What Happened in the Aftermath of Carrhae? (53 BC) DOCUMENTARY
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- čas přidán 6. 05. 2022
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The battle of Carrhae between the Roman Army and Parthian Army stands as one of the great military disasters of history. Justifiably, much attention is spent discussing the various factors of the campaign and battle which ultimately led to the defeat. However lost in this analysis is the human story of those who experienced the realities of war. In this video we walk in the shoes of the doomed Roman army to recreate the aftermath of Carrhae.
We begin by discussing what voices of the past have to tell us of the event in the first place. It turns out that many writings from antiquity discuss the battle but only two, the account of Plutarch and Cassius Dio, give us enough granularity to understand what happened on the ground level. It is these sources which serve as the narrative base for our episode but the viewer is warned of the potential biases involved in taking their words at face value.
Our history documentary provides a quick recap on how Crassus ended up at the Battle of Carrhae and the dilemma he was faced when general Surena surrounded the legions with his mounted force of Parthian Horse Archers and Cataphracts. We then cover the blow by blow unravelling of the Roman army as it is ripped apart and hunted across the deserts back to Syria.
Other related episodes on the Battle of Carrhae:
What Was Crassus Thinking? - The "fool" of Carrhae • What Was Crassus Think...
Roman POWs in China? - The Fate of Crassus's Lost Legions • Roman POWs in China? -...
Deadly Moments in History - Avenging Crassus • Deadly Moments in Hist...
Sources and Suggested Reading:
Plutarch, "Life of Crassus" Chapter 23
Cassius Dio, "Roman History Book XL" Chapter 20
Credits:
Research = Invicta
Writing = Invicta
Narration = Invicta
Artwork = Penta Limited
Editing = Penta Limited
#History
#Documentary
#Rome
We flip sides and cover the history of the eastern horse archers on this video czcams.com/video/StYxs7JHHeE/video.html
Hey Invicta, wasnt foot archers supposed to have a better accuracy and area of shoot tham mounted archers,
You use the name Parthians instead of Iranians!!! This is wrong! We had in Europe Romans and in the middle east there was Iran. Using a wrong name could be confusing and missleading!!!
I read somewhere, an emissary from the Persian Surena, spoke with Crassus. It was asked "What do you want?" Crassus replied "You will get it at Ctesiphon".
To wit the Persian replied "You will see Ctesiphon when hair grows on the palm of my hand"
That is correct
Wasn't it Seleucia instead of Ctesiphon ?
@@ramtin5152 No it was Ctesiphon or in Persian we pronounce it Teesphoon. Arabs call it Madaae'n. Crassus said I will answer your question in Ctesiphon and Surena told him " If you see a sting of hair in the palm of my hand then you'll see Ctesiphon " which means dream on
@@ftahmasebi9059 It was Seleucia
Watch kings and generals video about battle of Carrhae
It wasn't Surena who said that it was the envoy of king Orodes II
@@ramtin5152 I know that , that’s the westerner version of the story but in Iran, among history instructors, they believe, it was the face to face meeting of Surena and Crassus before the beginning of the war. Apart from all that, Crassus mentioned the name of Ctesiphon to answer his question.
"Erro crasso", or "Crassus error" is a something we say in Brazil to point out a huge mistake or blunder
In Spain too!!!, "Craso error"
"Cobras fumantes, Crassus!" The Parthians.
In Spanish too, Craso error, but this is coincidental. Craso just comes from the old latin word for big/fat.
@@LOLquendoTV Yeah, it is the same in portuguese, i don't think it has any relation to Crassus
In English too, the word “crass” means “gross” or “rude” (“He told me a really crass joke”) but as LordDarius points out, it’s derived from the Latin word “crassus,” meaning “thick” or “gross.” Since the Roman cognomen (the third name) was originally a nickname, I wonder if the family acquired it because an ancestor was obese or some kind of slob!
A collective series about the worst Roman defeats in history would be a great concept battles like Pliska, Yarmouk, Manzikert, Cannae are some catastrophic ones I can think of
There's plenty of content along those lines but I think we can find a fresh take on it along the lines of these "aftermath" episodes
all people do is cover Roman defeats lol, they are far more popular already in pop history than Roman victories
There's a book called "enemies of Rome", its good book.
Don't forget Adrianople. That was the beginning of the Western Empire being overrun by the Goths.
So as
Adrianople
Teutoburg forest
Arausio
Edessa
Abritus
Samarra
Crassus : I came , I was blind , I got my ass kicked .
