Antony's Parthian War

Mark Antony's campaigns against Parthia
Part of the Roman–Parthian Wars
Date 40–33 BC Location Asia Minor, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, Media Atropatene Result Parthian victory, ended by formal peace in 20 BC
Belligerents
Roman Republic and vassals: Judea Galatia Cappadocia Pontus Armenia	Parthian Empire Atropatene
Commanders and leaders
Mark Antony Publius Ventidius Bassus	Orodes (40–38 BC) Phraates (38–33 BC) Pacorus Barzapharnes Quintus Labienus Artavasdes I
Strength
100,000 legionaries 10,000 cavalry 6,000–7,000 Armenians 23,000–24,000 auxiliaries (Atropatene campaign)	50,000 cavalry
Casualties and losses
20,000–30,000 dead 4,000 cavalry (Atropatene campaign)	Unknown

Antony's Parthian War or the Roman–Parthian War of 40–33 BC was a major conflict between the Roman Republic, represented in the East by the triumvir Mark Antony, and the Parthians. Although the campaign ended in distastrous defeat for Antony, the war became a strategic draw when peace was later negotiated by Augustus.

Background

Julius Caesar, after ensuring victory in his civil war, planned a campaign into the Parthian Empire in 44 B.C. to avenge the earlier defeat of a Roman army led by Marcus Licinius Crassus at the Battle of Carrhae. Caesar's plan was, after a brief pacification of Dacia, to continue east into Parthian territory.^[1] After his assassination, the Second Triumvirate, composed of Marcus Antonius (Antony), Marcus Lepidus and Gaius Octavianus (later known as Augustus), was formed. After the defeat of Caesar's assassins at the Battle of Philippi, Caesarian rule over the Republic was effectively ensured. Shortly after, however, with the triumvirs preoccupied with the revolt of Sextus Pompeius in Sicily, Parthia attacked Roman-controlled Syria and the client kingdom of Judea. The Judean high priest and puppet Roman ruler, Hyrcanus II, was overthrown and sent as prisoner to Seleucia, and the pro-Parthian Hasmonean Antigonus was installed in his place. Antigonus was the only remaining son of former king Aristobulus II who the Romans deposed when they installed the weaker Hyrcanus II as high priest (but not king) in 63 BC. Upon capturing Hyrcanus II, Antigonus bit off his uncle's ears to disqualify him from ever again serving as high priest.^[2]

In Anatolia, the Parthians allied with Quintus Labienus, son of Caesar's former general and later antagonist Titus Labienus, penetrating deep into the west and defeating a Roman army under Decidius Saxa. They were however defeated in turn by a veteran army led by Publius Ventidius Bassus, who drove the invaders from Roman territory.

The war

With the aid of Mark Antony, Triumvir and lover of Egyptian Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII, the son-in-law of Hyrcanus, Herod, returned to Judea and recaptured Jerusalem in 37 BC. Antony then went on to attack the Parthian Empire itself, marching into Atropatene (present-day Iranian Azerbaijan) with some 100,000 legionaries, aided by the Roman client kings in Armenia, Galatia, Cappadocia and sovereign Pontus. The campaign proved a disaster however, after a Roman slipup at Phraaspa, capital of Atropatene, and "during this confrontation, the Parthians captured ten thousand Roman troops, most of whom were Germans from the Rhineland, and sent them as hostages to Merv. There, in what is now Turkmenistan, German vintners helped establish the local wine industry."^[3] Additionally, thousands of Romans and auxiliaries died during the retreat due to the cold winter. Antony lost more than a quarter of its strength in the course of the campaign.

Again with Egyptian money, Antony invaded Armenia, this time successfully. In the return, a mock Roman Triumph was celebrated in the streets of Alexandria. The parade through the city was a pastiche of Rome's most important military celebration. For the finale, the whole city was summoned to hear a very important political statement. In 34 BC, surrounded by Cleopatra and her children, Antony ended his alliance with Octavian.

Subsequent events

Antony later went on to annex Armenia, afraid the kingdom would seek Parthian support, but the war didn't end formally until 20 BC, by a peace made by Augustus, ensuring the return of the captured legionary eagles of Crassus' and Saxa's armies, Antony's main excuse for the invasion of Parthia proper.

References

1. Freeman, Philip. Julius Caesar. Simon and Schuster (2008) ISBN 978-0743289542, p.347-349
2. Jewish Wars I 13:9
3. Starr, S. Frederick Starr. Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. Princeton University Press, 2013, p. 51