Battles of the Roman-Persian Wars
Posted July 31st, 2012 at 01:35 PM by Salah
Though by not means a comprehensive list of every armed encounter between the armies of the Imperium Romanum and the domain of the King of Kings of Iran and Non-Iran, this thread will examine some of the primary battles between ancient Rome and Sassanid Persia, spanning the 3rd and 4th Centuries. I may write a second post concerning the 5th - 7th Century period, if any interest is shown.
Battle of Ctesiphon, 233 CE
Roman Commander: unknown
Persian Commander: unknown, possibly Shah Ardashir I
Result: Persian victory, destruction of a Roman army
In 231 the Roman Emperor Severus Alexander launched a three-pronged invasion of Sassanid Persia. Though it was greeted with initial success, particularly in Persian-occupied Armenia, this invasion had lost most of its momentum by 233. One of the three Roman columns attempted an advance on the Persian capital of Ctesiphon in this year, drawing up on an open plain where they were slaughtered in detail by Persian horse archers. This was supposedly one of the most terrible slaughters of Roman soldiery up to this point in history, but remains a tantalizingly poorly-known battle.
Battle of Rhesaina, 243 CE
Roman Commander: Gaius Furius Sabinus Timesitheus
Persian Commander: unknown
Result: Roman victory
The young Roman Emperor Gordian launched an invasion of Mesopotamia, which had been occupied by Persian forces under the new Emperor Shapur. His army was commanded by his Praetorian prefect and father in law, Furius Timesitheus, and it confronted a major Persian force at a village called Rhesaina (or Resaena) in 242 or 243. Little is known of this battle except that the Persian cavalry was negated by the use of caltrops hidden in the sand - these wounded their horses and enabled the Roman legionaries to easily contend with the dismounted Persians. The result was a Roman victory, and a further Roman advance into Persian territory.
Battle of Misiche, 244 CE
Roman Commander: allegedly Gordian III and/or Julius Philippus
Persian Commander: unknown, possibly Shapur I
Result: alleged Roman defeat
This cryptic battle is only mentioned on a Persian inscription at Naqsh-e Rustam, where the victories of Ardashir and Shapur were celebrated. Supposedly Shapur and Gordian's armies met at a town called Misiche (possibly near the modern Iraqi city of Fallujah), and Shapur triumphed, Gordian being killed during or after the battle; the Persians subsequently renamed the town "Peroz-Shapur" meaning "Victory of Shapur". The inscription also noted that the "Goth and German nations" fought alongside the Romans. Roman sources are silent on any battle during Gordian's reign after Rhesaina, but do tell us that the solidery were discontent with Gordian; this discontent resulted in his apparent murder by his Praetorian prefect Philip 'the Arab'. Whether this discontent arose from a defeat in battle can only be guessed.
Barbalissos, 253 CE
Roman Commander: unknown
Persian Commander: unknown
Result: crushing Persian victory
Shapur I initiated a new series of wars in 253 CE. He attacked a Roman army, supposedly of some 50,000 men, mustering at Barbalissos in northwestern Mesopotamia. Apparently the Romans were shot to pieces in detail in a manner similar to the defeat outside Ctesiphon twenty years before; the appalling loss of Roman life made Shapur's later victories easier.
Dura Europos, c. 256 CE
Roman Commander: unknown
Persian Commander: unknown
Result: Persian occupation of Dura Europos
Dura Europos was one of many cities captured from Rome by Shapur and his armies in the mid-late 250s. The efforts of archaeologists in the past century have made the Persian siege of this fortress-town better understood than most contemporary battles. The Persians initially tried digging mines underneath the Roman walls, and possibly made a successful attempt to gas a party of Roman counter-miners. The Roman defenses held, however, until the Persians jointly assaulted the walls via ramps and mines. Unable to contain both assaults simultaneously, the Romans were overwhelmed, the survivors being sold into Persian slavery.
