The War
With the aid of Mark Antony, Triumvir and lover of Egyptian Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII, the son-in-law of Hyrcanus, Herod, returned to Judea and recaptured Jerusalem in 37 BC. Antony then went on to attack the Parthian Empire itself, marching into Atropatene (present-day Iranian Azerbaijan) with some 100,000 legionaries, aided by the Roman client kings in Armenia, Galatia, Cappadocia and sovereign Pontus. The campaign proved a disaster however, after a Roman slipup at Phraaspa, capital of Atropatene, and thousands of Romans and auxiliaries died during the retreat due to the cold winter. Antony lost more than a quarter of its strength in the course of the campaign.
Again with Egyptian money, Antony invaded Armenia, this time successfully. In the return, a mock Roman Triumph was celebrated in the streets of Alexandria. The parade through the city was a pastiche of Rome's most important military celebration. For the finale, the whole city was summoned to hear a very important political statement. In 34 BC, surrounded by Cleopatra and her children, Antony ended his alliance with Octavian.
Read more about this topic: Antony's Parthian War
Famous quotes containing the word war:
“The remnant of Indians thereabout—all but exterminated in their recent and final war with regular white troops, a war waged by the Red Men for their native soil and natural rights—had been coerced into the occupancy of wilds not far beyond the Mississippi.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“You say it is the good cause that hallows even war? I say unto you: it is the good war that hallows any cause.”
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