CHAP. 



in.] 



ROMAN CAVALRY. 



105 



brought temporary relief to the distressed army. The 

 Parthians, according to their custom of going a long 

 distance to bivouac, retired far from the Romans, and 

 gave them an opportunity, which they at once seized, 

 of retreating to the neighbouring town of Carhge. From 

 there they retreated the next night, but at daylight were 

 again attacked by the Parthians, and were able, with 

 some loss, to reach the protection of a hill, when Surena 

 opened negotiations for a surrender. In the interview 

 which took place, a struggle ensued, in which Crassus 

 was killed. So ended the Roman invasion of Parthia in 

 that year. Of the 40,000 who crossed the Euphrates, 

 20,000 were slain, and 10,000 made prisoners, barely 

 one-fourth succeeding in effecting a retreat. 



The history of war does not afford a more brilliant 

 illustration of the great value of the cavalry service, 

 nor any instance where so great a result was due solely 

 to the unaided efforts of horsemen. It is remarkable 

 how thoroughly the Parthians appreciated the true value 

 and real use of the horse for military purposes, and how 

 skilfully they utilised two great advantages in war, 

 namely, superior speed in movement, and superior range 

 of missile weapons. These two points well understood, 

 and ably handled, should always secure success. 



The Parthians by this war gained the respect of the 

 .Romans, for they were really the only check to the 

 advance of the power of the Roman Empire towards the 

 east. The disaster suffered by the army of Crassus 

 created a great impression in Rome. Their writers from 

 that time grudgingly admitted Parthia to be their only 

 rival, and the second power in the world. In fact the 

 tide of success for the time had turned, and t he hordes 

 of the Parthian cavalry carried the standard of their 

 empire victoriously over Syria and Asia Minor, rolling 

 back the Roman legions as far as the Egean Sea and the 

 shores of the Hellespont, so that for a full year Western 

 Asia changed mastery, and Parthia was the dominant 

 power. ^ 



Such were the extraordinary results of a few differences 



* Rawlinson, Parthia, 189. 



