__NOTOC__ Silaces (also spelled Sillakes) was a

Parthian Parthian may be: Historical * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...

commander who fought against the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

general and triumvir

Marcus Licinius Crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus (; 115 – 53 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is often called "the richest man in Rome." Wallechinsky, David & Wallace, I ...

. Initially the satrap of Ichnae, a fortress in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

, he was defeated and wounded by Crassus' forces, and fled to the Parthian court, where he informed king Orodes II () of the Roman invasion.Cassius Dio
Book 40, 12.1
Silaces later commanded the Parthian contingent alongside Surena at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, where Crassus was defeated and killed.Plutarch
vol III. XXI
Crassus' defeat at Carrhae was one of the worst military defeats of Roman history. Parthia's victory cemented its reputation as a formidable if not equal power with Rome. While Orodes and

Artavasdes II of Armenia Artavasdes II ( grc, ΑΡΤΑΒΑΖΔΟΥ ''Artabázēs'') was king of Armenia from 55 BC to 34 BC. A member of the Artaxiad Dynasty, he was the son and successor of Tigranes the Great (). His mother was Cleopatra of Pontus, thus making his mater ...

were observing a play of ''

The Bacchae ''The Bacchae'' (; grc-gre, Βάκχαι, ''Bakchai''; also known as ''The Bacchantes'' ) is an ancient Greek tragedy, written by the Athenian playwright Euripides during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. ...

'' of

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

(c. 480–406 BC) at the Armenian court in honor of the wedding of Orodes' son

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 alongside ...

and Artavasdes' sister, Silaces announced the news of the victory at Carrhae, and put the head of Crassus at Orodes' feet.; The head was given to the producer of the play, who decided to use Crassus' actual severed head in place of the stage-prop head of

Pentheus In Greek mythology, Pentheus (; grc, Πενθεύς, Pentheús) was a king of Thebes. His father was Echion, the wisest of the Spartoi. His mother was Agave, the daughter of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, and the goddess Harmonia. His sister was ...

References

Bibliography

Ancient works

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

, ''

Parallel Lives Plutarch's ''Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans'', commonly called ''Parallel Lives'' or ''Plutarch's Lives'', is a series of 48 biographies of famous men, arranged in pairs to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, probably writt ...

'' *

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

, ''Roman History''

Modern works

* . * . * *

References

Bibliography

Ancient works

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