Carrhae 53 BC - Roman–Parthian War DOCUMENTARY

[Music] groans wars against the empires of ancient Persia began almost immediately after the two civilizations came into direct contact and would continue for half a millennium after the first century BC was a time during which the newly reformed Roman legions reigned supreme on the battlefield suffering only a few defeats however in 53 BC the Romans met a completely new army at the battle of carrhae in the aftermath of the diadochi Wars Seleucus new empire reigned over the vast Asian territories of the former a commended Empire among those were the regions of bacteria and Parthia which quickly sought to assert their own autonomy and revolted in 247 BC during this time Parthia was receiving wave after wave of nomadic migration from Central Asia so in the same year one of these tribal leaders are sakis of the pawnee tribe managed to depose the rebellious governor and dragger as' and occupied the region for himself this marked the beginning of the our circuit dynasty in Parthia after achieving a tentative peace with the newly independent Bactrian kings and weathering a series of attempted reconquest spy Salukis the second and Antiochus the third the Pantheon's began to gradually increase their territory at the expense of the waning Seleucids this process accelerated during the reign of Mithradates the first ruling from 171 to 132 BC Mithra data's oversaw the transformation of the Parthian state into a mighty empire he embarked on a series of conquests first seizing parts of Bactria upon the death of Diodati us the second during the 150s media at Teahupoo 10a and parts of mesopotamia soon followed most critical was the annexation of Seleucia and babylon where the Parthian ruler was first crowned King of Kings symbolically inheriting the ancient a commended title [Music] upon Mitford eighties is death a number of crises began at once nomadic invasions from the east internal strife and a resurgent Seleucid rump state however Mithridates ii ascended to the throne in 124 BC and managed to stabilize the rising Empire whilst reconquering lost territories this king also established firm trading relations with the Han Chinese and gained serenity over the kingdom of Armenia by his death in 87 BC Mesopotamia was firmly under Parthian control with a new capital city known as Tessa for this good fortune did not last long and when Mithridates perished a period of civil strife began seeing his Western and Eastern rivals weakened like this the king of Armenia Tigra knees broke his vassalage with Parthia and invaded both the Parthian realm and the Seleucid remnant northern Mesopotamia fell to the Armenians and the once great Seleucid Empire was finally extinguished forever [Music] when roman armies ended this threat at the Battle of Tigre no kurta their success led to Roman and Parthian borders meeting for the first time Parthi and King Cinna true keys declined the attempts of Mithradates ease of Ponder's to form an anti-roman alliance this policy of non-intervention continues during the reign of his son frat he's the third who also refused Roman requests to support their campaigns against pontus nevertheless informal arrangements between Rome and Parthia led to the drawing of a border between the two sides at the Euphrates River with the Pontic Kingdom and its Armenian ally subjugated it was clear that the Roman Parthian interactions would inevitably lead to border conflicts with the context for future antagonism between the two empires established we must now turn to Rome after the horrors of sulla civil wars Roman politics were dominated in the 50s by three statesmen Pompey Crassus and Caesar 59 BC saw the Jew emperors succeed in backing Caesars bid for the consulship he managed to dominate his co-consul during the year and accomplished what his partners needed of him receiving a command in goal as a proconsul three years later prompted by Caesar the three men met at lucca in order to organize what would become the first triumvirate they had a bill passed through the senate essentially partitioning the roman state between them caesar was given a five-year extension to his command in Gaul in order to complete the conquest while Pompey received two Spanish provinces which he was permitted to govern in absentia finally and most importantly for us Crassus was granted the province of Syria and legal authority to raise seven legions in addition he also had the power to make war and peace without consulting the Roman Senate a fact which would set the stage for the war to come ever since the borders of Rome and Pothier met tensions between the two had predictably skyrocketed but both states knew that ultimately Rome was nominally more powerful with this in mind it is crucial that we detail events within Parthia which led up to the clash in 57 BC the week Parthian King Ferrante's 4/3 was murdered by two of his sons igniting a period of unrest within the country the elder of the two yet another Mithridates quickly took the throne as Mithridates the third this was not to last long as he was even more swiftly dethroned by a group of nobles led by the aristocratic sarena clan who subsequently installed the younger brother or ADIZ on the throne instead of being executed Mithra data's was relegated to being governor of media this proved to be an unwise move however because he soon contacted the Romans to gain assistance in restoring him to the throne he fled west into the arms of his would-be benefactors but was then sent back into the Parthian capital to undermine the monarchy stability another party and civil war had begun and Rome hungrily eye to be rich eastern territories looking to absorb them like it had so many others this fractious situation is the state in which Crassus found the Roman East when he received the Syrian command and the way was clear for him to gain Alexander liked military glory by subduing the apparently weak enemy small-scale Roman military activity in the region prior to Crassus his arrival in Antioch had alerted the Parthian to what was soon to come and they set about preparing for it accordingly full mobilization of our armed forces was undertaken as they waited for Rome to make the first move when they did the Parthian forces would shift and counter it by