battle of Carrhae

Battle of Carrhae Part of the Roman-Persian Wars A Parthian returning Legio X standard captured at Carrhae, on a Roman coin struck in 19 BC Date 53 BC Location Near Carrhae (Harran) Result Decisive Parthian victory Combatants Roman Republic Parthia Commanders Marcus Licinius Crassus †, Publius Crassus † Surena Strength 35,000 Roman legionaries, 4,000 cavalry, 4,000 light infantry 10,000 cavalry Casualties 20,000 dead, 10,000 captured, 4,000 wounded Reportedly very light

Roman-Persian Wars Carrhae – Ctesiphon (165) - Ctesiphon (198) – Nisibis – Resaena – Misiche – Barbalissos – Edessa - Singara – Amida – Ctesiphon (363) – Samarra – Iberian War – Lazic War – War of 572-591 – Issus – Constantinople - Nineveh

The Battle of Carrhae was a decisive battle fought in 53 BC near the town of Carrhae (now the present-day ruins of Harran, Turkey) between the Roman Republic under the Roman general Crassus and the Parthian Empire under the Parthian Spahbod Surena. The result of the battle was an overwhelming victory for the Parthian Empire.

Background

In 55 BC, Marcus Licinius Crassus had just finished serving his joint-consul year with Pompey. At the time, Crassus, Pompey, and Julius Caesar formed a powerful and secret triumvirate that all but controlled Rome. As a part of this élite group, Crassus felt a great desire to add new glory to his name. He had seen no action since his defeat of Spartacus nearly 20 years earlier.^[1] Crassus drew out the maps of the Roman Imperium looking for a target to attack, and decided that the most glorious one would be the Parthian Empire. Many members of the Roman Senate tried to dissuade him from this course of action, but Caesar and Pompey stood firmly behind him and the senate relented.

Crassus arrived in Syria in late 55 BC. With the aid of Hellenic settlements in Syria and support from Artavasdes, the Armenian king, Crassus marched directly to the Parthian mainland instead of attacking from the mountains of Armenia. In response, the Parthian king Orodes II divided his army and sent half, which were infantry troops, to punish the Armenians and sent the other half, which were cavalry units, to combat Crassus. The enemy armies subsequently encountered each other near the town of Carrhae.

The Battle

The Parthian army, under the leadership of General Surena, was outnumbered but used 1,000 heavily armed and armoured horsemen, called "cataphracts", in conjunction with 9,000 horse archers to defeat the Roman legions. The Roman legionaries eventually broke formation and were routed. A major factor in the Roman defeat can be attributed to their legionaries heavy armour. The horse archers fired repeated volleys of arrows into the densely packed formation of the Romans that caused major casualties to the legionaries. To sustain their barrage, the Parthians employed camels to carry additional arrow loads. The result was the complete annihilation of Crassus' legions, and his eventual capture and demise.

Prior to battle, Crassus sent his cavalry to scout the area ahead, but they were ambushed and easily routed by the cataphracts, who had the element of surprise.^[3] This allowed the Parthian horse archers to harass the Roman infantry freely. The Romans attempted to charge the horse archers, but the Parthians would feign retreat, while firing arrows at their pursuers. (a custom known as the "Parthian shot"). Appropriate to the situation, The Romans formed their ranks into the protective testudo. However, the Cataphracts then charged the formation while supported by suppressive fire, smashing into the Roman lines.^[4] The legionaries were unable to fight effectively in their tight formation, despite the large scuta that gave them some measure of protection against the volleys of arrows. Many Roman soldiers eventually collapsed from thirst and heat exhaustion from the exertion of defending themselves from the seemingly endless barrages, in addition to the devastating Cataphract charge, despite being otherwise unwounded. "When Publius urged them to charge the enemy's mail-clad horsemen, they showed him that their hands were riveted to their shields and their feet nailed through and through to the ground, so that they were helpless either for flight or for self-defence."^[5] Parthia employed the use of Perso-Parthian composite bows at this time, which were more powerful than traditional bows. Arrows fired from these bows were able to penetrate the legionnaires' thick armour, to the horror of the heavy Roman infantry.

Aftermath

The result was one of the worst defeats suffered by the Roman Republic in its entire history. During the battle, Crassus' son Publius was slain and his head was put on a pike for the legionaries to see.^[6] Crassus himself was killed and decapitated after the battle; legend has it that he was tortured by having molten gold poured down his throat (an ironic jest at his notorious wealth), though this is possibly a rumor spread by his many Roman enemies after the fact. His head was sent to the Parthian king,^[7] Orodes II (who allegedly permitted its use as a stage prop). 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. The other half of the Parthian army defeated the Armenians and captured their country. However, these victories made the Parthian king suspicious and jealous of Surena, and he ordered his execution. Following Surena's death, Orodes II himself took command of the Parthian army and led an unsuccessful military campaign into Syria.

Gaius Cassius Longinus, a legatus under Crassus, led approximately 10,000 surviving soldiers from the battlefield back to Syria, where he governed as a proquaestor for two years, defending Syria from Orodes II's further attacks. He would eventually defeat the Parthians and receive praise from Cicero for his victory. Cassius later played a key role in the conspiracy to assassinate Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.

Legacy

The capture of the golden Aquilae (legionary battle standards) by the Parthians was considered a grave moral defeat and evil omen for the Romans. It required a generation of diplomacy before the Parthians returned them. Their return was considered a great triumph by Augustus, and celebrated like a military victory.

An important and unexpected implication of this battle was that it opened up the European continent to a new and beautiful material: silk. The Romans who managed to survive the battle reported seeing brilliant, shimmering banners (apparently made of silk) used by the Parthians as they slaughtered the fleeing legions.^[8] Subsequently, interest in Europe grew for this material and trade routes were extended from China to Western Europe. This effectively marked the beginnings of the Silk Road, one of the greatest and richest trade routes in history.^[9]

The battle is also believed to have eventually led to the first Sino-Roman relations. According to Pliny, in 53 BC, after losing at the battle of Carrhae, 10,000 Roman prisoners were sent by the Parthians to Margiana to help guard the eastern frontier of the Parthian Empire. The Han Chinese later captured this area and the Roman prisoners were likely among the first westerners to meet the Chinese directly.^[10]

However, the most immediate effect of the battle was that Carrhae was an indirect cause for the fall of the Republic, and the rise of the Empire.^{[citation needed]} At this point it is also worth noting that the Republic as an institution had really ceased functioning with Sulla's first march on Rome in 88 BC, though the loss of Crassus and his legions at Carrhae certainly sped the final collapse of the Republic.^[11] Along with the death of Pompey's wife and Caesar's daughter Julia, Crassus' death left the relationship between Caesar and Pompey as distant and unstable; the first Triumvirate no longer existed. The triumvirate's balanced structure had helped to prevent a power struggle; but with only two of the generals still alive, conflict was now inevitable. As a result, civil war broke out, Caesar won, and the Republic was permanently tainted, quickly and uncontrollably becoming an autocratic dictatorship.

References

External links

The only two ancient records of the battle:

• Plutarch's Life of Crassus, 23–27 (Online)
• Cassius Dio's Roman History, 40:21–4 (Online)

An in-depth description:

• Battle of Carrhae

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