The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters - PREVIEW： Epochs #168 ｜ Crassus ： Part III

00:00:00.000 A revolution had occurred in the Parthian Empire.

00:00:03.240 The grandees of the kingdom, with the young, bold, and talented Grand Vizier at their head,

00:00:08.160 had overthrown King Mithridates and placed his brother, Orodes, on the throne.

00:00:13.300 Mithridates, therefore, made common calls with the Romans and resulted to the camp of Gabinius. 0.95

00:00:19.900 Everything promised the best results to the enterprise of the Roman governor.

00:00:24.040 When he unexpectedly received orders to conduct the king of Egypt back by force of arms,

00:00:30.000 to Alexandria, he was obliged to obey, but in the expectation of soon coming back,

00:00:35.360 he induced the dethroned Parthian prince, who solicited aid from him,

00:00:39.280 to commence the war in the meanwhile at his own hand.

00:00:43.380 Mithridates did so, and Babylon declared for him that the Vizier captured Seleucia by assault, 0.52

00:00:51.300 having been in person the first to mount the battlements.

00:00:54.380 And in Babylon, Mithridates himself was forced by famine to surrender,

00:00:58.000 whereupon he was by his brother's orders put to death.

00:01:01.740 His death was a palpable loss to the Romans, but it by no means put an end to the ferment 0.96

00:01:06.860 in the Parthian Empire, and the Armenian war continued.

00:01:10.380 Gabinius, after ending the Egyptian campaign, was just on the eve of turning to account

00:01:16.160 the still favourable opportunity of resuming the interrupted Parthian war,

00:01:20.760 when Crassus arrived in Syria, and along with the command, took up also the plans of his predecessor.

00:01:27.180 Full of high-flown hopes, he estimated the difficulties of the march as slight,

00:01:31.620 and the power of resistance in the armies of the enemy as yet slighter.

00:01:36.420 He not only spoke confidently of the subjugation of the Parthians, 0.99

00:01:40.040 but he was already in imagination the conqueror of the kingdom of Bactria and India.

00:01:44.400 So a fair bit there in at least that last bit.

00:01:48.240 There is all sorts of conflict going on out in the east, from Armenia down to Egypt.

00:01:53.060 It's actually largely infighting among themselves, and Rome, as always,

00:01:58.820 is sort of playing the game of switching sides and getting involved here and there,

00:02:05.080 and trying to manipulate events for their own benefit.

00:02:07.700 But when Crassus turns up, basically, he's like, no, we're going on the all-out attack.

00:02:13.680 Screw them and all the power structures that exist between them.

00:02:18.260 We're just attacking everyone, and we're going to take everything. 0.80

00:02:21.300 Again, Alexander style.

00:02:23.060 Momsen goes on.

00:02:23.980 The new Alexander, he's being sarcastic there, he's talking about Crassus.

00:02:26.860 The new Alexander, however, was in no haste.

00:02:30.220 Before he carried into effect these great plans,

00:02:32.760 he found leisure for very tedious and very lucrative collateral transactions.

00:02:36.760 It's a polite 19th century way of saying,

00:02:40.100 stealing as much money from everyone he could at every opportunity.

00:02:44.480 The temples of Derseto at Hierapolis and of Jehovah at Jerusalem 0.97

00:02:49.560 and other such shrines of the Syrian province

00:02:52.220 were by order of Crassus despoiled of their treasures,

00:02:55.460 and contingents, or still better, sums of money instead were levied from all the subjects.

00:03:00.780 The military operation of the first summer was limited to an extensive reconnaissance

00:03:05.780 in Mesopotamia.

00:03:08.060 The Euphrates was crossed.

00:03:09.660 The Parthian satrap was defeated at Inknae, that's near modern-day Raqqa, 0.91

00:03:14.740 and the neighbouring towns, including the considerable one at Niceforium,

00:03:19.240 which is Raqqa, were occupied,

00:03:21.660 after which the Romans, having left garrisons behind in them,

00:03:24.720 returned to Syria.

