ὁ δὲ Κράσσος εἰς Βρεντέσιον ἦλθεν. ἔτι δʼ ἀστατούσης χειμῶσι τῆς θαλάσσης οὐ περιέμεινεν, ἀλλʼ ἀνήχθη καὶ συχνὰ τῶν πλοίων ἀπέβαλε, τὴν δʼ ἄλλην ἀναλαβὼν δύναμιν ἠπείγετο πεζῇ διὰ Γαλατίας, εὑρὼν δὲ τὸν βασιλέα Δηιόταρον πάνυ μὲν ὄντα γηραιὸν ἤδη, κτίζοντα δὲ νέαν πόλιν, ἐπέσκωψεν εἰπών ὦ βασιλεῦ, δωδεκάτης ὥρας οἰκοδομεῖν ἄρχῃ . γελάσας δʼ ὁ Γαλάτης·
But Crassus came to Brundisium. And though the sea was still rough with wintry storms, he would not wait, but put out, and so lost a great number of his vessels. With what was left of his forces, however, he hurried on by land through Galatia. And finding that King Deiotarus, who was now a very old man, was founding a new city, he rallied him, saying: O King, you are beginning to build at the twelfth hour.
ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ αὐτός, εἶπεν, ὦ αὐτόκρατορ, ὡς ὁρῶ, πρωὶ λίαν ἐπὶ Πάρθους ἐλαύνεις. ἦν δʼ ὁ Κράσσος ἑξήκοντα μὲν ἔτη παραλλάττων, πρεσβύτερος δὲ τὴν ὄψιν ἢ καθʼ ἡλικίαν. ἀφικόμενον δʼ αὐτὸν ἐδέξατο τὰ πράγματα τῆς ἐλπίδος ἀξίως τὸ πρῶτον. καὶ γὰρ ἔζευξε ῥᾳδίως τὸν Εὐφράτην καὶ διήγαγε τὸν στρατὸν ἀσφαλῶς, καὶ πόλεις πολλὰς ἐν τῇ Μεσοποταμίᾳ κατέσχεν ἑκουσίως προσθεμένας.
The Galatian laughed and said: But you yourself, Imperator, as I see, are not marching very early in the day against the Parthians. Now Crassus was sixty years old and over, and looked older than his years. On his arrival, things went at first as he had hoped, for he easily bridged the Euphrates and led his army across in safety, and took possession of many cities in Mesopotamia which came over to him of their own accord.
ἐν μιᾷ δʼ, ἧς Ἀπολλώνιός ἐτυράννει, στρατιωτῶν ἑκατὸν ἀναιρεθέντων ἐπαγαγὼν τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῖς καὶ κρατήσας διήρπασε τὰ χρήματα καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀπέδοτο· Ζηνοδοτίαν ἐκάλουν τὴν πόλιν οἱ Ἕλληνες. ἐπὶ ταύτης ἀλούσης δεξάμενος αὐτοκράτωρ ὑπὸ τῆς στρατιᾶς ἀναγορευθῆναι πολλὴν ὦφλεν αἰσχύνην, καὶ ταπεινὸς ἐφάνη καὶ περὶ τὰ μείζονα δύσελπις οὕτω πλεονέκτημα μικρὸν ἠγαπηκώς.
But at one of them, of which Apollonius was tyrant, a hundred of his soldiers were slain, whereupon he led up his forces against it, mastered it, plundered its property, and sold its inhabitants into slavery. The city was called Zenodotia by the Greeks. For its capture he allowed his soldiers to salute him as Imperator, thereby incurring much disgrace and showing himself of a paltry spirit and without good hope for the greater struggles that lay before him, since he was so delighted with a trifling acquisition.
