> To give you some idea of what our early historians were concerned
> with, and how reliable their sagas are, here is my faithful summary
> of a few episodes from Master Vincent's chronicle (1202).
>
>
> JULIUS CAESAR
>
> Years later, Julius Caesar planned to invade Poland, but was
> repelled in three battles by Lestek III, a mighty monarch whose
> power extended as far as the lands of the Greeks and the Parthians.
> It was he, by the way, who had defeated Crassus in Parthia. Like
> James Bond, Lestek had a penchant for witty remarks at dramatic
> moments: "Thirsty for gold? Here, drink some," he said, while
> pouring molten metal down Crassus' throat -- but I am digressing.
> Caesar was so captivated by Lestek's military genius and sense of
> humour that he gave his sister Julia to him in marriage to cement
> their frienship. He granted her Bavaria as dowry, and Lestek added
> Serbia as a wedding gift. Alas, the Roman Senate was vehemently
> hostile to the marriage, and the alliance was nipped in the bud:
> Caesar tried to withdraw from the contract and would have Bavaria
> back. Lestek, embittered by his brother-in-law's lack of loyalty,
> repudiated Julia and sent her back to Rome, but their little son
> Pompilius stayed with the father and later became Pompilius I of
> Poland.
Cassius Dio
Roman History
XL, 26 - 27
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/40*.html
'...
3 Now when he declared himself ready for the truce, Surenas refused to negotiate it through others, but in order to get him off with only a few followers and seize him, he said that he wished to hold a conference with the commander personally.
4 Thereupon they decided to meet each other in the space between the two armies with an equal number of men from each side. So Crassus descended to the level ground and Surenas sent him a present of a horse, to make sure of his coming to him more quietly;
27 and while Crassus even then delayed and considered what he should do, the barbarians took him forcibly and threw him on the horse. Meanwhile the Romans also laid hold of him, came to blows with the others, and for a time held their own; then aid came to the barbarians, and they prevailed;
2 for their forces, which were in the plain and had been made ready beforehand brought help to their men before the Romans on the high ground could to theirs. And not only the others fell, but Crassus also was slain, either by one of his own men to prevent his capture alive, or by the enemy because he was badly wounded. This was his end.
3 And the Parthians, as some say, poured molten gold into his mouth in mockery; for though a man of vast wealth, he had set so great store by money as to pity those who could not support an enrolled legion from their own means, regarding them as poor men.'
Live and learn. Kadlubek probably knew his classics.
ibd., 15
'Now about their race and their country and their peculiar customs many have written, and I have no intention of describing them. But I will describe their equipment of arms and their method of warfare; for the examination of these details properly concerns the present narrative, since it has come to a point where this knowledge is needed.
2 The Parthians make no use of a shield, but their forces consist of mounted archers and pikesmen, mostly in full armour. Their infantry is small, made up of the weaker men; but even these are all archers. They practise from boyhood, and the climate and the land combine to aid both horsemanship and archery.'
Torsten