Battle of Carrhae
| date | Beginning of June 53 BC Chr. |
|---|---|
| place | Carrhae , near Harran, northern Mesopotamia |
| output | Decisive victory for the Parthians |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Marcus Licinius Crassus † |
|
| Troop strength | |
|
6 legions , 4,000 horsemen, 4,000 lightly armed men in total: approx. 40,000 men |
about 10,000 riders |
| losses | |
|
20,000 killed |
unknown |
The battle of Carrhae took place in early June 53 BC. Chr. 30 kilometers south of Carrhae, now Harran , in the northern part of belonging to Turkey Mesopotamia instead.
Rome and the Parthians
Relations between Rome and the Parthian Empire
The first contact between Rome and the Parthian Empire took place in 96 BC. Instead of. Lucius Cornelius Sulla , at that time propaetor in the province of Cilicia in Asia Minor , met on the upper Euphrates with an embassy of the Parthian great king Mithridates II . Presumably at this meeting the Euphrates was identified as the border of interests of the two great powers. After a period of mutual neutrality, 69 BC. BC under Lucius Licinius Lucullus concluded a treaty that confirmed the Euphrates border. Even Pompey acknowledged the Euphrates, though its commander exceeded their campaigns several times the Euphrates.
Reasons for the campaign
“I want to give an answer to this in Seleucia.” According to Plutarch , this was the answer that Marcus Licinius Crassus gave to the embassy of the Parthian great king Orodes II when they asked him about the reason for the war. Even if this sentence should come from Plutarch's imagination, it makes it clear that there was no sufficient reason in Rome's public opinion at the time to start a war with the Parthian Empire. In ancient tradition, Crassus' motifs are lust for fame and the prospect of rich and, above all, easy prey.
As a member of the triumvirate that tried to control Roman politics in the 1950s, he was in competition with Pompey and Caesar . While both had excellent military reputations, Crassus had nothing to show in public but a less glorious victory over Spartacus' slave army. If he wanted to catch up with both militarily, he would need a great military success. Perhaps it also played a role in his considerations that at that time Orod II had prevailed in Parthia after long internal turmoil and that his rule was not yet fully consolidated.
Crassus began shortly after taking up his consulate in 55 BC. To recruit troops for the upcoming Parthian War. However, he found that this war was not enjoying any popularity. The optimatic opposition had managed to convince the public that there was insufficient reason for the impending war. No aggression whatsoever on the part of the Parthians had been reported, and even when Pompey's general crossed the Euphrates several times during the campaigns of Pompey, the Parthians saw no reason to counteract this. The mood was so much against this war that two tribunes tried to prevent Crassus from leaving because of ominous omens. When he left anyway, the tribune Ateius shouted terrible curses after him at the city gate in front of a burning altar.
The Parthian War
Crassus' departure for the campaign (55 BC)
After Crassus completed his enlistments, he broke in the winter of 55 BC. From Brundisium and landed with his army in Dyrrhachium . The Roman forces moved to Asia Minor via Epirus , Macedonia and Thrace , where they moved in the spring of 54 BC. Arrived and Crassus took over his governorship in Antioch on the Orontes . After assuming his governorship, Crassus had about nine legions .
First campaign (54 BC)
Crassus opened the war by crossing the Euphrates at Zeugma at the head of his army of probably seven legions . Without encountering great resistance - the Parthian king Orodes II had not yet fully consolidated his rule and did not have a sufficient force to send against the Romans - the Roman associations managed to advance to Carrhae and from there along the Belich , a tributary of the Euphrates, to Nikephorion. The Mesopotamian cities east of the Euphrates surrendered to the Romans without violence, including Carrhae, Ichnae and Nikephorion. After the triumvir had left about 7,000 infantry and 1,000 horsemen as a garrison in the larger Mesopotamian towns, he withdrew with the bulk of his army to the winter camps of his province of Syria, although he would have had the opportunity to attack Seleucia immediately and Ktesiphon to achieve rapid success. Presumably the Roman general had recognized that his cavalry formations were completely inadequate for the fight against the cavalry superior Parthians.
The developments during the winter of 54/53 BC Chr.
