18. A Craving for Glory
Crassus leveraged his wealth and power into creating the First Triumvirate, a power-sharing agreement by which he, Pompey the Great, and Julius Caesar, divided the Roman Republic amongst themselves. He wanted military glory, though – something his partners had, but that he lacked. Unlike Pompey’s and Caesar’s brilliant military records, Crassus’ only military accomplishment had been to crush Spartacus’ slave rebellion, which counted for little in Roman eyes. It gnawed at Crassus, so he decided to invade Parthia, a wealthy kingdom comprised of today’s Iraq and Iran, which he assumed would be a pushover. A decade earlier, Pompey had invaded and easily defeated other kingdoms in the east, so how hard could Parthia be?
Crassus assembled an army of 50,000 men, and in 53 BC, marched off to conquer. He trusted a local chieftain to guide him, only for the chieftain to make an idiot of him. The guide was in Parthian pay, and led Crassus along an arid route until, hot and thirsty, they reached the town of Carrhae in today’s Turkey. There, they encountered a Parthian force of 9000 horse archers and 1000 armored cataphract heavy cavalry. Although they outnumbered the Parthians 5:1, the Romans were demoralized by the rigors of the march and by Crassus’ insipid leadership.
