exposed parts by the shields of those who stood beside them, that they could no longer move.  They could not even get a sure footing by reason of the number of corpses, but kept falling over them.  The heat and thirst—­it was mid-summer and this action took place at noon—­and the dust of which all the barbarians raised as much as possible by riding around them, told fearfully upon the survivors, and many succumbed to these influences, even though unwounded. [-24-] And they would have perished utterly, but for the fact that some of the pikes of the barbarians were bent and others were broken, while the bowstrings snapped under the constant shooting, the missiles were all discharged, every sword blunted, and, chief of all, that the men themselves grew weary of the slaughter.  Under these conditions, then, when it grew night the assailants being obliged to ride off to a distance retired.  They never encamp near even the weakest bodies, because they use no intrenchments and if any one comes upon them in the darkness, they are unable to deploy their cavalry or their archery to advantage.  However, they captured no Roman alive at that time.  Seeing them standing upright in their armor and perceiving that no one threw away any part of it or fled, they deemed that they still had some strength, and feared to lay hold of them.

[-25-] So Crassus and the rest, as many as could, set out for Carrae, kept faithful to them by the Romans that had stayed behind within the walls.  Many of the wounded being unable to walk and lacking vehicles or even men to carry them (for the survivors were glad of the chance to drag their own persons away) remained on the spot.  Some of them died of their wounds or by making away with themselves, and others were captured the next day.  Of the captives many perished on the road, as their physical strength gave out, and many later because they were unable to obtain proper care immediately.  Crassus, in discouragement, believed he would be unable to hold out safely even in the city any longer, but planned flight at once.  Since it was impossible for him to go out by day without being detected, he undertook to escape by night, but failed to secure secrecy, being betrayed by the moon, which was at its full.  The Romans accordingly waited for moonless nights, and then starting out in darkness and a foreign land that was likewise hostile, they scattered in tremendous fear.  Some were caught when it became day and lost their lives:  others got safely away to Syria in the company of Cassius Longinus, the quaestor.  Others, with Crassus himself, sought the mountains and prepared to escape through them into Armenia. [-26-] Surena, learning this, was afraid that if they could reach any headquarters they might make war on him again, but still was unwilling to assail them on the higher ground, which was inaccessible to horses.  As they were heavy-armed men, fighting from higher ground, and in a kind of frenzy, through despair, contending with them was not easy.  So