Examining battles of History: Battle Of Carrhae
Oct 20, 2021 19:01:06 GMT
John Marston, Manfred von Richthofen, and 1 more like this
Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2021 19:01:06 GMT
Another new series, along with the other series i made recently, which is the controversial ideas of history. I'll be focusing presentations about Examining battles oh History, since finding controversial ideas and doing research on them is harder, since some of those ideas, especially older ones, tend to have this thing called "being burned due to being heretical", so sources are harder to find. Anyway, this series focuses on dissecting how or why the battle is lost. I'll be focusing more on the losing side and why they'd lost, tho i may focus on the winning side if the way they won was great. I'll also be focusing more on the overall strategic blunders over tactical blunders, as strategy has the bigger impact in how a battle or war goes.
Battle of Carrhae
This one is a bit misleading i'll be honest. I'll be focusing more on the things that occured before battle, as i think the blunders before the main battle itself is magnitudes above any tactical oversight in the battle itself. So let's start with the main player from the losing side of the battle, or in short, the biggest loser:
Marcus Licinius Crassus, uncle Crassus, the richest man in rome,the fool of Carrhae, the lover of golden beverages, the winner of the 3rd Servile war, the slayer of slaves; Crassus in short. After the future dictator for life Caesar subjugated most of Gaul, Crassus felt a bit antsy over his position in the Triumvirate. For those who don't know, the first triumvirate is an informal alliance by Crassus, Pompey and Caesar , and the purpose of the alliance is to use their power to pass legislation in the Senate for whatever purpose they want to see fit.
Anyway, Pompey is already an accomplished general, Caesar is getting popular, while Crassus doesn't have much in terms of accomplishments. He's the richest man in rome sure, but in Roman society, military achievements are seen as the pinnacle of merit. Having a lot of military achievement basically makes you popular due to the new found wealth you brought to the Republic from the plunders made from war, people see you as a great leader, and thus have a better shot at getting into high office legitimately. Crassus was basically the weakest link in the Triumvirate. It doesn't help matters that Pompey basically stole the credit in winning the 3rd Servile war, and Crassus was seen as the guy who got an ovation for beating a bunch of slaves.
So basically, uncle Crassus had to do something. He leveraged his power to get a spot as a governor of Syria. Why? Because his plan to gain military fame was through invading Parthia.
Blunder number 1: Not keeping the invasion of Parthia a secret, or not trying to frame the invasion as a defensive war/ just war. Invading Parthians wasn't really a priority of the Romans, as they were more focused in the subjugation of the West. They also had a treaty with them. Parthia was rich tho, so whoever could conquer them would gain their massive wealth. By not framing his war as a just one, there were already talks in the people of rome on how Crassus was simply doing this out of greed, which they weren't wrong. This caused some of them to actually stop him from leaving in his campaign, until his frenemy Pompey helped him out and talked the people out of it.
What he could've done: It might seem that this one wasn't a blunder, but having the support of the people was important. If your soldiers know that they're fighting for something worthy, like defending territories or gaining wealth for rome, their moral would be constantly high. Caesar knew this, and that's why he framed his war against the Gaul as a defensive war, which was pure bs of course. Crassus could have persuaded the Armenian king, a roman ally, to do some small raids secretly, and when the Parthians retaliate, he would have the reason to declare his war as protecting his ally. Another thing he could've done was keep the plan of invading Parthia more tight lipped.
After gathering his men and installing roman garrisons through out Mesopotamia, he was quite bewildered why there was no Parthian response. Meanwhile, the king of Armenia, Artasvasdes, asked Crassus to march and invade through Armenia, mentioning how advantageous the mountainous regions were in negating Parthian cavalry. In exchange for accepting his proposal, Artavasdes would supply Crassus with 30000 infantry and 16000 cavalry, doubling Crassus' force. It wasn't explicitly stated in any source, the reason why the Armenian king proposed this was for some slice of the pie once Crassus conquers Parthia. Crassus, thinking of the proposal, decided to reject the offer. The probable reason was that he wanted to conquer Parthia by himself, and have all the glory and he would stick it to Pompey and the roman people's face for doubting him. His goal was also to annex Mesopotamia, and that was going swell already, so why would he accept such an offer?
Blunder number 2: Letting hubris and emotion decide a negotiation rather than reason and logic. He literally was given an equivalent of 46,000 men, which would definitely tip the favor in Crassus' in terms of pure number alone. Not only that, the king gave him free passage through Armenia. That's like the King giving you a double bacon sandwhich, and gave you the right to unlimited pizza for the rest of your life. Of course, Crassus would have to split some lands and loot to the Armenians, but the pros outweigh the con. In fact, giving some lands to the Armenians would strengthen their relationship with Rome, and having Armenians rule some land for them would mean less manpower spent on those lands, basically a 2 in 1 deal. But Crassus let his greed in the way, and rejected the offer.
