Roman–Persian Wars
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{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict=Roman–Persian Wars
|partof=
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|date=92 BC – 627 AD
|place=[[Mesopotamia]], [[Transcaucasus]], [[Atropatene]], [[Asia Minor]], [[Syria (Roman province)|Syria]], [[History of Palestine#Roman Period 63 BCE–330 CE|Palestine]], [[Roman Egypt|Egypt]]
|result=[[Status quo ante bellum]]
|territory=Roman acquisition of upper Mesopatamia; partition of the Transcaucasus
|combatant1=[[Roman Republic]], succeeded by [[Roman Empire]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]] later, plus allies¹
|combatant2=[[Parthia]]n and [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanid Persian]] empires and allies²
|commander1=[[Lucullus]],<br/>[[Pompey]],<br/>[[Crassus]]{{KIA}},<br/>[[Mark Antony]],<br/>[[Publius Ventidius Bassus|Ventidius]],<br/>[[Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo|Corbulo]],<br/>[[Trajan]],<br/>[[Avidius Cassius]],<br/>[[Statius Priscus]],<br/>[[Septimius Severus]],<br/>[[Caracalla]],<br/>[[Macrinus]],<br/>[[Alexander Severus]],<br/>[[Gaius Furius Sabinius Aquila Timesitheus|Timesitheus]],<br/>[[Gordian III]],<br/>[[Valerian I|Valerian]]{{POW}},<br/>[[Ballista (general)|Ballista]],<br/>[[Odaenathus]],<br/>[[Carus]],<br/>[[Galerius]],<br/>[[Constantius II]],<br/>[[Julian the Apostate|Julian]]{{KIA}},<br/>[[Jovian]],<br/>[[Ardaburius]],<br/>[[Hypatius]],<br/>[[Patricius (general under Anastasius I)|Patricius]],<br/>[[Areobindus]],<br/>[[Celer(general under Anastasius I)|Celer]],<br/>[[Belisarius]],<br/>[[Sittas]],<br/>[[Al-Harith ibn Jabalah]],<br/>[[Dagistheus]],<br/>[[Bessas (general under Justinian I)|Bessas]],<br/>[[Marcian (general under Justin II)|Marcian]],<br/>[[Justinian (general under Tiberius II)|Justinian]],<br/>[[Al-Mundhir ibn al-Harith]],<br/>[[Maurice (emperor)|Maurice]],<br/>[[John Mystacon]],<br/>[[Philippicus (general under Maurice)|Philippicus]],<br/>[[Comentiolus]],<br/>[[Narses (general under Maurice)|Narses]]
|commander2=[[Germanus (general under Phocas)|Germanus]]{{KIA}},<br/>[[Leontius (general under Phocas)|Leontius]],<br/>[[Domentziolus]],<br/>[[Priscus (general under Heraclius)|Priscus]],<br/>[[Heraclius]],<br>[[Theodore (brother of Heraclius)|Theodore]]<br/>[[Phraates III of Parthia|Phraates III]],<br/>[[Surena]],<br/>[[Pacorus I of Parthia|Pacorus I]]{{KIA}},<br/>[[Quintus Labienus]]{{KIA}},<br/>[[Artabanus II of Parthia|Artabanus II]],<br/>[[Vologases I of Parthia|Vologases I]],<br/>[[Vologases IV of Parthia|Vologases IV]],<br/>[[Ardashir I]],<br/>[[Shapur I]],<br/>[[Narseh]],<br/>[[Shapur II]],<br/>[[Narseh (relative of Shapur II)|Narseh]]{{KIA}},<br/>[[Narseh (general under Bahram V)|Narseh]],<br/>[[Bahram V]],<br/>[[Yazdegerd II]],<br/>[[Kavadh I]],<br/>[[Mihran]],<br/>[[Mihr-Mihroe]]{{POW}},<br/>[[Azarethes]],<br/>[[Khosrau I]],<br/>[[Al-Mundhir IV ibn al-Mundhir]]{{KIA}},<br/>[[Khorianes]]{{KIA}},<br/>[[Adarmahan]],<br/>[[Tamkhusro]]{{KIA}},<br/>[[Varaz Vzur]],<br/>[[Mahbodh]],<br/>[[Kardarigan]],<br/>[[Bahram Chobin]],<br/>[[Zatsparham]]{{KIA}},<br/>[[Khosrau II]],<br>[[Shahrbaraz]],</br>[[Shahin]],<br/>[[Shahraplakan]]{{KIA}},<br/>[[Rhahzadh]]{{KIA}}
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|notes= ¹ Allies of the Romans: [[Kingdom of Armenia|Armenia]], [[Caucasian Iberia|Iberia]], [[Caucasian Albania|Albania]], [[Commagene]], [[Nabataeans]], [[Osroene]], [[Palmyrene Empire|Palmyra]], [[Ghassanids]], [[Lazica]], [[Aksumite Empire]], [[Khazars]]<br/>² Allies of the Parthians/Sassanids: [[Osroene]], [[Kingdom of Armenia|Armenia]], [[Caucasian Iberia|Iberia]], [[Caucasian Albania|Albania]], [[Lakhmids]], [[Lazica]], [[Eurasian Avars|Avars]]
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{{Campaignbox Roman-Persian Wars}}
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The '''Roman–Persian Wars''' were a series of conflicts between the [[Greco-Roman]] world and two successive [[List of Iranic states and empires|Iranian empires]]. War broke out between the late [[Roman Republic]] and [[Parthia]] in 92 BC and carried over to the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] and the [[Sassanid Empire]]s. These bitter and lengthy conflicts concluded during a struggle between the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman (Byzantine)]] and the Sassanid empires in 627 AD, followed from 632 AD by [[Muslim conquests|Arab invasions]] into Roman and Persian territories.
Although warfare between the Romans and the [[Iranian peoples|Iranians]] lasted for seven centuries, the frontier remained largely stable. The increasingly intense fortification of the [[Mesopotamia]]n frontier zone at the center, the barrier of the [[Syria (Roman province)|Syrian]] [[Syrian desert|desert]] in the south, and the mountainous terrain of the [[Transcaucasus]] in the north made it increasingly difficult for either side to make territorial gains unless they effectively incapacitated their opponent's armies. The robust organization of both empires in addition to their well-matched military capabilities lead to a stalemate in which either side was only rarely able to do so. Occupation of enemy territory was usually highly localized or extremely brief and almost invariably reversed when peace was concluded, if not before. Durable cessions of lands in the border zone were made in Mesopotamia in 299 and 363 AD and in the Transcaucasus in 591 AD, but these were limited in extent and were the result not of seizure by force but of negotiations in which a ruler had been personally placed in a difficult position which induced him to make concessions. The only occasion on which either side was able to accomplish a lasting forcible conquest was during [[Septimius Severus]]' annexation of northern Mesopotamia in 195–198 AD.
The last of these wars seemed to have shattered this pattern of territorial inertia, with [[Khosrau II]]'s Sassanid forces occupying huge swathes of Roman territory for many years, bringing the Roman Empire to the brink of destruction. However, a counter-offensive led by [[Heraclius]] resulted in the Romans regaining all their losses in a final peace settlement. The resources expended during the Roman–Persian Wars ultimately proved catastrophic for both empires. The prolonged and escalating warfare of the sixth and seventh centuries left both empires exhausted and vulnerable in the face of the sudden emergence of the [[Rashidun Empire|Caliphate]] in [[Arabia]]. The advancing Muslim armies [[Muslim conquests|conquered]] the entire Sassanid Empire and deprived the Eastern Roman Empire of its [[Near East]]ern and [[North Africa]]n territories soon after the end of the last Roman–Persian war.
