num_pages: 224
description: During the last stages of the Republic Rome suffered its greatest military disaster since Hannibals invasion of Italy over 150 years earlier though this defeat had more far-reaching consequences. While Rome was able to recover from its disaster at Cannae it never retrieved the results of Carrhae a defeat that sealed the East as an impenetrable barrier to Roman ambition and also signaled the demise of the Republic. In 53 BC Marcus Crassus the richest member of Romes ruling Triumvirate which also included Caesar and Pompey decided to enhance his military stature with an invasion of the Parthian Empire centered on Mesopotamia (todays Iraq). His 36000 legionaries crossed the Euphrates and were met by a much smaller Parthian army albeit one mounted on horseback in the dispersed missile-firing steppe-war tradition. Later called to a parlay he was forced to attend by his nearly mutinous soldiers Crassus and his officers were murdered by the Parthians. The now-leaderless Roman army disintegrated only some 6000 escaped to escape. At least 20000 Roman legionaries were left dead on the field with 10000 more captured. The author also provides an analysis of the mysterious Parthians a people who vied with Rome as the most powerful empire on earth. Though their polity and records have long since disappeared the Parthians mark on history is clear enough through their decisive victory over Rome at Carrhae. In this book Dr. Gareth Sampson currently a tutor in ancient history at the University of Manchester lays out not only the gruesome outcome of the battle but its immense consequences on history.
language: English
title: The Defeat of Rome in the East: Crassus, the Parthians, and the Disastrous Battle of Carrhae, 53 BC
publisher: Casemate