Sons Of the Citadel, page 45
part #6 of Parthian Chronicles Series
‘Of course Phraates will take all the credit, father.’
Claudia had not travelled to Ctesiphon; indeed, she rarely left the city now, content to live in the palace, visit the markets to gather ingredients for her concoctions or visit the camel park to converse with strange individuals who had attached themselves to the caravans stopping there. She sat in Dobbai’s old chair in her black robes on the palace terrace, often just staring into space. Initially when I discovered her doing so I rushed over and gripped her by the shoulders, afraid her insanity had returned. But a barbed comment and a withering look assured me that her wits were as sharp as ever. Today she was in a good mood, sharing an evening meal of rice, yogurt, bread, cheese and roasted antelope with us, washed down by fine wine.
After she had finished her meal she stood and wandered over to the balcony, a beautiful evening sun descending in a red ball on the western horizon.
‘Now that he is secure as high king he does not need the assistance of the King of Dura,’ she said harshly.
‘If there is one thing I despise it is ingratitude,’ sneered Gallia.
Claudia shrugged. ‘Father could have been high king, perhaps should have been high king, but it is too late now. Dura’s sun will fade, I fear.’
‘And Phraates?’ I probed, ‘what will be his fate?’
She gave me a mischievous grin. ‘Oh, I think you will find that Phraates will quickly find his feet and have a long reign.’
‘That is all I ever wanted,’ I smiled.
‘But will he be a good high king?’ asked Gallia.
Claudia leaned back against the balustrade. ‘He will rule the empire, mother, and usher in a period of peace in which the kingdoms may or may not thrive depending on their rulers. Everything else is irrelevant.’
And he did, though for me there was a price to pay. Aliyeh and Darius had a kind of revenge. They remained close confidantes of Phraates and over time their subtle and malicious influence over the high king ensured that I was gradually erased from the empire’s history. The scribes at Ctesiphon rewrote history and so Surena alone won the Battle of Carrhae. Phraates’ grandfather became the victor of Surkh and my father the valiant commander who had beaten Narses at Susa. Phraates was, unsurprisingly, given sole credit for defeating Mark Antony’s invasion. The high king’s name was immortalised in both writings and statues. As long as monarchs paid their annual tribute he did not concern himself with their internal affairs. There were some things we thanked him for, however. He did away with the gatherings at Esfahan, for which everyone applauded him, but made great efforts to invite kings to Ctesiphon where he could flatter and bribe them to be his allies. He became the consummate intriguer, winning with charm, veiled threats and largess what others before had claimed with the sword. Individuals crossed him at their peril. Ashleen thought his position unassailable and began to behave like a king himself. So Phraates had him strangled. The ludicrous policy of ‘Parthian purity’ died with him and his passing was not mourned.
And what of Pacorus of Dura? I had spent my life fighting for the empire, battling its external and internal foes, and though Dura itself prospered and many of its citizens grew very rich, its king became a mere footnote of history. The reward for dedicating my entire life to the empire?
Parthia forgot me.
Historical notes
Ever since Carrhae in 53BC the Romans had been obsessed with reclaiming the eagles lost at that battle. Julius Caesar had been planning a major campaign against Parthia involving no less than 16 legions and 10,000 horsemen. His plan was to invade Parthia via Armenia, making use of the hilly terrain in the north to avoid the open ground of Mesopotamia where horse archers and cataphracts were so effective. In the event Caesar’s assassination in 44BC meant the campaign never materialised. But there is no doubt Mark Antony adopted his former commander’s plans when he launched his own invasion of Parthia in 37BC. He commanded a very strong army made up of 60,000 Roman legionaries, 10,000 Iberian and Celt horsemen and 30,000 non-Romans recruited in the Eastern provinces, a mixture of horsemen and auxiliary foot soldiers. In addition, Artavasdes of Armenia contributed 6000 cavalry and 7000 foot soldiers to the invasion.
Phraates, after having murdered his father Orodes, had just ascended to the high throne and was in theory in a very weak position. However, Antony’s rashness and pride fatally compromised his campaign and doomed it to failure. Firstly, by rushing after the remnants of the Parthian army to encircle Phraaspa and leaving his siege engines to catch up, which allowed other Parthian forces to destroy said engines, along with the 10,000 Roman legionaries guarding them. Secondly, his refusal to abandon the siege of Phraaspa allowed the Parthians to muster an army to ride to the relief of the city. Faced with the onset of autumn, no winter base and dwindling supplies Antony had no option but to retreat back to Armenia (his Armenian allies had already abandoned him). He had surrounded Phraaspa in the middle of August but was forced quit the siege in the middle of October when the weather deteriorated rapidly.
The retreat lasted for 27 days and was conducted with some aplomb, the Parthians being repulsed on no less than 18 separate occasions. However, they continually harassed the Romans and in the blinding snow and driving sleet Antony lost most of his mules and thousands of men. When he reached sanctuary in Armenia his losses totalled 20,000 foot and 4000 horsemen.
Outraged by the desertion of the Armenians Antony captured Artavasdes, his wife and children and gave them to Cleopatra as slaves. Artavasdes was later put to death. But this act of vengeance backfired dramatically on the Romans, prompting a permanent grievance against Rome and causing the Armenians to ally themselves with the Parthians (Armenia became a bone of contention between the Romans and Parthians for the next few decades). In 31BC, Mark Antony and Cleopatra were defeated by Octavian at the Battle of Actium and by 30BC both were dead by their own hands.
The deaths of Antony and Cleopatra made Octavian, who became Caesar Augustus, the undisputed ruler of the Roman world. But the new Roman emperor embarked on a campaign of diplomacy against Parthia rather than a war of conquest. His reward was the return of the eagles lost at Carrhae in 20BC and the establishment of good relations between Rome and Parthia that lasted, for the most part, for over 100 years.
As for Phraates, after a shaky start he ruled the Parthian Empire as king of kings for 36 years, no mean achievement, eventually being poisoned by his wife so her son, also called Phraates, could become high king. Having murdered his own father the same way many years before, for his son it was perhaps an appropriate end.
Peter Darman, Sons Of the Citadel
