Chapter 1-1
226 Words
Chapter 1
Year 53 BC- Carrhae (Nowadays Harran- Turkey)
Desiring to equate the warlike exploits of Julius Caesar and Pompey, Licinius Crassus, the richest man in Rome and one of the three members of the government that controlled the city and the Roman Republic, left Syria at the head of an army composed of seven legions with 45,000 men, including infantry, riders and archers in order to conquer the mighty Parthian Empire. Once the Euphrates River was transposed, his troops were attacked and beaten by the fearsome Parthians at the Battle of Carrhae (present-day Harran, Turkey), with some 20,000 men perishing, including Crassus himself, who was beheaded by the enemies while attempting to negotiate with them. Only 10,000 legionaries returned alive to Syria. The victors let about 10000 prisoners to stay alive on condition of serving the empire childbirth as custodians of its eastern border. So they were sent to Bactriana, on the banks of the Opus River, in what is now Afghanistan. Their mission there was to contain the precursors of the dangerous Huns who tried to enter the empire territory.
From that moment there is an interregnum during which there is no information about the fate of the legionaries. After later defeating the Parthians, the Romans managed to retrieve the banners of the legions, but they did not obtain any details of the destiny of these soldiers.
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