Developments on the Roman side
The main goals that Crassus had during the winter of 54/53 BC. Chr., Were on the one hand to increase its cavalry formations and on the other hand to secure the financing of the war for the next few years. So he tried to get larger equestrian associations from the Armenian King Artavasdes and other allies and resorted to the temple treasures of his province; Precious metal to the value of - possibly - 10,000 talents is said to have been transported from the temple in Jerusalem (historical sources are known to be prone to exaggerations). Crassus' son, Publius Licinius Crassus , also joined him at that time with a 1,000-strong division of Celtic horsemen. An agreement was reached with the Armenians, according to which the Armenian troops were to invade the Parthian Empire from the north - the proposal of the Armenian King Artavasdes, who offered the Romans to invade the Parthian Empire via historical Armenia and in this case 10,000 armored riders and 3,000 men The Roman general refused to provide foot soldiers.
Developments on the Parthian side
On the Parthian side, Orodes II had meanwhile succeeded in consolidating his rule. He now had sufficient military strength to take action against both the Roman associations and the breakaway Armenians. While the great king himself took over the supreme command in the fight against the Armenians, he handed over the supreme command in the fight against the Romans to a general from the royal house of the Suras, Surenas .
With an advance to the lower reaches of the Tigris , Orodes II succeeded in forestalling the Armenians before they could comply with their agreement with the Romans to invade the Parthian Empire from the north. The great king tied such considerable forces that Crassus, as it turned out, could have urgently needed. Surenas, on the other hand, had attacked and wiped out the Roman occupation troops left behind in the Mesopotamian cities with his army.
Second campaign and the battle of Carrhae (53 BC)
Under this overall military situation, which developed unfavorably for the Roman side, Crassus led his army in the spring of 53 BC. Also this time at Zeugma over the Euphrates. According to Plutarch, the Roman army was a total of six legions , 4,000 horsemen and 4,000 lightly armed men; on the basis of this information, a total strength of between 36,000 and 43,000 men can be concluded. Crassus first followed the Euphrates, and then proceeded with a swivel through the sandy desert to the east against the Belich. Crassus is said to have undertaken this swing, on which the Roman officers did not agree, on the advice of an Armenian prince, Abgar von Osroene, and thus fell into the trap of Surenas. This is because he had so far avoided any meeting with the Roman armed forces and lured them into the forest and waterless desert. After the Roman vanguard had come into contact with the enemy, Crassus had his army form a square, each side consisting of twelve cohorts and corresponding cavalry. While Crassus took up position in the center, Gaius Cassius Longinus commanded the left wing and his son Publius Crassus the right wing. In this list it finally came at the beginning of June 53 BC. 30 kilometers south of Carrhae for battle.
Surenas, who had hidden his main forces all the time behind the advance detachments, let his heavy cavalry attack head-on. The Parthians tried to break through the Roman ranks but were repulsed. The heavy cavalry retreated as if fleeing, while the light cavalry tried to bypass and trap Crassus on the right flank . To prevent this, Crassus gave his cavalry the order to take action against the Parthian horsemen, but the Roman cavalry was forced to retreat under the hail of arrows from the Parthians. Now the Roman general gave his son Publius the order to take action against the enemy with a force of 1,300 horsemen, 500 archers and eight cohorts. Before this attack by the young Crassus, the Parthians withdrew and thus lured the Roman association further and further away from the bulk, in order to then enclose and destroy them. Publius Crassus, badly wounded during this battle, allowed his own servant to kill him. Spurred on by this success, the Parthians continued their attacks on the Roman army with even greater vigor. The whole time the Roman army was bombarded with arrows, parts of the army that were blown off were attacked with heavy cavalry. The Parthians even succeeded in encircling the Roman associations. The hope of the Romans that the enemy would soon have used up their supply of arrows turned out to be unfounded, because the Parthians kept supplying new arrows with a corps of 1,000 camels. It was only when night fell that the Parthians gave up their opponents. While Crassus, who on that day had lost 10,000 men to death or wounding, became apathetic, the Roman commanders called a council of war. Since a continuation of the offensive was no longer possible due to the great loss of cavalry, it was decided to march immediately under cover of night to Carrhae, while around 4,000 wounded had to be left behind.
