Caracalla’s Parthian War

Caracalla moved east after campaigning in the Balkans and attempted to exploit divisions within the Arsacid monarchy. Roman forces crossed into Parthian territory in 216, while the emperor presented the expedition as a conquest worthy of Alexander the Great.

In April 217 Caracalla was murdered near Carrhae by a soldier connected to a conspiracy around the praetorian prefect Macrinus. The new emperor inherited the war and fought Artabanus IV before negotiating a costly peace.

Emperor’s Fate follows Silus during the eastern expedition and places the final choice of the imperial assassin against the documented conspiracy that ended Caracalla’s reign.