Three basic facts defined Marcus Licinius
Crassus life. First, he was rich. A billionaire, by our standards. Second, he used that wealth to support great
politicians. I've talked before about how he was secretly
funneling money to Clodius behind the scenes, but before that he did the same thing with
Caesar, and other populists before him. Third, Crassus's entire career was marked
by his rivalry with Pompey. It started decades earlier, when Pompey took
credit for a war that Crassus had won, and over the years the grievances piled up. And yet, time and time again, circumstance
forced the two men to work together. That brings us to their second consulship
together, in 55 B.C.E. Late in the year, Crassus was getting ready
to leave Rome and head to Syria, for his 5-year term as governor. It was an open secret that once Crassus got
to Syria, he intended to go to war against the Parthians. On the day of his departure, a crowd confronted
him, lead by a Tribune of the Plebs. The Tribune tried to use his Veto to stop
Crassus from leaving the city, but another Tribune stepped forward and Veto'd his Veto. The crowd blocked his way, and accused him
of going to war for his own personal greed. They refused to let Crassus pass until Pompey
showed up and calmed everyone down. I'm sure Crassus found it super annoying that
it was Pompey who had to rescue him. One more grievance! Add it to the list! Crassus arrived in Syria early, and started
to get everything ready for his unprovoked war against the Parthian Empire. In the spring, Crassus took command of his
legions, and marched east. His son Publius had come from Gaul with some
Gallic cavalry, and was now serving as Crassus's cavalry commander. The army reached the Euphrates river, which
marked the boarder between Roman Syria and Parthian Mesopotamia. He crossed the river, and just like that,
Crassus had started a war with the Parthians. Many of the nearby settlements had sizable
Greek populations, and were reasonably friendly towards Rome. As Crassus approached with his army, many
of them felt comfortable surrendering to the Romans without a fight. But it wasn't always so easy. One city named Zenodotium sent a friendly
message to Crassus asking for a Roman garrison. Crassus sent 100 men, basically a Roman Century,
to occupy the city. When the Romans arrived, the locals ambushed
them, and had them arrested. Later, the entire Century was executed. When Crassus discovered what happened, he
showed up with his entire army. He stormed the city, and sold the its inhabitants
into slavery. For the rest of the summer, he marched all
over Mesopotamia, capturing settlements, and installing Roman garrisons. At the end of the season, he turned his army
around and marched back to Syria. His campaign was a success. He left 8,000 Roman soldiers behind, scattered
throughout Mesopotamia in small garrisons, guarding his new conquests. But one thing should have been bothering him. So far, the Parthians had not responded. That winter, the King of Armenia, who was
an ally to Rome, came to see Crassus. The King asked Crassus to consider invading
through Armenia, rather than through Mesopotamia. He said that going through the mountains would
give the Roman infantry a huge advantage against the Parthian cavalry. If he agreed, the King promised to provide
Crassus with an additional 30,000 infantry and 16,000 cavalry, which would basically
double the size of his army. This isn't explicitly said in our sources,
but I'm sure that in return, the Armenian King wanted a slice of Crassus's conquests. Crassus thought about it, but in the end he
refused. His objective was to annex Mesopotamia, and
so far, that was going pretty well. Our ancient sources all think that this was
a stupid decision, and I can't say I disagree. 46,000 Armenians is a lot of Armenians. Nevertheless, the Armenian King returned home,
and the next year, Crassus crossed the Euphrates again with 43,000 men. So far Crassus had made an effort to stay
close to the Euphrates river, but one day, Crassus's scouts came across the signs of
an army, marching away from the river, into the desert. This must be the Parthian response. Some of Crassus's subordinates advised him
to pull back into one of his garrisoned towns and gather some intelligence on this mystery
army, but Crassus wasn't interested in that. He ordered the Romans to march off into the
desert, in pursuit of the enemy army. Crassus advanced at a breakneck pace. He forced his men to eat on the march, and
only let them stop for a few moments at any water sources. Crassus's subordinates continued to urge him
to turn around, or at least stop at a water source for a couple of days, but he ignored
their advice. After a time, some of Crassus's scouts returned. They reported that the a huge Parthian army
was very close, and that they were all on horseback. Crassus ordered his men to deploy in a long,
thin line. This was a pretty standard tactic. Since the mounted Parthians would have mobility
on their side, the Romans had to protect themselves against being flanked. Elongating the Roman line would force the
Parthians to do the same, which would limit the size of any Parthian flanking maneuver. This is ancient warfare 101. But Crassus wasn't sure of himself. The fact that the Parthian army was all cavalry
was throwing him for a loop. He changed his mind. As his men were mid-deployment, he ordered
them to come back. Instead, he had them deploy in a hollow square. This would allow the Romans to fight on all
sides, removing any danger of being flanked, or even surrounded. On paper this isn't necessarily the worst
idea in the world, but it's definitely unorthodox. It's one of those "it's so crazy it just might