Edessa, 260 CE
Roman Commander: Publius Licinius Valerianus
Persian Commander: Shah Shapur I
Result: Persian victory
The Emperor Valerian traveled to the East in person to face Shapur, retaking Antioch and mustering an army of 70,000. With this army he confronted Shapur at Edessa. The Roman army was suffering from plague and may have become mutinous, and Valerian may have met with Shapur in a parley. Events are not clear, but Shapur captured Valerian and his aides, and the Roman army surrendered to their enemies. Valerian and his soldiers were dispersed in capitivity in Persia, causing enormous damage to Roman manpower and dignity in the East. This battle represented the high water mark of Sassanid power, though it may have been won with little or no bloodshed.
Pompeiopolis, 260/261 CE
Roman Commander: possibly Balista and/or the Macriani
Persian Commander: unknown
Result: Persian withdrawal
The Persians had laid siege of Pompeiopolis, one of the major cities of Roman Paphlagonia. This siege was broken, possibly by the general and obscure general Balista, who forced the Persians to withdraw and managed to capture the harem of Shapur I as well as prisoners and booty that had been taken from the Romans at previous defeats. Though the level of damage this defeat caused to the Persians was probably minimum, it marked the end of the disgraces inflicted on Rome by Persia in the 3rd Century.
Carrhae, 296/297 CE
Roman Commander: Valerius Galerius
Persian Commander: unknown, possibly Shah Narseh
Result: Roman defeat
The Eastern Caesar Galerius was dispatched by Diocletian to face the Persians. Drawing his army up on a field near the site of Crassus' defeat at Carrhae, his army too was harassed and shot to pieces by the Persian cavalry. Galerius barely escaped by his life, and may have been publically humiliated for his rashness.
Satala, 297/298 CE
Roman Commander: Valerius Galerius
Persian Commander: unknown, possibly Shah Narseh
Result: Persian defeat
Little is known of this battle except that Galerius effectively revenged his defeat by Narseh a year before. Supposedly Galerius made heavy usage of Sarmatian heavy cavalry, who may have countered those of the Persians. This battle marked an effective end of of Roman-Persian warfare for half a century, and was widely celebrated by Roman propaganda in the East.
Amida, 359 CE
Roman Commander: unknown
Persian Commander: Shah Shapur II
Result: Persian occupation of Amida
Violence between Rome and Persia was renewed under Constantius II and reached a climax with a Persian offensive directed by Shapur II himself, starting in 359. After the bloodless capitulation of several Roman cities, Amida in Mesopotamia resisted fiercely. The resulting 73-day siege is recorded in detail by a historian who witnessed it while serving in the Roman army, Ammianus Marcellinus. The Persians made several assaults with siege towers, but these were negated by intense Roman counter attacks. The city was finally captured during a two-pronged assault like at Dura Europos, and also like at that siege most of the captives were sold into slavery.
Ctesiphon/Samarra, 363 CE
Roman Commander: Claudius Julianus 'Apostatus'
Persian Commander: unknown
Result: Roman victories but withdrawals from Persian territory
The Roman Emperor Julian led an offensive into Persian Mesopotamia, advancing on Ctesiphon and winning an impressive victory over a superior Persian force. Despite this tactical triumph, Julian decided to withdraw. Ten days into the march from Ctesiphon, at Samarra, the Roman army became bogged down in heavy skirmishing with Persian forces. Julian rashly charged into the fray without his armor, and was fatally pierced by a javelin (whose owner has variously been described as a Persian, a mutinous Roman, or an Arab auxiliary belonging to either army). Despite the demise of the Emperor, the Romans withdrew safely after a peace was negotiated by the new emperor Jovian.
Bagavan, 374 CE
Roman Commander: Traianus and likely others
Persian Commander: unknown
Result: Roman victory
Persian meddling in Armenia led the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens to dispatch a Roman army to place his man back on the client-kingdom's throne. This resulted in a Roman/Armenian victory over Persian forces at Bagavan. One of the Roman commanders at this battle, Trajan, would lose his life at Adrianople several years later.