00:03:25.920 They had hitherto been in doubt whether it was more advisable to march to Parthia

00:03:31.120 by the circuitous route of Armenia or by the direct route through the Mesopotamian desert.

00:03:38.400 The first route, leading through mountainous regions under the control of trustworthy allies,

00:03:43.180 commended itself by its greater safety.

00:03:45.680 King Artavastes came in person to the Roman headquarters

00:03:48.940 to advocate this plan of the campaign.

00:03:51.260 But that reconnaissance decided in favour of the march through Mesopotamia,

00:03:55.320 the numerous and flourishing Greek and half-Greek towns in the region,

00:03:59.440 along the Euphrates and Tigris,

00:04:01.840 above all the great city of Seleucia,

00:04:04.220 were altogether adverse to the Parthian rule.

00:04:06.800 All the Greek townships with which the Romans came into contact had now,

00:04:11.080 like the citizens of Carhe at an earlier time,

00:04:14.740 practically shown how ready they were to shake off the intolerable foreign yoke 1.00

00:04:18.640 and to receive the Romans as deliverers, almost as countrymen.

00:04:22.420 The Arab prince, Abgarus, who commanded the desert of Edessa and Carhe,

00:04:27.780 and thereby the usual route from the Euphrates to the Tigris,

00:04:31.560 had arrived in the camp of the Romans to assure them in person of his devotedness.

00:04:36.540 The Parthians had appeared to be wholly unprepared.

00:04:39.640 Accordingly, the Euphrates was crossed.

00:04:41.900 To reach the Tigris from this point, they had the choice of two routes.

00:04:45.640 Either the army might move downwards along the Euphrates to the latitude of Seleucia,

00:04:50.200 where the Euphrates and Tigris are only a few miles distant from each other,

00:04:54.080 or they might immediately, after crossing, take the shortest line to the Tigris,

00:04:58.320 right across the great Mesopotamian desert.

00:05:00.560 The former route led directly to the Parthian capital,

00:05:03.840 Tessiphon, which is near Ish, Baghdad,

00:05:06.660 which lay opposite Seleucia on the other bank of the Tigris.

00:05:09.940 Several weighty voices were raised in favour of this route in the Roman Council of War.

00:05:14.480 In particular, the creastor Gaius Cassius is going to become an important character in this story.

00:05:19.580 Cassius, Monson continues,

00:05:21.000 Cassius pointed to the difficulties of the march in the desert

00:05:24.000 and to the suspicious reports arriving from the Roman garrisons on the left bank of the Euphrates

00:05:29.620 as to the Parthian war-like preparations.

00:05:32.940 But in opposition to this, the Arab prince, Abgarus,

00:05:36.580 announced that the Parthians were employed in evacuating their western provinces.

00:05:40.440 They had already packed up their treasures and put themselves in motion to flee to Scythia,

00:05:45.760 i.e. just further, deeper into Central Asia.

00:05:47.980 Only through a forced march by the shortest route was it at all possible still to reach them.

00:05:52.620 But by such a march, the Romans would probably succeed in overtaking 1.00

00:05:55.800 and cutting up at least the rearguard of the great army under the vizier

00:05:59.980 and obtaining enormous spoil,

00:06:02.680 which of course was something Crassus was very, very interested in.

00:06:05.760 These reports of the friendly Bedouins decided the direction of march.

00:06:09.980 The Roman army, consisting of seven legions, 4,000 cavalry and 4,000 slingers and archers,

00:06:17.280 turned off from the Euphrates and away into the inhospitable plains of northern Mesopotamia, end quote.

00:06:23.440 It's probably something like 40,000 men, probably something in that region.

00:06:26.940 So a big army, 40,000 men is pretty big.

00:06:30.980 And Crassus has decided to march them straight into the desert of southwestern Turkey or northern Iraq.

00:06:37.960 Completely inhospitable deserts.