Lol🤣🤣🤣🤣
😂
"Veni, caecus fui, culum verberatum est"
One of my favorite post-battle stories is that the battle of Waterloo caused a boom in the dental industry, as thousands of dentures were made from the fallen soldiers’ teeth. I imagine the looting of the Roman legions caused quite an economic stir in Parthia.
I like how you pointed this out. It’s something we tend to not think about, but is significant information
I bet they used Roman shields as lunch plates
Lots of Parthian warriors were probably rocking looted Pugio daggers and Gladii after Carrhae
Freaking out while reloading a musket..
Ruining the arms trade for years, having to buy and sell swords and armour by weight... not to mention the flood of red and "red" dyed fabrics.
Some people seem to think the Roman was this fantastic fighting army that never lost. The truth is that Rome lost many battles. What made Rome great was their ability to raise new legions quickly and re-engage the enemy. For them it was often victory by means of attrition.
Bit like the Russians then
@@davidcole2331 thats one of the dumbest comparisons ive ever seen
Making general statements about armies tha spanned several centuries is plain silly. Different armies and very different Leaders. It was all over the map literally and figuratively.
@@davidcole2331 In some ways at some Battles...yes.
@@neonknight-1522 Even though it's true in some Battles.
Unfortunately for the Surena, this victory cost him his head. Fearing that this victory will increase Surena's popularity and threaten his kingship, King Orodes II had him executed.
Damn that is actually fucked up. I wonder how he would have affected things further in parthia and beyond if he lived.
There's no pleasing some people
What a waste..
Evidently, King Orodes was a proto-Stalin.
@@Bubbles99718 Ambition should be unseen.
*62 years after the Battle of Carrhae*
Augustus: "...And that was the story of how we lost a great amount of soldiers in Parthia"
Germanicus: "Woah, grandfather. That Crassus man really messed up with the enemy, doesn't he?"
Augustus: "Yeah, boy. Glad things have changed since then and our men are now much more efficent than..."
Slave: "Excuse me, Caesar. But a soldier from Varus' division in Germany has brought you news. They're about something that happened in Teutoburg..."
@The Philosoraptor "QUINCTILIUS VARUS, WHERE ARE MY EAGLES?! GIVE ME BACK MY LEGIONS!!!".
Augustus: *tears out hair and bangs head on doorpost*
@@velstadtvonausterlitz2338
Germanicus: "Ok, grandfather. C'mon, Gaius. We must lead our troops"
2 years old Caligula: "My zizter Druzilla iz pretty cute!" *Plays with a wooden sword*
Well, at least the Romans would beat the Parthians after this, never suffering such defeats like Carrhae and in fact sacking many Parthian cities.
@@velstadtvonausterlitz2338 But the Parthians retaliated that by defeating Mark Antony
Another thing was that in the beginning engagement of Carrhae, Surena ordered the charge of his cataphracts, thinking that they would make quick work of the legion's defensive positions, he quickly adjusted the strategy as he saw that the heavy cavalry was locked in battle and was quickly losing ground.
In addition, in the aftermath of the battle, Surena was executed by the king of Parthia, as he feared the fame and power he had gathered with his military success (or so speculated)
Although the story of his assassination by the order of the emperor is total speculation which is worth mentioning.
Hence it might not be true !
@@ryansmith8345 that too. but then again, most of the history we know has gone so back and forth because of how biased some sources appear to be. I would also leave it at speculation.
@Conquistador no
@Conquistador House of Suren was a big clan at the time, if it's true,Romans might have killed a member and proclaimed him Surena
@Conquistador In Roman dreams, only 🤡
That day was a great loss for Rome. Say what you want about Crassus but he played a crucial role in the Roman politics of the time and his son seemed to have a bright future ahead.
Rome got wrecked & then humiliated by its own archrival which had the lower numbers & weaker equipments...
It changed the entire future of Rome.
@@ryansmith8345 equipment doesnt really matter when your fighting with swords. If it pierces the skin it will do.
@@aaroncousins4750 But it will not "do" if your enemy has a better armor !
At least it will not "do" as easy as you thought it would.
@@ryansmith8345 they both wore chainmail, they’re pretty equally in quality
@@Constance_tinople Rome had better shields & Armors & swords & bows !
This is undeniable.