==Historical background==
According to [[James Howard-Johnston]], "from the third century BC to the early seventh century AD, the rival players [in the East] were grand polities with imperial pretensions, which had been able to establish and secure stable territories transcending regional divides."<ref>Howard-Johnston (2006), 1</ref> The Romans and Parthians came into contact through their respective conquests of parts of the [[Seleucid Empire]]. During the third century BC, the Parthians migrated from the [[Central Asia]]n steppe into northern [[Iran]]. Although subdued for a time by the Seleucids, in the second century they broke away and established an independent state which steadily expanded at the expense of their former rulers, conquering [[Persia]] and [[Mesopotamia]].
Ruled by the [[Parthia|Arsacid dynasty]], the Parthians re-established a large part of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] (the old [[Persian Empire]]), fended off several Seleucid attempts to regain their lost territories, and extended their rule deep into [[India]].<ref name="BEn">Ball (2000), 12-13; Dignas-Winter (2007), [http://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/49258/excerpt/9780521849258_excerpt.pdf 9]</ref> Meanwhile the Romans expelled the Seleucids from their territories in [[Anatolia]] in the early second century BC, after defeating [[Antiochus III the Great]] at [[Battle of Thermopylae (191 BC)|Thermopylae]] and [[Battle of Magnesia|Magnesia]]. Finally, in 64 BC [[Pompey]] conquered the remaining Seleucid territories in Syria, extinguishing their state and advancing the Roman eastern frontier to the [[Euphrates]], where it met the territory of the Parthians.<ref name="BEn" />
==Roman–Parthian Wars==
{{details|Roman–Parthian Wars}}
{{Seealso|Parthia#Conflicts with Rome}}
===Roman Republic vs Parthia===
[[Image:Rome-Seleucia-Parthia 200bc.jpg|250px|thumb|Rome, Parthia and Seleucid Empire in 200 BC. Soon both the Romans and the Parthians would invade the Seleucid-held territories, and become the strongest states of their time.]]
Parthian enterprise in the [[Western world|West]] began in the time of [[Mithridates I of Parthia|Mithridates I]], and was revived by [[Mithridates II of Parthia|Mithridates II]], who negotiated unsuccessfully with [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]] for a Roman–Parthian alliance (c. 105 BC).<ref>Plutarch, ''Sulla'', 5. [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Sulla*.html 3-6]<br/>* Mackay (2004), 149; Sherwin-White (1994), 262</ref> When [[Lucullus]] invaded [[Roman Armenia|Southern Armenia]], and led an attack against [[Tigranes the Great|Tigranes]] in 69 BC, he entered into correspondence with [[Phraates III of Parthia|Phraates III]] to dissuade him from intervening. Although the Parthians did remain neutral, Lucullus thought about launching an expedition against them, but he finally decided no to implement his plan.<ref>Bivar (1993), 46<br/>* Sherwin-White (1994), 262-263</ref> In 66–65 BC, Pompey came to an agreement with Phraates, and Roman–Parthian troops invaded [[Kingdom of Armenia|Armenia]], but soon a dispute arose over Euphrates boundary. Finally, Phraates asserted his control over Mesopotamia, except for the western district of [[Osroene]], which became a Roman dependency.<ref>Sherwin-White (1994), 264</ref>
The Roman general [[Marcus Licinius Crassus]] led an invasion of Mesopotamia in 53 BC with catastrophic results; he and his son [[Publius Licinius Crassus|Publius]] were killed at the [[Battle of Carrhae]] by the Parthians under [[Surena#General Surena|General Surena]]; this was the worst Roman defeat since the [[Battle of Cannae]].<ref>Plutarch, ''Crassus'', [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html 23-32]<br/>* Mackay (2004), 150</ref> The Parthians raided Syria the following year, and mounted a major invasion in 51 BC, but their army was caught in an ambush near [[Antigonia (Syria)|Antigonea]] by the Romans, and they were driven back.<ref>Bivar (1993), 56</ref>
[[Image:20tigranes95-66.gif|thumb|left|Armenia under Tigranes]]
The Parthians were neutral during [[Caesar's civil war]], but did maintain relations with Pompey. After his defeat and death, a force under [[Pacorus I of Parthia|Pacorus I]] came to the aid of the Pompeian general [[Caecilius Bassus]], who was besieged at [[Apamea (Syria)|Apamea]] Valley by the Caesarian forces. With the civil war over, [[Julius Caesar]] prepared a campaign against Parthia, but his assassination averted the war. The Parthians actively supported [[Marcus Junius Brutus|Brutus]] and [[Gaius Cassius Longinus|Cassius]] during the ensuing [[Liberators' civil war]], and sent a contingent to fight with them at the [[Battle of Philippi]] in 42 BC.<ref>Justin, ''Historiarum Philippicarum'', XLII.[http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Parthian.html 4]<br/>* Bivar (1993), 56-57</ref> After that defeat, the Parthians invaded Roman territory in 40 BC in conjunction with [[Quintus Labienus]], a Roman and former supporter of Brutus and Cassius; they swiftly overran the Roman province of Syria, and advanced into [[Iudaea Province|Judaea]], overthrowing the Roman client [[Hyrcanus II]] and installing his nephew [[Antigonus the Hasmonean|Antigonus]] in his place. For a moment, the whole of the Roman East seemed to be either in or about to fall into Parthian hands. However, the conclusion of the second [[Roman civil wars|Roman civil war]] soon revived Roman strength in [[Asia]].<ref>Bivar (1993), 57</ref> [[Mark Antony]] had already sent [[Publius Ventidius Bassus|Ventidius]] to oppose Labienus who had invaded Anatolia. Soon Labienius was driven back to Syria by Roman forces, and, although his Parthian allies came to his support, he was defeated, taken prisoner and put to death. After suffering a further defeat near the [[Syrian Gates]], the Parthians withdrew from Syria. They returned in 38 BC, but were decisively defeated by Ventidius, and Pacorus was killed. In Judaea, Antigonus was ousted with Roman help by [[Herod the Great|Herod]] in 37 BC.<ref>Justin, ''Historiarum Philippicarum'', XLII.[http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Parthian.html 4]; Plutarch, ''Antony'', [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Antony*.html 33-34]<br/>* Bivar (1993), 57-58</ref> With Roman control of Syria and Judaea restored, Mark Antony led a huge army into [[Atropatene]] (present-day [[Azerbaijan]]), but his siege train and its escort were isolated and wiped out, while his [[Armenians|Armenian allies]] deserted. Failing to make progress against Parthian positions, the Romans withdrew with heavy casualties. Antony was again in Armenia in 33 BC, contracting an alliance with the [[Medes|Median]] king against both [[Augustus|Octavian]] and the Parthians, but other preoccupations obliged him to withdraw, and the whole region passed under Parthian control.<ref>Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'', XLIX, [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/49*.html 27-33]<br/>* Bivar (1993), 58-65</ref>
===Roman Empire vs Parthia===
[[Image:Parthia 001ad.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Parthia, its subkingdoms, and neighbors in 1 AD]]
