probably feared for his subordinate's safety, appeared on the scene,
and turned the scale in favor of the Romans. The detachment under
Pharnapates was overpowered, and Pharnapates himself was among the
slain. When news of this defeat reached Pacorus, he resolved to retreat,
and withdrew his troops across the Euphrates. This movement he appears
to have executed without being molested by Ventidius, who thus recovered
Syria to the Romans towards the close of B.C. 39, or early in B.C. 38.

But Pacorus was far from intending to relinquish the contest. He
had made himself popular among the Syrians by his mild and just
administration, and knew that they preferred his government to that of
the Romans. He had many allies among the petty princes and dynasts, who
occupied a semi-independent position on the borders of the Parthian and
Roman empires. Antigonus, whom he had established as king of the Jews,
still maintained himself in Judaea against the efforts of Herod, to whom
Augustus and Antony had assigned the throne. Pacorus therefore arranged
during the remainder of the winter for a fresh invasion of Syria in the
spring, and, taking the field earlier than his adversary expected, made
ready to recross the Euphrates. We are told that if he had crossed at
the usual point, he would have found the Romans unprepared, the legions
being still in their winter quarters, some north and some south of the
range of Taurus. Ventidius, however, contrived by a stratagem to induce
him to effect the passage at a different point, considerably lower
down the stream, and in this way to waste some valuable time, which
he himself employed in collecting his scattered forces. Thus, when the
Parthians appeared on the right bank of the Euphrates, the Roman general
was prepared to engage them, and was not even loath to decide the fate
of the war by a single battle. He had taken care to provide himself with
a strong force of slingers, and had entrenched himself in a position
on high ground at some distance from the river. The Parthians, finding
their passage of the Euphrates unopposed, and, when they fell in with
the enemy, seeing him entrenched, as though resolved to act only on the
defensive, became overbold; they thought the force opposed to them must
be weak or cowardly, and might yield its position without a blow, if
briskly attacked. Accordingly, as on a former occasion, they charged up
the hill on which the Roman camp was placed, hoping to take it by