An interesting note is that one of the survivors of Carrhae was Gaius Cassius Longinus also simply known as Cassius. He would go on to defeat a Parthian attempted invasion befor becoming one of the leaders of Caesar's assassination. He would lead the liberators until his death at the Battle of Philippi
Rome, unlike many ancient militaries, actually learned from their defeats. Instead of sitting idle they changed and compromised. Outside of Carthage they knew when to offer mercy and diplomacy.
Unlike the Iranian empires unfortunately. We never learned from our defeats and our arrogance and underestimation of our enemies eventually let to our own downfall.
Crassus called himself Alexander II.The Parthians thought that the Romans were as intelligent as Alexander and attacked from two points.king self went to Armenia with 50k and Sorena went west with10k.Imagine if the Romans met a king army
Alexander attack is lie. don't believe those bullshits.
The novel 'Winter Quarters' by Alfred Duggan details the experience of a Gaulish cavalryman at Cannae. It’s very good. Gets right into the head of the man.
its Carrhae, mate, Cannae was Hannibal`s masterpiece, a couple of centuries before
Thanks. I'll look into it.
@@Archer-op9cp I guess Gaulish cavalryman were used in both Cannae and Carrhae
- O fallen wretched one of Rome, Hair will grow at palm of my hand before you get the sight of Ctesiphon. Parthian ambassador to Crassus after being told that the answer will be given in the parthian capital
Wasn't it Seleucia instead of Ctesiphon ?
This battle is legendary
You know what else is legendary ?
czcams.com/users/shortsPxupVBE7eTg?feature=share
The Immortals
I read in Robert Graves's "I, Claudius" that Augustus was pleased to get the eagles back but was somewhat taken aback at how few former POWs opted to return home. 33 years is a long time, and a lot of them already had children or even grandchildren. According to Wikipedia, "There is a myth that some of the modern-day residents of Zhelaizhai (now Liqian village, in Jiaojiazhuang township) are descendants of a group of Roman soldiers that were never accounted for... However, eminent Chinese authorities, modern genetic studies, and archaeologists have debunked this theory."
The "Chinese Romans" theory is likely a myth because no Roman artifacts were ever unearthed in any part of China. The most intriguing evidence for this theory is Chinese reports of encounters with phalanxes. But those could equally well have been hoplites from Greco-Bactrian or Indo-Greek kingdoms. This is not a partisan issue, since modern Chinese have great respect for Romans and Latin culture (in comparison, they absolutely piss on Germanic, especially Anglo-Saxon culture), and they would be honored by Roman heritage.
That was a great book, but in the end it was fiction. In real life I doubt the enemy let any of that Roman legion live. We will never know.
@@Emp6ft10in even to this day we have Latin speaking villages in Iran and city of Dezful in Iran is famous for being made for and by roman prisoners of war . there were other cities inhabited by roman captives and former soldiers like "Weh Antiok Khosrow" in sassanid era.
modern day chinese also believe by state decree that chinese are superior to everyone else.
@@mikepette4422Therefore?
I'm always amazed at the artwork and animations you provide along with awesome story telling! Thanks so much ❤️😁
Well done. Such a wild story and you did a great job telling it! Excellent channel.
Great narration, highly interesting and often overlooked topic and awesome artwork. Well done once again!
2:49 Correction : 35,000 Legionaries
Though the Parthians looked more like the Sassanid Aswaran or light Dehqan infantry, the video was great and unbiased and i loved it
I'd like to see the battle of mount Gindarus and Mark Antony Atropatene campaign too
I get so excited whenever I recognize the references to the art used, love how u used them✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾
Reenactors end up becoming ancient generals!
Perfect timing ! I was just wanting to watch one of your videos! :)
Gaius Cassius Longinus made good his escape and got away from the debacle which was the remains of the Roman army of Marcus Licinnius Crassus and wound up being the acting Governor of Syria 🇸🇾 province although he was only a mere Quaestor which was the Roman junior magistrate who handled the monies for the province. He by all accounts gave the Parthians a good trouncing in battle a year later when they sought to invade Syria province.