As war between the two powers threatened, [[Gaius Caesar]] and [[Phraates V of Parthia|Phraataces]] worked out a compromise in 1 AD. According to the agreement, Parthia undertook to withdraw its forces from Armenia and to recognize a ''[[de facto]]'' Roman protectorate there. Nonetheless, Roman–Persian rivalry over control and influence in Armenia continued unabated for the next several decades.<ref>Sicker (2000), 162</ref> The decision of the Parthian King [[Artabanus II of Parthia|Artabanus II]] to place his son on the vacant Armenian throne triggered a war with Rome in 36 AD, which ended with Artabanus renunciating claims to a Parthian sphere of influence in Armenia.<ref>Sicker (2000), 162-163</ref> The Romans triggered a further crisis in 58 AD by [[Roman-Parthian War of 58–63|invading Armenia]] after the Parthian King [[Vologases I]] forcibly installed his brother [[Tiridates I of Armenia|Tiridates]] on the throne.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annals'', XII.[[wikisource:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 12#50|50-51]]<br/>* Sicker (2000), 163</ref> Roman forces overthrew Tiridates and replaced him with a [[Cappadocian]] prince. The war came to an end in 63 AD, after the Romans agreed to allow Tiridates and his descendants to rule Armenia on condition that they received the kingship from the Roman emperor.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annals'', XV.[[wikisource:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#27|27-29]]<br/>* Rawlinson (2007), 286-287</ref>
A later series of conflicts began in the second century AD, at a time when the Romans held advantage over Parthia. The Emperor [[Trajan]] invaded Armenia and Mesopotamia during 114 and 115, and annexed them as Roman provinces. He captured the Parthian capital, [[Ctesiphon]], before sailing downriver to the [[Persian Gulf]].<ref name="S167">Sicker (2000), 167</ref> However, uprisings erupted in 115 in the occupied Parthian territories, while a major [[Kitos War|Jewish revolt]] broke out in Roman territory, severely stretching Roman military resources. Parthian forces began attacking key Roman positions, and the Roman garrisons at [[Seleucia]], [[Nisibis]] and [[Edessa, Mesopotamia|Edessa]] were expelled by the local inhabitants. Trajan subdued the rebels in Mesopotamia, but having installed the Parthian prince [[Parthamaspates of Parthia|Parthamaspates]] on the throne as a client ruler, he withdrew his armies and proceeded to Syria, where he set up his headquarters at [[Antioch]]. Trajan died in 117, before he was able to reorganize the effort to consolidate Roman control over the Parthian provinces.<ref name="S168">Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'', LXVIII, [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/68*.html 33]<br/>* Sicker (2000), 167-168</ref>
Trajan's Parthian War initiated a "shift of emphasis in the 'grand strategy of the Roman empire' ", but his successor, [[Hadrian]], decided that it was in Rome's interest to re-establish the Euphrates as the limit of its direct control. Hadrian willingly returned to the ''[[Status quo ante bellum|status quo ante]]'', and surrendered the territories of Armenia, Mesopotamia, and [[Adiabene]] to their previous rulers and client-kings.<ref>Lightfoot (1990), 115: "Trajan succeeded in acquiring territory in these lands with a view to annexation, something which had not seriously been attempted before [...] Although Hadrian abandoned all of Trajan's conquests [...] the trend was not to be reversed. Further wars of annexation followed under Lucius Verus and Septimius Severus."; Sicker (2000), 167-168</ref> Once again, at least for another half century, Rome was to avoid active intervention east of the Euphrates.<ref name="S168" />
[[Image:Ctesiphon, Iraq (2117465493).jpg|thumb|right|The ruins of Ctesiphon, the Parthian and Sassanid capital.]]
War over Armenia broke out again in 161, when [[Vologases IV of Parthia|Vologases IV]] defeated the Romans there, captured Edessa and ravaged Syria. In 163 a Roman counter-attack under [[Statius Priscus]] defeated the Parthians in Armenia and installed a favored candidate on the Armenian throne. The following year [[Avidius Cassius]] invaded Mesopotamia, winning battles at [[Dura-Europos]] and Seleucia and sacking Ctesiphon in 165. An epidemic, possibly of [[smallpox]], which was sweeping Parthia at the time now spread to the Roman army, leading to their withdrawal.<ref>Sicker (2000), 169</ref> In 195–197, another Roman offensive under the Emperor [[Septimius Severus]] led to the Roman acquisition of northern Mesopotamia, as far as the areas around [[Nisibis]] and [[Singara]].<ref>Herodian, Roman History, III, [http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodian/hre309.html 9.1-12]<br/>Campbell (2005), 6-7; Rawlinson (2007), 337-338</ref> A final war against the Parthians was launched by the Emperor [[Caracalla]], who sacked [[Arbil|Arbela]] in 216, but after his assassination his successor [[Macrinus]] was defeated by the Parthians near [[Battle of Nisibis (217)|Nisibis]] and was obliged to make a payment of reparations for the damage done by Caracalla in exchange for peace.<ref>Herodian, Roman History, IV, [http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodian/hre410.html 10.1-15.9]<br/>Campbell (2005), 20</ref>
==Roman–Sassanid Wars==
{{details|Byzantine–Sassanid Wars}}
===Early Roman–Sassanid conflicts===
[[Image:HumiliationValerianusHolbein.jpg|thumb|The Humiliation of Valerian by Shapur ([[Hans Holbein the Younger]], 1521, pen and black ink on a chalk sketch, [[Kunstmuseum Basel]])]]
Conflict resumed shortly after the overthrow of Parthian rule and [[Ardashir I]]'s foundation of the Sassanid empire. Ardashir raided Mesopotamia and Syria in 230 AD, and demanded the cession of all the former territories of the [[Achaemenid Empire]].<ref>Herodian, ''Roman History'', VI, [http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodian/hre602.html 2.1-6]; Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'', LXXX, [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/80*.html 4.1-2]<br/>* Dodgeon-Greatrex-Lieu (2002), I, 16</ref> After fruitless negotiations, [[Alexander Severus]] set out against Ardashir in 232, and finally repulsed him.<ref>Herodian, ''Roman History'', VI, [http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodian/hre605.html 5.1-6]<br/>* Dodgeon-Greatrex-Lieu (2002), I, 24-28; Frye (1993), 124</ref> In 238–240, towards the end of his reign, Ardashir attacked again, taking several cities in Syria and Mesopotamia, including [[Carrhae]] and Nisibis.<ref>Frye (1993), 124-125; Southern (2001), 234-235</ref> The struggle resumed and intensified under Ardashir's successor [[Shapur I]], who invaded Mesopotamia, but his forces were defeated at a [[Battle of Resaena|battle]] near [[Resaena]] in 243, and then lost both Carrhae and Nisibis.<ref>Frye (1993), 125</ref> Encouraged by this success, the Emperor [[Gordian III]] advanced down the Euphrates but was repelled near [[Ctesiphon]] at the [[Battle of Misiche]] in 244.<ref>Aurelius Victor, ''Liber de Caesaribus'', 27.[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/victor.caes.html#27 7-8]; Sibylline Oracles, XIII, [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/sib/sib13.htm 13-20]<br/>* Frye (1993), 125; Southern (2001), 235</ref>
In the early 250s, the emperor [[Philip the Arab|Philip]] was involved in a struggle over the control of Armenia. Shapur had the Armenian king murdered, and re-opened hostilities against Rome, defeating the garrison troops at the [[Battle of Barbalissos]], and then probably taking and plundering [[Antioch]].<ref>Frye (1993), 125; Southern (2001), 235-236</ref> Some time between 258 and 260, Shapur captured the Emperor [[Valerian I]] after defeating his army at the [[Battle of Edessa]], but his subsequent advance into Anatolia was stopped when the army of [[Palmyrene Empire|Palmyra]] defeated the Persians, causing them to retreat to their homeland.<ref>Lactantius, ''De Mortibus Persecutorum'', [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/lactantius/demort.shtml 5]; Sibylline Oracles, XIII, [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/sib/sib13.htm 155-171]<br/>* Frye (1993), 126; Southern (2001), 238</ref>
[[Image:Julian Campaign 363.png|250px|thumb|left|Julian's unsuccessful campaign in 363 resulted in the loss of most of the Roman territorial gains under the peace treaty of 299.]]
