d paid no heed to the rest nor to the people
themselves, but wearied by his stay in Mesopotamia and longing for the
indolence of Syria he afforded the Parthians time to prepare themselves
and to injure the soldiers left behind in their country.

[-14-]This was the beginning that the Romans made of war against them.
They dwell beyond the Tigris, possessing for the most part forts and
garrisons, but also a few cities, among them Ctesiphon, in which there
is a palace. Their stock was very likely in existence among the original
barbarians and they had this same name even under the Persian rule. But
at that time they inhabited only a small portion of the country and had
not obtained any transmontane sovereignty. When the Persian kingdom had
been destroyed and that of the Macedonians had reached its prime, and
then the successors of Alexander had quarreled one with another, cutting
off separate portions for their own and setting up individual
monarchies, this land then first attained prominence under a certain
Arsaces from whom their succeeding rulers have received the title of
Arsacidae. By good fortune they acquired all the neighboring territory,
kept control of Mesopotamia by means of satrapies, and finally advanced
to so great glory and power as to fight against the Romans at that
period and to be considered worthy antagonists up to present time.[61]
They are really formidable in warfare and possess the greater
reputation, in spite of never having gained anything from the Romans and
having parted with certain portions of their own domain, because they
have not yet been enslaved, but even now carry wars against us to the
end, whenever they get into conflicts. [-15-] About their race and their
country and the peculiarities of their customs many persons have spoken,
and I have no intention of compiling an account. But it is fair to
mention in what follows their equipment of arms, and the way they handle
a war: the examination of these details properly concerns the present
narrative, since it here needs to introduce them. The Parthians make no
use of a shield, but their forces consist of mounted archers and
pike-bearers, mostly in full armor. Their infantry is small, made up of
the weaker persons; hence it may be said they are all archers. They
practice from boyhood, and the sky and the country cooeperate with them
for two good ends. The latter, being for the most part level, is
excellent for raising horses and very suitable f