Battle of Ctesiphon, 233 CE
Roman Commander: unknown
Persian Commander: unknown, possibly Shah Ardashir I
Result: Persian victory, destruction of a Roman army
In 231 the Roman Emperor Severus Alexander launched a three-pronged invasion of Sassanid Persia. Though it was greeted with initial success, particularly in Persian-occupied Armenia, this invasion had lost most of its momentum by 233. One of the three Roman columns attempted an advance on the Persian capital of Ctesiphon in this year, drawing up on an open plain where they were slaughtered in detail by Persian horse archers. This was supposedly one of the most terrible slaughters of Roman soldiery up to this point in history, but remains a tantalizingly poorly-known battle.
Battle of Rhesaina, 243 CE
Roman Commander: Gaius Furius Sabinus Timesitheus
Persian Commander: unknown
Result: Roman victory
The young Roman Emperor Gordian launched an invasion of Mesopotamia, which had been occupied by Persian forces under the new Emperor Shapur. His army was commanded by his Praetorian prefect and father in law, Furius Timesitheus, and it confronted a major Persian force at a village called Rhesaina (or Resaena) in 242 or 243. Little is known of this battle except that the Persian cavalry was negated by the use of caltrops hidden in the sand - these wounded their horses and enabled the Roman legionaries to easily contend with the dismounted Persians. The result was a Roman victory, and a further Roman advance into Persian territory.
Battle of Misiche, 244 CE
Roman Commander: allegedly Gordian III and/or Julius Philippus
Persian Commander: unknown, possibly Shapur I
Result: alleged Roman defeat
This cryptic battle is only mentioned on a Persian inscription at Naqsh-e Rustam, where the victories of Ardashir and Shapur were celebrated. Supposedly Shapur and Gordian's armies met at a town called Misiche (possibly near the modern Iraqi city of Fallujah), and Shapur triumphed, Gordian being killed during or after the battle; the Persians subsequently renamed the town "Peroz-Shapur" meaning "Victory of Shapur". The inscription also noted that the "Goth and German nations" fought alongside the Romans. Roman sources are silent on any battle during Gordian's reign after Rhesaina, but do tell us that the solidery were discontent with Gordian; this discontent resulted in his apparent murder by his Praetorian prefect Philip 'the Arab'. Whether this discontent arose from a defeat in battle can only be guessed.
Barbalissos, 253 CE
Roman Commander: unknown
Persian Commander: unknown
Result: crushing Persian victory
Shapur I initiated a new series of wars in 253 CE. He attacked a Roman army, supposedly of some 50,000 men, mustering at Barbalissos in northwestern Mesopotamia. Apparently the Romans were shot to pieces in detail in a manner similar to the defeat outside Ctesiphon twenty years before; the appalling loss of Roman life made Shapur's later victories easier.
Dura Europos, c. 256 CE
Roman Commander: unknown
Persian Commander: unknown
Result: Persian occupation of Dura Europos
Dura Europos was one of many cities captured from Rome by Shapur and his armies in the mid-late 250s. The efforts of archaeologists in the past century have made the Persian siege of this fortress-town better understood than most contemporary battles. The Persians initially tried digging mines underneath the Roman walls, and possibly made a successful attempt to gas a party of Roman counter-miners. The Roman defenses held, however, until the Persians jointly assaulted the walls via ramps and mines. Unable to contain both assaults simultaneously, the Romans were overwhelmed, the survivors being sold into Persian slavery.
Edessa, 260 CE
Roman Commander: Publius Licinius Valerianus
Persian Commander: Shah Shapur I
Result: Persian victory
The Emperor Valerian traveled to the East in person to face Shapur, retaking Antioch and mustering an army of 70,000. With this army he confronted Shapur at Edessa. The Roman army was suffering from plague and may have become mutinous, and Valerian may have met with Shapur in a parley. Events are not clear, but Shapur captured Valerian and his aides, and the Roman army surrendered to their enemies. Valerian and his soldiers were dispersed in capitivity in Persia, causing enormous damage to Roman manpower and dignity in the East. This battle represented the high water mark of Sassanid power, though it may have been won with little or no bloodshed.
