Given what we know, did Crassus really do anything wrong? Theres realistically nothing he could have done against the Parthian horse since they dont have sufficient bows or slings. Was waiting them out really that much of a tactical blunder?

>>63795465 (OP)
being there in the first place

>>63795465 (OP)
I think it's a failure of intelligence on Crassus's part since he should've known better what enemies he's going to face and how to prepare against, like getting more cavalry or ally with the local lords in the area to lend them their cavalry.
It's also an error of judgement because he's impatient on getting some glory. He's the only one in the Triumvirate who doesn't have military honors which lead him to not prepare better.

>>63795476
>>63795478
But these are strategic mistakes. Tactically speaking I strongly believe that Crassus did nothing wrong.

>>63795489
Well okay then! Crassus did nothing wrong, that's why he won the battle and lived out the rest of his fabulously wealthy life

>>63795612
Youre just a fucking jealous pleb. Remember who put your house in order when it was being consumed by flames because youre too stupid to watch a fire? That was Crassus.

>>63795465 (OP)
He was offered 10000 cavalry and 30000 infantry by the allied king of Armenia as well as a route through Armenia that would allow him to march into the Parthian Empire unopposed. Instead, he rejected that offer and chose to march straight ahead and conquer one of Parthia's shitty little client kingdoms and then sat there with his thumb up his ass while the Parthians marched into Armenia and conquered it. Then he marched ahead anyways and got to eat some gold.
At least Cassius was there. He saved some lives and managed to beat the Parthians back after they tried to invade Syria.

>>63795465 (OP)
He refused the Armenian kings offer of fighting alongside him with 40k troops which included 10k cataphracts which would have been key at facing the Parthian horse archers and cavalry. All because Crassus was paranoid that his military glory could be stolen again like what happened in the servile wars by Pompey.

>>63795819
>He refused the Armenian kings offer of fighting alongside him with 40k troops
Bullshit number, armenians definitely did not have this much troops
I'm thinking this a non-factor

>>63795489
>But these are strategic mistakes
and since Crassus is one third of the Triumvirate, that's on him
there's no one higher for the buck to stop at
>LEAST TRIUMPHANT THIRD OF THE TRIUMVIRATE!!

>>63795465 (OP)
>Given what we know, did Crassus really do anything wrong?
the Parthians were waiting for him right across the border, I think they knew he was coming, his plans were argued in public in Rome before he marched out
>Was waiting them out really that much of a tactical blunder?
he would've had better chances trying to retreat back to Edessa

>>63795465 (OP)
He made plenty of errors. He didn't know his enemy well enough, first and foremost. The Romans had faced enemies which had given them difficult match-up problems in the past (the Sarmatians for one) and he shouldn't have been so arrogant.
He followed them into inhospitable terrain, strung out his baggage train which got picked apart by a more mobile enemy force, and left himself with the worst situation any general can have: having only one option which was to treat and rely on his enemy's good courtesy to even escape with his life.

The good generalship move would've been to proceed as Caesar would've proceeded: throw your Armenian auxiliaries at the Parthians until you get to know how they operate. Their lives are expendable from the Roman perspective so, better not to risk your own men. And then he should've advanced slowly, building fortified outposts along the way, encouraging the Parthians to be the impatient ones and try to fight a battle that would favor the Romans more: something around one of these fortifications for example.
Crassus was impatient. He felt compelled to equal Caesar and Pompey's military reputations and was in a hurry to do so. It was a mistake and he should've been a little more careful.

>>63795800
>>63795819
Did he turn Armenians down because they were clients of Pompey?

>>63795489
>But these are strategic mistakes.
And they're his mistakes.
>>63796769
Armenia was a wealthy and powerful region once.

>>63795465 (OP)
His greatest mistake was attempting to fight against the will of Ahura Mazda. He never stood a chance.

>>63797493
>reversing into battle
shiggydiggy

>>63798270
>nooo stay and fight me at melee distance you can't just keep killing us with arrows and running away
>cataphracts charge in
>nooo not like that reeee

Why did CaoCao wreck those steppe guys horselords but Crassus cant?

>>63799083
Fujobait generals.

>>63795489
Trusting Ariamnes was a stategic mistake.

>>63796971
>he would've had better chances trying to retreat back to Edessa
>how to lower morale and cause a rout and receive massive casualties from cataphracts and horse archers
Nah

>>63796971
>Retreat
>when the enemy has a massive force of cavalry
>and you have infantry
uh sure bro try that lmao

>>63795476
this

>>63800373
>receive massive casualties from cataphracts and horse archers
Yeh that would have been terrible if it happened.

>>63798270
yes. that is how the parthian shot works.

His mistake was believing that he could be a great man simply because he was a rich one. When you're competing with the likes of GAIVS IVLIVS CAESAR (pbuh) and Pompey, you're out of your depth as a simple oligarch of middling talent. Should have stayed home and been a family man, but he got what he deserved.

I feel bad for the poor legionary sons of bitches that were dragged into certain death. Brutally dying in a foreign land for the petty ambitions of some rich faggot who has no idea how to wage war is a rotten way to go. Being a soldier really fucking sucks.

>>63797000
>He felt compelled to equal Caesar and Pompey's military reputations and was in a hurry to do so.
This can be argued as partially the result of structural incentives in Roman military command, which had strict term limits and offered great rewards to (successful) aggressive conquerors
Its an incentive structure that had worked well in the past and would continue to work well for the remained of the empire but it didn't pan out for poor old Crassus

The Parthians really weren't that good.

>>63795489
His tactical mistake was the square - if he stretched out his line, even normally, he wouldve encompassed the parthians and limited their mobility.

He did this because he thought he faced a bigger army, he thought this because he had terrible intelligence.

>>63805967
>line formation against cavalry
who the fuck are you, the Prince of Orange?

>>63809224
You think 10 thousand horseman, of which, the charging contingent is smaller and armed and armored to the teeth in summer middle east heat can outflank 50 thousand legionaries?

Not to mention Crassus had his own cavalry to protect his flanks.

>>63795489
so tired of OPs who get their answer in the first few minutes but then try to drive more engagement

>>63809224
>>63809840
I'd also add that Caesar learned from Crassus' mistake and instead of square spamming against light cavalry, he stretched out his line at Ruspina and survived.

>>63809224
From what I've read, during the 18th century they didn't really seem to bother with squares (outside of niche applications like asymmetrical warfare), and just had the rear rank turn around to shoot in the other direction if necessary; if nothing else I suppose it would be much quicker to do than changing the entire formation.
also I hope you're not learning your history from a series that doesn't even understand how to load a cartridge

>>63810364
>just had the rear rank turn around to shoot in the other direction if necessary
while this was certainly a tactic, it was an expedient one and shooting generally didn't do much at Napoleonic musket ranges and rate of fire, it was only after the mid-19th century that infantry rifles improved enough to obsolete the cavalry charge
otherwise fast British musketry would have easily wiped out cavalry without needing to form square at all

>>63809840
mainly it was a joke
actually, I think if the Romans didn't bring enough cavalry and archers they were pretty fucked
they would have no reach at all against lancers and horse archers and would just have to sit there and take the fire
that just means dying sooner or later, whether by attrition, exhaustion or morale

>>63805340
Pompey was the retard not crassus, although he had his retard moment same as pompey. But for some reason people still think pompey was something more than a nepo baby

>>63795465 (OP)
he should have told his infantry to simply run faster than the Parthian horsemen and kill them all, very stupid of him to not even consider this option

Although it seems that he fled Rome in a hurry, Pompey's skill in reorganizing his large army in his own territory was brilliant, and Caesar won by a whisker.