In 53 BC Crassus marched against Parthia with an army of 40000 soldiers when his army clashed with Prince Surena with an army of 10000...
Surena judged that the cataphract charge would not be enough to break the Roman lines. Thus, he sent his horse archers to bombard the Roman legionaries with arrows. However, Crassus ordered the legionaries into the testudo formation. The barrage eventually wore down the Roman lines.
Crassus's plan was to have his legionaries endure the archer fire until the horse archers ran out of arrows. After several hours, the legionaries began to collapse from heat exhaustion and thirst as well as to the constant stream of missiles. The Romans were completely surrounded. The tesdudo formations were holding up well though, but the testudo was extremly horrible in hand-to-hand combat. This factor inspired Surena to charge. The cataphracts' charge split the Roman army, and the Roman soldiers began to rout. Crassus was able to withdraw, but he had to leave behind thousands of wounded...
WI Crassus abandoned the testudo formation and ordered a direct attack to the cataphracts and horse archers? Surena was heavily outnumbered and wouldnt have last long...
How is a potential Parthian defeat altering History? Any thoughts?
Surena judged that the cataphract charge would not be enough to break the Roman lines. Thus, he sent his horse archers to bombard the Roman legionaries with arrows. However, Crassus ordered the legionaries into the testudo formation. The barrage eventually wore down the Roman lines.
Crassus's plan was to have his legionaries endure the archer fire until the horse archers ran out of arrows. After several hours, the legionaries began to collapse from heat exhaustion and thirst as well as to the constant stream of missiles. The Romans were completely surrounded. The tesdudo formations were holding up well though, but the testudo was extremly horrible in hand-to-hand combat. This factor inspired Surena to charge. The cataphracts' charge split the Roman army, and the Roman soldiers began to rout. Crassus was able to withdraw, but he had to leave behind thousands of wounded...
WI Crassus abandoned the testudo formation and ordered a direct attack to the cataphracts and horse archers? Surena was heavily outnumbered and wouldnt have last long...
How is a potential Parthian defeat altering History? Any thoughts?