Battle of Carrhae

Battle of Carrhae
Part of Roman-Parthian Wars
Map of the Battle of Carrhae
Date 53 BC Location Near Carrhae (Harran), Upper Mesopotamia Result Parthian victory[a][1]
Belligerents
Roman Republic	Parthian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Marcus Licinius Crassus † Publius Licinius Crassus † Gaius Cassius Longinus	Surena Silaces
Strength
36,000–43,000 men 28,000–35,000 legionaries 4,000 cavalry 1,000 Gallic cavalry 4,000 light infantry	10,000 1,000 cataphracts 9,000 horse archers
Casualties and losses
30,000 20,000 killed[2] 10,000 captured 5,000–10,000 escaped	Unknown, but minimal

The Battle of Carrhae (Latin pronunciation: [ˈkarrae̯]) was fought in 53 BC between the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire near the ancient town of Carrhae (present-day Harran, Turkey). An invading force of seven legions of Roman heavy infantry under Marcus Licinius Crassus was lured into the desert and decisively defeated by a mixed cavalry army of heavy cataphracts and light horse archers led by the Parthian general Surena. On such flat terrain, the Legion proved to have no viable tactics against the highly-mobile Parthian horsemen, and the slow and vulnerable Roman formations were surrounded, exhausted by constant attacks, and eventually crushed. Crassus was killed along with the majority of his army. It is commonly seen as one of the earliest and most important battles between the Roman and Parthian Empires and one of the most crushing defeats in Roman history. According to the poet Ovid in Book 6 of his poem Fasti, the battle occurred on 9 June.

Crassus, a member of the First Triumvirate and the wealthiest man in Rome, had been enticed by the prospect of military glory and riches and decided to invade Parthia without the official consent of the Senate. Rejecting an offer from the Armenian King Artavasdes II to allow Crassus to invade Parthia via Armenia, Crassus marched his army directly through the deserts of Mesopotamia. His forces clashed with Surena's troops near Carrhae. Surena's cavalry killed or captured most of the Roman soldiers. Crassus himself was killed when truce negotiations turned violent.

His death ended the First Triumvirate. The following four-year period of peace between the remaining two members of the Triumvirate, Julius Caesar and Pompey, argues against the view that Crassus had been a peacekeeper within the group and supports the views of most Roman historians that friction between Crassus and Pompey had always been a greater cause of tension than that between Caesar and Pompey.

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