ROME AND PARTHIA: EMPIRES AT WAR: 40-20 BC

◗ Gareth C Sampson ◗ Pen & Sword Military (1 May 2020) ◗ £25 ◗ 224 pages (hardback) ◗ ISBN:9781526710130 ◗ pen-and-sword.co.uk

This book looks at what happens after the Battle of Carrhae in 53BC. The first two chapters covers the general history up to 50BC and the following ‘Cold War: Parthia and the Roman Civil War (50-44BC). The second part is ‘The Rise and Fall of Parthia (44BC – 38BC. This has three chapters,‘the Civil War and the Romano-parthian conquest of the East.’‘from the Ashes.ventidius and the Roman Recovery (39BC)’.‘THE Battle of Gindarus and the Collapse of Parthia. (38BC). This part could be subtitled, with some accuracy,‘rome strikes back.’

The third part is ‘The Rise and Fall of Rome (38BC to 36BC)’: and also has three chapters. The first is chapter 6, ‘Roman Consolidation in the East; Judea and Armenia (38-37BC). Chapter 7 is ‘The Roman Invasion of the Parthian Empire I (The Invasion.) Almost inevitably chapter 8 is ‘The Roman Invasion of the Parthian Empire II (The Retreat.). Part 4, ‘Stalemate’ has two chapters: Chapter 9 is ‘Consolidation and Civil War (36-35BC) and Chapter 10 is ‘The Rise and Fall of the Antonine Empire (34-30BC). The final part,‘waiting for Augustus 30-20BC’ wraps everything up nicely.

I liked this book. It is a good solid history of the period. The author makes a masterly attempt at showing how the internal politics of the two participants had such an effect on their actions abroad: when Parthia was weak and an easy victim, Rome was divided by civil war and hadn’t time to worry about foreign entanglements. Similarly when Rome was torn by civil war, the Parthians chose that time to have their own political crises.

From the wargamer’s point of view, you soon realise that Carrhae was not a normal Parthian-roman battle, and we see the efforts of the Romans to pick their terrain and add more missile troops to their armies. It covers both the greats of the era and the lesser known figures. Because of internal political considerations, the Romans often sent less well known generals to just hold the line and stop things getting worse. When a general like Ventidius not merely holds the line but exceeds his orders, defeats the Parthians and drives them out of the territory claimed by Rome, it is almost an embarrassment to his masters.

Similarly the author manages to bring out the fact that whilst we look back at the period through the lens of the Roman Empire, for the inhabitants of the area – and for the minor powers who had to play off one side against the other – just who was going to win wasn’t obvious. Minor players like Commagene or Judea had to take serious risks, deciding not merely whether to support Rome or Parthia, but if you supported Rome, which faction should you support? You might have to support the local candidate (for example Anthony) because he was the one in place with the legions on hand to crush you if you didn’t support him. But if you supported him for too long, you would have a lot of explaining to do when the victor arrived on the scene. Battles and the forces that took part are described in a reasonable amount of detail given the very limited amount of information that there is available. This is an excellent book.