The Emperor [[Carus]] launched a successful invasion of Persia in 283, when his army sacked its capital, Ctesiphon. The Romans would probably have extended their conquests if Carus had not died in December of that year.<ref>Aurelius Victor, ''Liber de Caesaribus'', 38.[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/victor.caes.html#38 2-4]; Eutropius, ''Abridgment of Roman History'', IX, [http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/eutropius/trans9.html#18 18.1]<br/>* Frye (1993), 128; Southern (2001), 241</ref>
After a brief period of peace early in [[Diocletian]]'s reign, the Persians renewed hostilities when they invaded Armenia and defeated the Romans outside Carrhae in either 296 or 297.<ref>Frye (1993), 130; Southern (2001), 242</ref> However, [[Galerius]] crushed the Persians in battle in 298, capturing the treasury and the royal [[harem]], an utter disgrace for the Persian monarch. The resulting peace settlement saw the Romans gain the area between the [[Tigris]] and the [[Zab River|Greater Zab]]. The Roman victory was the most decisive one for many decades: all the territories that had been lost, all the debatable lands, and control of Armenia were now in Roman hands.<ref>Aurelius Victor, ''Liber de Caesaribus'', 39.[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/victor.caes.html#39 33-36]; Eutropius, ''Abridgment of Roman History'', IX, [http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/eutropius/trans9.html#18 24-25.1]<br/>* Frye (1993), 130-131; Southern (2001), 243</ref>
The arrangements of 299 proved long-lasting. It was [[Shapur II]] who broke the long peace between the two empires in the mid-330s, and mounted a series of offensives against the Romans with little lasting effect.<ref>Frye (1993), 130; Southern (2001), 242</ref> Shapur launched a new campaign in 359, and provoked a major offensive in 363 by the Roman Emperor [[Julian the Apostate|Julian]].<ref>Frye (1993), 137</ref> Julian won the [[Battle of Ctesiphon (363)|Battle of Ctesiphon]] but was unable to take the Persian capital, and was killed the same year at the [[Battle of Samarra]]. The Romans were subsequently forced to hand over their former possessions east of the Tigris, as well as Nisibis and Singara; Armenia was also soon conquered by Shapur.<ref>Frye (1993), 138</ref> In 384, a definitive peace treaty was signed by [[Shapur III]] and [[Theodosius I]], which divided Armenia between the two states. With both empires preoccupied by other threats (northern territories of Roman empire were [[Migration Period|invaded]] by [[Eurasian nomads]] while Persian eastern borders were threatened by [[Hephthalites]]), a largely peaceful period followed, interrupted only by two brief wars, the first in 421–422, and the second in 440.<ref>Bury (1923), [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/14*.html XIV.1]; Frye (1993), 145; Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 37-51</ref>
===Anastasian War===
[[Image:Roman-Persian Frontier, 5th century.png|thumb|Map of the Roman-Persian frontier after the division of Armenia in 384. The frontier remained stable throughout the 5th century.]]
{{main|Anastasian War}}
War broke out when the Persian King [[Kavadh I]] attempted to gain financial support by force from the Roman Emperor [[Anastasius I (emperor)|Anastasius I]].<ref>Procopius, ''Wars'', I.7.1-2<br>* Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 62</ref> In 502 AD, he quickly captured the unprepared city of [[Theodosiopolis]]<ref>Joshua the Stylite, ''Chronicle'', [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/joshua_the_stylite_02_trans.htm XLIII]<br>* Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 62</ref> and besieged [[Diyarbakır|Amida]]. The siege of the fortress-city proved to be a far more difficult enterprise than Kavadh expected; the defenders repelled the Persian assaults for three months before they were finally beaten.<ref>Zacharias Rhetor, ''Historia Ecclesiastica'', VII, 3-4<br/>* Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 63</ref> In 503, the Romans attempted an ultimately unsuccessful siege of the Persian-held Amida while Kavadh invaded Osroene, and laid siege to Edessa with the same results.<ref>Greatrex-Lieu (2002),I I, 69-71</ref> Finally in 504, the Romans gained the upper hand with the renewed [[investment (military)|investment]] of Amida leading to the hand-over of the city. That year an armistice was agreed as a result of an invasion of Armenia by the [[Huns|Hun]]s from the [[Caucasus]]. Although there were negotiations between the two powers, it was not until November 506 that a treaty was finally agreed.<ref>Procopius, ''Wars'', I.9.24<br>* Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 77</ref> In 505, Anastasius ordered the building of a great fortified city at [[Dara (Mesopotamia)|Dara]]. At the same time, the dilapidated fortifications were also upgraded at Edessa, [[Batnac]] and Amida.<ref>Joshua the Stylite, ''Chronicle'', [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/joshua_the_stylite_02_trans.htm XC]<br>* Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 74</ref> Although no further large-scale conflict took place during Anastasius' reign, tensions continued, especially while work continued at Dara; Anastasius pursued the project despite the Persian reactions, and the walls were completed by 507-508.<ref>Joshua the Stylite, ''Chronicle'', [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/joshua_the_stylite_02_trans.htm XCIII-XCIV]<br>* Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 77</ref>
===Iberian War===
{{main|Iberian War}}
[[Image:Roman-Empire 477ad.jpg|250 px|thumb|left|Roman and Persian Empires in 477, also showing their neighbors, many of whom were dragged into wars between the great powers.]]