work" ideas. Crassus's subordinates tried to talk him out
of it, but his mind was made up. The Roman square advanced as one, until they
caught sight of the Parthian army. It turns out that the Roman scouts exaggerated
a bit. The Parthian army wasn't that huge. In fact it was considerably smaller than the
Roman one. There were only 10,000 Parthians facing off
against 43,000 Romans. Most of the Parthian army was horse archers,
with some armoured heavy cavalry mixed in. The Romans were already in their little square,
so the Parthian cavalry was unopposed as they immediately surrounded them. When they were in position, they began to
be rain arrows down on the Romans from all sides. Crassus responded by sending skirmishers forward
to drive the horse archers away, but the Parthian arrows forced the skirmishers to retreat. The Parthians continued to pound the Roman
square with missiles. Now it's not quite as bad as it sounds. The Romans knew this was coming. They were shoulder to shoulder, and everybody
was protected by their giant shields. Most ancient archers could burn through their
supply of arrows in like 10 or 15 minutes, so the Romans just had to sit there and wait
for this to happen. Then, they could close in with the enemy,
and fight on their terms. So they waited. And waited. And waited. The arrows did not stop. It turns out that the Parthians had brought
a lot of arrows. Like, a lot. Apparently they had a small army of camels
with them, each weighed down with thousands of arrows. Their only job was to run back and forth resupplying
the horse archers. They had basically had an infinite supply. This possibility never occurred to the Romans. Their shields still protected them from the
worst of it, but a small percentage of the arrows inevitably slipped through the cracks. Another small percentage would hit a shield
at exactly the right angle and go straight through the wood. Not very many Romans were being killed, but
an alarming number were taking arrows to the arms or feet. In desperation, Crassus ordered the entire
square forward. Maybe if they could get close enough, the
Parthians would have to stop shooting and pull back. It didn't work. The arrows continued to fall. This was getting bad. Something needed to change. So Crassus ordered his son, Publius, to take
the cavalry and a legion and break through the encircling Parthians. Publius gathered the men, and charged. And it worked. The Parthian horse archers turned and ran. Publius pursued. But it didn't take long for Publius to make
an unfortunate discovery. While retreating, the Parthian archers could
turn a full 180 degrees on their horses and continue to shoot their arrows. This is called the Parthian Shot, and it was
a devastating tactic, especially in scenarios like this. But Publius and his cavalry ignored the arrows
and kept up the momentum, chasing the Parthians until the rest of the battle vanished in the
distance. Then, the retreating Parthians were joined
by another group, doubling their size. The Parthians swung around, and attacked. It was all a set-up! Publius realized his mistake too late. His small force was immediately surrounded,
and the arrows began coming down faster than ever. The infantry was totally pinned down. Publius rallied the cavalry, and charged. The Parthian heavy cavalry responded, and
intercepted them. The Parthians were armoured, and the Romans
were not. Publius's cavalry did their best, but it wasn't
enough. Publius was badly wounded, and the cavalry
retreated. They endured the Parthian arrows for a while
longer, but eventually the arrows stopped, and the Parthian cavalry charged. Publius's men were in no condition to put
up a fight. 5,300 Romans were left dead on the field,
and another 500 surrendered to the Parthians. Publius ordered one of his men to kill him,
so that he wouldn't be taken alive. Crassus didn't know that any of this was happening. All he knew was that Publius had broken through,
and that the Parthians had diverted some of their strength to deal with him. Then, a messenger arrived. He told Crassus that Publius was being overrun
by the Parthians. For a time, Crassus was unable to make a decision. Finally, he ordered the entire square forward. They would march to Publius's aid. Crassus had no idea that his son was already
dead. As the Romans were getting ready to march,
a Parthian horseman came forward. He started riding back and forth in front
of the Roman line. He was carrying something. A spear. On the end of the spear, there was a severed
head. It was Publius. The Romans had endured a lot, but this was
a terrifying sight. They began to lose their nerve. A groups of Romans broke from the army and
tried to fight through the encircling Parthians on their own, but the Parthian heavy cavalry
intercepted them and cut them down. Then, the Parthians continued pounding the
Romans with arrows. Finally, the sun started to set. The Parthians pulled back. They had rules against fighting at night,
and besides, the Romans were on foot. They weren't going far. The Romans threw together a haphazard camp,
and collected their wounded. There were a lot of them. Crassus was inconsolable. He spent hours huddled on the ground, unable
to move, mourning his son. He didn't have the heart to face his men. Two of Crassus's legates came forward and
told the army that they were taking command, and that they had the full support of the
rank-and-file Centurions. I guess if you want to be technical you could
call this a mutiny, although Crassus didn't seem to care. The Legates decided that the Romans would
march straight through the night. The nearest town was Carrhae, which had walls
and a Roman garrison. If they could reach Carrhae, they would be