ἐμβαλὼν δὲ φρουρὰς ταῖς προσκεχωρηκυίαις πόλεσιν, ὧν ἀριθμὸς ἧν ἑπτακισχίλιοι πεζοί χίλιοι δʼ ἱππεῖς, ἀνεχώρησεν αὐτός ἐν Συρίᾳ διαχειμάσων καὶ δεξόμενος αὐτόθι τὸν υἱόν ἥκοντα παρὰ Καίσαρος ἐκ Γαλατίας αὐτόν τε κεκοσμημένον ἀριστείοις καὶ χιλίους ἱππεῖς ἐπιλέκτους ἄγοντα. τοῦτο πρῶτον ἁμαρτεῖν ἔδοξεν ὁ Κράσσος μετά γε τὴν στρατείαν αὐτήν μέγιστον ἁμάρτημα τῶν γενομένων, ὅτι πρόσω χωρεῖν δέον ἔχεσθαί τε Βαβυλῶνος καὶ Σελευκείας, δυσμενῶν ἀεὶ Πάρθοις πόλεων, χρόνον ἐνέδωκε τοῖς πολεμίοις παρασκευῆς.
After furnishing the cities which had come over to his side with garrisons, which amounted in all to seven thousand men-at-arms and a thousand horsemen, he himself withdrew to take up winter quarters in Syria, and to await there his son, who was coming from Caesar in Gaul, decorated with the insignia of his deeds of valour, and leading a thousand picked horsemen. This was thought to be the first blunder which Crassus committed,—after the expedition itself, which was the greatest of all his blunders,—because, when he should have advanced and come into touch with Babylon and Seleucia, cities always hostile to the Parthians, he gave his enemies time for preparation.
ἔπειτα τὰς ἐν Συρίᾳ διατριβὰς ᾐτιῶντο χρηματιστικὰς μᾶλλον οὔσας ἢ στρατηγικάς· οὐ γὰρ ὅπλων ἀριθμὸν ἐξετάζων οὐδὲ γυμνασιῶν ποιούμενος ἁμίλλας, ἀλλὰ προσόδους πόλεων ἐκλογιζόμενος καὶ τὰ χρήματα τῆς ἐν Ἱεραπόλει θεοῦ σταθμοῖς καὶ τρυτάναις μεταχειριζόμενος ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας, ἐπιγράφων δὲ καὶ δήμοις καὶ δυνάσταις στρατιωτῶν καταλόγους, εἶτʼ ἀνιεὶς ἀργύριον διδόντας, ἠδόξει καὶ κατεφρονεῖτο τούτοις.
Then, again, fault was found with him because his sojourn in Syria was devoted to mercenary rather than military purposes. For he made no estimate of the number of his troops, and instituted no athletic contests for them, but reckoned up the revenues of cities, and spent many days weighing exactly the treasures of the goddess in Hierapolis, and prescribed quotas of soldiers for districts and dynasts to furnish, only to remit the prescription when money was offered him, thereby losing their respect and winning their contempt.
γίνεται δὲ πρῶτον αὐτῷ σημεῖον ἀπὸ τῆς θεοῦ ταύτης, ἣν οἱ μὲν Ἀφροδίτην, οἱ δὲ Ἥραν, οἱ δὲ τὴν ἀρχὰς καὶ σπέρματα πᾶσιν ἐξ ὑγρῶν παρασχοῦσαν αἰτίαν καὶ φύσιν νομίζουσι, καὶ τὴν πάντων εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἀρχὴν ἀγαθῶν καταδείξασαν. ἐξιόντων γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ πρῶτος ἐσφάλη κατὰ τὰς πύλας ὁ νεανίας Κράσσος, εἶτʼ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ περιπεσὼν ὁ πρεσβύτερος.
And the first warning sign came to him from this very goddess, whom some call Venus, others Juno, while others still regard her as the natural cause which supplies from moisture the beginnings and seeds of everything, and points out to mankind the source of all blessings. For as they were leaving her temple, first the youthful Crassus stumbled and fell at the gate, and then his father fell over him.
