Defeat of Rome in the East: Crassus, the Parthians, and the Disastrous Battle of Carrhae, 53 BC

The Battle of Carrhae, 53 B.C.

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Crassus sent his son, Publius, with about 1, cavalry to drive off the horse archers. The Parthians fell back, pretending to flee but instead luring Publius toward a force of 1, heavily armed cataphract cavalry armored horsemen , who ambushed the Romans and wiped them out. Thinking that the horse archers were gone, Crassus ordered his square to advance, only to come under a renewed attack by the horse archers. They were soon joined by the cataphracts, who mounted a series of charges that lasted until nightfall. The next day, Surena invited Crassus to a meeting to discuss terms for a truce.

Crassus was killed at the meeting, after which his army attempted to retreat back to friendly territory, although very few of them made it. We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions.

Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article. Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed. This contribution has not yet been formally edited by Britannica. Roman, 20, dead and 10, captured of 43, engaged; Parthian, 1, of 11, The Defeat of Rome in the East: During the last stages of the Republic, Rome suffered its greatest military disaster since Hannibal's invasion of Italy over years earlier, though this defeat had more far-reaching consequences.

While Rome was able to recover from its disaster at Cannae, it never did retrieve the results of Carrhae, a defeat that sealed the East as an impenetrable barrier to Roman ambition, and also signaled the demise of the Republic. In 53 BC, Marcus Crassus, the richest member of Rome's ruling Triumverate, which also included Caesar and Pompey, decided to enhance his military stature with an invasion of the Parthian Empire centered on Mesopotamia today's Iraq. His 36, legionaries crossed the Euphrates and were met by a much smaller Parthian army, albeit one mounted on horseback in the dispersed, missile-firing steppe-war tradition.

In the desolate territory around Carrhae the Roman legions were surrounded and beset by elusive horse warriors, who alternated deadly arrow-fire from recurved bows with devastating attacks by armored horsemen, wielding lances in the fashion of future European knights. At one point Crassus dispatched his son with the Roman cavalry and light infantry to break a hole through the deadly ring. The Parthians concentrated on the party and destroyed it.

Crassus was just about to move with the main body to its aid when Parthian horsemen rode up wielding his son's head on the tip of a spear. Crassus replied that he would dictate his answer to the question after he captured Seleucia. In the meantime, Surena had been leading a winter campaign against those cities which had revolted and cast their lots in with Crassus. Crassus does not seem to have significantly modified his plans based on this intelligence. He crossed the Euphrates at Zeugma, in a violent thunderstorm which spooked some of the horses and caused them to run into the river.

One of the bridges collapsed, dumping more men into the water. Crassus left Rome with seven legions, which at full strength would have been about 33, combat troops and 37, men in total. However, he lost a number of men to shipwrecks in a storm while sailing from Italy. He also distributed 7, of his infantry on garrison duty in various Mesopotamian cities.

Assuming that he assigned non-combat support troops to garrison duty, he was departing Syria with at most 30, legionnaires. A modern re-enactor in the gear of a legionnaire of the late Roman Republic.

The Battle of Carrhae, 53 B.C. | Gates of Nineveh: An Experiment in Blogging Assyriology

These men were almost all heavy infantry of one type, clothed with chain mail, a helmet and a large shield for protection and armed with a short sword called a gladius and several throwing javelins or pilum. The javelins had a long soft iron head designed to pierce armor, bend after impact and prevent them from being pulled out. What Roman troops lacked was any significant long range weapon for desert fighting.

They were unfamiliar with eastern ways of fighting. In support of the legions, Crassus had 4, local infantry levies, including archers. He also had 4, cavalry. The Gauls wore little armor and carried only short spears, putting them at a disadvantage against Parthian cavalry.

Others included Gaius Cassius Longinus and Octavius. These officers provided Crassus with sound tactical advice, most of which he ignored. Crassus himself was sixty years old at the time of the Parthian campaign. He was fabulously wealthy and very powerful due to his wealth, but had never received a major military command. It was partly a yearning for a military victory that sent him to the east.

There, Roman heavy infantry had carried the day against numerically superior but lightly armed and armored forces.

The Defeat of Rome in the East: Crassus, the Parthians, and the Disastrous Battle of Carrhae, 53 BC

But this time Rome was heading to battle with an army of inexperienced soldiers led by an inexperienced commander, and would face new weapons and tactics against which they were unprepared. Yet, despite all this, Crassus led his 38, men into battle against a Parthian force one quarter of his size. Parthia was a feudal-type monarchy, with the king at the top and satraps below him who ruled their own lands and were responsible for raising forces from their own territory for campaigns.

His army consisted entirely of cavalry, with no infantry at all. It is not known if this was all Surena had, or more likely, as Gareth Simpson has suggested, he modified his army based on what tactics he thought would best defeat the Romans. These men were serfs of the lands of their lord who were liable to be called up for military service. Despite this, they were highly trained archers who could attain a high rate of fire. Their bows were small, powerful and their arrows could pierce Roman chain mail.