00:06:40.300 There's deserts and then there's real badass deserts.

00:06:43.460 This is one of those no-joke badass deserts where it's kind of crazy to march men into it.

00:06:51.560 If you're an Arab Bedouin and you know about making long marches through the desert 0.95

00:06:57.600 and you're all mounted on camels and you know exactly where the oaseses are and all that sort of thing,

00:07:03.380 then maybe, just about maybe, okay.

00:07:05.820 But if you don't really know what you're doing and men are on foot

00:07:08.700 and you haven't made the great provisions for water,

00:07:13.120 then that's crazy.

00:07:14.820 That was a crazy decision for Crassus to make.

00:07:17.280 Again, it's hubris or it's his desire for glory and spoils which seems to have blinded him.

00:07:26.540 And he was told by Cassius, his most important lieutenant, not to do that, that that's crazy.

00:07:32.540 You don't march an army of Romans into a Mesopotamian desert.

00:07:36.300 You don't do that.

00:07:37.560 But Crassus was the CO.

00:07:39.380 He was the overall commanding officer.

00:07:41.460 So that was the decision he made.

00:07:44.620 Let Plutarch pick up the story.

00:07:46.100 He says this,

00:08:16.100 This is an interesting bit of Plutarch.

00:08:23.480 People always thought he was not sure really what he means here.

00:08:26.080 It must just be exaggeration or hyperbole.

00:08:28.460 He said,

00:08:28.700 They employ a new kind of missile which travels faster than sight and pierces through whatever is in the way before one can see who is discharging these weapons.

00:08:38.860 And their armoured cavalry has weapons of offence which will cut through everything and offensive equipment which will stand up to any blow.

00:08:46.780 That's interesting.

00:08:47.380 Not really sure what the missile weapons is talking about there because they didn't have anything particularly special.

00:08:51.720 They did have quite good bows though.

00:08:54.580 Better bows than the Romans or anyone in the West. 0.99

00:08:57.900 And they were great horsemen.

00:09:00.880 Brilliant horsemen.

00:09:02.200 Same old story.

00:09:03.600 The peoples from Central Asia or Scythia are always great on a horse. 1.00

00:09:08.540 I mean brilliant.

00:09:09.120 They're bred in the saddle.

00:09:10.040 And one thing they could do is turn round in the saddle while still galloping away from you.

00:09:16.200 Turn round and shoot back at you.

00:09:18.500 The famous Parthian shot. 0.83

00:09:21.040 So even if you're trying to pursue them, you probably won't catch them because they're better on horses than you are.

00:09:26.400 Even if you try to do that, they'll still be shooting at you.

00:09:30.040 Accurately from the saddle.

00:09:32.840 Yeah, the classic Parthian shot. 0.99

00:09:34.560 Plutarch continues.

00:09:35.420 This news had a most depressing effect on the soldiers' spirits, the Roman soldiers.

00:09:40.680 Up to now, they had believed that the Parthians were just the same as the Armenians or even the Cappadocians,

00:09:46.960 whom Lucullus had gone on plundering until he was tired of it.

00:09:51.180 And they had imagined that the main difficulties of the campaign would be the long journey

00:09:55.580 and the pursuing of troops who would not come to close quarters.

00:09:59.400 Now, however, they found themselves in the unexpected position of having to face real fighting and great danger.

00:10:05.820 Some of the officers, amongst whom was Cassius the Criestor,

00:10:10.880 thought that Crassus ought to call a halt and reconsider the whole undertaking.

00:10:15.660 The professional prophets also quietly spread the news that at their sacrifices,

00:10:21.040 the omens for Crassus were invariably bad and inauspicious.

00:10:25.060 But Crassus paid no attention to them or to anyone else who gave any advice other than to press forward.

00:10:30.580 So Crassus can see that he hasn't got great morale in his army.

00:10:36.880 And that's a massive thing in all armies at all times, or even just in a boxing match or an MMA fight.

00:10:42.880 If you feel yourself beaten, you are half beaten already.

