o Crassus.

XVII. When Crassus arrived at Brundisium, though the sea was still
rough owing to the wintry weather, he would not wait, but he set sail,
and so lost many of his vessels. After getting together the remnant of
his forces, he marched through Galatia.[55] Finding King Deiotarus,
who was now a very old man, founding a new city, Crassus said
sarcastically, "King, you are beginning to build at the twelfth hour."
The Galatian, with a smile, replied, "You, too, Imperator, I observe,
are not very early with your Parthian expedition." Now Crassus was
past sixty, and he looked older than he was. On his arrival, matters
at first turned out fully equal to his expectation; for he easily
threw a bridge over the Euphrates, and got his army across safely, and
he also obtained possession of many cities in Mesopotamia which
surrendered. Before one of them, of which Apollonius was tyrant, he
lost a hundred men, upon which he brought his force against the place,
and, having got possession of it, he made plunder of all the property,
and sold the people: the Greeks called the city Zenodotia.[56] On the
capture of the city, Crassus allowed his soldiers to proclaim him
Imperator, wherein he greatly disgraced himself, and showed the
meanness of his spirit, and that he had no good hopes of greater
things, as he was content with so slight a success. Having put
garrisons in the cities that had surrendered, to the amount of seven
thousand infantry and a thousand cavalry, he retired to winter in
Syria, and there to await his son,[57] who was coming from Caesar in
Gaul, with the decorations that he had gained by his valour, and with
a thousand picked horsemen. This seemed to be the first blunder of
Crassus, or at least, it was the greatest blunder that he committed
next to the expedition itself; for he ought to have advanced and to
have secured Babylon and Seleukeia,[58] two cities which were always
hostile to the Parthians; instead of which, he gave his enemies time
to make preparation. The next thing the people blamed was his waste of
time in Syria, which was employed more for purposes of money profit
than for military purposes; for he did not occupy himself in reviewing
the numbers of his troops, nor establishing games to keep the soldiers
in exercise, but he busied himself about estimating the revenues of
cities, and he was for many days with weights and scales in his hands
among the treasures of the goddess in Hierapolis,[59] and, aft