The Roman general Marcus Licinius Crassus leads an invasion of Mesopotamia in 53 BCE with catastrophic results; he and his son Publius are killed at the Battle of Carrhae by the Parthians under General Surena; this is the worst Roman defeat since the Battle of Cannae.

His death leads to the end of the First Triumvirate and the resulting civil wars between Julius Caesar and Pompey.

The Parthians raid Syria the following year, and mount a major invasion in 51 BCE, but their army is caught in an ambush near Antigonea by the Romans, and they are driven back.