In 54 BC, Cassius joined Marcus Licinius Crassus in his eastern campaign against the Parthian Empire. In 53 BC, Crassus suffered a decisive defeat at the Battle of Carrhae in Northern-Mesopotamia losing two-thirds of his army. Cassius led the remaining troops' retreat back into Syria, and organised an effective defence force for the province. Based on Plutarch's account, the defeat at Carrhae could have been avoided had Crassus acted as Cassius had advised. According to Dio, the Roman soldiers, as well as Crassus himself, were willing to give the overall command to Cassius after the initial disaster in the battle, which Cassius "very properly" refused. The Parthians also considered Cassius as equal to Crassus in authority, and superior to him in skill.[12]
In 51 BC, Cassius was able to ambush and defeat an invading Parthian army under the command of prince Pacorus and general Osaces. He first refused to do battle with the Parthians, keeping his army behind the walls of Antioch (Syria's most important city) where he was besieged. When the Parthians gave up the siege and started to ravage the countryside, he followed them with his army harrying them as they went. The decisive encounter came on October 7 as the Parthians turned away from Antigonea. As they set about their return journey they were confronted by a detachment of Cassius' army, which faked a retreat and lured the Parthians into an ambush. The Parthians were suddenly surrounded by Cassius' main forces and defeated. Their general Osaces died from his wounds, and the rest of the Parthian army retreated back across the Euphrates.[1
Really love this perspective and more nuanced view on the defeat. Please do more Aftermath videos!
Fffg to proof of q
Very good video. Exactly the angle i've been wondering about. "What about the immediate few hours and days after a big battle or siege?", has been something i've always wanted to know.
Horror stories dotted thru history.
And they're never told
Great video! Keep it up. Love this channel.
Great video. Thank you Invicta.
Amazing victory by the Parthians.
as Iranian I must say we don't write our history, our enemy and foreigners write about us .
Thank you. Surena was a great general we proved of him.
Persians whooping Romans happened pretty frequently
@@ShayaN9776 And your orodes ll the king executed him after this war
@@persianguy1524they were parthain not Persian
Crassus went to Parthia for gold, and well… he got it
Just not in the way he planned
Part of me thought it a shame that the Romans couldn’t find the energy to rally at the city of Carrhae and hold out until messengers could bring reinforcements, but the other part of me remembers that they were the invaders in this scenario and, if their fortunes had been reversed, they’d have been just as merciless to their Parthian counterparts; if not more so.
Thank you for citing your sources.
Hands down, I always prefer Invicta's content and delivery compared to all the other channels covering similar content.
Crassus: "I'm the richest man on the world, let me buy an army"
World to Crassus: "Just because you can buy an army that doesn't make you a general"
Absolutely Fantastic Content!
A wonderful historical coverage video
Great job! Awesome and detailed explanation
Centurion was a great movie about this topic. A small group survives a battle and simply tries to survive their way out. History most definitely stops rt has the battle does but holy smokes, to live it, what a nightmare
awesome video! Thank you!
great video man
Thanks again to all for your support! You can catch episode previews, vote on topics, and download awesome episode art on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/InvictaHistory
I was going to do it but I need my permission
@@velstadtvonausterlitz2338 your hate is our pleasure
hate us more
@@velstadtvonausterlitz2338 that's good too because who hate their saviours show they are ungrateful and if ungratefull's hate us that's make us happier more
thank you to notice that 🙏
Hey Invicta, do you happen to know the name of the song at 10:45 to 12:38 ?
I would also add Adrianople
It's hard to feel sorry for Crassus, himself, who had crucified Spartacus and his followers.
He was an opportunist hoping to get a military victory to make himself look good. He wasn't there protecting some weak tribe. Why would anyone feel sorry for his defeat. People should instead celebrate Surena's victory which saved the people of Parthia from Roman looting and enslavement.
@@damionkeeling3103 Sadly, Surena was executed by the Iranian King Orodes due to jealousy.
Good work, thanks!
Fantastic work
the parthians fought rome to a stalemate, everytime rome capture small parts of parthian territories the parthians retook it back, parthians and sassanids cavalry armies make the classic legion obsolete, late roman armies later copy eastern cataphracts and re-introduce the spear as the main weapon of the roman army.
Cataphracts are the early version of full iron clad Meadival knights.
Scary thing is even in many modern armies today, many officers and higher ups are also not that talented either.
That is why I don't get people looking down on Marcus Antonius for failed Parthia invasion at least he got out alive and took Armenia, no other roman was able to conquer Parthia
Will there be a review of subsequent events like the Parthian incursions of Syria circa 52/51 BC; and actions of Cassius Longinus (and even of Cicero, from Cilicia)?
Great video!