Pompeiopolis, 260/261 CE
Roman Commander: possibly Balista and/or the Macriani
Persian Commander: unknown
Result: Persian withdrawal
The Persians had laid siege of Pompeiopolis, one of the major cities of Roman Paphlagonia. This siege was broken, possibly by the general and obscure general Balista, who forced the Persians to withdraw and managed to capture the harem of Shapur I as well as prisoners and booty that had been taken from the Romans at previous defeats. Though the level of damage this defeat caused to the Persians was probably minimum, it marked the end of the disgraces inflicted on Rome by Persia in the 3rd Century.
Carrhae, 296/297 CE
Roman Commander: Valerius Galerius
Persian Commander: unknown, possibly Shah Narseh
Result: Roman defeat
The Eastern Caesar Galerius was dispatched by Diocletian to face the Persians. Drawing his army up on a field near the site of Crassus' defeat at Carrhae, his army too was harassed and shot to pieces by the Persian cavalry. Galerius barely escaped by his life, and may have been publically humiliated for his rashness.
Satala, 297/298 CE
Roman Commander: Valerius Galerius
Persian Commander: unknown, possibly Shah Narseh
Result: Persian defeat
Little is known of this battle except that Galerius effectively revenged his defeat by Narseh a year before. Supposedly Galerius made heavy usage of Sarmatian heavy cavalry, who may have countered those of the Persians. This battle marked an effective end of of Roman-Persian warfare for half a century, and was widely celebrated by Roman propaganda in the East.
Amida, 359 CE
Roman Commander: unknown
Persian Commander: Shah Shapur II
Result: Persian occupation of Amida
Violence between Rome and Persia was renewed under Constantius II and reached a climax with a Persian offensive directed by Shapur II himself, starting in 359. After the bloodless capitulation of several Roman cities, Amida in Mesopotamia resisted fiercely. The resulting 73-day siege is recorded in detail by a historian who witnessed it while serving in the Roman army, Ammianus Marcellinus. The Persians made several assaults with siege towers, but these were negated by intense Roman counter attacks. The city was finally captured during a two-pronged assault like at Dura Europos, and also like at that siege most of the captives were sold into slavery.
Ctesiphon/Samarra, 363 CE
Roman Commander: Claudius Julianus 'Apostatus'
Persian Commander: unknown
Result: Roman victories but withdrawals from Persian territory
The Roman Emperor Julian led an offensive into Persian Mesopotamia, advancing on Ctesiphon and winning an impressive victory over a superior Persian force. Despite this tactical triumph, Julian decided to withdraw. Ten days into the march from Ctesiphon, at Samarra, the Roman army became bogged down in heavy skirmishing with Persian forces. Julian rashly charged into the fray without his armor, and was fatally pierced by a javelin (whose owner has variously been described as a Persian, a mutinous Roman, or an Arab auxiliary belonging to either army). Despite the demise of the Emperor, the Romans withdrew safely after a peace was negotiated by the new emperor Jovian.
Bagavan, 374 CE
Roman Commander: Traianus and likely others
Persian Commander: unknown
Result: Roman victory
Persian meddling in Armenia led the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens to dispatch a Roman army to place his man back on the client-kingdom's throne. This resulted in a Roman/Armenian victory over Persian forces at Bagavan. One of the Roman commanders at this battle, Trajan, would lose his life at Adrianople several years later.
Total Comments 1
Comments
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Very informative(as usual)
The Sassanid attack on the settlement of Dura Europos is very fascinating
Probably one of the earliest historical cases of "chemical warfare"(sulphur dioxide)
Dura Europos is also interesting for the graffiti written by the Roman inhabitants during the grim days of the Sassanid attack;in fact they are very dramatic, with phrases like "The Sassanids are upon us" or "We are about to be overwhelmed".
The sad thing about the settlement is that it was abandoned shortly after its reconquest...a lot of people died for nothing(although it may have helped its preservation)Posted August 3rd, 2012 at 02:27 PM by M.E.T.H.O.D.
