Chapter 115: Opening. Rome vs Parthia
It was not only the Parthian army that had a headache from planning the operation.
The Roman army that was invading also had a lot of worries in the same situation.
Marcus held a commander’s meeting almost every day and listened to the opinions of his subordinates.
The reason why Crassus failed so miserably in the Parthian expedition in history was not elsewhere.
It was because he was obsessed with merit and completely ignored the opinions of his staff.
The legion led by Crassus was not weak at all.
About 40,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry were enough to inflict serious damage on Parthia.
There were also competent officers given by Pompey and Caesar.
But Crassus did not listen to his subordinates’ advice because he wanted to achieve results quickly.
The impatience of being behind Pompey and Caesar narrowed his vision.
The result was a tragedy that was counted as one of the worst defeats in Roman history, along with the battles of Cannae, Teutoburg Forest, etc.
Marcus had no intention of repeating such a mistake.
Fortunately, Crassus was very different from history.
He had a strong faith in his eldest son, who was building up brilliant achievements, and he was ruling as the leader of the aristocratic faction, so he felt less inferior to Caesar and Pompey.
It was considered entirely the merit of the head of the family to have raised the heir of the family well in Rome.
In that respect, Crassus was an envy of all Roman nobles.
He might have been behind Caesar and Pompey in personal advancement, but he was incomparable in raising children.
In this war, too, Crassus nominally took charge of the supreme commander, but he entrusted the actual command to Marcus.
Marcus first asked each legionnaire to express as many opinions as possible.
Most of the legionnaires who entered the meeting were veterans given by Caesar and Pompey.
They freely discussed how to attack Parthia, and Marcus watched it all.
Antonius, who was most actively expressing his opinion, summarized the current situation and presented it.
“Parthia is different from those we have fought so far. Many of you here have experience in performing eastern expeditions under Pompey’s command.
But Parthia is similar but different from the eastern dynasties. First of all, what we have to be most careful about is the fickle climate of the desert.
If a heavily armed army marches through the desert, it will inevitably face various problems. And Parthia is vast. If we want to make Prince Sanatruces king, we need to advance to Ctesiphon, which means we have to be prepared for a long-term war.”
A legionnaire who was listening raised a question.
“Do we need to cross the desert? It would be no problem if we secured water and moved along the river, but there would be problems with the physical strength of the soldiers, and wouldn’t the Parthian army’s main force, cavalry, be able to move freely? How about just passing through the mountainous terrain of Armenia?”
Anyone who had some knowledge of military affairs would usually judge this way.
In history, Crassus crossed the desert without any preparation and suffered a huge defeat, but even then many people tried to stop him.
If Crassus had listened to his subordinates’ words a little bit, the humiliation of Carrhae would not have happened.
Some of the legionnaires were also uneasy about crossing the desert this time.
But now the situation was very different.
Marcus, who had been quietly watching the discussion until now, opened his mouth.
“You don’t have to worry about that part. I’ve already prepared clothes to cope with the desert climate. And if the Parthians think they are advantageous, we should be grateful. If their main force fights with us, there is a high possibility that the war will end in a short period of time.”
“Yes… That’s true.”
Parthia thought that their cavalry power was much superior to Rome’s, but reality was different.
The stirrups and composite bow were already widely distributed and horse breed improvement was also underway, so Roman cavalry were not inferior to Parthia’s.
The difference became even bigger when compared with heavy cavalry.
Of course, the proportion of cavalry in the entire legion was much higher than before.
Unlike past Crassus’ Roman army, which operated about 35,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry, the current Roman army had 50,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry.
Even after placing two legions in the rear for defense of Syria and securing supply lines, they maintained this level of large force.
“If they come out to fight in the desert, just defeat the enemy and take over the main cities of Parthia. In fact, there is also a trick to lure them out to the battlefield by crossing the desert.”
“Ah, I see. Well, it’s true that our cavalry will be restricted in movement if we pass through the mountainous terrain. But why do you want to subdue the surrounding areas first? Wouldn’t it be easier to get them to surrender if you just capture the capital in the shortest time?”