mid 54 BC everything was prepared and the legions were ready the key question Crassus now had to answer was what route his army would take on their march he could either invade from Syria and into western Mesopotamia directly or take an indirect path through the Armenian Mountains and move into Parthia from the north Crassus chose the first route probably due to it being the most direct and easy to traverse than the alternative the Romans then crossed the Euphrates marking the start of the first Romano Parthian war soon after the war began Crassus met the local satrap Silla Keys in battle decisively defeating his vastly outnumbered forces near Achmed with his troops scattered Silla Keys fled wounded to the court in order to inform King or at ease with the region's local forces trampled beneath the legionary boot Crassus garrisoned the region's key towns such as ik nay Nikifor iam and carry almost all of the Greek cities went over to the Romans voluntarily with one exception the city of Xena da Geum invited a Roman force into the city but then had them massacred naturally this brought the Republic's wrath down upon the city and it was soon viciously sacked with his gains secured Crassus withdrew his army back to Syria for the winter the campaign of 54 having been a total success having raised two armies the Parthian also campaigned during 54 already's ii possessed the bulk of Parthi as armies in media while his leading noblemen raised a second force from their own estates the plan was for ADIZ to knock Armenia out of the war while the aristocratic forces would play a sacrificial role in buying the king time the commander of the secondary army is known to us as serenus a name which refers to that of his noble family rather than his given name which we do not know according to Plutarch this man was the foremost Parthian of his time having no equal in stature talent and personal beauty the Tsarina clan also supposedly possessed the authority to place the crown on the heads of Parthian kings indicating their royal importers Sirena's quickly raised a formidable army and marched with it into southern Mesopotamia where the rebel Mithridates was fortified the Parthian commander assaulted salut Kia capturing it in short order before capturing with read a tease and sending him to Ora tease he was executed not long after while the key Mesopotamian cities of Babylon and Tessa Fon also fell to serenus so while Rome was making gains in 54 BC the Pantheon's were doing the same back in Syria the Roman commanders relatively inexperienced army was also short of cavalry as the contingent from Rome's client of Armenia had not arrived the situation was alleviated somewhat when Crassus his son Publius arrived to reinforce his father with 1000 Gallic war ceman these troops had been loaned by Caesar with whom Publius had been serving with distinction for years 54 B sees campaigning ended with the Romans on the front foot but with plenty of reason to be cautious a party ambassador was sent to speak with Crassus before the campaign's of 53 proclaiming that the King would generously allow him to retreat his envoy laughter dismissively upon the Romans insistence that he would give the party an envoy a reply in the Parthian capital of Seleucia in response the Envoy held out the palm of his hand to Crassus scornfully stating oke raciss hair will grow here before you see salut Kea after crossing the Euphrates at Zeugma Crassus decided against marching towards the Mesopotamian cities and instead marched east in May he knew that his Scouts had spotted Parthian forces in the region and wanted to defeat them in the field as Rome's legions approach the river bellick Scouts blundered into serenus his army and for brush bank suffering many casualties nevertheless they manage to inform Crassus who decided it was time to fight he ordered his troops to freshen up eat a quick meal and March that afternoon the two armies finally found one another on the plains near carry the Roman army lining up for battle at Calais comprised of seven legions at its core totaling roughly 34,000 legionaries accompanying this significant force were 4,000 native auxiliar and 4,000 light cavalry 1,000 of which were the Gauls brought from Caesar by Publius their Parthian enemy was a completely alien force from a totally different military tradition serena's brought no infantry at all to the battlefield constructing his army as a direct counter to Roman strengths in close quarters to this end 9,000 horse archers armed with short compound bows made up the majority of his army while 1,000 heavily armored cataracts equipped with heavy Lance's formed the flower of partyís nobility and Freeman [Music] as the Romans caught sight of their adversary they would have seen any merit li weak force barely armored at all this was yet another ingenious ploy by Sir eNOS who had cleverly concealed his numbers by hiding the depth of his army behind the width of an advanced guard in addition he had ordered the armies cataphracts to wear robes above their armor so that any observer would see them as just regular cavalry man rather than the truly lethal heavy night that they were encouraged into battle by his son Crassus marched to meet Serena Cesare me in battle thoroughly unaware of the danger he truly faced from the utterly prepared Parthian army at first Crassus arrayed his troops in a long extended line with cavalry on each wing to prevent encircle meant however he changed his mind at the last minute and reformed his forces into a square formation before advancing probably in an attempt to give the Roman army strength on all sides now to the terrifying battle roar of Parthian drums and bronze bells Sir Ernest led a full-scale cavalry charge against the Roman square with cataphracts in front and horse archers behind as they did so the Parthian general gave the order for his cataphracts to cast away their concealing robes simultaneously revealing their true nature in an attempt to damage the morale of the enemy unaffected and with their typical iron discipline the Romans locked their shields and braced for the charge however just before the impact Tsarina's his cavalry peeled around to the sides of kratos's square quickly encircling it with a swarm of highly mobile horse archers while