In 524–525 AD, Kavadh proposed that [[Justin I]] adopt his son, [[Khosrau I|Khosrau]], but the negotiations soon broke down. However, it was not until 530 that full-scale warfare on the main eastern frontier erupted.<ref name="Gl81-82">Procopius, ''Wars'', I.11.23-30<br/>* Greatreex (2005), 487; Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 81-82</ref> Tensions between the two powers were further heightened by the defection of the [[Caucasian Iberia|Iberian]] King Gourgen to the Romans in 524–525.<ref name="Gl82">Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 82</ref> Overt Roman–Persian fighting had broken out in the [[Transcaucasus]] region and upper Mesopotamia by 526–527.<ref name="Gl84">Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 84</ref> The early years of war favored the Persians: by 527, the Iberian revolt had been crushed, a Roman offensive against Nisibis and [[Thebetha]] in that year was unsuccessful, and forces trying to fortify [[Thannuris]] and [[Melabasa]] were prevented from doing so by Persian attacks.<ref name="Gl83">Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 83</ref> Attempting to remedy the deficiencies revealed by these Persian successes, the new Roman emperor, [[Justinian I]], reorganized the [[Byzantine army|eastern armies]].<ref>Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 85</ref> In 528, [[Belisarius]] tried unsuccessfully to protect Roman workers in Thannuris, undertaking the construction of a fort right on the frontier.<ref>Zacharias Rhetor, ''Historia Ecclesiastica'', IX, 2<br/>* Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 86</ref>
[[Image:Battle of Dara-battleplan.png|thumb|Plan of the Battle of Dara]]
The Romans defeated the Persians at [[Battle of Dara|Dara]] and [[Satala]] in 530. Belisarius was defeated by Persian and [[Lakhmid]] forces at the [[Battle of Callinicum]] in 531, although the Romans captured cities in Armenia during the summer of the same year, effectively repulsing Persian offensives.<ref name="GL92-96">Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 92-96</ref> Immediately after the failure at [[Callinicum]], which resulted in the dismissal of Belisarius, unsuccessful negotiations between the Persians and the Romans took place.<ref name="GL93">Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 93</ref> The two sides re-opened talks in spring 532, and finally signed the Eternal Peace in September 532, which lasted less than eight years. Both powers agreed to return all occupied territories, and the Romans agreed to make a one-time payment of 110 ''centenaria'' (11,000 lbs of gold). Although the Romans recovered the [[Lazic]] forts, Iberia remained in Persian hands, and the Iberians who had left their country were given the choice of remaining in Roman territory or returning to their native land.<ref>Evans (2000), 118; Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 96-97</ref>
===Justinian vs Khosrau I===
{{seealso|Lazic War}}
[[Image:Justinian Byzanz.png|250px|thumb|left|Roman and Sassanid Empires during Justinian's reign
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The Persians broke the "Treaty of Eternal Peace" in 540 AD; Khosrau I invaded Syria, extorted large sums of money from the cities of Syria and Mesopotamia, and systematically looted the key cities.<ref name="BrJustFPW">Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 102; "[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/308858/Justinian-I Justinian I - Foreign Policies and Wars]" Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.</ref> Belisarius was quickly recalled by Justinian to the East to deal with the Persian threat; the Roman general took the field and waged an inconclusive campaign against Nisibis in 541. Khosrau launched another offensive in Mesopotamia in 542 when he unsuccessfully attempted to capture [[Resafa|Sergiopolis]].<ref>Procopius, ''Wars'', II.20.17-19<br>* Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 109-110</ref> He soon withdrew in the face of an army under Belisarius, sacking the city of Callinicum en route.<ref>Procopius, ''Wars'', II.21.30-32<br>* Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 110</ref> Attacks on a number of Roman cities were repulsed and Persian forces were defeated and captured at Dara.<ref>Corripus, ''Johannidos'', I.68-98<br>* Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 111</ref> In 543, the Romans launched an offensive against [[Dvin]], but were defeated by a small Persian force at [[Anglon]]. Khosrau besieged Edessa in 544, but without success and was eventually bought off by the defenders.<ref name="GL113">Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 113</ref> In the wake of the Persian retreat, Roman envoys proceeded to Ctesiphon for negotiations.<ref name="GL113Pr">Procopius, ''Wars'', 28.7-11<br>* Greatreex (2005), 489; Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 113</ref> A five-year truce was agreed in 545, secured by Roman payments to the Persians.<ref name="EvJuPrGr">Procopius, ''Wars'', 28.7-11<br>* Evans, [http://www.roman-emperors.org/justinia.htm Justinian (527–565 AD)]; Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 113</ref>
[[Image:Roman-Persian Frontier, 565 AD.png|thumb|The Eastern Roman-Persian border at the time of Justinian's death in 565, with Lazica in Eastern Roman (Byzantine) hands.]]
Early in 548, King [[Gubazes]] of [[Lazica]], having found Persian protection oppressive, asked Justinian to restore the Roman protectorate. The emperor seized the chance, and in 548–549, combined Roman and Lazic forces won a series of victories against Persian armies, but failed in repeated attempts to take the fort of [[Petra]]. The city was finally subjugated in 551,<ref>Treadgold (1997), 204-207</ref> and the truce which had been established in 545 was renewed outside Lazica for a further five years, with the Romans paying 2,000 lbs of gold each year.<ref>Treadgold (1997), 209</ref> The Romans failed to completely expel the Sassanids from Lazica, and in 554 Mihr-Mihroe launched a new attack, and captured the fortress of [[Telephis]], which was commanded by general Martin.<ref name="F236">Farrokh (2007), 236</ref> Khosrau, who now had to deal with the [[Huna (people)|White Huns]], renewed the truce in 557, this time without excluding Lazica; negotiations continued for a definite peace treaty.<ref>Greatrex (2005), 489; Treadgold (1997), 211</ref> Finally, in 561, the envoys of Justinian and Khosrau put together a 50-year peace. The Persians agreed to evacuate Lazica, and received an annual subsidy of 30,000 ''nomismata'' annually.<ref>Menander Protector, ''History'', frag. 6.1. According to Greatreex (2005), 489, to many Romans this arrangement "appeared dangerous and indicative of weakness."</ref> Both sides agreed not to build new fortifications near the frontier and to ease restrictions on diplomacy and trade between the two empires.<ref name="EvJu">Evans, [http://www.roman-emperors.org/justinia.htm Justinian (527–565 AD)]</ref>
===War for the Caucasus===
{{details|Roman-Persian War of 572–591}}
