The final Macedonian invasion of Iran: A forgotten military revolution

Abstract

The campaign of the Seleucid king Antiochus VII led against the newly expanded empire of the Parthians (the Arsacid dynasty) is a very important, but largely forgotten episode of ancient military history. Conducted during 130 and 129 BC, it was the final attempt by the Macedonian dynasty of Seleucids to preserve its position as the leading power in Western Asia, against growing Arsacid might that gradually took control over Iran, Mesopotamia and parts of Central Asia. Apart from marking the definitive end of Seleucids as a great power, this event is noteworthy because of the consequences it had for the Parthian military organization and doctrine. The very beginning of the war was marked by massive defeats on the side of the Parthians, with battles, entire armies and regions lost. The Parthian king Phraates II learnt appropriate lessons from the defeat and reorganized what was left of his army for the type of warfare: instead of leading massive positional battles, the victory is to be won through maneuver warfare, exhaustion of the enemy and the elimination of the smaller and isolated parts of the hostile force. There is significant support for the claim that the changes brought on by this experience had a character of a true military revolution - a revolution that shaped the classical Parthian way of warfare. This was one of the most important factors for the later (and mostly successful) Parthian resistance to the Romans, and particularly in their greatest military triumph: the victory over the Army of Marcus Crassus at Carrhae in 53 BC.