You are an excellent story teller, thank you
As a student of history, after reading some of the comments here about the Parthian soldiers looting the Romans after the battle of Carrhae, I had to clarify something here. First of all, one of the reasons Rome attacked the domain of Parthian Empire was because of Parthia´s legendry treasures of gold and also the desire to reach the Silk Road trades. It is very naive to say that parthian soldiers looted the Romans after the battle of Carrhae since the typical Roman soldier had not much to offer in terms of personal wealth. In the other hand, the typical Parthian soldier would wear gold jewelry such as rings, bracelets and necklaces even when going into battle, a tradition left from the time of Achaemenid Persia. Second of all, Parthians were not nomadic hordes like the Mongols of Genghis Khan. At this period of time, Parthians were not nomadic tribes but a civilized people who settled in great cities having a professional, disciplined and well equipped standing army. Parthian army´s weaponry was better than the Romans in terms of quality which is due to the great advancements in Persian metalworking industry at that period. Roman and also Greek historians testify to this fact by stating that the Parthian heavy lances could run through two Roman legioners at the same time and a Parthian barbed arrow could penetrate Roman metal breast plates and shields or legioner´s skin, flesh and bone with the same ease. Also, unlike what the British or folks in Hollywood portray in the movies as the native Indian Braves greedily going for the American rifles after wiping out the U.S seventh cavalry regiment in the battle of The Little Bighorn or the disciplined Zulu warriors stealing the British muskets after destroying the British first and second infantry battalions in the battle of Isandlwana, Parthians did not have the need to loot the Roman dead soldiers for any reason... or at least there is no mention of this sort of thing in any recorded history.
Thank you for sharing your insight
As a gamer, I can confirm that looting of your defeated enemies should come natural as in most cases the corpses will despawn after a certain period of time and you might find a use for the items later on in your playthrough.
Hmm their is metal and gold there. will I take it? parthian.... nah....
@@LegoSwordViedos Why do the Parthians need the Roman metal for?!
The most disaster is Parthian King excecuted his general Surena for defeating Crassus
Thank you for sharing
So flipping epic! Grim& astounding - taking intellect to next-level.
I am proud of my ancestors we are of surviving Parthian tribe in Iran
کجا؟
@@truearyan7880 طرف ها خراسان و سیستان بلوچستان
بلوچها از باقیمانده های پارتیان هستند
Amazing how Alexander dominated the Persians in battle after battle with his armored infantry but the Parthians completely dominated the Roman infantry formations. Maybe if Alexander had faced the Parthians instead of the Achaemenids he would have met a similar fate?
The Achaemenids were over 200 years old and overstretched when they were replaced, although the Parthians where around 200 years old as well by the time of this battle, what they weren't was overstretched, so that probably accounts for their 471 year existence
as a Iranian i must say axmchaemenids was defeated before Alexander
governmental corruption made peoples angry , when peoples don't like their governments that's happened
you can see same result about last days of sasanis
I think so..... this war tactic defeated the Seleucids.....
@@fazi4632 that's a good point, I think the Achaemenids lost because of the cowardice of the leader Darius who was always fleeing in battle. They could have easily beaten Alexander several times, even at Gaugamela Alexander's left flank was on the verge of collapsing.
@@HedgeYourPosition but the Parthians had only 9,000 men and literally zero infantry... And we're talking about BC here.. a thousand years before the armored knight and 1300 years before Genghis Khan...
Amazing video, the information and history is fascinating and the artwork sublime!
Great perspective 👏👏
Parthian horse archers are one of my fav ancient warriors
I do not know if this was a military blunder, it was the first time the Romans faced another empire that could rival them.
No one loses to an army 1/4th its size without doing any major mistakes
@@Spiderfisch not really, roman have many battles where they were 1/4 of their size. I think this is West versus East bias if west lost it was a mistake versus if the east lost it was a loss not a mistake. I have seen this many times.
Carthage.
Awesome topic!
Favorite history channel !
Surena get so little recognition that is amazing.
Yes Crassus make mistakes but i dont think of other comander that could've pull such a total victory in that conditions.
@علي ياسر Yes but Surena had only 10,000 men.
I doubt that another persian general was as outnumbered as Surena.
You should look into Battle of the Echinades in 1427, as far as I can tell, it was the last Byzantine victory that wasn't a siege
Ngl that Victory is depressing.
No such thing as Byzantine. It's never been a real thing.
“Walk a mile in the sandles of the Romans” love that 😂 I was expecting you to say “shoes”
I love the graphics used in this video.
if you ever played mount & blade II: bannerlord you would know how painfull it is to fight horse-archers as a contingent of heavy infantrymen...
