16 When Crassus had invaded Mesopotamia, as has been stated, Orodes sent envoys t o him in Syria to censure him

for the invasion and to ask the causes of the war; at the same time he sent Surenas with an army to the captured and revolted dist ricts. 2 For he had it in mind to lead an expedition in person against that part of Armenia which had once belonged to Tigranes, in order that Artabazes, the so n of Tigranes, the king of the land at that time, should send no assistance to t he Romans through fear for his own land. 3 Now Crassus said that he would tell h im in Seleucia the causes of the war; this is a city in Mesopotamia which even a t the present day has a very large Greek population. And one of the Parthians, s triking the palm of his left hand with the fingers of the other, exclaimed: "Soo ner will hair grow here than you shall reach Seleucia." 17 And when the winter set in, in which Gnaeus Calvinus and Valerius Messalla be came consuls, many portents occurred even in Rome itself. Owls and wolves were s een, the dogs prowled about and whined, some sacred statues exuded sweat and oth ers were struck by lightning. 2 The offices, partly through rivalry but chiefly by reason of the omens and portents, were with difficulty filled at last in the seventh month. Those signs, however, gave no clear indication as to what the eve nt would be; for affairs in the city were in a turmoil, the Gauls had risen agai n, and, though the Romans knew not how as yet, they had become involved in war w ith the Parthians. 3 But to Crassus signs that were both evident and easy to int erpret appeared as he was crossing the Euphrates at Zeugma, a place so called fr om the campaign of Alexander, because he crossed at this point. 18 One portent h ad to do with the so called "eagle" of the army. It is a small shrine and in it pe rches a golden eagle. It is found in all the enrolled legions, and it is never m oved from the winter-quarters unless the whole army takes the field; 2 one man c arries it on a long shaft, which ends in a sharp spike so that it can be set fir mly in the ground. Now one of these eagles was unwilling to join him in his pass age of the Euphrates at that time, but stuck fast in the earth as if rooted ther e, until many took their places around it and pulled it out by force, so that it accompanied them quite reluctantly. 3 But one of the large flags, that resemble sails, with purple letters upon them to p433distinguish the army and its comman der-in chief, was overturned and fell from the bridge into the river. This happene d in the midst of a violent wind. 4 Then Crassus had the others of equal length cut down, so they might be shorter and hence steadier to carry; but he only incr eased the prodigies. For at the very time of crossing the river so great a fog e nveloped the soldiers that they fell over one another and could see nothing of t he enemy's country until they set foot upon it; 5 and the sacrifices both for cr ossing and for landing proved most unfavourable. Meanwhile a great wind burst up on them, bolts of lightning fell, and the bridge collapsed before they had all p assed over. The occurrences were such that any one, even the most indifferent an d uninstructed, would interpret them to mean that they would fare badly and not return; hence there was great fear and dejection in the army. 19 Now Crassus, tr ying to encourage them, said: "Be not alarmed, soldiers, because the bridge has been destroyed nor think because of this that any disaster is portended. 2 For I declare to you upon oath that I have decided to make my return march through Ar menia." By this he would have emboldened them, had he not added in a loud voice the words: "Be of good cheer; for none of us shall come back this way." 3 When t hey heard this, the soldiers deemed that it had been an omen for them as great a s the others, and they fell into greater discouragement; and so it was that they paid no heed to the remainder of his exhortation, in which he belittled the bar barian and glorified the Roman state, offered them money and announced prizes fo r valour. 4 Still, even as it was, they followed and no one said a word or did a nything to oppose him, partly, perhaps, out of regard for the law, but also beca use by this time they were terrified and could neither plan nor carry out any me asures of safety. At any rate, in all else that they did also, as if predestined to ruin by some divinity, they were helpless in both mind and body. 20 Nevertheless, the greatest injury was done them by Abgarus of Osrone. For he h ad pledged himself to peace with the Romans in the time of Pompey, but now chose

