WI: Pompey attacks Parthia

[Night Gaul]

IIRC, the first triumvirate originally intended for Pompey to be the one to invade Parthia, but he was too in love with his wife to leave her, and so Crassus went instead.

What if Pompey had invaded Parthia, as planned?

 

[Sertorius126]

Pompeius was a competent general, but not a bold one, there won’t be a Carrhae most likely, but it probably won’t be an unmitigated success, just enough to prove the Parthians that Rome is not to be messed with while confirming the status quo.

 

[Fabius Maximus]

To be fair, I don't think Crassus was as bad a commander as hindsight and the Romans' need to find a scapegoat tend to suggest. He'd performed well in the Sullan Civil War and Spartacus' Rebellion, and the next big invasion of Parthia, under Mark Antony, wasn't exactly a stunning success. Pompey might be able to avoid being defeated as heavily, but I don't think sweeping conquests are on the cards, either. Most likely he'd advance into Mesopotamia, the Parthians would harass his forces whilst using their mobility to avoid getting drawn into a decisive encounter, and the Romans would capture a couple of cities, garrison them, and then declare victory and go back home with whatever loot they'd managed to acquire.

 

[Sertorius126]

To be fair, I don't think Crassus was as bad a commander as hindsight and the Romans' need to find a scapegoat tend to suggest. He'd performed well in the Sullan Civil War and Spartacus' Rebellion, and the next big invasion of Parthia, under Mark Antony, wasn't exactly a stunning success. Pompey might be able to avoid being defeated as heavily, but I don't think sweeping conquests are on the cards, either. Most likely he'd advance into Mesopotamia, the Parthians would harass his forces whilst using their mobility to avoid getting drawn into a decisive encounter, and the Romans would capture a couple of cities, garrison them, and then declare victory and go back home with whatever loot they'd managed to acquire.

Crassus really wasn’t that bad, he planned his campaign exactly as the average Roman commander would have, he simply had the big misfortune of facing an enemy whose tactics were yet unknown on a territory the Romans had never properly navigated before.

 

[aaronupright]

Ceaser died days before departing on an invasion of Parthia. Maybe getting assassinated wasn’t so bad, if invading Parthia was Plan A.