The Pompeian–Parthian invasion of 40 BC occurred after the Pompeians, backed by the

Parthian Empire The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conque ...

, had been defeated during the

Liberators' civil war The Liberators' civil war (43–42 BC) was started by the Second Triumvirate to avenge Julius Caesar's assassination. The war was fought by the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian (the Second Triumvirate members) against the forces of Caesar's a ...

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...

and

Octavian Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

. King

Orodes II Orodes II (also spelled Urud II; xpr, 𐭅𐭓𐭅𐭃 ''Wērōd''), was King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 57 BC to 37 BC. He was a son of Phraates III, whom he murdered in 57 BC, assisted by his elder brother Mithridates IV. The two bro ...

sent a Parthian force under Prince

Pacorus I Pacorus I (also spelled Pakoros I; xpr, 𐭐𐭊𐭅𐭓; died 38 BC) was a Parthian prince, who was the son and heir of Orodes II (). The numismatist David Sellwood deduced that Pacorus ruled in . It is uncertain whether Pacorus ruled alongsid ...

and Pompeian General

Quintus Labienus Quintus Labienus Parthicus (died 39 BC) was a Roman general in the Late Republic period. The son of Titus Labienus, he made an alliance with Parthia and invaded the Roman provinces in the eastern Mediterranean which were under the control of Mark ...

in 40 BC to invade the eastern Roman territories while Antony was in Egypt. Roman soldiers in Syria, many of whom had fought against Caesar during the last civil war, joined the force, and the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

and much of

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

were swiftly overrun by respectively Pacorus I and Labienus. In 39 BC, Antony sent Ventidius, who defeated and executed Labienus in a counterattack and then drove Pacorus I out of the Levant. A second Parthian invasion of Syria by Pacorus I resulted in his death and a Parthian failure. Antony later began a campaign with a massive force against Parthia, but it ended in Roman defeat. Roman–Parthian hostilities formally ended only under the reign of Octavian (

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

Background

The Parthians had defeated and killed Marcus Licinius Crassus, a member of the

First Triumvirate The First Triumvirate was an informal political alliance among three prominent politicians in the late Roman Republic: Gaius Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Marcus Licinius Crassus. The constitution of the Roman republic had many ve ...

along with

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

and

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

, at the

Battle of Carrhae The Battle of Carrhae () was fought in 53 BC between the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire near the ancient town of Carrhae (present-day Harran, Turkey). An invading force of seven legions of Roman heavy infantry under Marcus Liciniu ...

. They had also maintained relations with Pompey but never supported him militarily during

Caesar's Civil War Caesar's civil war (49–45 BC) was one of the last politico-military conflicts of the Roman Republic before its reorganization into the Roman Empire. It began as a series of political and military confrontations between Gaius Julius Caesar and ...

. After Pompey's death, Caesar planned an invasion of Parthia but was assassinated before he could implement it. In 42 BC, Parthian forces fought against the Caesarians under

and

in the

Battle of Philippi The Battle of Philippi was the final battle in the Wars of the Second Triumvirate between the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian (of the Second Triumvirate) and the leaders of Julius Caesar's assassination, Brutus and Cassius in 42 BC, at ...

during the

. After the defeat of the Liberators, who had assassinated Caesar,

, a general who attempted to resurrect the Pompeian cause and had been sent to Parthia to ask for assistance in the last civil war, joined the Parthians. King

sent him and his son

to invade eastern Roman territories, p. 57 while Antony was in Egypt with Cleopatra.

Invasion

Orodes II sent his son Pacorus I as well as Labienus as the commanders of a large Parthian army to invade Roman territory in early 40 BC (or late 41 BC, according to some scholars). According to Vagi, the invasion comprised some 20,000 horsemen. Many Roman forces in Syria defected to Labienus. Antony's commander in Syria, Lucius Decidius Saxa, fled to

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

and then to

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...

, where he was captured by Labienus and executed. Several Roman '' aquilae'' were then captured by the Parthians. (The ''aquilae'', together with ones captured after the Battle of Carrhae, were later returned after Augustus's negotiations with the Parthians.) Apamea and Antioch surrendered. The two commanders split. Pacorus invaded Palestine and

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

while Labienus launched a " blitzkrieg" in

that captured much of the region. He was hailed as '' imperator''. Pacorus I had gained a reputation for military talent and moderation and swiftly took all the cities along the Levantine coast with the exception of Tyre, which was notoriously difficult to capture. He reached Gaza by May 40 BC and received homage from the

Nabataeans The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern L ...

. Meanwhile, his general

Barzapharnes Barzapharnes was a Parthian general during the latter half of the 1st century BC. In 40 BC, Barzapharnes commanded a Parthian invasion of the Levant, commanded and aided by Pacorus, who allied himself with the Roman outlaw Quintus Labienus, an ...

led a force inland. The pro-Parthian Jewish leader

Antigonus II Mattathias Antigonus II Mattathias ( grc-gre, Αντίγονος ''Antígonos''; he, , ''Matīṯyāhū''), also known as Antigonus the Hasmonean (died 37 BCE) was the last Hasmonean king of Judea. A puppet king installed by the Parthians, he was the son ...

sent a large subsidy to Pacorus I, who supported him in the fight against the pro-Roman Jewish leaders

Hyrcanus II John Hyrcanus II (, ''Yohanan Hurqanos'') (died 30 BCE), a member of the Hasmonean dynasty, was for a long time the Jewish High Priest in the 1st century BCE. He was also briefly King of Judea 67–66 BCE and then the ethnarch (ruler) of J ...

and

Phasael Phasael (died 40 BC; , ''Faṣā'ēl''; Latin: Phasaelus; from , ''Phasaelos''), was a prince from the Herodian Dynasty of Judea. Origins and early career Phasael was born in the Hasmonean Kingdom to an aristocratic family of Edomite descent. His f ...

and successfully installed him as the new king of

Judea Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous sou ...

. Hyrcanus II and Phasael were captured trying to negotiate with the Parthians and were

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

to Parthia, and Herod, another leader, fled. Antony left Egypt for Greece and sent

Publius Ventidius Bassus Publius Ventidius ( 89–38 BC) was a Roman general and one of Julius Caesar's protégés. He won key victories against the Parthians which resulted in the deaths of key leaders – victories which redeemed the losses of Crassus and paved the way ...

to Asia Minor. He scored two victories with minimal forces north of the

Taurus Mountains The Taurus Mountains ( Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar'') are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğird ...

in 39 BC ( Battle of the Cilician Gates, Battle of Amanus Pass) and captured and executed Labienus. He then drove the Parthians out of Syria. Another Parthian invasion of Syria in 38 BC under Pacorus I resulted in a decisive defeat at the Battle of Mount Gindarus in Cyrrhestica, with Pacorus I being killed and the Parthian presence in Syria being brought to an end. Quintus labienus

Coins minted by Labienus survive from the period and were probably minted in Antioch. Labienus had designated himself as ''Parthicus''.

Aftermath

In 38 BC, Mark Antony finally began his campaign against Parthia with a large force, but it resulted in a defeat with heavy Roman losses.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pompeian-Parthian invasion of 40 BC 40 BC 40s BC conflicts 1st century BC in Iran 1st century BC in the Hasmonean Kingdom 1st century BC in the Roman Republic Wars involving the Parthian Empire Wars involving the Roman Republic Roman Anatolia Roman–Parthian Wars Roman Syria