e he himself remained in the neighborhood
of Rome as Proconsul.

Before the end of the year Crassus set out for Syria, with the intention
of attacking the Parthians. He was anxious to distinguish himself in
war, like Pompey and Caesar, and, though upward of sixty years of age, he
chose rather to enter upon an undertaking for which he had no genius
than to continue the pursuit of wealth and influence at home. He crossed
the Euphrates in B.C. 54, but, hesitating to proceed at once against
Parthia, he gave the enemy time to assemble his forces, and returned to
Syria without accomplishing any thing of importance. He spent the winter
in Syria, where, instead of exercising his troops and preparing for the
ensuing campaign, he plundered the temples, and employed his time in
collecting money from every quarter. In the following spring (B.C. 53)
he again crossed the Euphrates, and plunged into the sandy deserts of
Mesopotamia. He trusted to the guidance of an Arabian chieftain, who
promised to lead him by the shortest way to the enemy. But this man was
in the pay of Surenas, the Parthian general; and when he had brought the
Romans into the open plains of Mesopotamia, he seized a frivolous
pretext, and rode off to inform Surenas that the Roman army was
delivered into his hands. The Parthians soon appeared. They worried the
densely-marshaled Romans with showers of arrows; and by feigned
retreats, during which they continued to discharge their arrows, they
led the Romans into disadvantageous positions. The son of Crassus, who
had distinguished himself as one of Caesar's lieutenants in Gaul, was
slain, and the Romans, after suffering great loss, retreated to Carrhae,
the Haran of Scripture. On the following day they continued their
retreat; and Surenas, fearing that Crassus might after all make his
escape, invited him to an interview. He was treacherously seized, and,
in the scuffle which ensued, was slain by some unknown hand. His head
was carried to the Parthian king Orodes, who caused melted gold to be
poured into the mouth, saying, "Sate thyself now with that metal of
which in life thou wert so greedy." Twenty thousand Roman troops were
slain, and ten thousand taken prisoners, in this expedition, one of the
most disastrous in which the Romans were ever engaged. Only a small
portion of the Roman army escaped to Syria under the command of L.
Cassius Longinus, afterward one of Caesar's assassins, who had displayed
considerable abil