ἤδη δὲ τὰς δυνάμεις ἐκ τῶν χειμαδίων συναθροίζοντος αὐτοῦ πρέσβεις ἀφίκοντο παρʼ Ἀρσάκου βραχύν τινα λόγον κομίζοντες, ἔφασαν γάρ, εἰ μὲν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ὁ στρατὸς ἀπέσταλται, πόλεμον ἄσπονδον εἶναι καί ἀδιάλλακτον, εἰ δὲ τῆς πατρίδος ἀκούσης, ὡς πυνθάνονται, Κράσσος ἰδίων ἕνεκα κερδῶν ὅπλα Πάρθοις ἐπενήνοχε καί χώραν κατείληφε, μετριάζειν Ἀρσάκην καὶ τὸ μὲν Κράσσου γῆρας οἰκτείρειν, ἀφιέναι δὲ Ῥωμαίοις τοὺς ἄνδρας, οὓς ἔχει φρουρουμένους μᾶλλον ἢ φρουροῦντας·
No sooner had he begun to assemble his forces from their winter quarters than envoys came to him from Arsaces with a wonderfully brief message. They said that if the army had been sent out by the Roman people, it meant war without truce and without treaty; but if it was against the wishes of his country, as they were informed, and for his own private gain that Crassus had come up in arms against the Parthians and occupied their territory, then Arsaces would act with moderation, would take pity on the old age of Crassus, and release to the Romans the men whom he had under watch and ward rather than watching over him.
πρὸς ταῦτα Κράσσου κομπάσαντος ὡς ἐν Σελευκείᾳ δώσει τὰς ἀποκρίσεις, γελάσας ὁ πρεσβύτατος τῶν πρέσβεων Οὐαγίσης καί τῆς χειρὸς ὑπτίας δείξας τὸ μέσον ἐντεῦθεν, εἶπεν, ὦ Κράσσε, φύσονται τρίχες πρότερον ἢ σὺ ὄψει Σελεύκειαν. οὗτοι μὲν οὖν ἀπήλαυνον ὡς βασιλέα Ὑρώδην πολεμητέα φράσοντες, ἐκ δὲ τῶν πόλεων ἃς ἐφρούρουν Ῥωμαῖοι τῆς Μεσοποταμίας, παραβόλως τινὲς διεκπεσόντες ἄξια φροντίδων ἀνήγγελλον,
To this Crassus boastfully replied that he would give his answer in Seleucia, whereupon the eldest of the envoys, Vagises, burst out laughing and said, pointing to the palm of his upturned hand: O Crassus, hair will grow there before thou shalt see Seleucia. The embassy, accordingly, rode away to King Hyrodes, to tell him there must be war. But from the cities of Mesopotamia in which the Romans had garrisons, certain men made their escape at great hazard and brought tidings of serious import.
αὐτόπται μὲν γεγονότες τοῦ τε πλήθους τῶν πολεμίων καί τῶν ἀγώνων ὧν ἠγωνίσαντο προσμαχόμενοι ταῖς πόλεσιν, οἷα δὲ φιλεῖ πάντα πρὸς τὸ δεινότερον ἐξαγγέλλοντες, ὡς ἄφυκτοι μὲν οἱ ἄνδρες διώκοντες, ἄληπτοι δὲ φεύγοντες, βέλη δὲ καινὰ προθέοντα τῆς ὄψεως καί πρὶν ὀφθῆναι τὸν βάλλοντα χωροῦντα διὰ τοῦ προστυχόντος, τῶν δὲ καταφράκτων ὅπλα τὰ μὲν διὰ παντὸς ὠθεῖσθαι, τὰ δὲ πρὸς μηδὲν ἐνδιδόναι πεποιημένα.
They had been eyewitnesses both of the numbers of the enemy and of their mode of warfare when they attacked their cities, and, as is usual, they exaggerated all the terrors of their report. When the men pursued, they declared, there was no escaping them, and when they fled, there was no taking them; and strange missiles are the precursors of their appearance, which pierce through every obstacle before one sees who sent them; and as for the armour of their mail-clad horsemen, some of it is made to force its way through everything, and some of it to give way to nothing.