War erupted when Armenia revolted against Sassanid rule early in 572 AD.<ref>John of Epiphania, ''History'', [http://www.ancientsites.com/aw/Post/1048936 2], gives an additional for the outbreak of the war: "[The Medians'] contentiousness increased even further [...] when Justin did not deem to pay the Medians the five hundred pounds of gold each year previously agreed to under the peace treaties and let the Roman State remain forever a tributary of the Persians." See also, Greatrex (2005), 503-504</ref> [[Justin II]] brought Armenia under his protection, while Roman troops under Justin's nephew Marcian raided [[Arzanene]] and invaded Persian Mesopotamia, where they defeated local forces.<ref>Treadgold (1997), 222</ref> Marcian's sudden dismissal and the arrival of troops under Khosrau resulted in a ravaging of Syria, the failure of the Roman siege of Nisibis and the fall of Dara.<ref>The great bastion of the Roman frontier was in Persian hands for the first time (Whitby [2000], 92-94).</ref> At a cost of 45,000 ''[[Solidus (coin)|solidi]]'', a one-year truce (eventually extended to five years)<ref>Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 152; Louth (2005), 113</ref> was arranged, though the Persians still sought to restore control in Armenia.<ref>Theophanes, ''Chronicle'', 246.11-27<br/>* Whitby (2000), 92-94</ref> In 576, Khosrau I attempted to combine aggression in Armenia with discussion of a permanent peace. In the event he failed to take Theodosiopolis, and after a confrontation near [[Malatya|Melitene]] the Persian army suffered heavy losses and were forced to withdraw.<ref name="TW95">Theophylact, ''History'', I, [http://www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika/pdf/Theophylact.pdf 9.4]<br/> Treadgold (1997), 224; Whitby (2000), 95</ref>
[[Image:Persia 600ad.jpg|250px|thumb|left|The Sassanid empire and its neighbors (including the Eastern Roman Empire) in 600 AD]]
The Romans exploited Persian disarray by invading deep into Persian territory, and raiding [[Atropatene]].<ref name="TW95" /> Sassanid confidence revived when Tamkhusro defeated the Romans in [[Armenians in the Persian Empire#Armenians and the Sassanid Empire|Persian Armenia]], where their actions had alienated local inhabitants.<ref name="TW96">Treadgold (1997), 224; Whitby (2000), 95-96</ref> In the spring of 578 the Persians raided Roman Mesopotamia, but the Roman general [[Maurice (emperor)|Maurice]] retaliated by invading Arzanene; he also took and garrisoned the stronghold of [[Aphumon]], and sacked Singara in Persian Mesopotamia. Khosrau I was defeated by death early the next year, after a long string of victories on the field.<ref>Soward, [http://www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika/pdf/Theophylact.pdf Theophylact Simocatta and the Persians]; Treadgold (1997), 225; Whitby (2000),96</ref>
[[Image:Persianermani.gif|250px|thumb|Persian Armenia (387–591)]]
During the 580s, the war continued with victories on both sides. In 582, Maurice defeated Tamkhusro, who was killed, but the Roman general did not follow up his victory; he had to hurry to [[Constantinople]] to pursue his imperial ambitions.<ref>Soward, [http://www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika/pdf/Theophylact.pdf Theophylact Simocatta and the Persians]; Treadgold (1997), 226; Whitby (2000),96</ref>
The Persians captured [[Silvan, Turkey|Martyropolis]] through treachery in 589, but that year the stalemate was shattered when the Persian general [[Bahram Chobin]], having been dismissed and humiliated by [[Hormizd IV]], raised a rebellion. Hormizd was overthrown in a palace coup in 590 and replaced by his son [[Khosrau II]], but Bahram pressed on with his revolt regardless and the defeated Khosrau was soon forced to flee for safety to Roman territory, while Bahram took the throne as Bahram VI. With support from Maurice, Khosrau raised a rebellion against Bahram, and in 591 the combined forces of his supporters and the Romans restored Khosrau II to power. In exchange for their help, Khosrau not only returned Dara and Martyropolis but also agreed to cede the western half of Iberia and more than half of Persian Armenia to the Romans.<ref>Theophylact, V, ''History'', I, [http://www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika/pdf/Theophylact.pdf 3.11] and [http://www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika/pdf/Theophylact.pdf 15.1]<br>* Louth (2005), 115; Treadgold (1997), 231-232</ref>
===Climax===
{{Seealso|Siege of Constantinople (626)}}
[[Image:Sassanid-empire-610CE.png|thumb|left|The Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent c. 610. The shaded area ([[Phrygia]]/[[Lydia]]) indicates vassal kingdoms under Sassanid military control.]]
During [[Maurice’s Balkan campaigns]], he and his family were murdered by [[Phocas]] in November 602 AD. Khosrau II used the pretext to attack the Eastern Roman Empire and reconquer the province of Mesopotamia.<ref>Foss (1975), 722</ref> The war initially went the Persians' way, partly because of Phocas' repression and the succession crisis that ensued. Phocas was eventually deposed in 610 by [[Heraclius]], who sailed to Constantinople from [[Carthage]].<ref>Haldon (1997), 41; Speck (1984), 178.</ref> By this time the Persians had conquered Mesopotamia and the Caucasus, and in 611 they overran Syria and entered Anatolia. A major counter-attack led by Heraclius in 613 was decisively defeated outside Antioch, and the Roman position collapsed; the Persians devastated parts of Asia Minor, and captured [[Chalcedon]] on the [[Bosporus]].<ref>Chronicon Paschale, 706-709<br/>* Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 194-195</ref> Over the following decade the Persians were able to conquer [[Palestine]] and [[Egypt]]—by mid-621 the whole province was in their hands<ref>Greatrex-Lieu(2002), II, 196</ref>—and to devastate Anatolia,<ref>The mint of [[Nicomedia]] ceased operating in 613, and [[Rhodes]] fell to the invaders in 622-623 (Greatrex-Lieu(2002), II, 197).</ref> while the [[Eurasian Avars|Avars]] and [[Slavic peoples|Slavs]] took advantage of the situation to overrun the [[Balkans]], bringing the Roman Empire to the brink of destruction.<ref>Howard-Johnston (2006), 85</ref>
[[Image:Cherub plaque Louvre MRR245.jpg|thumb|[[Cherub]] and Heraclius receiving the submission of Khosrau II; plaque from a cross ([[Champlevé]] [[Vitreous enamel|enamel]] over gilt copper, 1160–1170, [[Paris]], [[Louvre]]).]]
During these years, Heraclius strove to rebuild his army, slashing non-military expenditures, devaluing the currency and melting down Church plate, with the backing of [[Sergius I of Constantinople|Patriarch Sergius]], to raise the necessary funds to continue the war.<ref>Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 198</ref> On [[April 5]], [[622]], Heraclius left Constantinople, entrusting the city to Sergius and general Bonus as regents of his son. He assembled his forces in Asia Minor, probably in [[Bithynia]], and, after he revived their broken morale, he launched a new counter-offensive, which took on the character of a holy war.<ref>Theophanes, ''Chronicle'', 303.12-304.13<br/>* Cameron (1979), 23; Grabar (1984), 37; Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 198</ref> The Roman army proceeded to Armenia, inflicted a defeat on an army led by a Persian-allied Arab chief, and then won a victory over the Persians.<ref>Theophanes, ''Chronicle'', 304.25-306.7<br/>* Greatrex-Lieu(2002), II, 199</ref> On [[March 25]], [[624]] Heraclius again left Constantinople, and after he celebrated [[Easter]] with his family in Nicomedia on [[April 15]], he campaigned in the Caucasus, winning a series of victories in Atropatene and Armenia against Khosrau and his generals.<ref>Theophanes, ''Chronicle'', 307.19-308.25<br/>* Greatrex-Lieu(2002), II, 202-205</ref> Supported by a Persian army commanded by [[Shahrbaraz]], the Avars and Slavs unsuccessfully besieged Constantinople in 626,<ref>Cameron (1979), 5-6, 20-22</ref> while a second Persian army under [[Shahin]] suffered another crushing defeat at the hands of Heraclius' brother Theodore.<ref>Farrokh-McBride (2005), 56</ref>
[[Image:The assassination of Chosroës Parvez.jpg|thumb|left|The assassination of Khosrau II, in a [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] manuscript of c. 1535. [[Persian literature|Persian]] poems are from [[Ferdowsi]]'s [[Shahnameh]].]]
