ROMANO-PARTHIAN MACHINATIONS FROM CARRHAE TO THE ASSASSINATION OF JULIUS CAESAR

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to reveal the scheming and plotting behind the veneer of the narrative of an earth-changing era in Roman history, in a new way, by demonstrating that Roman and Parthian worlds influenced, and impinged upon, each other in ways not always covered in extant modern literature.

Methodology: The methodology applied throughout this article is that of historical analysis, using ancient sources in light of modern scholarship. However, this is done in a unique, learned sense, in that it seeks to look at the period covered by this article in a more broad sense geographically than most treatments on the Late Republic do, but doing so still by focussing upon an aspect of history, namely the historical interchange between Rome and Parthia.

Findings: This article finds that Roman politics was not performed in a vacuum. Rather, it existed in a world where examples, and precedents, inspired a range of remonstrations, and official duties. Thus, it is shown that the worlds of Rome and Parthia were closer, politically, than is often recognised during the period covered by this article.