00:10:46.780 If you're really, really scared of the enemy, if you haven't got confidence in your own abilities,

00:10:52.800 you're going to have a tough time of it.

00:10:54.880 And it seems that that's just what happened in Crassus' army.

00:10:59.060 For whatever reason, they didn't have a lot of faith in themselves.

00:11:02.220 They didn't have a lot of faith in Crassus.

00:11:04.860 That's one thing both Pompey and Caesar, but particularly Caesar, enjoyed.

00:11:07.920 People had complete confidence in him, even when he found himself massively outnumbered and surrounded

00:11:14.400 and it looked like everything was lost.

00:11:18.340 Almost with just a word from Caesar saying, you know, we've got this, guys.

00:11:22.660 We've got this.

00:11:23.140 Don't worry.

00:11:24.180 The men would just say, OK, great.

00:11:25.780 Yeah.

00:11:26.940 Caesar's got confidence, so that's good enough for me.

00:11:29.980 Crassus did not enjoy that sort of confidence from his men and officers.

00:11:34.800 Crassus, it seems, was just filled with sort of a kind of,

00:11:37.920 arrogance at this point, again, which is out of character for the rest of his life and career.

00:11:42.840 He just wouldn't listen to anyone else.

00:11:45.000 And he even talks about after they cross the Euphrates that he will

00:11:47.280 destroy the bridge they just built behind them so men can't retreat.

00:11:52.600 You know, we're committed to this.

00:11:54.300 But it had the sort of the wrong effect.

00:11:56.180 Instead of galvanizing the men and getting them all on board,

00:11:59.440 it just scares them even more.

00:12:01.740 Plutarch then says, quote,

00:12:03.160 He then marched along the river with seven legions, nearly 4,000 cavalry,

00:12:07.740 and about the same number of light troops.

00:12:10.020 His scouts had been taking reconnaissance,

00:12:12.380 and some of them now came back and reported that there was no men to be seen in the area,

00:12:16.600 but that they had come across the tracks of a great number of horses,

00:12:19.920 which appeared to have wheeled around and have fled when pursued.

00:12:23.720 That's sort of ominous, isn't it?

00:12:25.120 Can't see any of the enemy cavalry.

00:12:27.600 But you know they're around.

00:12:30.180 They must be in the area somewhere.

00:12:33.160 Yeah, very ominous.

00:12:34.540 Plutarch continues, quote,

00:12:35.600 Crassus was still considering and weighing up these arguments

00:12:38.140 when an Arab chieftain called Agabus put in an appearance.

00:12:43.460 This Agabus was a sly, treacherous character.

00:12:46.980 Indeed, he played the greatest and the most decisive part in all that combination of evil

00:12:51.400 which fortune had designed for the destruction of the Romans.

00:12:55.060 A few paragraphs later, Plutarch continues,

00:12:56.920 Now Agabus succeeded in getting him, Crassus, to do as he wished.

00:13:01.540 He drew him away from the river and led him right into the open plains.

00:13:05.380 At first the route was a good one and the going was easy.

00:13:08.380 Soon, however, the march became difficult as they entered a district

00:13:11.640 where there was deep sand underfoot,

00:13:14.040 a level plain with no trees and no water going on so far as the eye could see forever.

00:13:19.200 The men were not only exhausted by thirst, but by the difficulties of the march.

00:13:23.800 They were also overcome by a kind of sullen despair when they looked around them,

00:13:28.740 for there was not a single growing thing in sight,

00:13:31.360 not a stream, not a sign of any rising ground, not a blade of grass.

00:13:35.760 There was a sea of sand and nothing else.

00:13:38.420 And the desert billows of this sea were sweeping around the army on every side.

00:13:43.040 This in itself was enough to make them suspect that they were being tricked.

00:13:46.500 So as Plutarch tells us there, the men were under no illusions.

00:13:50.440 Like, you know, what is this?

00:13:51.820 We don't just march into endless deserts like this.

