General Surena of the Battle of Carrhae

[Argeus the Paladin]

Full name, according to this source, Eran Spahbodh Rustaham Suren-Pahlav, a celebrated high noble of the Parthian empire. The fact that he only managed to defeat arguably one of the worst generals in Roman history barring Gaius Tarentius Varro and Emperor Valens tended to do him little justice to historians.

The source above is Iranian, and for political reasons (They don't really like Europeans per se) might or might not be entirely accurate. So:

1) Anyone knows a better source for information on this man?
2) How appropriate would it be to include this man in a novel of mine, which, well... *glances at siggie*

[rez]

1. Never, EVER trust Iranchamber.

2. As usual with eastern men, very little (if all) is known of him outside of his interaction with Rome so hit the primary sources (The Shanameh does not count) . I should add that I'm no expert on Parthia so your best bet would be asking ThePersianCataphract if you can find him.

3. Can't say if his inclusion would be appropriate unless you describe the novel.

[Argeus the Paladin]

1. Never, EVER trust Iranchamber.

2. As usual with eastern men, very little (if all) is known of him outside of his interaction with Rome so hit the primary sources (The Shanameh does not count) . I should add that I'm no expert on Parthia so your best bet would be asking ThePersianCataphract if you can find him.

3. Can't say if his inclusion would be appropriate unless you describe the novel.

Is it because Iranchamber is sponsored by the Iranian government?

[Herakleios]

Plutarch in Life Of Crassus:

Nor was this Surena an ordinary person, but in wealth, family, and reputation, the second man in the kingdom, and in courage and prowess the first, and for bodily stature and beauty no man like him. Whenever he travelled privately, he had one thousand camels to carry his baggage, two hundred chariots for his concubines, one thousand completely armed men for life-guards, and a great many more light-armed; and he had at least ten thousand horsemen altogether, of his servants and retinue. The honour had long belonged to his family, that at the king's coronation he put the crown upon his head, and when this very king Hyrodes had been exiled, he brought him in; it was he, also, that took the great city of Seleucia, was the first man that scaled the walls, and with his own hand beat off the defenders. And though at this time he was not above thirty years old, he had a great name for wisdom and sagacity, and, indeed, by these qualities chiefly, he overthrew Crassus, who first through his overweening confidence, and afterwards because he was cowed by his calamities, fell a ready victim to his subtlety.

Most sources on him seem to agree that he was assassinated on the orders of king Orodes after the defeat of Crassus, probably due to jealousy. One historian argues that had Surena not been assassinated, but instead, immediately capitalized on his victory by invading Syria, the Parthians may have had a better chance against the Romans in the fight for the Fertile Crescent, since the Romans at this point were going through serious political disruptions and did not have enough troops in the area to repel such an invasion. But instead, it would be around three years before the Parthians had chance to deploy a new army, this time under the command of crown-prince Pacorus, along with the Optimate Quintus Labienus (son of the famous Titus), which though initially successful, was eventually thwarted by the superb Roman commander Ventidius, who faced similar problems with his superior, Mark Antony, as those faced by Surena.

Surena was part of the House of Suren, one of the most prestigious of the noble houses of Parthia. His performance at Carrhae showcases sound tactical skill and he knew how to exploit his strengths and the enemies' weaknesses. He could certainly pull a good ruse as well, for example, when he covered his knights with hides and jackets so that the Romans were completely surprised when the Parthians uncovered their suits of armour and charged into their lines. He also proved adept at organizing and logistics, for example when he used trains of camels to keep his horse-archers constantly supplied so as to keep the pressure upon the Romans indefinetely. It is typical of the Romans and their supporters to save face by scapegoating a general everytime there is a loss, there are some cases in which this is sustainable, such as in that of Varus or Varro, but Crassus was hardly incompetent, he handled the Spartacus campaign rather well, and it was him who stemmed the rebellion, not Pompey; he had also distinguished himself as a supporter of Sulla at the Battle of The Colline Gates and other campaigns. To be sure, he was certainly not awesome, it is true that another, better general may have handled the situation better and avoided to give battle on terrain so favorable to cavalry, but he was ultimately thwarted because his opponent was very skilled and because Parthian tactics and warfare were new to the Romans, not because he was incompetent, let alone a Varro!

It is lamentable that in the end we will never know just how much Surena would have been able to achieve had he lived, he showed plenty of promise, to be sure.

[rez]

Oh no not at all.

The Iranian goverment has no time for anything that is pre-Islamic. They consider everything that came before Islam to be barbaric and therefore not worth studying or praising. Unfortunately the Iranian reaction to this and a percieved western bias has led hundreds of Iranian "scholars" to portray pre-Islamic Iran as a glorious wonderworld that eclipsed everybody else with its amazing power and wisdom. Such is Iranchamber.

I can't quite condemn them as horrible people because in many ways this sort of ancient nationalism is an angry reaction to the current regime and all such oppositional thoughts should be encouraged. But either way its best not to trust a word of it.

[Mr. Crow]

i thougth Eran spahbobs were not suposed to figth battles, they were 4 in the hole kingdom, and each commanded a military district, meaning the administration of spahbobs (generals) and the resources alocated to each, The Eran-shpahbob is more of a military viceroy and a politician than a field general.