“That’s a very good question. It’s not unreasonable to think that way. But that’s exactly the blind spot of our perception that everyone here should keep in mind.”
Marcus paused for a moment and looked around the audience.
Most of the commanders looked bewildered as if they did not understand his words.
Marcus, who read the atmosphere, slowly explained.
“The Arsacid dynasty that founded Parthia is different from other dynasties we have faced. Unlike other dynasties based on agriculture, Parthia’s ruling class is closer to nomadic people. You have to remember that. Does it seem like the capital will fall? Then they just move to another place and keep fighting. The fall of the capital is a serious blow and humiliation, but it is not a reason to surrender.”
“Ah… I see. I understand what you mean.”
“And Parthia’s king claims himself to be the king of kings, Shahanshah, but his actual power does not match him. If the local nobles do not support him, the king’s power can collapse in an instant. And we have Sanatruces, a royal family member. If we destroy major strongholds and threaten nobles, many local nobles will choose to join us.”
Marcus’ explanation penetrated the most core elements of attacking Parthia.
In fact, Parthia’s power was far behind Rome’s peak.
When Rome fought Parthia in earnest in the early imperial period, they captured the capital three times in a century.
However, the ruling class of Parthia resisted sporadically like nomads, and concluded the negotiations with Rome from a favorable position.
If a sedentary nation wants to achieve a complete victory over a nomadic nation, it must first understand the characteristics of its opponent.
The Roman soldiers of the republican era still lacked this knowledge.
The legionnaires changed their perception of the war fundamentally after hearing Marcus’ explanation.
In a more cautious atmosphere, Publius pointed to the map and gave his opinion.
“What if we split the legion into two? One side will hold off the enemy’s main force, and the other side will occupy the region. Then Parthia will be the one in a hurry, won’t they?”
“That’s not a bad idea. But the risk is too high. And since almost all of the enemy’s troops are cavalry, if we rashly divide our forces, one side might be annihilated. We should decide whether to split our forces or not after we defeat the enemy’s main force.”
“That makes sense. But there is still a way to attack from both directions.”
Publius drew a line on the map with his finger.
“If we go through the desert and Armenia goes through the north, Parthia will have no choice but to divide their forces as well.”
“Of course, we have already sent an envoy to Armenia to request their participation. But don’t expect too much from them. Their role is only to distract Parthia’s attention at best.”
Publius nodded as if he understood.
“Then we have to make our strategy without considering Armenia’s actual strength.”
“Right, instead, we told them to send a supply convoy to the south and support our food supply.”
Antonius shook his head with a subtle expression.
“We have plenty of food from Egypt. We don’t really need Armenia’s food supply as long as we keep our supply line intact.”
“We can’t tell them not to cooperate at all, can we?”
Antonius agreed with the immediate answer.
In fact, Marcus didn’t really need Armenia’s food supply either.
What he was aiming for was to stabilize the situation after the war.
Armenia was nothing but an unstable state with only a shell left anyway.
If left alone, it would only cause chaos by wavering between Rome and Parthia.
In this state, the northern border of Mesopotamia would never be stable.
It would be better to annex Armenia to Rome and extend the northern boundary to the Caucasus Mountains.
But he couldn’t intervene in Armenia without any pretext.
Food supply was an excuse that could be used to complain about Armenia’s insincere support.
This plan was unknown even to the envoy who left for Armenia.
The envoy just followed Marcus’ order and kept the fact that Rome had abundant food supply secret.
“Your Majesty, the noble king of Armenia, I believe you are well aware of the fact that we are at war with Parthia. As a protectorate of Rome, please do your duty and draw their attention while we attack them.”
Artavasdes, who had just ascended to the throne, did not want to get involved in this war.
He wished that Rome and Parthia would fight each other and both end up exhausted.
He hid his true feelings and leaned forward in front of the throne and asked.
“So you mean we don’t have to fight Parthia head-on?”
“It’s enough if you just distract their attention. But if they don’t react…”
“Then we have to attack them, of course.”
