sent to Syria.[1] Gold for payment of expenses was forwarded to Asia Minor,[2] and large quantities of arms were prepared and gathered at Demetrias in Thessaly.[3] The expedition was to proceed to Parthia by way of Lesser Armenia.[4] These extensive preparations reflect far better than mere words the respect in which the Parthians were held by the Romans.[5] The assassination of Caesar in March put an end to his plans and saved the Parthians from what would have been undoubtedly a very serious war with the Romans.
In the civil wars which followed, the Parthians played a small part. A certain number of mounted Parthian bowmen had come into the possession of Cassius after the defeat and surrender in 44 b.c. of Caecilius Bassus and his legions. When Cassius learned that Antony and Octavian were crossing the Adriatic, a move which forced him to abandon his plans for an Egyptian expedition, he sent back his Parthian troops with ambassadors who asked for a larger force of auxiliaries. Apparently these were supplied, and in 42 b.c. they fought a losing battle on
- ↑ Appian Bell. civ. iv. 58.
- ↑ Nic. Dam. De Caes. 18.
- ↑ Plut. Brutus 25.
- ↑ Suet. Julius 44; cf. Plut. Caesar 58.
- ↑ See Dio Cass. xliv. 15; Appian Bell. civ. ii. no; Plut. Caesar 60; Cicero De div. ii. 110; Suet. Julius 79. 3; all of whom cite the report that the Sibyl said the Parthians could be defeated only by a king. This was propaganda, of course, but it showed the Roman feeling toward the Parthians.