00:13:54.860 This is mad.

00:13:55.720 And Cassius saw it as well.

00:13:58.640 But for some reason, Crassus himself believed what this Arab leader,

00:14:05.360 Abgarus, was telling him. 0.88

00:14:06.560 For some reason, he just bought into all this, all Abgarus's liars. 1.00

00:14:11.480 But Cassius was sort of having none of it.

00:14:13.920 Plutarch says, quote,

00:14:15.180 Cassius once again strongly disapproved.

00:14:17.940 Seeing that his attitude only annoyed Crassus,

00:14:20.760 he gave up trying to advise him.

00:14:22.740 But he took the native chieftain aside

00:14:24.500 and spoke to him without mincing his words. 0.96

00:14:27.280 What evil spirit have you brought upon us, you villain, he said.

00:14:30.560 What drugs and sorceries have you been using to persuade Crassus

00:14:34.040 to pour his army into a great yawning wilderness

00:14:36.740 and to follow a route that is better fitted

00:14:40.600 for a captain of Arabian robbers than for a Roman imperator.

00:14:44.580 The native, however, was full of cunning.

00:14:47.320 Putting on the most humble air,

00:14:49.340 he tried to encourage them and beg them to endure for a little longer.

00:14:53.240 He would run alongside and beside the soldiers,

00:14:56.460 helping them with their tasks, laughing and making jokes.

00:15:00.120 Do you think you are marching through Campania, he would say.

00:15:02.820 Are you longing for the fountains and streams there

00:15:05.660 and the shady places?

00:15:07.420 Yes, the baths and the taverns.

00:15:09.720 Oh no, you must remember that the country you are going through

00:15:13.060 is the borderland between Assyria and Arabia.

00:15:16.100 So the native managed the Romans as if they were children 1.00

00:15:18.880 and rode off himself before his treachery was discovered.

00:15:22.500 He went with the full knowledge of Crassus.

00:15:24.680 In fact, he had actually persuaded Crassus

00:15:26.640 that he was going to work in his interests

00:15:29.100 by sowing confusion in the minds of the enemy, end quote.

00:15:32.820 So after leading them into the middle of an utterly unforgiving desert,

00:15:38.600 he then rides off and leaves them.

00:15:40.540 And Crassus even allowed him to do it

00:15:42.200 because he just believed everything this guy was telling him.

00:15:46.780 It's really naive, in the end, suicidally naive.

00:15:51.660 Mopson tells us about this march through the desert.

00:15:54.280 Quote,

00:15:54.460 Far and wide,

00:15:55.900 not an enemy showed himself.

00:15:57.460 Only hunger and thirst

00:15:58.520 and the endless sandy desert

00:16:00.000 seemed to keep watch at the gates of the east.

00:16:03.560 At length,

00:16:04.460 after many days of toilsome marching,

00:16:07.200 not far from the first river

00:16:08.620 which the Roman army had to cross,

00:16:10.860 the Balassus,

00:16:11.780 today the Belic,

00:16:12.840 the first horsemen of the enemy were described.

00:16:15.600 Abgarus with his Arabs 1.00

00:16:16.800 was sent out to Reconnoiter.

00:16:18.340 The Parthian squadrons retired up to and over the river

00:16:22.140 and vanished in the distance,

00:16:24.600 pursued by Abgarus and his followers.

00:16:26.940 With impatience,

00:16:27.720 the Romans waited for his return

00:16:29.260 and for more exact information.

00:16:31.660 The general hoped here at length

00:16:33.140 to come upon the constantly retreating foe.

00:16:36.640 His young and brave son, Publius,

00:16:38.860 who had fought with the greatest distinction in Gaul under Caesar

00:16:41.680 and had been sent by the latter

00:16:43.800 at the head of a Celtic squadron of horse

00:16:46.220 to take part in the Parthian war,

00:16:48.500 was inflamed with a vehement desire for the fight.

