Plutarch estimates that of the original 43,000 Romans engaged, 20,000 were killed and 10,000 were captured. The Romans hoped that the archers would retreat after exhausting their arrow supply, but, upon seeing that they had turned to replenish their quivers at a line of camels in the rear, Crassus decided to alter his strategy. Many Romans were killed in the ensuing struggle. Battle of Carrhae. Crassus drew up his legions along the Balīkh River, a tributary of the Euphrates. Crassus himself remained in the centre. The battle took place in 53 BC, near the town of Carrhae. The Parthian onslaught did not cease until nightfall. Surely it was an exemplary use of this weapon, combined with the emphasis on high mobility, which ultimately led to an almost perfect victory. Roman casualties amounted to about 20,000 killed and 10,000 captured, making the battle one of the costliest defeats in Roman history. The Battle of Carrhae. Crassus resented his colleague for robbing him of a triumph after he successfully quelled Spartacus’s slave revolt in 71 bce. Cassius accepted these terms on Crassus’s behalf, but the next day Parthian messengers demanded that Crassus and Cassius be brought to their camp in chains if they wanted peace. He was envious of the glory and popularity of his fellow triumvir Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar. CARRHAE CARRHAE (Ḥarrān), town in Mesopotamia, where in May 53 b.c. They then came upon many of the legionaries marching toward Carrhae and killed or captured them; in one area they reportedly slaughtered four whole cohorts, leaving only 20 survivors. He successfully persuaded Crassus to do so, and the Romans marched into a plain that grew drier and sandier with each passing day, a demoralizing sight for the legionaries. He was the leader of the House of Suren and was best known for defeating the Romans in the Battle of Carrhae.Under his command Parthians decisively defeated a numerically superior Roman invasion force under the command of Marcus Licinius Crassus. The psychological effect was tremendous. Myles Hudson was an Editorial Intern at Encyclopædia Britannica. It would mean the destruction of the Roman Republic and the emergence of the Roman Empire in 27 bce. Roman-Persian Wars: Battle of Carrhae In 53 B.C., seven Roman legions, some 50,000 men, marched into the searing Mesopotamian desert. Corrections? This is from Ovid’s Fasti: Between March and April of 56 BC, meetings held in Ravenna, Lucca and the province of Cisalpine Gaul sought to reaffirm the covenant. Those few who escaped fled to Carrhae and then to Syria. It is understandable. 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. The Battle of Carrhae was fought in 53 BCE between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Republic near the town of Carrhae. As soon as they moved forward, the Parthian horse archers began to retreat. The annihilation at Carrhae was the worst defeat for the Roman Republic since its horrific loss at Cannae over 160 years earlier. What made matters worse during the march was that Crassus was not wearing the purple robe that Roman generals normally wear. A final war broke out under the emperor Caracalla in AD 217, but ended in another stalemate when Caracalla was assassinated and his successor … They numbered roughly 10,000 and specialized in fielding light horse archers in addition to heavy cataphracts (of which there were 1,000). An unstable Republic and a near civil war led these three men to set aside their differences and even disdain for one another to join forces and for nearly a decade dominat… Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Carrhae, HistoryNet - What We Learned… From the Battle of Carrhae. Surena) family and the Romans under the triumvir M. Licinius Crassus, “without doubt the most celebrated episode of … You take the role Marcus Licinius Crassus as you try to survive a Parthian onslaught. Crassus, unaware of his son's fate but realizing Publius was in danger, ordered a general advance. After his death, the Parthians allegedly poured molten gold down his throat, in a symbolic gesture mocking his ' renowned greed. The horse archers then began to shower the legionnaires with arrows. Publius, however, was eager to fight and managed to convince Crassus to confront the Parthians immediately. 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