the side of the barbarians. The same was done by Alchaudonius, the Arabian, who always attached himself to the stronger party. 2 The latter, however, revolted openly, and hence was not hard to guard against; but Abgarus, while favouring th e Parthian cause, pretended to be well disposed toward Crassus. He spent money f or him unsparingly, learned all his plans and reported them to the foe, and furt her, if any of them was advantageous for the Romans, he tried to divert him from it, but if disadvantageous, urged him forward. 3 At last he was responsible for the following occurrence. Crassus was intending to advance to Seleucia so as to reach there safely with his army and provisions by proceeding along the banks o f the Euphrates and on its stream; accompanied then by the people of that city, whom he hoped to win over easily, because they were Greeks, he would cross witho ut difficulty to Ctesiphon. 4 Abgarus caused him to give up this course, on the ground that it would take a long time, and persuaded him to assail Surenas, beca use the latter was near by and had only a few men. 21 Then, when he had arranged matters so that the invader should perish and the other should conquer (for he was continually in the company of Surenas, on the pretext of spying), he led out the Romans in their heedlessness to what he represented as a victory in their v ery hands, and in the midst of the action joined in the attack against them. 2 It came about in this way. The Parthians confronted the Romans with most of th eir army hidden; for the ground was uneven in spots and wooded. Upon seeing them Crassus not the commander, but the younger Crassus, who had come to his father from Gaul 3 felt scornful of them, since he supposed them to be alone, and so le d out his cavalry against them, and when they turned purposely to flight, pursue d them, thinking the victory was his; thus he was drawn far away from the main a rmy, and was then surrounded and cut down. 22 When this had taken place, the Rom an infantry did not turn back, but valiantly joined battle with the Parthians to avenge his death. Yet they accomplished nothing worthy of themselves because of the enemy's numbers and tactics, and particularly because Abgarus was plotting against them. 2 For if they decided to lock shields for the purpose of avoiding the arrows by the closeness of their array, the pikemen were upon them with a ru sh, striking down some, and at least scattering the others; and if they extended their ranks to avoid this, they would be struck with the arrows. 3 Hereupon man y died from fright at the very charge of the pikemen, and many perished hemmed i n by the horsemen. Others were knocked over by the pikes or were carried off tra nsfixed. 4 The missiles falling thick upon them from all sides at once struck do wn many by a mortal blow, rendered many useless for battle, and caused distress to all. They flew into their eyes and pierced their hands and all the other part s of their body and, penetrating their armour, deprived them of their protection and compelled them to expose themselves to each new missile. 5 Thus, while a ma n was guarding against arrows or pulling out one that had stuck fast he received more wounds, one after another. Consequently it was impracticable for them to m ove, and impracticable to remain at rest. Neither course afforded them safety bu t each was fraught with destruction, the one because it was out of their power, and the other because they were then more easily wounded. 23 This was what they suffered while they were fighting only against the enemies in sight; for Abgarus did not immediately make his attempt upon them. But when he, too, attacked, thereupon the Osroni themselves assailed the Romans on their e xposed rear, since they were facing the other way, and also rendered them easier for the others to slaughter. For the Romans, in altering their formation, so as to be facing them, put the Parthians behind them. 2 Again they wheeled round to face the Parthians, then back again to face the Osroni, then to face the Parthia ns once more. Thrown into still greater confusion by this course, because they w ere continually turning this way and that and were forced to face the enemy that was wounding them at the time, they fell upon their own swords and many were ev en killed by their comrades. 3 Finally, as the enemy continually assaulted them from all sides at once, and they were compelled to protect their exposed parts b y the shields of those who stood beside them, they were shut up in so narrow a p lace that they could no longer move. Indeed, they could not even get a sure foot

ing by reason of the number of corpses, but kept falling over them. 4 The heat a nd thirst (it was midsummer and this action took place at noon) and the dust, of which the barbarians raised as much as possible by all riding around them, told fearfully upon the survivors, and many succumbed from these causes, even though unwounded. 24 And the Romans would have perished utterly, but for the fact that some of the pikes of the barbarians were bent and others were broken, while the bowstrings snapped under the constant shooting, the missiles were exhausted, th e swords all blunted, and, most of all, that the men themselves grew weary of th e slaughter. 2 Under these conditions, then, the assailants retired, for night w as coming and they were obliged to ride off to a distance. For they never encamp near even the weakest forces, because they use no intrenchments, and because, i f any one attacks them in the darkness, they are unable to employ their cavalry or their archery to advantage. 3 However, they captured no Roman alive at that t ime; for seeing them standing upright in their armour and perceiving that no one either threw away his weapons or fled, they supposed they still had some streng th, and feared to lay hold of them. 25 So Crassus and all the rest who could set out for Carrhae, which had been kep t loyal to them by the Romans who remained behind within the walls. But many of the wounded remained on the field, being unable to walk and lacking vehicles or even guides, since the others had been glad enough merely to drag themselves awa y. 2 Some of them died of their wounds or by making away with themselves, and ot hers were captured the next day. And of those who had escaped many perished on t he road, as their strength gave out, and many later because they were unable to obtain proper care immediately. 3 For Crassus, in his discouragement, believed h e could not hold out safely even in the city any longer, but planned flight at o nce. And since it was impossible for him to go out by day without being detected , he undertook to escape by night, but failed to secure secrecy, being betrayed by the moon, which was at its full. 4 The Romans accordingly waited for moonless nights, and setting out thus, in darkness and in a land at once strange and hos tile, and in overpowering fear, they became scattered. And some were caught when it became day and lost their lives, others got safely away to Syria in the comp any of Cassius Longinus, the quaestor, 5 and still others, with Crassus himself, gained the mountains and prepared to escape through them into Armenia. 26 Surenas, learning this, was afraid that if they should escape anywhere they m ight make war on them again, but still he was unwilling to assail them on the hi gher ground, which was inaccessible to horses; for as they were heavy-armed men, fighting from higher ground, and felt also a touch of frenzy because of despair , contending with them was not easy. So he sent to them, inviting them to agree to a truce on condition of their abandoning all territory east of the Euphrates; 2 and Crassus, without hesitation, trusted him. For he was in the very extremit y of fear, and was distraught by the terror of the calamity that had befallen bo th himself and the state; and seeing, moreover, that the soldiers shrank from th e journey, which they thought long and arduous, and that they feared Orodes, he was unable to foresee anything that he ought. 3 Now when he declared himself rea dy for the truce, Surenas refused to negotiate it through others, but in order t o get him off with only a few followers and seize him, he said that he wished to hold a conference with the commander personally. 4 Thereupon they decided to me et each other in the space between the two armies with an equal number of men fr om each side. So Crassus descended to the level ground and Surenas sent him a pr esent of a horse, to make sure of his coming to him more quietly; 27 and while C rassus even then delayed and considered what he should do, the barbarians took h im forcibly and threw him on the horse. Meanwhile the Romans also laid hold of h im, came to blows with the others, and for a time held their own; then aid came to the barbarians, and they prevailed; 2 for their forces, which were in the pla in and had been made ready beforehand brought help to their men before the Roman s on the high ground could to theirs. And not only the others fell, but Crassus also was slain, either by one of his own men to prevent his capture alive, or by the enemy because he was badly wounded. This was his end. 3 And the Parthians,