The withdrawal
The Parthians were made aware of the retreat of the main Roman armed forces by the screams of the Roman soldiers they had left behind, but they decided not to pursue them during the night. The next morning the Parthians stormed the Roman camp and killed the 4,000 wounded left behind. When the Roman army finally reached Carrhae, Crassus had lost four more cohorts - they had separated from the main forces under the leadership of their legate , had lost their way, and had been completely wiped out by the Parthians. After a few days in Carrhae, it was decided to continue the march back and make your way to the Roman province of Syria (almost identical to present-day Syria ). An attempt was made to reach the protective mountains to the north, but the way back was difficult. Crassus himself was misled with the core of the army by a traitorous leader and trapped on a hill. The Parthian general offered Crassus negotiations, which Crassus had to accept at the urging of his soldiers. When negotiations began, Crassus was gutted after refusing to mount a horse on which the Parthians wanted to bring him to their camp. The remaining Roman troops then surrendered without a fight, only a few detachments, including one led by Cassius, managed to break through to Syria. All in all, 20,000 Romans were killed and 10,000 were taken prisoner.
The consequences
The Battle of Carrhae was the first clash between the two great powers Rome and Parthia and ended in one of the greatest defeats in Rome's history. Nevertheless, the devastating defeat did not change the balance of forces in the Orient, as the Parthians did not go straight over to a major offensive. In the following years there was also no great war against Rome, especially since there were turmoil of the throne in Parthia, which, with interruptions, lasted until after the death of Augustus. Still, the battle shaped relations between the two powers for more than three decades. Because Crassus 'unsuccessful Parthian campaign led the Roman people and especially the senatorial upper class to the view that the legions' lost standards (Aquilae) must be regained, if necessary by force. Caesar was just about to begin a campaign in the east when he was 44 BC. Was murdered; Marc Anton's attempt to defeat the Parthians militarily failed a few years later. When Augustus 30 BC After having become sole ruler, he was expected to start a war of revenge in the east. It was, among other things, the pressure of this demand that Augustus had to take into account when he in the year 20 BC. Made peace with the Parthians. In exchange for the recognition of the Euphrates border , the Romans got back the standards they had lost at Carrhae, as well as some surviving prisoners of war. In order to hide the fact that he could not avenge Crassus, Augustus had this negotiated peace presented to the Roman public as a bloodlessly won great victory over the Parthians.
swell
- Appian . Translated by Otto Veh . 2 volumes, Stuttgart 1987–1989.
- Cassius Dio . Translated by Otto Veh. 5 volumes, Zurich / Munich 1985–1987.
- Plutarch . Translated by Konrat Ziegler . 6 volumes, Zurich / Stuttgart 1954–1965.
- Velleius Paterculus . Translated by Marion Giebel. Stuttgart 1989.
literature
- Ernst Baltrusch : Caesar and Pompey . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2004, ISBN 3-534-16490-3 .
- Heinz Bellen : Fundamentals of Roman History Volume I. From the royal era to the transition from the republic to the principality . Primusverlag / Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1994, ISBN 3-89678-072-7 .
- Jochen Bleicken : History of the Roman Republic . 6th revised and updated edition. Oldenbourg, Munich / Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-486-49666-2 .
- Karl Christ : Caesar . CH Beck, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-406-38493-5 .
- Karl Christ: Crisis and Fall of the Roman Republic . 4th, revised and updated edition. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2000, ISBN 3-534-14518-6 .
- BA Marshall: Crassus, A Political Biography . Amsterdam 1976.
- AM Mason: Marcus Crassus and the late Roman Republic , Columbia and London 1977.
- Kurt Regling : Crassus' Parthian War , In: Klio . Volume 7, 1907, pp. 359-394.
- Gareth C. Sampson: The Defeat of Rome. Crassus, Carrhae, and the Invasion of the East. Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley 2008, ISBN 9781844156764 .
- Francis Smith: The Battle of Carrhae. In: Historical magazine . Volume 115, 1916, pp. 237-262 ( online ).
- Dieter Timpe : The meaning of the battle of Karrhae . In: Museum Helveticum . Volume 19 (1962), pp. 104-129 doi : 10.5169 / seals-17754 .
- JM Tucci: The Battle of Carrhae: the effects of a military disaster on the Roman Empire , University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia / Missouri 1992.
- Giusto Traina : La resa di Roma. Battaglia a Carre, 9 giugno 53 aC , Laterza, Rome-Bari 2010.
The Battle of Carrhae in Literature
- Ben Kane , The Forgotten Legion (Arrow Books 2008); German translation The Forgotten Legion (Bastei Lübbe 2016).
Web links
- Plutarch, The life of Crassus in English translation by LacusCurtius
- Portrait and information on Marcus Licinius Crassus