19. Moment of Truth Becomes an Oops Moment
To get himself some military glory, Crassus led an army of 50,000 to invade Parthia, a wealthy kingdom spanning today’s Iraq and Iran. He trusted a local chieftain to guide him, but the guide was in Parthian pay. He led Crassus along an arid route, until, hot and thirsty, the Romans reached Carrhae in today’s Turkey. There, Crasus had his oops moment when he and his army 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’ uninspiring leadership. The mounted Parthian archers shot up Crassus’ men from a distance, retreating whenever the Romans advanced. As casualties mounted, morale plummeted. Crassus, unable to think of a plan, rested his hopes on the Parthians running out of arrows. The Parthians however had a supply train of thousands of camels loaded with arrows.