After Crassus died, the Parthians mutilated his corpse and poured molten gold down his throat as an insult. His head was later sent to the Parthian king Orodes II, who had it displayed publicly in Seleucia. Crassus' death marked the end of the Roman Republic's direct control over the Middle East, as the Parthians successfully repelled all subsequent Roman attempts to conquer their territory. Instead of trying to conquer the Parthian Empire, in the following years, the Romans established a client kingdom in Armenia and focused on securing their eastern border. Pompey the Great, who was then the most powerful Roman general, campaigned in the Caucasus and secured the Roman frontier with Parthia.