius with
1,300 Gallic cavalry, 500 archers and
eight cohorts of legionnaires to drive off
the horse archers. The horse archers
feigned retreat, drawing off Publius' force
who suffered heavy casualties from
arrow fire. Once Publius and his men
were sufficiently separated from the rest
of the army, the Parthian cataphracts
confronted them while the horse archers
cut off their retreat. In the ensuing
combat the Gauls fought bravely,
however their inferiority in weapons and
armour was evident and they eventually
retreated to a hill, where Publius
committed suicide while the rest of his
men were slaughtered.
Statue of General Surena.

10. Crassus, unaware of his son's fate
but realizing Publius was in
danger, ordered a general
advance. He was confronted with
the sight of his son's head on a
spear. The Parthian horse archers
began to surround the Roman
infantry, shooting at them from all
directions, while the cataphracts
mounted a series of charges that
disorganized the Romans. The
Parthian onslaught did not cease
until nightfall. Crassus, deeply
shaken by his son's death, ordered
a retreat to the nearby town of
Carrhae, leaving behind thousands
of wounded, who were captured
by the Parthians.
Relief showing a Parthian horse
archer, Palazzo Madama
museum, Turin, Italy.

11. The next day, Surena sent a message
to the Romans, offering to negotiate
with Crassus. Surena proposed a
truce, allowing the Roman army to
return to Syria safely in exchange for
Rome giving up all territory east of
the Euphrates. Crassus was reluctant
to meet with the Parthians, but his
troops threatened to mutiny if he did
not. At the meeting, a Parthian
pulled at Crassus' reins, sparking
violence. Crassus and his generals
were killed. After his death, the
Parthians allegedly poured molten
gold down his throat, in a symbolic
gesture mocking Crassus' renowned
greed. The remaining Romans at
Carrhae attempted to flee, but most
were captured or killed. Roman
casualties amounted to about 20,000
killed and 10,000 captured making
the battle one of the costliest
defeats in Roman history. Parthian
casualties were minimal.
Crassus defeated by the Parthians

12. Rome was
humiliated by this
defeat, and this was
made even worse by
the fact that the
Parthians had
captured several
Legionary Eagles. It is
also mentioned by
Plutarch that the
Parthians found the
Roman prisoner of
war that resembled
Crassus the most,
dressed him as a
woman and paraded
him through Parthia
for all to see. This,
however, could easily
be Roman
propaganda
The final stages of the Battle of Carrhae.

13. This wasn’t the end of the
Parthian problem. Caesar
was about to go to war
against the Parthians when
he was assassinated.
In 41 and 40BC, Mark
Antony faced an invasion by
Parthia led by Quintus
Labienus.
In 39BC, Antony’s forces
attacked the Parthians in
Armenia.
During 39-38 BC, the
Parthians were cleared out
of Syria.
In 37BC, Antony invaded
Parthia but was forced to
retreat after loosing 17000
men. Parthian cataphracts.

14. Antony needed cash and
reinforcements for his Parthian
campaigns. His wife, Octavia (the
sister of Octavian) offered
assistance, as did Cleopatra. He
accepted Cleopatra’s help and
refused Octavia’s. When Antony
had a minor success in Parthia in
34BC he celebrated a splendid
triumph in Alexandria not Rome.
This was significant as the
combined insult of ignoring
Octavia’s help and celebrating his
triumph in Alexandria resulted in
a propaganda campaign against
Antony. Octavian made sure that
these activities received bad
publicity in Rome.

15. The Parthian
War