00:16:51.680 When no tidings came,

00:16:53.280 they resolved to advance at a venture.

00:16:56.180 The signal for starting was given

00:16:57.580 and the Balassus was crossed.

00:16:59.820 The army,

00:17:00.400 after a brief insufficient rest at noon,

00:17:02.720 was led on without delay at a rapid pace.

00:17:05.960 Then suddenly the kettle drums of the Parthian

00:17:08.100 sounded all around.

00:17:09.480 On every side,

00:17:10.120 their silk and gold embroidered banners

00:17:11.880 were seen waving

00:17:13.120 and their iron helmets

00:17:14.420 and coats of mail

00:17:15.560 glittering in the blaze

00:17:17.360 of the hot noonday sun.

00:17:19.120 And by the side of the vizier

00:17:20.480 stood Prince Abgarus

00:17:22.120 with his Bedouins,

00:17:23.500 end quote.

00:17:24.260 So suddenly the Parthian army

00:17:26.040 shows itself,

00:17:27.240 shows its hand

00:17:27.960 and Crassus finds himself

00:17:30.000 in a sticky situation.

00:17:32.540 He's completely fallen for the trap,

00:17:34.540 hook, line and sinker.

00:17:36.120 Plutarch says that,

00:17:36.960 quote,

00:17:37.500 Crassus himself was absolutely thunderstruck

00:17:39.920 end quote.

00:17:41.480 Crassus sort of couldn't really believe it.

00:17:44.000 It's a bit like,

00:17:44.460 it reminds me of that story

00:17:45.540 when Stalin got news

00:17:47.700 that Hitler had broken the Nazi Soviet pack 0.82

00:17:49.880 and he'd invaded Soviet territory.

00:17:52.800 Stalin just sort of couldn't believe it.

00:17:54.300 Everyone had been telling Stalin for ages

00:17:56.120 that this was going to happen

00:17:57.200 or that it has in fact started to happen

00:17:59.380 and he just refused to believe it.

00:18:01.180 And when it became clear that it just was,

00:18:03.000 there was no denying it anymore,

00:18:04.320 he just was thunderstruck.

00:18:06.400 Just couldn't believe it.

00:18:07.700 Apart from anything else,

00:18:08.420 it's sort of humiliating, isn't it?

00:18:09.700 It sort of shows that

00:18:10.540 your judgment is terrible. 0.97

00:18:13.860 It shows that you believed a liar

00:18:16.640 far longer than you should have done

00:18:18.640 when everyone around you could see it.

00:18:21.540 Well, so,

00:18:22.720 Crassus forms up into square,

00:18:24.780 basically his whole army

00:18:25.920 into a giant square

00:18:27.220 because the Parthians very quickly

00:18:29.020 almost surround them,

00:18:30.660 not completely surround them,

00:18:31.860 but at least start to flank them

00:18:33.080 on three sides.

00:18:34.580 Well, actually,

00:18:34.980 so at first,

00:18:35.360 Crassus forms up in a massive long line,

00:18:37.980 a giant line of battle,

00:18:40.140 but he sees that the Parthians outnumber them

00:18:42.560 and they're all mounted.

00:18:44.340 They're basically nearly all mounted

00:18:45.840 and they start to outflank them

00:18:48.100 despite how long Crassus' battle line is.

00:18:51.220 So he changes his mind

00:18:52.480 and forms them into a giant square,

00:18:54.400 you know,

00:18:54.600 like a nearly 40,000 man strong square

00:18:57.060 and starts moving along slowly

00:18:59.820 in this square.

00:19:01.460 Plutarch says,

00:19:01.940 He began to make his dispositions hurriedly

00:19:04.880 and without much consistency.

00:19:06.700 First,

00:19:07.000 he followed the advice of Cassius

00:19:08.420 and with a view

00:19:09.560 to preventing the enemy

00:19:11.120 from surrounding them,

00:19:12.420 extended his line of infantry

00:19:13.700 as far as possible

00:19:14.580 across the plain

00:19:15.360 without giving it much depth

00:19:17.560 and dividing all the cavalry

00:19:19.200 between the two wings.

