A History Lesson: Rome뭩 Failed Occupation of Iraq and Iran, Civil War and the Fall of the Republic.

leveymg

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Mon Jan-14-08 09:20 AM
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A History Lesson: Rome뭩 Failed Occupation of Iraq and Iran, Civil War and the Fall of the Republic.

Edited on Mon Jan-14-08 09:54 AM by leveymg

Rome Tries and Fails to Occupy Iraq and Iran (The Parthian War)(53 BC)

Parthia

Parthia was an Iranian civilization situated in the northeast of modern Iran, but at its height covering all of Iran proper, as well as regions of the modern countries of Armenia, Iraq, Georgia, eastern Turkey, eastern Syria, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and UAE.

Parthia was led by the Arsacid dynasty (Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashk�ni�n), which reunited and ruled over the Iranian plateau, after defeating the Seleucids, beginning in the late 3rd century BC, and intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between about 150 BC and 224 AD. Parthia was the arch-enemy of the Roman Empire in the east.

Crassus - The Roman Dubya

In 53 BC, the Roman proconsul Marcus Licinius Crassus invaded Parthia in search of desperately needed gold to fund Roman military campaigns. Crassus was then one of the richest men in Rome, his father and grandfather having been consuls and censors before him.

He added to his father뭩 fortune by buying burning houses and the property of political enemies of the state. Rome뭩 fire brigades were private companies that were paid to torch properties coveted by speculators. The frequent civil wars of the era also spawned a new class of disenfranchised widows and orphans, who were forced to sell their remaining property for any price which might be offered. Crassus, the very personification of the 뱕ulture capitalist� of his day, also traded in vast numbers of slaves and gladiators.

Crassus

The name Crassus will always be intertwined with that of Spartacus, who led the slave rebellion that Crassus put down with the sword, ordering the crucifiction of all those captured. 6,000 bodies were left to rot in a long line of crosses leading along the Appian Way to the Gates of Rome.

While a fortunate son, who had amassed wealth and overseen the suppression of revolt, Crassus had no real skills as a general. He also refused to listen to the advice of experienced military officers who served him, leading to a near mutiny of his troops, their annihilation, and his own gruesome death at the Battle of Carrhea, in what is now southern Turkey.

The Parthian armies he faced included two types of cavalry, heavily-armed and armoured cataphracts and lightly armed but highly-mobile mounted archers. For the Romans, who relied on heavy infantry, the Parthians were difficult to defeat, as both types of cavalry were much faster and more mobile than foot soldiers. Furthermore, the Parthians used strategies during warfare unfamiliar to the Romans, such as the famous "Parthian shot", firing arrows backwards at the gallop.

Crassus having never encountered such an army or strategic warfare before was defeated decisively at the Battle of Carrhae by a Parthian commander called Surena in the Greek and Latin sources. This was the beginning of a series of wars that were to last for almost three centuries. After the defeat Crassus was fed molten gold, a symbolic gesture for his greed. On the other hand, the Parthians found it difficult to conquer Roman eastern provinces completely.

Defeat of the "World's Lords" at Carrhea

While the Roman legions returned a few years later and stemmed the Parthians at the gates of Antioch (Syria), the folly of Crassus and the defeat at Carrhae of Roman뭩 renowned legions remains an enduring lesson that resonates to this day: Gibbon뭩 The History of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire tells us: http://www.persianempire.info/parthia10.htm

Such was the result of this great expedition, the first attempt of the grasping and ambitious Romans, not so much to conquer Parthia, as to strike terror into the heart of her people, and to degrade them to the condition of obsequious dependants on the will and pleasure of the "world's lords." The expedition failed so utterly, not from any want of bravery on the part of the soldiers employed in it, nor from any absolute superiority of the Parthian over the Roman tactics, but partly from the incompetence of the commander, partly from the inexperience of the Romans, up to this date, in the nature of the Parthian warfare and in the best manner of meeting it.

SNIP

But an ignorant and inexperienced commander, venturing on a trial of arms with an enemy of whom he knew little or nothing, in their own country, without support or allies, and then neglecting every precaution suggested by his officers, allowing himself to be deceived by a pretended friend, and marching straight into a net prepared for him, naturally suffered defeat. The credit of the Roman arms does not greatly suffer by the disaster, nor is that of the Parthians greatly enhanced. The latter showed, as they had shown in their wars against the Syro-Macedonians, that there somewhat loose and irregular array was capable of acting with effect against the solid masses and well-ordered movements of disciplined troops.