Late in 627, Heraclius launched a winter offensive into Mesopotamia, where, despite the desertion of the [[Turkic peoples|Turkish]] contingent which had accompanied him, he defeated the Persians at the [[Battle of Nineveh (627)|Battle of Nineveh]]. Continuing south along the Tigris he sacked Khosrau's great palace at Dastagird and was only prevented from attacking Ctesiphon by the destruction of the bridges on the Nahrawan Canal. Discredited by this series of disasters, Khosrau was overthrown and killed in a coup led by his son [[Kavadh II]], who at once sued for peace, agreeing to withdraw from all occupied territories. Heraclius restored the [[True Cross]] to [[Jerusalem]] with a majestic ceremony in 629.<ref>Haldon (1997), 46; Baynes (1912), ''passim''; Speck (1984), 178</ref>
==Aftermath==
{{seealso|Muslim conquests|Islamic conquest of Persia|Byzantine–Arab Wars}}
The devastating impact of this last war, added to the cumulative effects of a century of almost continuous conflict, left both empires crippled. When Kavadh II died only months after coming to the throne, Persia was plunged into several years of dynastic turmoil and civil war. The Sassanids were further weakened by economic decline, heavy taxation from Khosrau II's campaigns, religious unrest, and the increasing power of the [[Shah|provincial landholders]].<ref>Howard-Johnston (2006), 9: "[Heraclius'] victories in the field over the following years and its political repercussions [...] saved the main bastion of Christianity in the Near East and gravely weakened its old Zoroastrian rival."</ref> The Roman Empire was also severely affected, with its financial reserves exhausted by the war, and the Balkans now largely in the hands of the Slavs.<ref>Haldon (1997), 43-45, 66, 71, 114-15</ref> Additionally, Anatolia was devastated by repeated Persian invasions; the empire's hold on its recently regained territories in the Caucasus, Syria, Mesopotamia, Palestine and Egypt was loosened by many years of Persian occupation.<ref>Ambivalence toward Byzantine rule on the part of [[monophysitism|monophysites]] may have lessened local resistance to the Arab expansion (Haldon [1997], 49-50).</ref>
{{double image|right|626Byzantium.JPG|200|Byzantiumby650AD.JPG|200|Left: Byzantine Empire by 626 under Heraclius; stripped areas are lands still threatened by the Sassanids.<br/>Right:Byzantine Empire by 650: By this point the Sassanid Empire had fallen as well as Byzantine Syria, Palestine, and Egypt to the Arab Caliphate.}}
Neither empire was given any chance to recover, as within a few years they were struck by the onslaught of the [[Arabs]] (newly united by [[Islam]]), which, according to Howard-Johnston, "can only be likened to a human tsunami".<ref>Foss (1975), 746-47; Howard-Johnston (2006), xv</ref> According to George Liska, the "unnecessarily prolonged Byzantine–Persian conflict opened the way for Islam".<ref>Liska (1998), 170</ref> The Sassanid Empire rapidly succumbed to these attacks and was [[Islamic conquest of Persia|completely destroyed]]. During the Byzantine–Arab Wars, the exhausted Roman Empire's recently regained southern provinces of [[Muslim conquest of Syria|Syria]], [[Muslim conquest of Egypt|Egypt]] and [[Umayyad conquest of North Africa|North Africa]] were also lost, reducing the empire to a territorial rump consisting of Anatolia and a scatter of islands and footholds in the Balkans and Italy.<ref>Haldon (1997), 49-50</ref> These remaining lands were thoroughly impoverished by frequent attacks, marking the transition from classical urban civilization to a more rural, medieval form of society. However, unlike Persia, the Roman Empire (in the form of the Byzantine Empire) ultimately survived the Arab assault, holding onto its residual territories and decisively repulsing two Arab sieges of its capital in [[Siege of Constantinople (674)|674–678]] and [[Siege of Constantinople (718)|717–718]].<ref>Haldon (1997), 61-62; Howard-Johnston (2006), 9</ref>
==Strategies and military tactics==
{{Roman-Persian Wars timeline infobox}}
When the Roman and Parthian Empires first collided, it appeared that Parthia had the potential to push its frontier to the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] and the Mediterranean. However, under Pacorus and Labienus, the Romans repulsed the great invasion of Syria and were gradually able to take advantage of the weaknesses of the Parthian military system, which, according to [[George Rawlinson]], was adapted for national defense but ill-suited for conquest. The Romans, on the other hand, were continually modifying and evolving their "grand strategy" from Trajan's time onwards, and were by the time of Pacorus able to take the offensive against the Parthians.<ref>Rawlinson (2007), 199: "The Parthian military system had not the elasticity of the Romans [...] However loose and seemingly flexible, it was rigid in its uniformity; it never altered; it remained under the thirtieth Arsaces such as it had been under the first, improved in details perhaps, but essentially the same system." According to Michael Whitby (2000), 310, "the eastern armies preserved the Roman military reputation through to the end of the sixth century by capitalizing on available resources and showing a capacity to adapt to a variety of challenges."</ref> Like the Sassanids in the late third and fourth centuries, the Parthians generally avoided any sustained defense of Mesopotamia against the Romans. However, the [[Iranian plateau]] never fell, as the Roman expeditions had always exhausted their offensive impetus by the time they reached lower Mesopotamia, and their extended line of communications through territory not sufficiently pacified exposed them to revolts and counterattacks.<ref>Wheeler (2007), 259</ref>
[[Image:ParthianCataphract.JPG|thumb|left|Parthian cataphract fighting a lion ([[British Museum]], [[London]])]]
From the fourth century AD onwards, the Persian Sassanids grew in strength and adopted the role of aggressor. They considered much of the land added to the Roman empire in Parthian and early Sassanid times to rightfully belong to the Iranian sphere.<ref name="Fr473">Frye (2005), 473</ref> Everett Wheeler argues that "the Sassanids, administratively more centralized than the Parthians, formally organized defense of their territory, although they lacked a standing army until Khosrau I."<ref>Wheeler (2007), 259</ref> In general the Romans regarded the Sassanids as a more serious threat than the Parthians, while the Sassanids regarded the Roman Empire as the enemy ''par excellence.''<ref>Greatrex (2005), 478; Frye (2005), 472</ref>
Militarily, the Sassanids continued the Parthians' heavy dependence on the combination of light-horse archers and [[cataphract]]s, the [[heavy cavalry|heavy armored cavalry]] provided by the aristocracy. They added a contingent of [[war elephant]]s obtained from [[India]], but their [[infantry]] quality was inferior to that of the average [[Roman legion]].<ref>Cornuelle, [http://www.derafsh-kaviyani.com/english/sassanian.html An Overview of the Sassanian Persian Military]; Sidnell (2006), 273</ref> The Persian heavy cavalry inflicted several defeats on the Roman foot-soldiers, including those led by Crassus in 53 BC,<ref>According to Reno E. Gabba, the Roman army was reorganized over time after the impact of the Battle of Carrhae (Gabba [1966], 51-73).</ref> Mark Antony in 36 BC, and Valerian in 260 AD. The need to counter this threat led to the introduction of ''cataphractarii'' into the Roman army;<ref>Vegetius, III, ''Epitoma Rei Militaris'', [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/vegetius3.html 26]<br/>* Verbruggen-Willard-Southern (1997), 4-5</ref> as a result, heavily armed cavalry grew in importance in both the Roman and Persian armies after the third century AD, and until the end of the wars.<ref name="Fr473" /> The Romans had achieved and maintained a high degree of sophistication in siege warfare, and had developed a range of [[siege machine]]s. On the other hand, the Parthians were inept at besieging; their cavalry armies were more suited to the [[hit-and-run tactics]] that destroyed Antony's siege train in 36 BC. The situation changed with the rise of the Sassanids, when Rome encountered an enemy equally skilled in siegecraft, who made use of [[artillery]], machines captured from the Romans, embankments, and [[siege tower]]s.<ref>Campbell-Hook (2005), 57-59; Gabba (1966), 51-73</ref>
