Crassus

Some, however, say that it was not this man, but another, who killed Crassus, and that this man cut off the head and right hand of Crassus as he lay upon the ground. These details, however, are matters of conjecture rather than of knowledge. For of the Romans who were present there and fighting about Crassus, some were slain, and others fled back to the hill.

Thither the Parthians came and said that as for Crassus, he had met with his deserts, but that Surena ordered the rest of the Romans to come down without fear. Thereupon some of them went down and delivered themselves up, but the rest scattered during the night, and of these a very few made their escape; the rest of them were hunted down by the Arabs, captured, and cut to pieces. In the whole campaign, twenty thousand are said to have been killed, and ten thousand to have been taken alive.

Surena now took the head and hand of Crassus and sent them to Hyrodes in Armenia, but he himself sent word by messengers to Seleucia that he was bringing Crassus there alive, and prepared a laughable sort of procession which he insultingly called a triumph.

That one of his captives who bore the greatest likeness to Crassus, Caius Paccianus, put on a woman’s royal robe, and under instructions to answer to the name of Crassus and the title of Imperator when so addressed, was conducted along on horseback. Before him rode trumpeters and a few lictors borne on camels; from the fasces of the lictors purses were suspended, and to their axes were fastened Roman heads newly cut off;

behind these followed courtezans of Seleucia, musicians, who sang many scurrilous and ridiculous songs about the effeminacy and cowardice of Crassus and these things were for all to see. But before the assembled senate of Seleucia, Surena brought licentious books of the Milesiaca[*](Probably a collection of love stories, the scenes of which were laid in Miletus. Of its author, who flourished perhaps in the second century B.C., almost nothing is known.) of Aristides, and in this matter, at least, there was no falsehood on his part, for the books were found in the baggage of Roscius, and gave Surena occasion to heap much insulting ridicule upon the Romans, since they could not, even when going to war, let such subjects and writings alone.

The people of Seleucia, however, appreciated the wisdom of Aesop[*](In the fable of the two wallets, which everyone carries, one in front containing his neighbour’s faults, which are therefore always before his eyes; and one behind containing his own faults, which he therefore never sees.) when they saw Surena with a wallet of obscenities from the Milesiaca in front of him, but trailing behind him a Parthian Sybaris in so many waggon-loads of concubines.[*](Cf. chapter xxi. 6. ) After a fashion his train was a counter-part to the fabled echidnae and scytalae among serpents, by showing its conspicuous and forward portions fearful and savage, with spears, archery, and horse,

but trailing off in the rear of the line into dances, cymbals, lutes, and nocturnal revels with women. Roscius was certainly culpable, but it was shameless in the Parthians to find fault with the Milesiaca, when many of the royal line of their Arsacidae were sprung from Milesian and Ionian courtezans.

While this was going on, it happened that Hyrodes was at last reconciled with Artavasdes the Armenian, and agreed to receive the latter’s sister as wife for his son Pacorus, and there were reciprocal banquets and drinking bouts, at which many Greek compositions were introduced.

For Hyrodes was well acquainted both with the Greek language and literature, and Artavasdes actually composed tragedies, and wrote orations and histories, some of which are preserved. Now when the head of Crassus was brought to the king’s door, the tables had been removed, and a tragic actor, Jason by name, of Tralles, was singing that part of the Bacchae of Euripides where Agave is about to appear.[*](Pentheus, king of Thebes, the son of Agave, refused to recognize the divinity of Dionysus, whereupon the god infuriated the women, and Agave killed her own son. She appears in the Bacchae with his head in her hand, exulting over the death of the supposed wild beast.) While he was receiving his applause, Sillaces stood at the door of the banqueting-hall, and after a low obeisance, cast the head of Crassus into the centre of the company.

The Parthians lifted it up with clapping of hands and shouts of joy, and at the king’s bidding his servants gave Sillaces a seat at the banquet. Then Jason handed his costume of Pentheus to one of the chorus, seized the head of Crassus, and assuming the role of the frenzied Agave, sang these verses through as if inspired:

1. We bring from the mountain
2. A tendril fresh-cut to the palace,
3. A wonderful prey.

This delighted everybody; but when the following dialogue with the chorus was chanted:

1. (Chorus) Who slew him?
2. (Agave) Mine is the honour,

However, worthy punishment overtook both Hyrodes for His cruelty and Surena for his treachery. For not long after this Hyrodes became jealous of the reputation of Surena, and put him to death; and after Hyrodes had lost his son Pacorus, who was defeated in battle by the Romans,[*](38 B.C. Cf. Plutarch’s Antony, xxxiv. 1. According to Dio Cassius, xlix, 21, Pacorus fell on the same day on which Crassus had been slain fifteen years before.) and had fallen into a disease which resulted in dropsy, His son Phraates plotted against his life and gave him aconite. And when the disease absorbed the poison so that it was thrown off with it and the patient thereby relieved, Phraates took the shortest path and strangled his father.