The Battle of Carrhae – Rome’s Worst Defeat?
Marcus Licinius Crassus
In 53 BC there was one name in Rome that was synonymous with wealth: Marcus Crassus. Not only was he the richest man in Rome, he was one of the most powerful. Crassus led the First Triumvirate that governed the Republic alongside his ally Julius Caesar and longtime rival Pompey.
Crassus held immense power, but he was envious of Caesar and Pompey. Although he was wealthier than both, his military exploits paled in comparison to the other members of the Triumvirate. His only notable accomplishments were the Defeat of Spartacus and the Battle of the Colline Gate 29 years earlier. Fueled by a hunger for glory and plunder, Crassus mobilized an army to invade the Parthian Empire (located in modern-day Turkey).
Before the Battle
Crassus’ army was huge for the time. Historical estimates vary but he likely had 43,000 men at his disposal. This included 35,000 legionary heavy infantry, 4,000 light infantry skirmishers, and another 4,000 cavalry. A large portion of this cavalry were Gallic horsemen loyal to Crassus’ son Publius. Publius had built a strong political foundation in Rome based off his military achievements with Caesar in Gaul.
Artavasdes, the King of Armenia, implored Crassus to take a safe route through his lands to avoid the desert. He also offered him tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry, but Crassus refused. The Roman general decided to take a straight route to Mesopotamia, eager to plunder the great cities in the area.
The Roman army’s guide through the terrian was a chieftain named Ariamnes. What they didn’t know was Ariamnes was a secret Parthian agent. The Parthians had split their army, with the main force heading to punish Armenia, and a secondary force of 10,000 cavalry led by Surena ordered to harass the Romans.
The Battle of Carrhae
The Armenian King pleaded with Crassus for help, but he ignored the call for help. Ariamnes led the Romans further into the most desolate area of the desert, where they encountered the Parthians.
The Parthian cavalry consisted of 1,000 heavy cataphracts supported by 9,000 horse archers. Surena had orders to delay the Romans, and not even he foresaw what was about to go down. The Battle of Carrhae had begun.
Parthian horse archers attacked the Roman legionaries, who were well defended against arrows with their large shields. Even though they were protected, arrows still managed to hit the exposed limbs of the soldiers. They also had no way to counter these attacks. Crassus sent out skirmishers to deal with the horsemen but they were driven back by arrows.
When the horse archers would attack, the Romans would form their famous testudo formation, making them almost impermeable to the arrows. Surena began exploiting this by sending his heavy cavalry in to attack the immobile formations. Once the charge had scattered the soldiers into a loose formation, he would send in the horse archers and rinse and repeat.
Death of Publius
At this point Crassus and his army were beginning to panic. They had to take out those horse archers. Crassus sent Publius with several thousand cavalry and foot soldiers to take out the horse archers. The Parthians feigned retreat and drew Publius away from the main body of the army. Suddenly, they maneuvered to cut off their retreat, and the Parthian cataphracts charged the exposed Romans.
The Romans were caught in the trap and almost entirely destroyed. Publius is said to have taken his own life to avoid capture, and only 500 of this group were taken alive.
Crassus, unaware of his son’s demise, advanced to relieve his force. When Crassus was confronted with his head on a pike he was shaken and withdrew his army. They retreated to the town of Carrhae as night fell, leaving behind 4,000 wounded soldiers to be killed by the enemy. Another 400 legionnaires became lost in the dark and were surrounded by the Parthians with only 20 survivors.
Demise of Crassus
At the town of Carrhae, the Roman soldiers threatened to mutiny if Crassus did not make peace with the Parthians. In the morning he road out with his generals to meet with them and discuss surrender. During the discussion a Parthian soldier pulled on the reigns of Crassus’ horse. Violence ensued, and the Roman leaders were brutally killed.
Legends say that the Parthians poured molten gold down Crassus’ throat as a testament to his renowned greed and hunger for wealth. The remaining soldiers fled Carrhae, but most were also killed or captured en route to safety.
Of the original 43,000 soldiers, around 10,000 were captured and 20,000 were killed. The captured soldiers were paraded before the Parthian people. They picked the soldier that looked the most like Crassus, dressed him as a woman, and forced the captives to hail him as Imperator in a mockery of a Roman triumph. There are rumors that the captured Romans were resettled to the East, and may have descendants as far as China.
Aftermath
The Battle of Carrhae was an absolute humiliation for Rome, especially because of the loss of several Legionary Eagle standards to a much smaller force. The death of Crassus reverberated through the Republic and shifted the balance of power to just two men, Caesar and Pompey.
Surena, the Parthian commander, received high praise for his surprise victory. He unfortunately invoked the jealousy of his King, who had him executed. Call that suffering from success.
Sources & More Reading:
https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Carrhae
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/miscellanea/trivia/carrhae.html
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/roman-disaster-at-carrhae/