The Cataracs pulled back and regrouped [Music] a short-lived attempt by the roman light troops to break the flanking maneuver was immediately met with a storm of arrows forcing them back into the square with their enemy pinned the mounted arches began unleashing a barrage of arrows upon the roman square from all sides used to dealing with arrow fire the legions employed their famous testudo confident that their heavy armor and shields could weather the storm however it quickly became clear that the unfamiliar barbed arrows used by the Parthian as well as their powerful compound bows were shockingly capable of penetrating roman protection as the horse archers loosed volley after volley into the enemy square the Romans began to suffer losses even as this went on Crassus must have felt hopeful despite the rain of missiles once the horse archers emptied their Quivers he must have thought the enemy horsemen would have to attack him close up or withdraw the triumvirate was in for a nasty surprise serenus now reveals the most cunning part of his plan a mobile rearming train of 1,000 camels carrying vast stores of arrows was sent out behind the Parthian cavalry so long as the mounted archers resupplied at different times and so long as the camels were evenly spaced the barrage would continue indefinitely if Crassus having realized what was happening did not make a move now the Romans would be killed where they stood with a mixed force of 4,000 cavalry and legionaries Publius was ordered to lead a breakout his contingent charged out of the square causing the Parthian horsemen in front of it to retreat almost immediately not wanting to lose the momentum his surprise attack had gained hopefully is pushed further right into Serena's counter trap as his retreating foe withdrew they shifted in the direction of their regrouped reserve of cataphracts which now charged with their lances the maneuverable mounted archers now turned on their pursuers the impact was devastating as soon as his elite heavy cavalry engaged the lightly equipped Roman horsemen the resurgent horse archers fired into their flank and into the massive incumbent legionaries it was all too much for the outgunned Romans and they fled defeated to a nearby hill and locked their shields ready to make a gallant last stand Publius determined not to desert his command ordered one of his soldiers to kill him all resistance on the hill now collapsed and a final thunderous charged by the Parthian cataracts at last destroyed this isolated unit back at the main force Crassus had a decision to make he could either retreat and leave his son to certain death or advance risk his whole army and hope to save him he chose the latter they had not gotten far when a cloud of dust and the beating of war drums drew Roman attention followed by the head of Publius mounted on a Lance at this horrifying sight room and morale finally broke Serena's employed his favorite tactic again The Cataracs charged the Romans Titan to their formation and then the horse archers encircled showering the square with arrows once again slowly bleeding the army to death until dusk ended the assault at nightfall the path ian's withdrew and camps near by leaving a devastated army behind it only 20,000 of the original 42,000 Roman troops remained to fight but many were injured Crassus was immobilized with grief and loss so the two surviving senior officers Casius and Octavius led the survivors in retreat to the town of carrhae the men who were too wounded to walk were ruthlessly left behind during the march panic would periodically take hold and the Romans would form up for battle before settling down again eventually they reached Caray and were brought inside the city still counting around 15,000 men when dawn broke the Parthian slaughtered the four thousand injured men who had been left behind and continued on to find Crassus Sarina's would not let him escape but he did not know where he was eventually figuring out he was in car a sirness went there but realized Crassus had fled into the hills he was subsequently found and ignominiously killed by Parthian soldiers after being tricked into folk peace negotiations the death of the triumvir and the destruction of his army destabilized the political situation in Rome leading to an eventual fracture between Pompey and Caesar the only section of Crassus his army to return safely to Syria was that led by one Gaius Cassius Longinus the man who would eventually conspire against Caesar in 44 BC Serena's had inflicted the worst defeat on the Romans in 150 years as an appropriate reward for this great service already's ii had him put to death for treason though parthia had gained victory in the first war between them and rome conflicts between the two states would last for centuries to come new videos on Roman and Iranian histories are on the way so make sure you are subscribed to our channel and have pressed the bell button we would like to express our gratitude to our patreon supporters and channel members who make the creation of our videos possible now you can also support us by buying our merchandise by the link in the description this is the kings and Generals channel and we will catch you on the next one

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Views: 693,203

Rating: 4.9475927 out of 5

Keywords: Carrhae, Rome, Roman Empire, Roman Republic, Crassus, Parthia, Parthian Empire, Surena, Caesar, Nisibis, Pompey, Mithridatic war, Mithridates, gallic wars, kings and generals, documentary, animated documentary, historia civilis, history, roman history, historical documentary, animated historical documentary, battle, tactics, strategies, roman army, army and tactics, julius caesar, full documentary, gergovia, alesia, richest man, Sassanids, valentian, battle of carrhae, western roman empire

Id: FVaADXhnxuE

Length: 20min 39sec (1239 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 11 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

This is the one that ended with the roman general getting molten gold poured down his throat right?

[u/passon16]

Haha, came to r/iran to see get a feel of the attitude inside the country regarding the rising tensions and found my boy Kings and Generals getting a nice shout out. Ah, Persian history... so cool.