Battle of Carrhae - June 53 B.C.

Definition: As a result of the lex Trebonia of 55, Crassus, the weakest military leader of the first triumvirate, which also included Pompey and Julius Caesar, was awarded proconsular command of the province of Syria for 5 years, and perhaps the right to wage war outside the boundary of the province. Whether or not he was officially entrusted to do so, Crassus set out to fight the Parthians in Mesopotamia, perhaps for reasons of greed or to enhance his weak military reputation.

Crassus' (mostly) infantry forces marched across the desert to Carrhae where, with devastating consequences, the exhausted and badly-led men faced Parthian cataphracts and mounted archers, led by Surenas, a very capable, under-appreciated Parthian vassal. In the fighting, Crassus' son Publius was wounded and committed assisted-suidide. Crassus was on his way to negotiate a treaty or being taken prisoner when he was killed, perhaps by the Parthian Pomaxathres. Plutarch says Pomaxathres may simply have severed the head from Crassus' corpse, although Cassius Dio (40.27) records a rumor that Parthians poured molten gold in Crassus' mouth after he was dead.

Plutarch says 20,000 men were slain and 10,000 taken prisoner.

References::

• _{"The Defeat of Crassus and the Just War"
  Susan P. Mattern-Parkes
  The Classical World, (Summer, 2003), pp. 387-396}
• _{"Long-Term Commands at the End of the Republic"
  J. P. V. D. Balsdon
  The Classical Review, (May, 1949), pp. 14-15}

Ancient sources on the Battle of Carrhae include Plutarch, Cassius Dio, Strabo, Cicero, and more.

Ancient Rome Glossary | Table of Roman Battles

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