Battle of Praaspa
| Battle of Praaspa | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Antony's Atropatene campaign | |||||||
.png) Antony's campaign | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
Parthian Empire Atropatene |
Roman Republic Kingdom of Armenia Pontus | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Artavasdes I of Media Atropatene |
Mark Antony Artavasdes II of Armenia Polemon I of Pontus (POW) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | 25,000–32,000 | ||||||
The Battle of Praaspa[a] was a military Conflict in 36 BC during the Antony's Atropatene campaign. It was organized by the Roman triumvir Mark Antony. The opposing sides were, on the one hand, the Roman Republic and its ally based on the Treaty of Artaxata the Kingdom of Armenia, and on the other hand,the Parthian Empire. By invading Atropatene Mark Antony aimed to use Praaspa as a base to penetrate the Parthian Empire becoming the ruler of the East.
The latter used the provisions of the treaty signed between King from King of Greater Armenia Tigranes the Great and Gnaeus Pompey to achieve his goals, by which, in fact, Armenia was considered "a friend and ally of the Roman nation" Thus Artavasdes II of Armenia who assumed the legal succession to the Tigranian throne, was obliged to give in to the expansionist ambitions of the Romans. The battle ended with the defeat of the 100,000-strong Roman legions[3] Before reaching the battlefield Artavasdes II returned with his troops from Armenia intending to confront the Parthians who had invaded Greater Armenia from the south In order to cover up the reality of the legions defeat,Antony presented it to the Roman Senate as the result of Armenian treachery As a result, the triumvir took revenge on Artavazdes II (by deceiving him and deporting the royal family to Egypt), earning him severe criticism from Romans.
Battle
[edit]As the Parthians were concentrated on the Euphrates, Antony chose the route via Armenia towards Atropatene From there, Antony and the bulk of the force took the convenient caravan route. The baggage train, which was protected by two legions under legatus Oppius Statianus and accompanied by King Artavasdes II of Armenia, took a different longer route. After entering Atropatene, the latter convoy was attacked by a Parthian cavalry force under Monaeses[4][5] (according to Kelly (2008), King Phraates himself commanded the attack on the Roman baggage train).[6] Statianus and 10,000 legionaries were killed[5][7] and the Antony's supplies and siege engines were destroyed.King Polemon I of Pontus was captured,[8] but King Artavasdes II and his cavalry had hastily retreated and did not engage.[5]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Pirnia, Ashtiani & Babaei 2012, p. 160.
- ^ Minorsky 1991, pp. 498–499.
- ^ "ARSACIDS ii. The Arsacid dynasty". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
The Romans under Antony saw an opportunity to attack the Parthians when the latter rejected a peace offer, coupled with a demand to hand back the Roman standards and captives taken at Carrhae, and Antony began the war in 36 BCE. According to Plutarch (Antonius 37.3) he marched with 100,000 men across Armenia to Media.
- ^ Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) (1 October 2006). "Monaeses". In Salazar, Christine F. (ed.). Brill's New Pauly. doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e808670. ISBN 9789004122598.
- ^ a b c Strauss, Barry (22 March 2022). The War That Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium. Simon and Schuster. pp. 72–74. ISBN 978-1-9821-1667-5.
- ^ Kelly 2008, p. 214.
- ^ Smith, Sir William (1849). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. C.C. Little and J. Brown. p. 39a.
- ^ Ussher, James; Pierce, Larry; Pierce, Marion (2003). The Annals of the World. New Leaf Publishing Group. p. 717b. ISBN 978-0-89051-360-6.
Sources
[edit]- Pirnia, Hasan; Ashtiani, Abbas Iqbal; Babaei, Parviz (2012). History of Persia (in Persian). Negah Publications. ISBN 978-9643513320.
- Minorsky, V. (1991). "Marāg̲h̲a". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VI: Mahk–Mid. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 498–503. ISBN 978-90-04-08112-3.