as some say, poured molten gold into his mouth in mockery; for though a man of v ast wealth, he had set so great store by money as to pity those who could not su pport an enrolled legion from their own means, regarding them as poor men. 4 Of the soldiers the majority escaped through the mountains to friendly territory, b ut a part fell into the hands of the enemy. 28 The Parthians at this time did not advance behind the Euphrates, but won back the whole country east of it. Later they also invaded Syria, though not in grea t numbers, because the province had neither general nor soldiers; and for this r eason Cassius easily thrust them out, since they were not many in number. 2 For when at Carrhae the soldiers through hatred of Crassus had offered him the supre me command over themselves, and Crassus himself on account of the greatness of t he disaster had voluntarily allowed it, he had not accepted the command; now, ho wever, he took charge of Syria perforce, both for the time being and subsequentl y. 3 For the barbarians would not keep away from it, but made another campaign w ith a larger band, nominally under the leadership of Pacorus, the son of Orodes, though actually under that of Osaces, since the other was just a child. They ca me as far as Antioch, subduing the whole country before them. 4 And they had hop es also of subjugating what remained, since the Romans were not at hand with a f orce fit to cope with them, and the districts were fretting under Roman rule and were ready to turn to the invaders, as to neighbours and people of kindred ways . 29 But when they failed to take Antioch, since Cassius effectively repulsed th em and they were unable to carry on a siege, they turned to Antigonea. And since the neighbourhood of this city was overgrown with timber, and they did not dare , nay were not even able to penetrate this with cavalry, 2 they formed a plan to cut down the trees and lay bare the whole place, so that they might approach th e town with confidence and safety. But finding themselves unable to do this, bec ause the task was a great one and their time was spent in vain, while Cassius ha rassed those of them who scattered abroad, they retired with the intention of pr oceeding against some other place. 3 Meanwhile Cassius set an ambush on the road along which they were to depart, and confronting them there with a few men, he induced them to pursue, and then surrounding them, killed a number, including Os aces. Upon the latter's death Pacorus abandoned all Syria and never invaded it a gain. 30 He had scarcely retired when Bibulus arrived to govern Syria. His coming, to be sure, was in violation of a decree, intended to prevent rivalry for office wi th its consequent strife, that no praetor or consul should either immediately or at any time within five years go abroad to govern a province. 2 He administered the subject territory in peace, and turned the Parthians against one another. F or after winning the friendship of Ornodapates, a satrap, who had a grudge again st Orodes, he persuaded him through messengers to set up Pacorus as king, and wi th him to conduct a campaign against the other. So this war between the Romans and Parthians came to an end in the fourth year a fter it had begun, and while Marcus Marcellus and Sulpicius Rufus were consuls. 31 In that same period Caesar by battle again gained control of Gallic affairs, which had become disturbed. Of the numerous exploits performed either by himself alone or through his lieutenants I will relate only the most important. 2 Ambio rix, after joining to himself the Treveri, who at this time were still angry ove r Indutiomarus' death, had formed a greater conspiracy in that quarter and sent for a mercenary force from the Germans. 3 Now Labienus, wishing to join battle w ith them before these recruits should arrive, promptly invaded the country of th e Treveri. And when the latter did not defend themselves, as they p453were await ing the reinforcements, but put a river between the two armies and remained quie t, Labienus assembled his soldiers and addressed them in such words as were like ly to alarm his own men and encourage the foe, 4 declaring that they must withdr aw to Caesar and safety before the Germans should come to the aid of the enemy; and he immediately gave the signal to pack up the baggage. Not much later he act ually set out on the march, expecting the very result that occurred. 5 For the b

arbarians heard of his speech, for they were very diligent in such matters and i t was for just that reason, indeed, that it had been delivered publicly, and the y thought he was really afraid and truly taking to flight. Hence they hastily cr ossed the river and eagerly advanced against the Romans, as fast as each one cou ld. 6 Thus Labienus met their attack while they were scattered, and after terrif ying the foremost easily routed the rest by means of these first fugitives. Then , as they were fleeing in disorder, falling over one another and crowding toward the river, he killed many of them.