safe. They didn't bother taking down their camp,
they just left it behind, along with anybody that wasn't strong enough to walk. Crassus tagged along, but didn't try to reassert
his command. Nobody could see a thing in the darkness. It was a mess. People kept on imagining that the Parthians
were attacking, and sounding the alarm. Of the people that could walk, a tonne were
wounded, and after a while, they had a hard time keeping up. A whole bunch of wounded Romans were just
abandoned on the march. It was bad. But by sunrise the next day, most of the exhausted
survivors made it to Carrhae. The Parthians descended on the abandoned Roman
camp. There were still a bunch of wounded there,
and the Parthians killed them. Then the Parthians fanned out all over the
desert, looking for Roman stragglers, and there were a lot of them. Some had been abandoned on the march, and
some had simply got lost in the dark. The Parthians found one group of 2,000 that
was walking in the wrong direction. They captured as many as they could. The Parthian general figured out that Crassus
and the rest of the army were in Carrhae, and went to negotiate. He told them that it would be in everyone's
best interest if the Romans just left Mesopotamia. But, just to be sure, he wanted a formal peace
treaty, and he wanted Crassus to sign it. Crassus didn't want anything to do with this. He was a broken man. But the Roman army was either near or past
mutiny, depending on your definition, and they just wanted to go home. They forced Crassus to go with the Parthians. A small group of Romans went with him. What happened next was...very strange. The Parthian general made an over the top
display about how it was so undignified for a Roman general to be walking on foot. He ordered a horse brought in. The horse arrived, and it was wearing a very
expensive golden bridle. Like, obnoxiously expensive. This was meant to somehow humiliate Crassus
for his wealth. The Parthian general told Crassus to get up
on the horse. Crassus tried to politely decline, but the
Parthian general insisted. Crassus was like, "okay..." When he mounted the horse, and the Parthian
holding its reins started running back and forth erratically, smacking the animal and
making it go nuts. Crassus was hanging on for dear life. The Romans stepped in. This was weird, and an undignified, and it
had to stop. As they approached, somebody drew a sword. There was a brief struggle, and second later,
Romans and Parthians were lying dead on the ground. Crassus had been thrown from the horse. Another Parthian came forward, and drew his
sword. He cut off Crassus's hand, and then his head. Later, according to one account, the Parthians
mocked Crassus's wealth one more time, by melting down some gold, and pouring it down
the throat of the severed head. The Parthian general turned around and rode
back east with his Roman prisoners. He picked one Roman, and told him that from
now on, he would answer to the name of Crassus. He dressed his fake Crassus as a woman, and
hired a bunch of prostitutes to follow him around. He then grabbed more Romans, and dressed them
as lictors, or bodyguards, and had them follow this fake Crassus as well. He gave these fake lictors fake fasces, which
normally represented the power of the Roman state. Affixed to the top of the fasces were the
severed heads of other Roman captives. The Parthian general took this horiffic procession
on tour through Parthian territory. He called it Crassus's Triumph. In the end, a Parthian army of 10,000 defeated
a Roman army of 43,000. 20,000 Romans were killed and another 10,000
were captured. The legions' eagle standards were also taken,
which was an extra level of humiliation. At the time it was one of the worst defeats
in Roman history. Back in Rome, Crassus's death came as a shock. Politically, it changed everything. The Reform faction lost its most prominent
financial supporter. Pompey was now the richest man in Rome, and
within a year, he would be distancing himself from Caesar and aligning with the Conservatives. Roman politics would never be the same.
Crassus is such a tragic character. Overshadowed by his rival Pompey, while circumstances forced him to work together with him at every turn. Crassus 'the Rich' doesn't sound nearly as respected as Pompey 'the Great.'
He was rich, and tirelessly pursued more wealth, hoping that his money would eventually gain him the adoration he craved, the adoration his rival always received and stole from him. But while money was envied in Rome, only military victory was truly admired.
So he heads east, hoping to finally prove himself as Pompey's equal (or perhaps his better). Eager to waste no time, he took the shortest route to the Parthians, and marched right into his own death.
The entire thing plays like a Game of Thrones character, right down to the gold being poured down his throat as a mocking testament to his vanity and wealth.
Definitely one of my favorite channels.
53 B.C.E. : Forming a box is considered unorthodox
2017 C.E.: Ugh look at this guy forming a noob box.
I can't imagine what it must have felt like to watch your friends get killed and left behind only to be forced to dress like a woman and pretend to be your dead leader.
Ancient times were simply weird sometimes.
Love this channel, Thanks for the link.
So the square formation was a bad move. But was there anything they could have done on foot against mounted archers? It seems like they were doomed the second Crassus decided to pursue into the desert.
Crassus you fucking idiot.
A new Historia Civilis! Thank you for notifying me of this.
How can these videos make me feel so much for these tiny colored blocks?