What he could've done: Accept the offer. What else? If not, then atleast he should've asked more intel on the Parthians, and maybe key locations in which to invade.
Crassus crossed the Euphrates with his 43000 strong men. Along the way, scouts mentioned some soldiers marching away from the river towards the desert. His subordinates advised him to pull back into one of his garrisoned towns and gather intelligence of the mysterious army. Crassus said "nah" and Leroy Jenkined his way into the desert with the army.
As they were marching into the desert, his subordinates again, these beta males whose wife slept with Caesar most likely, started suggesting that they should turn around, like a coward of course, because they feared an ambush like the babies that they are, or to atleast stop for several days near a water source to resupply and gather intel. Of course, alpha chad billionaire Crassus saw through the hearts of these beta male subordinates, so he raised his chin, and said no, and continued pursuing the Parthians.
Blunder number 3: Not listening or considering the advice of of subordinates. The advice given was sound : by moving into one of the garrisoned towns, they could be protected in case of a Parthian attack, and they would have time to gather intelligence in the mean time, to know if the enemy force was baiting them into the desert, gathering intel on them, or if they were just stragglers. Crassus basically put 2 of his fingers in his ears, screamed " lalalala i can't hear you" to his subordinates, and ran straight into the desert. He could have atleast stopped for water and resupply and gather intelligence, or turn back as they were in the middle of the desert and they could be starved out by the Parthians.Don't be greedy kids.
What he could've done: Even if he didn't consider their offer, he could've sent spies to take note of water sources along the way and to scout the area.
Spies returned to big boy Crassus, and mentioned that a large Parthian force was on the way. This Parthian force was composed of only cavalry, led by the general Surena, aka the worst archer general in Great conqueror rome(fight me Friedrich โFried Riceโ Paulus ). Cassius, the guy who would later stab Caesar with Brutus and friends, suggested to deploy the army in a long thin line, which was the standard line against cavalry, as having a long line would prevent encirclement by the enemy cavalry. Crassus headed the advice and ordered his men to do so, but he felt unnerved by an all cavalry force, so in the last minute, while the army was forming up, he ordered them to regroup and deploy in a Testudo formation, also known by the name of the "noob box formation" not sure what box had to do with it tho. Basically, form into a turtle formation, shields to the sides and up to protect from arrows. Cassius and Friends tried to persuade the Genius that is future dictator for life in another parallel universe Crassus from the wisdom of the plan, but again, like the big alpha that he is, ignored them. His reasoning was that he could just wait out the Parthians to use up all their arrows, and once that happens, the Roman Legionnaire's superior discipline would crush the Parthians. And so, seeing the romans form a turtle formation, the Parthians surrounded them and started raining down arrows at them. The romans laughed, as the arrows were easily blocked by the shields. And so all they had to do was to wait for the arrows to be exhausted. So they waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited .And waited.And waited. .And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited. And then they finally realized that oh shoot, the Parthians were using unlimited arrow hacks, aka having camels carrying bags filled with arrows, and their only job is to run around resupplying the Parthian Archers with bows. Crassus deployed skirmishers to atleast slow down the Parthian attack, but due to the rain of arrows, they got pushed back. The torrent of arrows continued on, so finally, Crassus ordered his son, Publius Crassus, to gather up his Gallic cavalry and to charge the Parthians. The plan was to route one side so they can weasel their way out of the situation. So he did, and the Parthians Publius charged retreated. They gave chase, Parthians showed them what a Parthian shot was(rotating 180 degrees and shooting while retreating), and eventually they surrounded Publius, Publius asked a soldier to kill him, and that ends the promising career of Publius Crassus.
Blunder number 4: Again, not gathering more intel from the enemy, and not listening to conventional wisdom for battling the enemy, aka if it ain't broke, don't fix it. His idea of deploying the Testudo formation wasn't a blunder in itself; it actually had wisdom in it, tho quite unorthodox. The problem was the lack of intel. If he had known the Parthians had unlimited arrow hax, then he could've used the tried and tested long thin line method.
What he could've done: Like usual, listen to advisers who knew more about warfare, and not to try anything new and fancy if there wasn't any real reason to. The reason why new and fancy worked for Caesar was that the situation demanded it. He didn't just build walls because he felt like it, or that he felt unnerved by the Gauls. He did it because it served a purpose. That, and he had intel on the Gauls,so he knew that his plan wouldn't backfire. He also still followed conventional wisdom, like holding elevated terrain and forming his legions based on how the enemy formed them.
