Carrhae (ROM0120)

Carrhae, 53 BC: Rome’s Greatest Defeat in the East

53 BC. In the scorching plains of Mesopotamia, near the town of Carrhae (modern Harran, in southeastern Turkey), a Roman army of seven legions under Marcus Licinius Crassus — one of the richest men in Rome and a member of the First Triumvirate alongside Caesar and Pompey — marches into catastrophe. Opposing them are the Parthian forces of Surena, a general of genius who has brought a weapon Rome has never encountered in such devastating concentration: the cataphract and the mounted archer.

The Arrows That Never Stopped

The Roman legionaries expected a set-piece battle — an exchange of javelins and then a push with sword and shield, the kind of fighting they had trained for all their lives. What they got was something entirely different. Surena’s horse archers rode in great circles around the Roman square, maintaining a continuous rain of arrows that the Romans could not answer. When the legionaries advanced, the Parthians retreated; when they halted, the arrows resumed. There was no lull — Surena had organized a camel train of spare arrows to resupply his archers continuously.

At last, Crassus’s son Publius led a desperate cavalry charge with Gallic horsemen. Surena feigned retreat, drew the Romans far from the main body, then surrounded and destroyed them. Publius’s head was brought back on a spear and displayed before the Roman formation. The army, shattered in morale, attempted to retreat and was cut to pieces over the following days. Crassus himself was killed during peace negotiations — tradition records that molten gold was poured into his mouth in mockery of his legendary greed.

Of 42,000 Romans who entered Mesopotamia, about 10,000 made it back to Syria. 20,000 died; another 10,000 were captured and settled deep in the Parthian Empire. Rome lost its eagle standards — a humiliation not avenged until Augustus recovered them by diplomacy decades later.

The Original Artwork by Giuseppe Rava

This original Roman military art print by Giuseppe Rava — historical illustrator for Osprey Publishing since 2007 — captures the agony of Carrhae with the meticulous accuracy that defines every work by the Maestro. Roman Republican legionaries under Parthian arrow fire, the helplessness of the best infantry in the world against a mobile horse archer army, rendered in oil on canvas with extraordinary dramatic power.

The print is produced as a limited edition, individually numbered and hand-signed by Giuseppe Rava, SRA3 format (45×32 cm / 17.7×12.6 in), on premium fine art paper. Available worldwide with international shipping — essential for collectors of Roman history and students of Rome’s eastern campaigns.