00:19:20.660 Then he changed his mind

00:19:21.820 and concentrated his forces

00:19:23.220 into a compact body,

00:19:24.960 forming them up

00:19:25.700 in a hollow square,

00:19:26.860 ready to face

00:19:27.520 in four directions

00:19:28.320 and with 12 cohorts

00:19:29.820 on each side.

00:19:31.120 To each cohort,

00:19:31.900 a squadron of cavalry

00:19:32.800 was assigned

00:19:33.760 so that no part of the line

00:19:35.380 might be without

00:19:36.300 the support of cavalry

00:19:37.240 and the whole force

00:19:38.380 could advance

00:19:39.160 with equal protection everywhere.

00:19:41.380 But Cassius in command

00:19:42.500 of one of the wings

00:19:43.920 and the young Crassus,

00:19:45.480 this is Crassus' son,

00:19:46.640 Publius,

00:19:47.280 in command of the other,

00:19:48.780 while he himself

00:19:49.540 took up his position

00:19:50.780 in the center.

00:19:51.940 In this formation,

00:19:52.760 they marched forward

00:19:53.380 until they came to a stream

00:19:54.660 called the Basilus.

00:19:56.160 It was a small stream

00:19:57.060 in any case

00:19:57.780 and now there was

00:19:58.680 not much water in it.

00:20:00.020 But by this time,

00:20:00.860 it was a pleasant enough sight

00:20:02.060 to the soldiers

00:20:02.680 who were hot and thirsty

00:20:04.300 after their hard march

00:20:05.980 without water at all.

00:20:07.740 It was therefore

00:20:08.280 the opinion

00:20:08.780 of most of the officers

00:20:09.820 that they should camp there

00:20:11.240 for the night

00:20:11.780 and after finding out

00:20:13.100 what they could

00:20:13.620 about the numbers

00:20:14.560 of the enemy

00:20:15.180 and their order of battle,

00:20:17.080 advanced against them

00:20:18.020 at dawn.

00:20:18.740 Crassus, however,

00:20:19.660 was carried away

00:20:20.520 by the eagerness

00:20:21.180 of his son

00:20:21.900 and of the cavalry

00:20:22.920 who were with him

00:20:24.080 and who were all in favor

00:20:25.580 of pressing on

00:20:26.440 and engaging the enemy.

00:20:27.960 He therefore gave orders

00:20:29.020 that those who need

00:20:30.220 to do so

00:20:30.860 should eat and drink

00:20:31.960 standing as they were

00:20:33.080 in their ranks

00:20:33.740 and even before

00:20:34.920 they had all had time

00:20:36.580 to do this,

00:20:37.860 he again led them forward.

00:20:39.500 Instead of making them

00:20:40.300 march slowly

00:20:40.900 and halting from time to time

00:20:42.380 as is usual

00:20:43.360 when on the way to battle,

00:20:45.500 he kept up a quick pace

00:20:46.780 until the enemy

00:20:47.660 came into sight.

00:20:48.860 The Romans 0.92

00:20:49.300 were surprised

00:20:50.240 to observe

00:20:50.940 that they were

00:20:51.780 neither so numerous

00:20:53.020 nor so splendidly armed

00:20:54.580 as they had expected.

00:20:55.820 This was in fact

00:20:57.020 because the vizier

00:20:58.100 this is sort of

00:20:58.960 the grand vizier

00:20:59.800 of the Parthian army

00:21:01.060 because the vizier

00:21:02.180 had hidden his main force

00:21:03.840 behind the front ranks

00:21:05.160 and had ordered them

00:21:06.440 to cover themselves

00:21:07.340 with coats and skins

00:21:08.540 so as to conceal

00:21:09.920 the glittering

00:21:10.860 of their armor.

