Surena

Surena or Suren, also known as Rustaham Suren[1] (died 53 or 52 BC), was a Parthian spahbed ("general" or "commander") during the first century BC. He was the leader of the House of Suren and was best known for defeating the Romans in the Battle of Carrhae. Under his command, the Parthians decisively defeated a numerically superior Roman invasion force under the command of Marcus Licinius Crassus. It is commonly seen as one of the earliest and most important battles between the Roman and Parthian empires and one of the most crushing defeats in Roman history.

"Suren" remains popular as a name in Iran and it is sometimes pronounced as “Soren”. "Surena" is the Greek and Latin form of Sûrên[2] or Sūrēn.[3]"Suren" also remains as a common name in Armenia.[4] Suren means "the heroic one, Avestan sūra (strong, exalted)."[5][a]

  1. ^ Pourshariati 2008, p. 462.
  2. ^ Lendering 2006.
  3. ^ Herzfeld 1929, p. 44,70.
  4. ^ Lang 1983, p. 510.
  5. ^ Justi 1895, p. 317.


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