Or any Mount & Blade game :)
Also the Parthians did not hunt and slaughter the sick , the wounded and those who surrendered. In fact many were taken captive and relocated to live in relative peace in Far Easter locations of iran . Many also served as engineers helping Parthia by building bridges and other military structures
It's hard to know for sure unfortunately. Based just on the accounts of Roman authors that survive they say that the Legions left behind the wounded in camp during their retreat and that when the Parthians came the next morning thousands were captured and killed. In the pursuit of the main army we then hear of more cases where units were cut down in large numbers. Again it's unfortunate that we have no other records to go on for this series of events. Even if the slaughter here is to be believed that doesn't mean it extended to other situations. As far as we can tell the Parthians were NOT known for a reputation of such indiscriminate savagery.
It's important to point out that both Rome and Parthia were pre elightment societies therefore they don't have the same value on life as we do. Typically lower the life expectancy the more Savage people become.
of course, why kill useful slaves especially educated ones. The injured cant be put to work so they killed them
I have no idea why you Arabs always blindly support any Arab based person or power no matter the circumstance, westerners cover all sides of every war and highly criticise their own ancestors but you people are not at that level yet nor will ever be and it's sad and pitiful.
That would be a very interesting video, to chart to movements of captives from Parthia to other local empires at the time.
excellent work m8
a video about the real reach of the roman empire would be amazing. like whats the farthest place a roman ever traveled, or was taken as prisoner. what did those cultures think about them ect.
There's a difference between the Roman Empire and the farthest a Roman traveled. They engaged with trade across Asia and it's likely that some would have visited the Greek-based kingdoms (set up after Alexander the Great's campaigns) around what is now northern Pakistan and Afghanistan.
I'm curious to know how this battle affected future Roman strategies in case of been surrounded by horse archers.
They learned from their mistakes very late.
Basically all future eastern campaigns brought along more light troops. Eventually the eastern Roman forces would also field their own horse archers and cataphracts
Example: Should have learned from the Seleucids earlier.. They reformed their Cataphracts into Cataphract Horse Archers and utilized horse archer mercenaries from Armenia and the far East. Romans always found a way to adjust their tactics obviously, but at the cost of numerous lives/battlefield blunders.. The famed Bucellarii centuries later would be just what the Romans needed.
@@InvictaHistory It feels like horse arachers could be countered by... Arachers. Archers should have better aim and range.
Interestingly, the crusaders, many centuries later, also faced horse archers. But they were able to adapt rather quickly.
I really love your content! For real, thanks for the amazing video as always. If I can just give you some constructive criticism, it's about the name pronunciation. I would love to hear you pronounce it in the original latin sound when making these videos. Specially "Dio", hearing people saying "Die-o" kinda bothers me, it's pronounced "Dío".
Awesome content as always!
Fun fact: Persian Cataracts were fully armored men mounted on an armored horse. Europe would not field any such technology for another 700 years. That’s how far ahead they were.
For some who find it hard to believe:
In Europe, the fashion for heavily armored Roman cavalry seems to have been a response to the Eastern campaigns of the Parthians and Sassanids in the region referred to as Asia Minor, as well as numerous defeats at the hands of Iranian cataphracts across the steppes of Eurasia, most notably in the Battle of Carrhae in upper Mesopotamia (53 BC)
cataphracts were protected against sling shots and crudely made bows, by the standard of medival times they were basically light cavalry
that's a bogus claim since Roman began deploying cataracts as well.
@@Historyfan476AD do your research, you are mistaken. Try not to take history personally. Call ya self a history fan? Now that’s bogus. Read more. Well I did your HW for you below
In Europe, the fashion for heavily armored Roman cavalry seems to have been a response to the Eastern campaigns of the Parthians and Sassanids in the region referred to as Asia Minor, as well as numerous defeats at the hands of Iranian cataphracts across the steppes of Eurasia, most notably in the Battle of Carrhae in upper Mesopotamia (53 BC) @HistoryFan476AD
@@fullsendcirca9255 Your the one saying 700 years later, when that is not true and you know it. The Romans began deploying their own versions of heavy Calvary in the third century crisis.
Not sure I'd call an invading army getting their arse handed to them a human tragedy.
I love these aftermath videos
love the total war attilla soundtrack in the background 💯
A very well done narrative 👏 👍
You tried your damnest to stay out of personal biases as a true historian should be :)
This is why I like your channel, plz never be tempted to any personal biases & always try to see from different perspectives & check out all the accounts.
