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Prior to Carrhae, Rome had expanded rapidly and almost at will. However, the defeat at Carrhae and ended this seemingly remorseless expansion in the Middle East. In the aftermath of the defeat, Rome withdrew some garrisons from the eastern side of the Euphrates River. However, the defeat was a national humiliation and especially the legionary eagles that were seized by the Parthians at Carrhae. Caesar swore revenge, and many believe that he was going to invade Parthia before his assassination. The defeat at Carrhae, was something that the Romans had to be avenged. During the civil wars the Parthians supported the enemies of Caesar. During the Roman civil wars in the 40s BCE the Parthians were able to occupy much of the Roman East<ref> Holland, Tom. Rubicon : the last years of the Roman Republic (London, Doubleday, 2005), p 45</ref>. The end of the second Roman Civil War allowed the Romans to retake their possessions. Mark Anthony later launched an invasion of Parthia to punish the victorsof Carrhae, but this too ended in a disaster. The lessons from the defeat were not learned. It was up to Augustus to develop a strategy that led to a period of peace. He was later able to negotiate to have the legionary standards that were captured at the defeat to be returned to Rome. However, the defeat continued to haunt Rome and many emperors dreamt of avenging that most calamitous defeat. There were persistent tensions between Rome and Parthia. The two countries were strategic rivals after the battle and each vied for influence in the strategically important kingdom of Armenia<ref>Holland, p. 203</ref>. The relative calm of the 1st century was ended by the invasion of Trajan of Parthia and the next few decades saw many wars between the two great powers in the Ancient Near. Carrhae was the beginning of some two centuries of mistrust and occasionally war between Rome and Parthia.