[Teaser] Deadly Moments: The Aftermath of Carrhae

I wanted to share some upcoming art and a quick script teaser for our upcoming Deadly Moments episode on the The Aftermath of Carrhae, debuting later this week.

The Battle

A quick recap for how we got here. In 53 BC, General Marcus Licinius Crassus led an invasion into Parthia by way of Syria. Crossing the Euphrates, he brought with him some 28,000 legionaries, 4,000 light infantry, and 4,000 cavalry. Near the town of Carrhae he was met by the Parthian General Surena at the head of 9,000 horse archers, 1,000 cataphracts, and a baggage train of 1,000 camels. Crassus at first extended his lines to prevent an envelopment but soon reverted to a hollow square upon receiving new reports on the nature of the enemy force. This greatly increased the protection of his army but crippled its maneuverability. With the initiative now yielded to the Parthians, Surena was able to begin methodically picking the Roman square apart. Here is how Plutarch describes the scene:

“When Crassus ordered his light-armed troops to make a charge, they did not advance far, but encountering a multitude of arrows, abandoned their undertaking and ran back for shelter among the men-at-arms, among whom they caused the beginning of disorder and fear, for these now saw the velocity and force of the arrows, which fractured armor, and tore their way through every covering alike, whether hard or soft.”

Our sources note that for a time the Romans hoped to merely outlast the storm of arrows and then make a break for safety under cover of darkness. However these plans were dashed when they saw caravans of enemy camels arriving with fresh supplies. Sitting back was no longer an option. Crassus thus resolved to send out a large attack meant to drive the enemy back. Plutarch reports that this force would be led by his own son Publius along with 1,300 cavalry, 500 foot archers, and eight legionary cohorts. They made initial progress in driving the foe back. However in doing so they became overextended and fell prey to a classic feigned retreat. The Parthians now wheeled back on the isolated force. Here is how Plutarch puts it:

“The [enemy] stationed their mail-clad horsemen in front of the Romans, and then with the rest of their cavalry in loose array rode round them, tearing up the surface of the ground, and raising from the depths great heaps of sand which fell in limitless showers of dust, so that the Romans could neither see clearly nor speak plainly, but, being crowded into a narrow compass and falling upon one another, were shot, and died no easy nor even speedy death.

For, in the agonies of convulsive pain, and writhing about the arrows, they would break them off in their wounds, and then in trying to pull out by force the barbed heads which had pierced their veins and sinews, they tore and disfigured themselves the more. Thus many died, and the survivors also were incapacitated for fighting. And when Publius urged them to charge the enemy's mail-clad horsemen, they showed him that their hands were riveted to their shields and their feet nailed through and through to the ground, so that they were helpless either for flight or for self-defence.”

It’s at this time that Publius rose to the occasion and charged boldly into the ranks of the enemy. It was a ferocious battle but the heat and the enemy quickly got the better of them. A severely wounded Publius now pulled his remaining men back to a nearby sandy hill where they hoped to find better odds. However the sloping terrain had the perverse effect of exposing more men to the withering shower of arrows. Desperate messengers were sent back to the main army calling for aide but it was unclear if any managed to escape. As the noose tightened around the neck of this Roman force, apparently some officers began to panic, urging Publius to flee on horse while there may yet be time. Plutarch claims that instead of taking this dishonorable route, the injured general chose to remain with his doomed men and die by his own sword. As others in the leadership corp followed suit the rank and file survivors fought on desperately. In short order the Parthians overwhelmed the hill with no more than 500 of the original 5,000 Romans being taken alive.

Tidings of these events made their way back to Crassus with conflicting reports. The initial messages and thinning of the enemy ranks seemed to indicate that the sally had been successful in routing the enemy. The main Roman force thus managed to reform and reposition itself on sloping ground where it awaited the return of Publius. However as the hours dragged on and the clouds of dust in the distance only grew taller it was clear that something had gone terribly wrong. A few messengers trickled in through the desert to report that the Roman force was lost unless immediate aid was sent. Crassus was torn between saving his son and risking the rest of his army. As he began to slip into a dreadful mental state, the drums of the foe were heard again, signaling the beginning of a second battle. Swarms of Parthians began appearing on the horizon. Plutarch claims that the spectacle of their return was made all the more horrifying by a rider who bore the severed head of Publius in full view of the Roman army.

This must have dealt an incredible blow to the morale of the legions and certainly their commander. Speeches were reportedly made to raise their spirits but few listened and when hastened to raise a battle cry it was delivered weak, feeble, and uneven. Such timidity only further emboldened the Parthians who now unleashed fresh attacks. These proved more devastating than ever as the Roman army had been stripped of most of its mounted and ranged forces which might have allowed them to fight back. Thus with one side effectively unarmed the battle devolved into a slaughter. Here is how Plutarch puts it:

“Then, as the enemy got to work, their light cavalry rode round on the flanks of the Romans and shot them with arrows, while the mail-clad horsemen in front, plying their long spears, kept driving them together into a narrow space, except those who, to escape death from the arrows, made bold to rush desperately upon their foes. These did little damage, but met with a speedy death from great and fatal wounds, since the spear which the Parthians thrust from their horses was heavy with steel, and often had impetus enough to pierce through two men at once.”

Cassius Dio further adds that:

“The Romans would have perished utterly, but for the fact that some of the pikes of the barbarians were bent and others were broken, while the bow strings snapped under the constant shooting, the missiles were exhausted, the swords all blunted, and, most of all, that the men themselves grew weary of the slaughter.”

It was ultimately only by the grace of nightfall that the Battle of Carrhae would conclude. By all accounts, the Roman army had been defeated and would now be forced to return home. This is where most narratives of the disaster conclude. However for the men on the ground, it was just the beginning of their nightmare.