He and his mother were captured during the Social War, and both were marched as prisoners in Pompey Strabo's triumph through the streets of Rome.
After Antony had come to an agreement with Octavian off of Cape Misenum (probably in August 39[2]), he sent Ventidius with several legions in response to a Parthian invasion launched in 40 BC.
[5] Ventidius' first major success came when he defeated Quintus Labienus and Phranipates (the best of King Orodes' military commanders) at the Battle of the Cilician Gates and the Amanus Pass.
After hearing of the battles while in Athens, Antony put on a public feast in the town, then proceeded to the Levant to join him.
This victory was the culmination of Ventidius' campaigns, which confined the Parthians within Media (Medes) and Mesopotamia, and psychologically avenged the losses of Crassus, particularly at Carrhae.
[7] Ventidius appears briefly in Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra, where he is shown leading the Roman forces against Parthia.