The dry air of summer made their bows even more effective. The men wore little to no armor, so in order to be effective they had to stay on flat ground and avoid fighting at close quarters. These were the noblemen and aristocrats of Parthian society, mounted warriors similar to a medieval European knight.

Cataphracts wore heavy armor, including suit of chain mail and a helmet. Their horses also wore full suits of armor that hung down past their knees. The cataphracts carried long lances as their primary weapon. The Parthian army traveled light. Each horseman rode with a number of spare horses.

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In addition, Surena brought up a baggage train of 1, camels carrying arrows to resupply his archers. In total, Surena had 10, men at his disposal, including support troops. However, unlike Crassus, Surena was an experienced general. Realizing that the enemy was close, Cassius suggested moving the army within the walls of a friendly city until the scouts could gather more information about the location and numbers of the enemy. Crassus refused, arguing that they needed to press on. Abgar II reported that a small Parthian force under Surena was nearby.

Strictly speaking, all of this information was true. Eager to get into combat, Crassus changed his plans and ordered a march into the desert. He told Crassus he was leaving to feed Surena false information, but the information that he gave Surena was that Crassus was walking directly into his trap. There were no trees or water anywhere. While on the march, Crassus received a message from Artabazes that Armenia was being invaded by a large Parthian force and that he could send no aid, but requested that Crassus come to his aid.

Crassus exploded into rage, accusing the Armenians of treason and promising vengeance once the campaign was over. Surena prepared for his attack by setting an ambush for the Roman scouts. Parthian cavalry ambushed the scouts while they were ahead of the Roman force and killed most of them. The survivors who escaped rode back to report that the enemy was near. In response, Cassius recommended extending the lines as far as possible and positioning cavalry along the flanks to avoid being surrounded. Crassus took this advice, then changed the formation into a hollow square with 12 cohorts on each side and a cavalry detachment next to each cohort.

Battle of Carrhae

As the Romans were facing a force that was entirely cavalry and could attack from any direction, forming a hollow square was again not the worst possible idea. Unlike a long line, it would prevent his men from being overrun by Parthian cavalry charges. Here, his men could drink water. Crassus was swayed by Publius and ordered the men to cross the Balissus and move forward at an increased pace.

Past the Balissus, Surena had arrayed his troops in an ambush formation. His horse archers formed a wide line to screen the Roman cavalry. Behind the horse archers were the cataphracts, who were wearing camouflage made from rags and animal skins to keep the sun from reflecting off their armor and giving away their position.

As the Roman force advanced, the Parthians began to beat drums to signify the advance and terrify the inexperienced Roman troops. As the drumroll grew to a din, the Parthian cataphracts threw off their camouflage and charged the Roman line. The Roman legionnaires responded by locking their shields together and standing their ground.

The horse archers moved in to surround the square on all sides. The light troops were vulnerable to the cataphracts on open ground, so they could not move far away from the main force and had to return to the ranks. At this point, Crassus thought that his men could wait out the arrow shower until the Parthian archers ran out of arrows and were forced to fight hand to hand. However, in the distance they could see the archers replenishing their supply of arrows from their camel train. At this point, Crassus gathered 1, cavalry, 8 cohorts of infantry and auxiliary archers in one formation under the command of Publius Crassus and ordered them to charge the Parthian archers in attempt to close the distance between them and bring them to hand to hand combat.

Parthian cavalry galloped in a circle around the Roman force to purposely kick dust into the air so they could not see. They then began firing arrows into the mass of men. Many men had their shields pierced by arrows which wounded their arms and hands. Others were pinned to the ground by arrows through their feet. Parthian arrows were barbed, so they could not be removed without tearing backwards through the flesh and causing further injury. Publius led his Gallic cavalry in a desperate charge against the Parthian cataphracts and finally succeeded in closing in on them and forcing hand to hand combat.

Even here, the Parthians held the advantage.

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The Gauls were used to fighting in the forests of Europe where long spears would have been unwieldy, so they carried short spears which were inferior to the long lances of Parthian cataphracts. As a result, they were outreached by the Parthians and many had their horses taken out from under them on the first charge. The Gauls had to resort to grabbing the spears Parthian horsemen and then wrestling them off their horses.

Others dismounted, dove to the ground and reached under the armored skirts of the Parthian horses to stab them in the belly. The injury of their commander forced the Gauls to dismount and fall back to a small nearby hill, where they formed a shield wall. Here they were surrounded again by the ever-present Parthian horse archers.

Heat and thirst took their toll on the Romans, especially the Gauls who were unused to desert conditions. Publius saw the situation was hopeless. He had been shot through the hand with an arrow and was unable to hold a sword, so he ordered his shield-bearer to kill him in order to avoid being captured.

The other Roman officers also committed suicide. The remaining troops fought on until a Parthian cataphract charge broke their lines. The five hundred survivors surrendered. The first messenger Publius sent to Crassus had been killed, the second told him Publius was doomed without relief. The ominous drum roll resume, and the Parthian archers returned. With the Roman cavalry almost eliminated, the Parthian cataphracts edged closer to the Roman infantry, forcing them into a tighter and tighter circle.

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