Silaces
Silaces (also spelled Sillakes) was a Parthian commander who fought against the Roman general and triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus. Initially the satrap of Ichnae, a fortress in Mesopotamia, he was defeated and wounded by Crassus' forces, and fled to the Parthian court, where he informed king Orodes II () of the Roman invasion. Silaces later commanded the Parthian contingent alongside Surena at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, where Crassus was defeated and killed. Crassus' defeat at Carrhae was one of the worst military defeats of Roman history. Parthia's victory cemented its reputation as a formidable if not equal power with Rome. While Orodes and Artavasdes II of Armenia were observing a play of "The Bacchae" of Euripides (c. 480–406 BC) at the Armenian court in honor of the wedding of Orodes' son Pacorus I and Artavasdes' sister, Silaces announced the news of the victory at Carrhae, and put the head of Crassus at Orodes' feet. The head was given to the producer of the play, who decided to use Crassus' actual severed head in place of the stage-prop head of Pentheus.
Q1986139
Parthian
LOC
Q17167
Roman
LOC
Q715380
triumvir
ORG
Q175121
Marcus Licinius Crassus
PER
Q60790463
Ichnae
UNK
Q11767
Mesopotamia
LOC
Q313933
Orodes II
PER
Q205887
Battle of Carrhae
EVE
Q363394
Artavasdes II of Armenia
PER
Q934597
The Bacchae
MEDIA
Q48305
Euripides
PER
Q358097
Pacorus I
PER
Q942297
stage-prop
Concept
Q391091
Pentheus
MISC
Q86755352
Silaces
UNK
Q86755352
Silaces
UNK
Q86755352
Silaces
UNK
+53^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
53
NUMBER
+480^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
480
NUMBER
+406^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
406
NUMBER
author
notable work