I won't discuss much on how the Battle went, because most people know the conclusion. Crassus died in a negotiation deal with the Parthians, he drank gold, some guy got picked by Surena and named Crassus, got dressed in women's clothes and paraded through Parthia, and Surena got executed by King Orodes II the same year. Carrhae was such a big loss to the romans, especially the loss of Crassus' son Publius which was a promising general. It also changed the dynamic of how Parthians saw them. They understood that Crassus did it out of greed, but Parthia would see rome as a rising threat, which would lead to centuries of conflict. Personally, i felt bad when Crassus became despondent at the death of his son. But he was the one who got himself in that situation. Basically, Crassus done goofed, don't be like Crassus.
Battle of Carrhae
This one is a bit misleading i'll be honest. I'll be focusing more on the things that occured before battle, as i think the blunders before the main battle itself is magnitudes above any tactical oversight in the battle itself. So let's start with the main player from the losing side of the battle, or in short, the biggest loser:
Marcus Licinius Crassus, uncle Crassus, the richest man in rome,the fool of Carrhae, the lover of golden beverages, the winner of the 3rd Servile war, the slayer of slaves; Crassus in short. After the future dictator for life Caesar subjugated most of Gaul, Crassus felt a bit antsy over his position in the Triumvirate. For those who don't know, the first triumvirate is an informal alliance by Crassus, Pompey and Caesar , and the purpose of the alliance is to use their power to pass legislation in the Senate for whatever purpose they want to see fit.
Anyway, Pompey is already an accomplished general, Caesar is getting popular, while Crassus doesn't have much in terms of accomplishments. He's the richest man in rome sure, but in Roman society, military achievements are seen as the pinnacle of merit. Having a lot of military achievement basically makes you popular due to the new found wealth you brought to the Republic from the plunders made from war, people see you as a great leader, and thus have a better shot at getting into high office legitimately. Crassus was basically the weakest link in the Triumvirate. It doesn't help matters that Pompey basically stole the credit in winning the 3rd Servile war, and Crassus was seen as the guy who got an ovation for beating a bunch of slaves.
So basically, uncle Crassus had to do something. He leveraged his power to get a spot as a governor of Syria. Why? Because his plan to gain military fame was through invading Parthia.
Blunder number 1: Not keeping the invasion of Parthia a secret, or not trying to frame the invasion as a defensive war/ just war. Invading Parthians wasn't really a priority of the Romans, as they were more focused in the subjugation of the West. They also had a treaty with them. Parthia was rich tho, so whoever could conquer them would gain their massive wealth. By not framing his war as a just one, there were already talks in the people of rome on how Crassus was simply doing this out of greed, which they weren't wrong. This caused some of them to actually stop him from leaving in his campaign, until his frenemy Pompey helped him out and talked the people out of it.
What he could've done: It might seem that this one wasn't a blunder, but having the support of the people was important. If your soldiers know that they're fighting for something worthy, like defending territories or gaining wealth for rome, their moral would be constantly high. Caesar knew this, and that's why he framed his war against the Gaul as a defensive war, which was pure bs of course. Crassus could have persuaded the Armenian king, a roman ally, to do some small raids secretly, and when the Parthians retaliate, he would have the reason to declare his war as protecting his ally. Another thing he could've done was keep the plan of invading Parthia more tight lipped.
After gathering his men and installing roman garrisons through out Mesopotamia, he was quite bewildered why there was no Parthian response. Meanwhile, the king of Armenia, Artasvasdes, asked Crassus to march and invade through Armenia, mentioning how advantageous the mountainous regions were in negating Parthian cavalry. In exchange for accepting his proposal, Artavasdes would supply Crassus with 30000 infantry and 16000 cavalry, doubling Crassus' force. It wasn't explicitly stated in any source, the reason why the Armenian king proposed this was for some slice of the pie once Crassus conquers Parthia. Crassus, thinking of the proposal, decided to reject the offer. The probable reason was that he wanted to conquer Parthia by himself, and have all the glory and he would stick it to Pompey and the roman people's face for doubting him. His goal was also to annex Mesopotamia, and that was going swell already, so why would he accept such an offer?
Blunder number 2: Letting hubris and emotion decide a negotiation rather than reason and logic. He literally was given an equivalent of 46,000 men, which would definitely tip the favor in Crassus' in terms of pure number alone. Not only that, the king gave him free passage through Armenia. That's like the King giving you a double bacon sandwhich, and gave you the right to unlimited pizza for the rest of your life. Of course, Crassus would have to split some lands and loot to the Armenians, but the pros outweigh the con. In fact, giving some lands to the Armenians would strengthen their relationship with Rome, and having Armenians rule some land for them would mean less manpower spent on those lands, basically a 2 in 1 deal. But Crassus let his greed in the way, and rejected the offer.
What he could've done: Accept the offer. What else? If not, then atleast he should've asked more intel on the Parthians, and maybe key locations in which to invade.
Crassus crossed the Euphrates with his 43000 strong men. Along the way, scouts mentioned some soldiers marching away from the river towards the desert. His subordinates advised him to pull back into one of his garrisoned towns and gather intelligence of the mysterious army. Crassus said "nah" and Leroy Jenkined his way into the desert with the army.
