Cover photo: History by Polybius. Volume II. French edition translated from Greek by Dom Vincent Thuillier. Paris, chez Pierre Gandouin, Julien-Michel Gandouin, Pierre-Francois Giffart and Nicolas-Pierre Armand, 1727. Trajan’s Dacian Wars. 2nd century AD. Engraving depicting reliefs of the Arch of Septimius Severus. Invasion of Mesopotamia, 2nd century. Roman-Parthian Wars. Engraving.

A real “Desert Storm” was the colossal campaign of the young (30-year-old) co-emperor of Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, against the Parthians in 162-166 AD.

Text by Ilias Anagnostakis.

Arriving with 40,000 men in the East (three legions—V Macedonica from the Lower Danube, II Adjutrix from Pannonia, I Minervia from the Rhine, detachments (Vexillationes) of 1,000 men from four others, plus another 14 allied units (Auxilia), he found the Syrian legions (III Gallica in Raphanaea, III Scythica in Zeugma, XVI Flavia Firma in Samosata, VI Ferrata in Lajjun on the Lower Euphrates) in a deplorable state, while the X Fretensis in the now pacified Jerusalem (Aelia Capitolina since 136 AD) was somewhat better. The III Cyrenaica (Bostra-Petraea Arabia/Jordan) was “complete and battle-ready.” The approximately 20,000 Greco-Syrian legionaries of the Syrian legions were not at all battle-ready, having been inactive for 25 years (they had not fought as units since the Jewish uprising of 132-136 AD, the Bar Kokhba revolt), which had turned them into a rabble.

According to the testimony of Marcus Gladius Fronto, commander (Legatus Legionis) of I Minervia, who belonged to Verus’ staff, in letters to Rome, he reports: “These unnamed soldiers are unparalleled only in clapping for actors or spending endless hours in the refreshment stalls and taverns of Antioch. Their horses are as shaggy as sheep due to neglect, but they themselves haven’t neglected to leave not a single hair (!) on their bodies. It is very rare to see a legionary with hair on his arm or leg. They are almost permanently drunk even on guard duty, the saddles of their horses fly off with the wind, and they throw the pila (heavy javelins) worse than women. It is a disgrace.” ¹

Despite the sorry state of the Syrian legions, the young Verus managed to somewhat rally them, place Italian centurions in their ranks, bring the experienced X Fretensis from Jerusalem and the even better III Cyrenaica from Jordan, and the “terrible and faithful” XV Apollinaris from Satala in Cappadocia. With now 100,000 men, he attacked the Parthians en masse, inflicting 70,000 casualties and reaching Mesopotamia. ²

Three consecutive victories broke every Parthian defensive line, and on July 17, 165, the legions triumphantly entered Seleucia on the Tigris. Macedonian representatives (Peligones) of the powerful Greek community of the Parthian metropolis welcomed Lucius Verus at the city’s gates, with a warm plea not to cause destruction. However, despite his reassuring promises, it was rather impossible for the Roman leader to stop his enraged legionaries, who literally “swept everything away,” looting the city for two weeks (!), and this date should probably be considered the beginning of the end for the Greek presence in Iraq.

The same fate befell the Parthian royal capital, Ctesiphon, 5 km NE. Besides the incredible loot of gold, silver, and precious fabrics, the Romans took the colossal statue (18 meters high) of Comaean Apollo from his namesake temple. The statue was dismantled from its base and transported 1800 km to Antioch, where it was loaded onto a 2,000-ton barge to Italy, where it was placed in the temple of Capitoline Jupiter.

The entire campaign of 162-166 was a tremendous success, overshadowed by one event that was not immediately apparent. The legions, in addition to the immensely valuable spoils, brought with them to Europe the first wave of bubonic plague (which probably started in Vietnam and reached Mesopotamia via trade routes), which would kill 15,000,000 people within three years, including Verus himself, while countless Germanic tribes (Marcomanni, Quadi) broke through the Danube border, and the usually resilient Parthians would recover.

Sources:

Lucian, Historia Quomodo Conscribenda

Marcus Cornelius Fronto, Ad Verum Imp. Epistulae

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Meditations

C. Haines, “The correspondence of Marcus Cornelius Fronto with Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Lucius Verus, Antoninus Pius, and various friends”, publ. London Heinemann, 1919.

Millar, Fergus, “The Roman Near East: 31 BC – AD 337”, publ. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1993.

1. Fronto, Ad Verum Imp 2.1.19 ↩︎
2. The forces Lucius Verus involved were enormous; in 2007, near Dura-Europos on the Euphrates, three gigantic seasonal Roman camps of 117, 121, and 124 hectares respectively were found ↩︎