Dictionary of Battles / From the Earliest Date to the Present Time

by Thomas Benfield Harbottle

Carrhæ (Parthian War).

Fought B.C. 53, between the Romans, 52,000 strong, under Publius Crassus, and the Parthians under Sillaces. The Parthians, who were entirely cavalry, adopted their usual tactics of retiring and drawing their foes in pursuit. As the heavily armed legionaries became strung out across the plain, they turned upon them and cut them down in detail. Of the division, 6,000 strong, which actually came into action, 500 were made prisoners, and the rest, including Crassus, slain.