ταῦτα τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἀκουόντων τὸ θράσος ὑπέπιπτεν. πεπεισμένοι γὰρ οὐδὲν Ἀρμενίων διαφέρειν Πάρθους οὐδὲ Καππαδοκῶν, οὓς ἄγων καί φέρων Λούκουλλος ἀπεῖπε, καί τοῦ πολέμου τὸ χαλεπώτατον ἡγούμενοι μακρὰν ὁδὸν ἔσεσθαι καὶ δίωξιν ἀνθρώπων εἰς χεῖρας οὐκ ἀφιξομένων, παρʼ ἐλπίδας ἀγῶνα καί κίνδυνον μέγαν προσεδόκων, ὥστε καί τῶν ἐν τέλει τινὰς οἴεσθαι δεῖν ἐπισχόντα τὸν Κράσσον αὖθις ὑπὲρ τῶν ὅλων γνώμην προθέσθαι. τούτων ἦν Κάσσιος ὁ ταμίας.
When the soldiers heard this, their courage ebbed away. For they had been fully persuaded that the Parthians were not different at all from the Armenians or even the Cappadocians, whom Lucullus had robbed and plundered till he was weary of it, and they had thought that the most difficult part of the war would be the long journey and the pursuit of men who would not come to close quarters; but now, contrary to their hopes, they were led to expect a struggle and great peril. Therefore some of the officers thought that Crassus ought to call a halt and reconsider the whole undertaking. Among these was Cassius, the quaestor.
ἡσυχῇ δὲ παρεδήλουν καί οἱ μάντεις ὡς ἀεὶ πονηρὰ σημεῖα καί δυσέκθυτα προφαίνοιτο τῷ Κράσσῳ διὰ τῶν ἱερῶν, ἀλλʼ οὔτε τούτοις προσεῖχεν οὔτε τοῖς ἕτερόν τι πλὴν ἐπείγεσθαι παραινοῦσιν.
The seers, also, quietly let it become known that the omens for Crassus which came from their sacrifices were always bad and inauspicious. But Crassus paid no heed to them, nor to those who advised anything else except to press forward.
οὐχ ἥκιστα δʼ αὐτὸν Ἀρταβάζης ὁ Ἀρμενίων βασιλεὺς ἐπέρρωσεν· ἦλθε γὰρ εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον μεθʼ ἑξακισχιλίων ἱππέων. καὶ οὗτοι μὲν ἐλέγοντο φύλακες καὶ προπομποὶ βασιλέως· ἑτέρους δὲ μυρίους ὑπισχνεῖτο καταφράκτους καὶ τρισμυρίους πεζοὺς οἰκοσίτους.
And most of all, Artabazes the king of Armenia gave him courage, for he came to his camp with six thousand horsemen. These were said to be the king’s guards and couriers; but he promised ten thousand mail-clad horsemen besides, and thirty thousand footmen, to be maintained at his own cost.
ἔπειθε δὲ Κράσσον ἐμβαλεῖν διʼ Ἀρμενίας εἰς τὴν Παρθίαν· οὐ γὰρ μόνον ἐν ἀφθόνοις διάξειν τὴν στρατιὰν αὐτοῦ παρέχοντος, ἀλλὰ καὶ πορεύσεσθαι διʼ ἀσφαλείας, ὄρη πολλὰ καὶ λόφους συνεχεῖς καὶ χωρία δύσιππα πρὸς τὴν ἵππον, ἣ μόνη Πάρθων ἀλκή, προβαλλόμενον. ὁ δὲ τὴν προθυμίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν λαμπρότητα τῆς βοηθείας μετρίως ἠγάπησε, βαδιεῖσθαι δʼ ἔφη διὰ Μεσοποταμίας, ὅπου πολλοὺς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς Ῥωμαίων ἄνδρας ἀπέλιπεν.
And he tried to persuade Crassus to invade Parthia by way of Armenia, for thus he would not only lead his forces along in the midst of plenty, which the king himself would provide, but would also proceed with safety, confronting the cavalry of the Parthians, in which lay their sole strength, with many mountains, and continuous crests, and regions where the horse could not well serve. Crassus was tolerably well pleased with the king’s zeal and with the splendid reinforcements which he offered, but said he should march through Mesopotamia, where he had left many brave Romans.
