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9781473828049

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If you do and internet search for the Battle of Carrhae of for books on the topic you will find little other than cursory treatments. That's one of the reasons that Gareth C. Sampson's book is valuable resource on the battle. But the book, now in its second edition, is not just worthwhile for its analysis of the battle, but also for its coverage on Marcus Licinius Crassus' long career and the rise of the Parthian Empire... ... As for Carrhae itself, Sampson does an impressive job of weighing the merits of the accounts of the battle by Plutarch and Cassius Dio. Sampson painstakingly presents them side by side throughout his battle narrative. He goes to great lengths to show the strengths and weaknesses of each and where they veer into fiction rather than fact. Plutarch's account is far more reliable even though suffering from its own limitations, such as the continuing controversy surrounding what actually unfolded during the Roman retreat from the town of Carrhae toward the relative safety of Syria and Armenia. Sampson is at his best when he describes how Crassus paid the ultimate penalty for a campaign that initially underestimated the Parthians and spiraled out of control once the Romans met the Parthians in battle. -- Medieval Warfare Magazine

If you do and internet search for the Battle of Carrhae of for books on the topic you will find little other than cursory treatments. That's one of the reasons that Gareth C. Sampson's book is valuable resource on the battle. But the book, now in its second edition, is not just worthwhile for its analysis of the battle, but also for its coverage on Marcus Licinius Crassus' long career and the rise of the Parthian Empire... ... As for Carrhae itself, Sampson does an impressive job of weighing the merits of the accounts of the battle by Plutarch and Cassius Dio. Sampson painstakingly presents them side by side throughout his battle narrative. He goes to great lengths to show the strengths and weaknesses of each and where they veer into fiction rather than fact. Plutarch's account is far more reliable even though suffering from its own limitations, such as the continuing controversy surrounding what actually unfolded during the Roman retreat from the town of Carrhae toward the relative safety of Syria and Armenia. Sampson is at his best when he describes how Crassus paid the ultimate penalty for a campaign that initially underestimated the Parthians and spiraled out of control once the Romans met the Parthians in battle. --Medieval Warfare Magazine

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After a career in corporate finance, Gareth Sampson returned to the study of ancient Rome and gained his PhD from the University of Manchester where he taught for a number of years. He has made a detailed study of early Roman political history and in particular the political office of the tribunate of the plebs. Following his doctorate he engaged in a study of the power struggles and the civil warfare of the late republic and its expansionist policies in the East. In addition to The Defeat of Rome he has published The Collapse of Rome: Marius, Sulla and the First Civil War and The Crisis of Rome: The Jugurthine and Northern Wars and the Rise of Marius. His forthcoming book is Roman Expansion Between the Punic Wars. He now lives in Plymouth.

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