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| Surena commanded the Parthian army under ], at the dynastic succession ] in ], soundly trouncing a mixed army bolstered by Roman legions for the unsuccessful ], claimant to the throne of ], supported by ], ] ] of ]. <br> The next year the Romans under the command of ], in a hopeless attempt in ], attacked western Iranian provinces. The result was the ] at ]. The ] army under the command of General Surena, although inferior in number, took advantage of their ] (]) and their distinguished ] tactic in nearly destroying the entire Roman forces; twenty thousand Romans were killed, ten thousand were captured, and deported to distant northern provinces of ] for hard labour and slavery. ] was captured by General Surena and was later executed. This was one of the worst defeats suffered by the Romans in their entire history. | Surena commanded the Parthian army under ], at the dynastic succession ] in ], soundly trouncing a mixed army bolstered by Roman legions for the unsuccessful ], claimant to the throne of ], supported by ], ] ] of ]. <br> The next year the Romans under the command of ], in a hopeless attempt in ], attacked western Iranian provinces. The result was the ] at ]. The ] army under the command of General Surena, although inferior in number, took advantage of their ] (]) and their distinguished ] tactic in nearly destroying the entire Roman forces; twenty thousand Romans were killed, ten thousand were captured, and deported to distant northern provinces of ] for hard labour and slavery. ] was captured by General Surena and was later executed. This was one of the worst defeats suffered by the Romans in their entire history. | ||
| The bitterness between the Suren-Pahlav Clan and their cousins, the ruling House of Arsaces, made Surens to assist ], the founder of ], to overthrown the last Arsacid Dynasty king, ].<ref>S., Suren-Pahlav, ''General Surena, The Hero of Carrhae'', ()</ref> | |||
| ] in his ''Life of Crassus'' (21) describes Surena as:<ref>Jona Lendering, ''Surena'', (); accessed February 27, 2007.</ref> | ] in his ''Life of Crassus'' (21) describes Surena as:<ref>Jona Lendering, ''Surena'', (); accessed February 27, 2007.</ref> | ||
Revision as of 13:24, 18 July 2007
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Surena (84 - 52 BCE) was a Parthian general, twice victorious over Roman armies.
The name
Surena, also spelled Sorena and Sourena, is the most common appellation for Iran Spahbod Rustaham Suren-Pahlav, son of Arakhsh (Arash, pers.) and Massis.
The Great General
Surena commanded the Parthian army under Orodes II, at the dynastic succession battle of Seleucia in 54 BC, soundly trouncing a mixed army bolstered by Roman legions for the unsuccessful Mithridates III, claimant to the throne of Parthia, supported by Aulus Gabinius, Roman governor of Syria.
The next year the Romans under the command of Marcus Licinius Crassus, in a hopeless attempt in 53 BC, attacked western Iranian provinces. The result was the Battle of Carrhae at Harrân. The parthian army under the command of General Surena, although inferior in number, took advantage of their heavy cavalry (Cataphract) and their distinguished parthian shot tactic in nearly destroying the entire Roman forces; twenty thousand Romans were killed, ten thousand were captured, and deported to distant northern provinces of Margiana for hard labour and slavery. Crassus was captured by General Surena and was later executed. This was one of the worst defeats suffered by the Romans in their entire history.
Plutarch in his Life of Crassus (21) describes Surena as:
Surena was an extremely distinguished man. In wealth, birth, and in the honor paid to him, he ranked next after the king; in courage and ability he was the foremost Parthian of his time; and in stature and personal beauty he had no equal. When he travelled about the country on his own affairs, he was always accompanied by a baggage train of 1,000 dromedaries; 200 wagons carried his harem; 1,000 armored cavalry and still more light armed cavalry acted as his escort. The total number of his cavalry, his vassals, and his slaves came to at least 100,000 men. He had, as an ancient privilege of his family, the right to be the first to set the crown on the head of the king of Parthia at the coronation.
Eran-Spahbodh Rustaham’s youngest son, Rustaham-Gondofarr Suren-Pahlav or simply Gondophares, the ruler of the eastern-greater Iran, who ruled between 10BC to AD17 on the vast empire of the Saka at the time of Ashkanian dynasty, seems to have been the founder of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom and the king of India. In the Acts of St. Thomas he appears as Gaspar or Kaspar/Casper, Persian Jasper among Three Magi, which was inserted in a Biblical story of their visit to Bethlehem.
References
- E. E. Herzfeld, Iran in the Ancient East New York (1988), p310-311., ISBN 0-87817-308-0
- Jona Lendering, Surena, (LINK); accessed February 27, 2007.
Sources
- S., Suren-Pahlav, General Surena, The Hero of Carrhae, LINK
- 'A. Reza'i, Tarikh-e Dah-Hezar Saleh Iran, Vol. 1. SH/1376.
- Fred B. Shore, Parthian Coins and History: Ten Dragons Against Rome, Quarryville, PA: CNG, 1993.
- M. J. Mashkur and M. Rajab-Nia, Tarikh-e Siyasi va 'Ejtema'i Ashkanian, SH/1374.
- Jona Lendering, Surena, (LINK); accessed February 27, 2007.
- Plutarch, Crassus, Translated by John Dryden (LINK)