Rome, at the time of Carrhae, was ruled by the First Triumvirate: Pompey the Great-Gaius, Julius Caesar and Marcus Licinius Crassus. Pompey was known for his victories and conquests while Cesar was known for his speeches and martial talents. However, while Crassus was a successful politician and the wealthiest man in Rome, he was lacking in his military pursuits as compared to his rivals. As such, Crassus envied his rivals’ military prowess (World History Group, 2006). Thus, in 53 BCE, Crassus led seven Roman legions of 50,000 men into Carrhae, modern-day Turkey in an attempt to conquer the Parthian Empire, to win political prestige over his two rivals. 

Although the Roman military was superior in manpower, organisation and defensive combat, the Parthians had key advantages over the Roman military in terms of its flexibility and mobility (Overtoom, 2017). The strong defensive capabilities of the Roman infantry and their defensive square formation proved to be ineffective against the military strategies of the Parthian forces. Thus, the inexperienced Roman soldiers came to fear the Parthian mode of warfare. 

According to Overtoom (2017), Crassus was “an incompetent fool, whose greed and lack of preparation led to the disaster at Carrhae”. Many scholars also agreed that Crassus’ ambition was indisputable and he would have attacked Parthia on his own initiative, for the sake of personal prestige (Traina, 2010). Consequently, in his haste, Crassus failed to acquaint himself with the tactics of the Parthian army and underestimated their forces. 

Crassus’ son, Publius, attempted to break free and launch a counterattack with a sizable portion of the available Roman cavalry on his command but his force was wiped out soon after (Nardo, 2002). This decision divided the Roman army further and left the Roman infantry isolated. 

With the death of Publius and his men, Crassus’ force found itself isolated and immobile. The Parthians exploited the vulnerable Roman army as coordinated cataphract formations manipulated the Roman soldiers into dense formations that were ideal targets for the horse archers (Overtoom, 2017). As a result, thousands of Romans were killed in the battle of Carrhae. Plutarch’s account of Carrhae records over 30,000 men lost in battle. However, some legionnaires were said to have escaped by marching East, to elude the enemy (Squires, 2010). 

Although their whereabouts thereafter are unknown, Homer Dubs, a professor at Oxford theorized that these lost legionnaires made their way eastwards, and were captured by the Chinese before eventually settling in Northwestern China, establishing the village Liqian in 36 BCE, currently known as Zhelaizhai (Firth, 2010). The basis of the film, Dragon Blade, lies in the events that happened at Liqian (represented as “Regum” in the film), as confirmed by Jackie Chan. Archaeological evidence, however, does not support this theory. 

While the Battle of Carrhae was famous for Crassus’ defeat, there is a lack of a detailed account of the combat. As a result, much is left up to interpretation and this may be the reason for director Daniel Lee’s constructed narrative in Dragon Blade.