He didn’t want to fight Parthia, but he wouldn’t refuse an opportunity to expand his territory for free.
The envoy suggested that they provide food supply instead of direct military support if Parthia’s defense was strong.
Artavasdes agreed for now.
And after the envoy left, he had a brief meeting.
Here, some nobles who were influenced by Marcus gave an opinion that pleased the king’s heart.
“What will happen to our Armenia if Rome wins this war against Parthia? They already treat us as nothing more than a vassal state. If they acquire Parthia’s territory as well, their arrogance will only increase.”
“Yeah. I felt that way too. The envoy from Rome acted as if we had to accept his request as a matter of course.”
“Yes. That kind of attitude will only get worse in the future, not weaker. So we can’t let Rome defeat Parthia unilaterally.”
Artavasdes stroked his beard with interest.
“Then what do you think we should do? Even if we don’t like Rome, we can’t side with Parthia either.”
“Yes. That would be even worse. Rome at least pretends to look for a pretext, but Parthia is different. We can’t bring a tiger into our house to avoid a wolf. It would be better for Your Majesty to just watch Rome and Parthia fight fiercely.”
“So… just pretend to help and don’t give any real support?”
The nobles’ suggestion sounded like sweet honey.
Artavasdes immediately accepted their opinion.
He stationed some soldiers on the border with Parthia to draw their attention, and decided to provide food supply slowly.
He asked what he would do if the war ended and Rome made a problem of it, but his servants answered as if they had been waiting.
“Rome and Parthia will suffer considerable damage from this war, so they won’t have the energy to care about us. Think about it. No matter how strong Rome is, they can’t exert their full power without a complete supply of food. And we didn’t outright refuse Rome’s request, so we can justify ourselves enough.”
Artabazdes felt extremely satisfied.
In his view, Rome and Parthia were not tilted to either side in terms of power.
Of course, Rome had a higher objective strength, but war was usually more advantageous for the defender than the attacker.
Moreover, Rome was currently in a state of mobilizing a huge army to occupy Gaul in the far west.
They couldn’t concentrate all their forces on Parthia, so Parthia could also fight on equal terms with them.
If both sides suffered severe damage, Armenia might be able to increase its power in the gap.
A once-declined country needed an opportunity to prosper again.
Artabazdes decided to use this war as an opportunity for Armenia’s revival.
But unfortunately, the nobles’ thoughts were different from the king’s.
To be frank, they didn’t care much who ruled them, whether it was Artabazdes or Rome.
As long as their privileges were firmly guaranteed, they didn’t mind who was on top.
Many of the Armenian nobles had roots in the Seleucid dynasty before the Artaxiad dynasty came in.
So their loyalty and sense of belonging to the country were quite weak.
Rome usually guaranteed the positions of the local power holders except for the king when they occupied a country.
In fact, the Seleucid dynasty only lost its royal family, but the core nobles maintained their positions.
This had a significant implication for the nobles of the East.
‘Ah, even if Rome comes in, there won’t be much change in our position.’
This thought naturally took root in a corner of their minds.
Rome’s granting of citizenship and treatment of local nobles was not a charity.
It was not only to stabilize the occupied areas easily, but also to facilitate future conquests.
Marcus understood well the tendencies and thoughts of the Armenian nobles.
He promised to give them greater rights than when they were under Artabazdes if they listened to his request.
The nobles had no reason to refuse as nobles.
The cunning nobles roasted the king by pretending to hate Rome.
The other nobles who did not side with Marcus also had no reason to oppose him, so they kept silent.
Artabazdes never imagined it, but at this moment Armenia’s fate was almost decided.
The Roman army was clearly marching towards Parthia, but even at that moment Marcus’s shadow was slowly eroding Armenia’s palace.
※※※※
As the Roman army began its full-scale march, the Parthian army’s movement also accelerated.
First of all, when Surenas received a report that the Roman army was coming through the desert to Parthia, he sighed with a complicated meaning.
He had hoped that they would come through the mountains in a conventional way, but his expectation was missed.