A small note that most don't know & you forgot to mention : *Carrhae was from far a desert !!! Actually it's located in north western Syria & more closer to modern day Turkey ; the battlefield was actually a vast plane of grass with a good climate not a desert* !
Carrhae was supposed to have been the place where Abraham lived for a long time after he left Ur in Mesopotamia -originally called "Haran."
12:00 those city walls bust have been the most beautiful thing those roman soldiers had ever seen
This was awesome I heard about this in high school. That was 32 years ago. Thanks for that memory and it was a real good story better than when I heard about it when I was in high school "good job on the information, and the video. It was pretty cool to hear again.
So, anyone want to speculate that if Crassus had kept his legions in the line instead of changing to the square, that things would have gone better? Or was this just going to be a failure?
I don't see Rome doing much against the horse archers at this time period. And I think withdrawal would be more difficult. This was one of those situations where the only winning move is not to play.
Crassus ego got boosted so much after he defeated Spartacus. He thot other armies were easy meat as well. There's no way this battle not taking place at all.
I never understood how Rome conquered so much without a cavalry force (They later hire Gauls but in small #'s). I guess once they were next to Steppe civilizations, no longer could expand.
There was always a small cavalry force within the legion's ranks, roughly the 10% of all the forces. Nevertheless, that was not an issue, even when they were dealing with elite numidian light horsemen, or the technologically superior seleuchid heavy cataphracts. Romans weren`t a horseriding culture anyways, and the fact they won againts such a foes with heavy reliance on cavalry arm might have contributed to made them less than prone to paid a little bit more of attention to the topic
Q. Why did Crassus invade Parthia in the first place? A. Despite being Rome's richest man, Crassus envied Caesar and Pompeii for their military victories. Therefore at age 62, Crassus used his wealth to finance his own army without Senate approval, and he went seeking glory. The entire campaign was a product of vanity and arrogance. As such, the Roman army treated local people harshly until the Parthians wiped out the Romans at Carrhae, located in present-day Turkey, ten miles north of the Syrian border.
This video explains more czcams.com/video/l1Qy62Mp4wk/video.html
Crassus was the richest man man on Earth at the time. He wanted more political power, but to do that he needed to have a legitimate triumph, and that required winning more territory for the Roman Empire. Caesar had already conquered Gaul and Pompey I think was going after Egypt. That left Parthia for Crassus. Even if he had succeeded it was a vast, resource poor area that would have cost too much to defend. Crassus should have learned everything he could about the enemy and the lay of the land before invading. He went in blindly, and paid for it with his son’s life and his own life. Being ultra wealthy doesn’t mean you’re a genius.
This is funny to see now because I was watching a paranormal/supernatural/high strangeness channel a couple days ago and apparently, a guy saw the ghost of a Roman while in Vietnam who actually spoke to him, saying "Memento mori". In his search for answers, supposedly a professor at Oxford apparently believes the Romans made it to Vietnam. It's a bit of a long story and I'm not sure how much I believe it but it was still interesting. If you want to take a look and a listen, it's the video "A Soldier's Ghost in Vietnam" on the channel Wartime Stories.
I'm sure it was Biggus Dickus ghost
Watched it as well, really friggin cool and kinda scary to think about.
i have a theory, there was trade between the 2 so probably a hand full of soldier or ex soldiers went a long with the traders for protection. and some settled an died in vietman
@@mitch8072 That's pretty much my theory. That or somehow, one or more of the men captured at Carrhae made their way into Vietnam.
Great story and narration. The soldier appeared to be floating in the air. Nice piece of information considering how much it rains in Viet Nam.
Sorry I should have added that this was such a catastrophic defeat because the Roman army was much bigger than the Parthian army which was only intended to delay the Romans. The Parthian king had gone off to deal with the king of Armenia for his support of Rome.
A well led Roman army should have had no trouble effecting a fighting retreat but this of course was not a well led Roman army. Crassus had never been a great general and hadn't done anything since crushing the Slave revolt many years before. He had grown filthy rich but dreamt of emulating Caesar's success in Gaul. In fact Caesar had released his son Publius from Gaul with a contingent of Gallic cavalry. Crassus was suckered out into the desert by vague reports of an enemy army. In the course of the battle, he completely lost it and that is why his subordinates had to take over.