They acquired by their use of the bow a fame like that which the English archers obtained for the employment of the same weapon at Crecy and Agincourt. They forced the arrogant Romans to respect them, and to allow that there was at least one nation in the world which could meet them on equal terms and not be worsted in the encounter. They henceforth obtained recognition from Graeco-Roman writers뾞lbeit a grudging and covert recognition뾞s the second Power in the world, the admitted rival of Rome, the only real counterpoise upon the earth to the power which ruled from the Euphrates to the Atlantic Ocean.

One unprecedented outcome of the failed invasion of Parthia was a split of the Roman military. One-quarter of the survivors of the 40,000 man force originally commanded by Crassus went over after the battle to the Parthians, and they were eventually resettled within Persia.

Caesarian Dictatorship, and The Roman Civil Wars

In the years following the battle of Carrhae, the Romans were divided in civil war between the adherents of Pompey and those of Julius Caesar and hence unable to campaign against Parthia. Although Caesar was eventually victorious against Pompey and was planning a campaign against Parthia, his subsequent murder led to another Roman civil war.

The Roman general Quintus Labienus, who had supported Caesar's murderers and feared reprisals from his heirs, Mark Antony and Octavian (later Augustus), sided with the Parthians under Pacorus I. In 41 BC Parthia, led by Labienus, invaded Syria, Cilicia, and Caria and attacked Phrygia in Asia Minor. A second army intervened in Judaea and captured its king Hyrcanus II. The spoils were immense, and put to good use: King Phraates IV invested them in building up Ctesiphon.

In 39 BC, Antony retaliated, sending out general Publius Ventidius Bassus and several legions to secure the conquered territories. The Parthian King Pacorus was killed along with Labienus, and the Euphrates again became the border between the two nations. Hoping to further avenge the death of Crassus, Antony invaded Mesopotamia in 36 BC with the Legion VI Ferrata and other units. Having cavalry in support, Antony reached Armenia but failed to make much impact and withdrew with heavy losses.

Antony's campaign was followed by a break in the fighting between the two empires as Rome was again embroiled in civil war. When Octavian defeated Mark Antony, he ignored the Parthians, being more interested in the west. His son-in-law and future successor Tiberius negotiated a peace treaty with Phraates (20 BC).

Roman civil wars Conflicts that afflicted the last century of the Roman republic (88 BC뻙.28 BC) and led to the inevitable institution of the unchallenged authority of one man, the Principate. Political life in Rome was unsettled from the period of SULLA's dictatorship and the Catiline conspiracy (64�63 BC).

Rivalry between the republican military leader Julius Caesar and POMPEY began after the collapse of their alliance. Caesar defeated the Pompeian army in Spain at Ilerda (49 BC) and Pompey himself at Pharsalus (48 BC); he won further victories in Asia and Africa. Cato's suicide in 46 BC signified the collapse of the republican cause. On his return to Rome, Caesar was made dictator and virtually sole ruler. His plans for funding the empire by military expeditions against Dacia and Parthia were cut short by outraged republican traditionalists who murdered him in 44 BC. Further civil wars followed.

Caesar Assassinated at the Senate (44 BC)

Initially Octavian (AUGUSTUS), supported by the republican party, struggled against MARK ANTONY. In 43 BC Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus formed a coalition whose forces defeated the republicans led by Brutus and Cassius at PHILIPPI. Antony meanwhile joined forces with Cleopatra and was defeated by Octavian at ACTIUM. The Roman world was united under the sole leadership of Octavian, who annexed Egypt.

In 68 AD civil war broke out in the empire in the struggle for succession after NERO's death. Galba was proclaimed emperor from Spain; he entered Rome in September but was murdered and succeeded by Otho; meanwhile Vitellius was proclaimed emperor in Germany and Otho committed suicide. VESPASIAN then invaded Italy and took the throne, making 68�69 뱓he year of the four emperors�. This crisis period was followed by the settled rule of Vespasian.

Rome Burns (64 AD)