00:21:11.760 Now, when they were

00:21:12.540 near the Romans

00:21:13.180 and their general

00:21:14.260 gave the signal,

00:21:15.500 first of all

00:21:16.080 the whole plain

00:21:16.740 was filled

00:21:17.260 with a deep

00:21:17.840 and terrifying

00:21:18.460 roaring sound.

00:21:19.780 For the Parthians, 0.98

00:21:20.920 instead of having

00:21:21.620 horns or trumpets

00:21:22.620 to sound the attack,

00:21:23.940 made use of hollow drums,

00:21:25.160 of stretched hide

00:21:26.380 to which bronze bells

00:21:27.760 were attached.

00:21:28.780 They beat on these drums

00:21:29.600 all at once

00:21:30.220 in many different parts

00:21:31.080 of the field

00:21:31.600 and the sound produced

00:21:32.780 is most eerie

00:21:33.980 and terrifying,

00:21:35.380 like the roaring

00:21:36.080 of wild animals

00:21:37.060 with something

00:21:38.020 of the sharpness

00:21:38.820 of a peal of thunder.

00:21:40.300 They have, it seems,

00:21:41.580 correctly observed

00:21:42.520 that the sense of hearing

00:21:43.920 has the most disturbing

00:21:45.240 effect on us

00:21:46.180 of all our senses,

00:21:47.860 most quickly arouses

00:21:48.960 our emotions

00:21:49.680 and most effectively

00:21:50.840 overpowers our judgment.

00:21:52.360 Before the Romans 0.95

00:21:53.140 had recovered

00:21:53.840 from their consternation

00:21:55.020 at this din,

00:21:56.000 the enemy suddenly

00:21:56.800 dropped the coverings

00:21:57.700 of their armor.

00:21:58.680 Now they could be seen

00:21:59.480 clearly,

00:22:00.360 their helmets

00:22:00.800 and breastplates

00:22:01.600 blazing like fire,

00:22:03.160 their Marjianian steel

00:22:04.440 glittering keen

00:22:05.340 and bright,

00:22:06.180 their horses armoured

00:22:07.100 with plates of bronze

00:22:08.040 and steel,

00:22:09.080 end quote.

00:22:09.840 So there's one particular

00:22:10.820 type of cavalry

00:22:11.860 the Parthians have got, 0.69

00:22:13.160 which are really,

00:22:14.120 really,

00:22:14.460 really heavily armoured,

00:22:16.080 a bit like medieval knights.

00:22:17.780 It says they're sort of

00:22:18.500 armoured from head to toe

00:22:19.980 in sort of chain mail,

00:22:21.540 not necessarily

00:22:21.940 sort of medieval plate mail,

00:22:23.500 but they're just heavily armoured

00:22:24.440 and even their horses

00:22:25.140 are armoured.

00:22:26.840 So it's like heavy cavalry.

00:22:28.900 The Romans hadn't really seen

00:22:30.100 the like of it before,

00:22:31.840 not like this anyway.

00:22:33.580 Just to say quickly,

00:22:34.620 the Romans and the Parthians

00:22:35.920 hadn't really come into

00:22:37.300 large scale contact before.

00:22:39.560 Big, big, massive set piece battles

00:22:41.440 with giant 10,000 man

00:22:43.260 a side armies like this.

00:22:44.900 So they're sort of feeling

00:22:45.780 each other out

00:22:46.420 for the first time.

00:22:47.380 So the grand Parthian vizier

00:22:49.340 starts trying to surround

00:22:50.940 this square,

00:22:52.220 as I said,

00:22:52.980 and in order to try

00:22:53.760 and avoid that,

00:22:54.820 Crassus decides

00:22:55.680 he has to break out,

00:22:56.560 send a contingent of his men

00:22:57.960 to break out

00:22:59.160 of this giant square.

00:23:00.760 To watch the full video,

00:23:02.000 please become a premium member

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The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters - July 21, 2024

PREVIEW： Epochs #168 ｜ Crassus ： Part III

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