It wasn't that Crassius was a bad general he wasn't, he gets a bad wrap remember he was a general under Sulla during the civil war and was the only one who could stop the Slave revolt of Spartacus. He unfortunately was the first Roman to face the dreaded Horse archers. This was text book cavalry archer war fare and unfortunately for Crassius the text book hadn't been translated to Latin yet.
Romans never fared well against horse archers and this is their first major battle against them. Eran basically had the best cavalry, out of all non-nomadic peoples and was more effective at dealing with thoses. Persians and Parthians are after all, initialy nomads who moved into Iran (half the Indo-Iranians peoples are).
In Eran, the Romans had their match. They never managed to trully dominate eighter Parthia or the Sassanids. When Rome finaly exploited the Parthian unrest and took Mesopotamia, the Sassanids took over not long after and became stronger than the Parthians ever were. Romans would win some, the Persians would win some and both would ruin themselves, doing so, allowing for the rise of Islam.
@@nathanc939 Yeah, initially it was up to the Equestrians who could afford their own horse. In the Second Punic War they were outclassed by Hannibal and one major factor was his vastly superior cavalry, particularly the Numidians. One of the things Scipio Africanus did to turn the tables was getting a disgruntled Numidian prince, Masinissa to join him.
In Gaul Caesar regularly used Gallic and then German cavalry which he loved. In his African campaign, Caesar was able to effect a withdrawal when surrounded by Labienus's cavalry. When Caesar was planning his invasion of Parthia he made changes to take account of the way the Parthians fought and I am confident he would have been successful. Great generals like Trajan did conquer Parthia and he sacked their capital but it was just too damn hard for the Romans to control this territory and like in Germany they gave up.
@@paultyson4389 I do not think Cesar would have been successful. When Trajan invaded, there was serious unrest in Parthia, meanwhile, im Cesar's time, it was at its peak.
@@nathanc939 Well after Caesar's death the Parthians invaded Syria and then rolled into Anatolia, joining up with a Roman army led by Labienus's son.. Anthony sent one of his subordinate generals, a guy with a very interesting background and a much better general than Antony as it turned out. He decisively defeated the Parthians in two battles and then drove them out of Syria. Antony arrived later and embarked on a totally botched invasion of Parthia
Excellent
I had heard about a Roman legion lost to Pathia, and later to China, but I did not know the battle.
Was there any mention of Gaius Cassius Longinus (One of Julius Ceasar's killers) leading the survivors back to the city of Antioch?
No not in this video but in his previous video talking about the battle he mentions him.
It’s funny the Greco Romana called Persian and iraní people barbarian … well believe me the feeling was mutual … the Persian and Iranic people had their own term for their blood thirsty foes
Actually they did not call Persians or Parthians , barbarians.
That was a term used for the Germania tribes & later the huns & Gokturks.
& Yes I believe you're referring to the term *AnIrani* right ?
which was the humiliating term that the Persians & Parthians used to call the Romans & the Greeks whenever they were at wrong sides.
Barbarian for the Greek and Roman did not have the same meaning it does today in romance languages and English.
Barbarian just meant foreigner.
@@Astraben Very true 👍
Barbarian literally means (or meant) *The one who Bar Bars* !!!
Meaning : the one whose language is incomprehensible.
Im persian myself
Just forgot them
We had civilization beffor them
Nice video
Most interesting !!
In my opinion this is arguably far worse than the defeat at teutoburg
I’ve said it before but I think as much as Romans were shocked at the scale of the loss, can you imagine all those who had debts to Crassus the Lean felt when they heard about his death? Secretly overjoyed I think.
THANKS MUCH...
Very interesting
Suren became a legend for Persians, he defeated the attackers but beheaded by the king. The "Rustam" story by Ferdousi was based on his story! Someone like Achilles for Greeks...
The “Rustam” story wasn’t based on General Surena’s life.
They had two completely different stories.
No it was’t. Rustam is a title given to many champions in Iranian history, _Rustam Suren_ was different from _Rustam Dastan_ (the one in Shah’name) honestly it’s such shame that you as persian do not know the difference between two historical figures of your own country by thinking these two were one people only cus of their titles.
Well read it about it, e.g., here:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surena
As Ferdousi mentions:
که رستم یلی بود از سیستان منش کردم رستم دستان
@@topgears7775 Rustam is fictional and even lives in many kings eras, but there are many sources indicating Ferdousi used Soren to make up Rustam
Parthia’s finest moment
Persian Parthia whooped roman ass
Muy bueno!