As they were marching into the desert, his subordinates again, these beta males whose wife slept with Caesar most likely, started suggesting that they should turn around, like a coward of course, because they feared an ambush like the babies that they are, or to atleast stop for several days near a water source to resupply and gather intel. Of course, alpha chad billionaire Crassus saw through the hearts of these beta male subordinates, so he raised his chin, and said no, and continued pursuing the Parthians.
Blunder number 3: Not listening or considering the advice of of subordinates. The advice given was sound : by moving into one of the garrisoned towns, they could be protected in case of a Parthian attack, and they would have time to gather intelligence in the mean time, to know if the enemy force was baiting them into the desert, gathering intel on them, or if they were just stragglers. Crassus basically put 2 of his fingers in his ears, screamed " lalalala i can't hear you" to his subordinates, and ran straight into the desert. He could have atleast stopped for water and resupply and gather intelligence, or turn back as they were in the middle of the desert and they could be starved out by the Parthians.Don't be greedy kids.
What he could've done: Even if he didn't consider their offer, he could've sent spies to take note of water sources along the way and to scout the area.
Spies returned to big boy Crassus, and mentioned that a large Parthian force was on the way. This Parthian force was composed of only cavalry, led by the general Surena, aka the worst archer general in Great conqueror rome(fight me Friedrich โFried Riceโ Paulus ). Cassius, the guy who would later stab Caesar with Brutus and friends, suggested to deploy the army in a long thin line, which was the standard line against cavalry, as having a long line would prevent encirclement by the enemy cavalry. Crassus headed the advice and ordered his men to do so, but he felt unnerved by an all cavalry force, so in the last minute, while the army was forming up, he ordered them to regroup and deploy in a Testudo formation, also known by the name of the "noob box formation" not sure what box had to do with it tho. Basically, form into a turtle formation, shields to the sides and up to protect from arrows. Cassius and Friends tried to persuade the Genius that is future dictator for life in another parallel universe Crassus from the wisdom of the plan, but again, like the big alpha that he is, ignored them. His reasoning was that he could just wait out the Parthians to use up all their arrows, and once that happens, the Roman Legionnaire's superior discipline would crush the Parthians. And so, seeing the romans form a turtle formation, the Parthians surrounded them and started raining down arrows at them. The romans laughed, as the arrows were easily blocked by the shields. And so all they had to do was to wait for the arrows to be exhausted. So they waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited .And waited.And waited. .And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited.And waited. And then they finally realized that oh shoot, the Parthians were using unlimited arrow hacks, aka having camels carrying bags filled with arrows, and their only job is to run around resupplying the Parthian Archers with bows. Crassus deployed skirmishers to atleast slow down the Parthian attack, but due to the rain of arrows, they got pushed back. The torrent of arrows continued on, so finally, Crassus ordered his son, Publius Crassus, to gather up his Gallic cavalry and to charge the Parthians. The plan was to route one side so they can weasel their way out of the situation. So he did, and the Parthians Publius charged retreated. They gave chase, Parthians showed them what a Parthian shot was(rotating 180 degrees and shooting while retreating), and eventually they surrounded Publius, Publius asked a soldier to kill him, and that ends the promising career of Publius Crassus.
Blunder number 4: Again, not gathering more intel from the enemy, and not listening to conventional wisdom for battling the enemy, aka if it ain't broke, don't fix it. His idea of deploying the Testudo formation wasn't a blunder in itself; it actually had wisdom in it, tho quite unorthodox. The problem was the lack of intel. If he had known the Parthians had unlimited arrow hax, then he could've used the tried and tested long thin line method.
What he could've done: Like usual, listen to advisers who knew more about warfare, and not to try anything new and fancy if there wasn't any real reason to. The reason why new and fancy worked for Caesar was that the situation demanded it. He didn't just build walls because he felt like it, or that he felt unnerved by the Gauls. He did it because it served a purpose. That, and he had intel on the Gauls,so he knew that his plan wouldn't backfire. He also still followed conventional wisdom, like holding elevated terrain and forming his legions based on how the enemy formed them.
I won't discuss much on how the Battle went, because most people know the conclusion. Crassus died in a negotiation deal with the Parthians, he drank gold, some guy got picked by Surena and named Crassus, got dressed in women's clothes and paraded through Parthia, and Surena got executed by King Orodes II the same year. Carrhae was such a big loss to the romans, especially the loss of Crassus' son Publius which was a promising general. It also changed the dynamic of how Parthians saw them. They understood that Crassus did it out of greed, but Parthia would see rome as a rising threat, which would lead to centuries of conflict. Personally, i felt bad when Crassus became despondent at the death of his son. But he was the one who got himself in that situation. Basically, Crassus done goofed, don't be like Crassus.