ὁ μὲν οὖν Ἀρμένιος ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀπήλαυνεν. τῷ δὲ Κράσσῳ διαβιβάζοντι τὴν στρατιὰν κατὰ τὸ Ζεῦγμα πολλαὶ μὲν ὑπερφυεῖς βρονταὶ περιερρήγνυντο, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἤστραπτεν ἐναντία τῷ στρατῷ, πνεῦμα δὲ νέφει καὶ πρηστῆρι μεμιγμένον ἐρεῖσαν αὐτοῦ κατὰ τῆς σχεδίας ἀνέρρηξε πολλὰ καὶ συνέτριψεν·
Upon this, the Armenian rode away. Now, as Crassus was taking his army across the Euphrates at Zeugma, many extraordinary peals of thunder crashed about them, and many flashes of lightning also darted in their faces, and a wind, half mist and half hurricane, fell upon their raft, breaking it up and shattering it in many places.
ἐβλήθη δὲ καὶ κεραυνοῖς δυσὶν ὁ χῶρος οὗ στρατοπεδεύειν ἔμελλεν. ἵππος δὲ τῶν στρατηγικῶν ἐπιφανῶς κεκοσμημένος βίᾳ συνεπισπάσας τὸν ἡνίοχον εἰς τὸ ῥεῖθρον ὑποβρύχιος ἠφανίσθη. λέγεται δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀετῶν ὁ πρῶτος ἀρθεὶς ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου μεταστραφῆναι.
The place where he was intending to encamp was also smitten by two thunderbolts. And one of the general’s horses, richly caparisoned, violently dragged its groom along with it into the river and disappeared beneath the waves. It is said also that the first eagle which was raised aloft, faced about of its own accord.
πρὸς δὲ τούτοις συνέπεσε μετὰ τὴν διάβασιν μετρουμένοις τὰ ἐπιτήδεια τοῖς στρατιώταις πρῶτα πάντων δοθῆναι φακοὺς καὶ ἃλας, ἃ νομίζουσι Ῥωμαῖοι πένθιμα καὶ προτίθενται τοῖς νέκυσιν, αὐτοῦ τε Κράσσου δημηγοροῦντος ἐξέπεσε φωνή δεινῶς συγχέασα τὸν στρατόν. ἔφη γὰρ τὸ ζεῦγμα τοῦ ποταμοῦ διαλύειν ὅπως μηδεὶς αὐτῶν ἐπανέλθῃ. καὶ δέον, ὡς ᾔσθετο τοῦ ῥήματος τὴν ἀτοπίαν, ἀναλαβεῖν καὶ διασαφῆσαι πρὸς τοὺς ἀποδειλιῶντας τὸ εἰρημένον, ἠμέλησεν ὑπὸ αὐθαδείας.
Besides all this, it happened that when their rations were distributed to the soldiers after the crossing of the river, lentils and salt came first, which are held by the Romans to be tokens of mourning, and are set out as offerings to the dead. Moreover, Crassus himself, while haranguing his men, let fall a phrase which terribly confounded them. He said, namely, that he should destroy the bridge over the river, that not one of them might return. And although he ought, as soon as he perceived the strangeness of his expression, to have recalled it and made his meaning clear to his timorous hearers, he was too obstinate to do so.
τέλος δὲ τὸν εἰθισμένον καθαρμὸν ἐσφαγιάζετο, καὶ τὰ σπλάγχνα τοῦ μάντεως αὐτῷ προσδόντος ἐξέβαλε τῶν χειρῶν ἐφʼ ᾧ καὶ μάλιστα δυσχεραίνοντας ἰδὼν τοὺς παρόντας ἐμειδίασε καὶ τοιοῦτον, ἔφη, τὸ γῆρας· ἀλλὰ τῶν γε ὅπλων οὐδὲν ἂν ἐκφύγοι τὰς χεῖρας.
And finally, when he was making the customary sacrifice of purification for the army, and the seer placed the viscera in his hands, he let them fall to the ground; then, seeing that the bystanders were beyond measure distressed at the occurrence, he smiled and said: Such is old age; but no weapon, you may be sure, shall fall from its hands.
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