Now the possibilities were narrowed down to two.
Either the commander of the enemy was incompetent beyond imagination, or he had such a powerful force that he did not fear Parthia’s cavalry.
He wished it was the former, but he could not rule out the possibility of the latter.
First of all, he slowly marched his 15,000 cavalrymen that he had organized.
At the same time, he sent a letter to Orodes in the capital, asking him to keep Armenia in check.
Orodes immediately showed signs of sending a small detachment to attack Armenia.
Armenia maintained a standoff without marching its army in response to Parthia’s swift response.
Now all that was left was to repel the Roman army that was marching through the desert.
Some of the confident soldiers insisted on turning around before the Roman army crossed the desert.
Parthia’s cavalrymen, who had never fought Rome before, tended to underestimate their enemy.
“Rome is different from the enemies we have fought so far. We shouldn’t overestimate them more than necessary, but never be complacent.”
Even after warning them several times, the young soldiers didn’t seem to agree.
This was inevitable.
The core of the Roman army was infantry.
Infantry was the most despised branch of the army in Parthia, and they were mostly used as cannon fodder on the battlefield.
Naturally, their minds relaxed when they saw that most of the legion was made up of such infantrymen.
Surenas couldn’t always suppress the soldiers’ enthusiasm for fighting.
He had scouted out a few places that were good for battle.
And he kept receiving information about the Roman army from the tribes living in the desert.
If the Roman army’s preparations were unexpectedly poor, he planned to send out cavalrymen immediately and punish them.
But Surenas’s expectation was unmistakably missed.
It was clear how much Rome had prepared in advance just by reading the reports from the informants.
“They wrap white cloth around their whole body to block out the sunlight?”
“Yes. I couldn’t get close enough to see it in detail, but I could definitely tell that much.”
“They secure water while keeping a certain distance from the river and block out heat and sand with white cloth. They certainly didn’t come in without any thought.”
It was common sense for those who lived in the desert, but those who had never experienced the desert often overlooked the fear of sunlight.
Some people even wondered why they wore extra clothes when it was so hot.
Of course, these people would also realize the reason painfully if they were thrown into the desert for a day.
If the Roman army had entered the desert without any preparation, they would have suffered from dehydration in a few days.
It was a good choice to move along a route that kept a distance from the river, even if it delayed their march a little.
“It’s too risky to turn around right away. We need to objectively assess their strength before deciding on a policy.”
The advantage of cavalrymen was many, but among them, being agile in attack and retreat was the best strength.
Surenas decided to use this point actively and measure the power of the Roman army.
The news of a small detachment approaching also reached Marcus’s ears.
The centurions immediately suggested sending out cavalrymen to drive away the enemy, but Marcus did not act rashly.
The reported number of enemies was too small for those who came to fight seriously.
“There’s no need to show our strength to those who came to scout. But if we hide too much, they might notice something strange… It would be better to show them some arrows. Tell each legion commander to send back their cavalrymen and bring out their infantrymen. I’ll emphasize it again, don’t use or reveal any new weapons. Shieldmen and archers should be enough to chase away their archer cavalry.”
“Yes!”
As soon as the order fell, each legion moved smoothly and formed a new line.
Marcus was strongly aware of Surenas’s existence, whom he had never met face-to-face yet.
The battle had not started yet, but the psychological warfare between the commanders leading the legions had already begun.
It was no different from a battle in that making one wrong judgment could bring fatal consequences.
Neither Marcus nor Surenas were complacent and did not miss even a small movement of their enemy in order to read each other’s moves.
But there was one more thing that Surenas didn’t know.
The opponent he had to worry about was not only in front of him.
The trap that Marcus had set was not something that could be realized by just watching his front.
Unlike Surenas, who was a pure soldier and strategist, Marcus’s nature was closer to that of a politician.
For him, war was nothing but a means to achieve political goals.
He couldn’t keep up with Marcus’s eyes by focusing only on military aspects.
Depending on when Surenas noticed this fact, the situation could change at any time.
The war had just begun.
< 115. Opening. Rome vs Parthia > End
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