Towards the end of the first century AD, Rome organized the protection of its eastern frontiers through a line of fortifications, the ''[[limes]]'' system, which lasted till the Muslim conquests of the seventh century after improvements by Diocletian.<ref>Shahîd (1984), 24-25; Wagstaff (1985), 123-125</ref> Like the Romans, the Sassanids constructed defensive walls opposite the territory of their opponents. According to R.N. Frye, it was under Shapur II that the Persian system was extended, probably in imitation of Diocletian's construction of the ''limes'' of the Syrian and Mesopotamian frontiers of the Roman empire. The Roman border units were known as ''[[limitanei]]'', and they faced the [[Lakhmids]] in [[Iraq]], who frequently aided the Persians in their contests with the Romans. Shapur intended a permanent defense force against other Arabs of the desert, especially those allied with Rome. Shapur also built a line of fortifications in the west on the model of the Roman system of ''limes'', which impressed the Sassanids.<ref>Frye (1993), 139; Levi (1994), 192</ref>
By the beginning of Sassanid rule, a number of buffer states existed between the empires. These were absorbed by the central state over time, and by the seventh century the last buffer state, the Arab Lakhmids of [[Al-Hirah]], was annexed to the Sassanid Empire. Frye notes that in the third century AD such client states played an important role in Roman–Sassanid relations, but both empires gradually replaced them by an organized defense system run by the central government, and based on the ''limes'' and the fortified frontier cities, such as Dara.<ref name="Fr 139">Frye (1993), 139</ref> Recent studies and assessments have reaffirmed the superior siegecraft and [[Military engineer|military engineering]] and organization of the Sassanids over the Parthians.<ref>[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080218155534.htm Excavations In Iran Unravel Mystery Of "Red Snake"], Science Daily; Levi (1994), 192</ref> According to the conclusions of a recent researcher:<ref>Rekavandi-Sauer-Wilkinson-Nokandeh, [http://www.archaeology.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1555&Itemid=27 The Enigma of the Red Snake]</ref>
{{quote|At the time when the Western Roman Empire is collapsing and even the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire under great external pressure, the Sasanian Persian Empire musters the manpower to build and garrison a monument of greater scale (the [[Great Wall of Gorgan]]) than anything comparable in the west. The Persians seem to match, or more than match, their Late Roman rivals in army strength, organisational skills, engineering and water management. Archaeology is beginning to paint a clearer picture of an ancient super power at its apogee.}}
==Assessments==
The Roman–Persian Wars have been characterized as "futile" and both too "depressing and tedious to contemplate with."<ref>Brazier (2001), 42</ref> Prophetically, [[Cassius Dio]] noted their "never-ending cycle of armed confrontations" and observed that "it is shown by the facts themselves that [Severus'] conquest has been a source of constant wars and great expense to us. For it yields very little and uses up vast sums; and now that we have reached out to peoples who are neighbor of the Medes and the Parthians rather than of ourselves, we are always, one might say, fighting the battles of those peoples."<ref>Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'', LXXV, 3.[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/75*.html 2-3]<br/>* Garnsey-Saller (1987), 8</ref> In the long series of wars between the two powers, the frontier in upper Mesopotamia remained more or less constant. Historians point out that the stability of the frontier over the centuries is remarkable, although Nisibis, Singara, Dara and other cities of upper Mesopotamia changed hands from time to time, and the possession of these frontier cities gave one empire a trade advantage over the other. As Frye states:<ref name="Fr 139" />
{{quote|One has the impression that the blood spilled in the warfare between the two states brought as little real gain to one side or the other as the few meters of land gained at terrible cost in the trench warfare of the [[World War I|First World War]].}}
{| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; width:30em; max-width: 27%;" cellspacing="5"
| style="text-align: left;" | "How could it be a good thing to hand over one's dearest possessions to a stranger, a barbarian, the ruler of one's bitterest enemy, one whose good faith and sense of justice were untried, and, what is more, one who belonged to an alien and heathen faith?"
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| style="text-align: left;" | '''[[Agathias]]''' (''Histories'', 4.26.6, translated by Averil Cameron) about the Persians, a judgment typical of the Roman view.<ref>Greatrex (2005), 477-478</ref>
|}
Both sides attempted to justify their respective military goals in both active and reactive ways. The Roman quest for world domination was accompanied by a sense of mission and pride in [[Western culture|Western civilization]], and by ambitions to become a guarantor of peace and order. Roman sources reveal a long-standing prejudices with regard to the Eastern powers' customs, religious structures, languages and forms of government. John F. Haldon underscores that "although the conflicts between Persia and East Rome revolved around issues of strategic control around the eastern frontier, yet there was always a religious-ideological element present." From the time of Constantine on, Roman emperors appointed themselves as the protectors of Christians of Persia.<ref>Barnes (1985), 126</ref> This attitude created intense suspicions of the loyalties of Christians living in Sassanid Iran, and often led to Roman–Persian tensions or even military confrontations.<ref>Sozomen, ''Ecclesiastical History'', II, [http://www.freewebs.com/vitaphone1/history/sozomen.html#P3230_1341005 15]<br/>* McDonough (2006), 73</ref> A characteristic of the final phase of the conflict, when what had began in 611–612 as a war of raid was soon to be transformed into a war of conquest, was the pre-eminence of the Cross as a symbol of imperial victory, and of the strongly religious element in the Eastern Roman imperial propaganda; Heraclius himself cast Khosrau as the enemy of God, and authors of the sixth and seventh centuries were fiercely hostile to Persia.<ref>Haldon (1999), 20; Isaak (1998), 441</ref> This tradition of a "pro-Roman"
historical scholarship prevailed for centuries, and it was not until recently that scholars adopted a broader approach, and attempted to illuminate the lesser-known Persian position.<ref>Dignas-Winter (2007), [http://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/49258/excerpt/9780521849258_excerpt.pdf 1-3]</ref>
==Historiography==
[[Image:Relief of Shapur I capturing Valerian.jpg|thumb|Rock-face relief at [[Naqsh-e Rustam]] of Shapur (on horseback) with Philip the Arab and (perhaps) Valerian]]
The sources for the history of Parthia and the wars with Rome are scant and scattered. The Parthians followed the Achaemenid tradition and favored oral [[historiography]] which assured the corruption of their history once they had been vanquished. The main sources of this period are thus [[Roman historiography|Roman]] ([[Tacitus]], [[Marius Maximus]], and [[Justin (historian)|Justin]]) and [[Greek historiography|Greek historians]] ([[Herodian]], [[Cassius Dio]] and [[Plutarch]]). The thirteenth book of the [[Sibylline oracles|Sibylline Oracles]] narrates the effects of the Roman–Persian Wars in Syria from the reign of Gordian III to the domination of the province by Odaenathus of Palmyra. With the end of Herodian's record we lose all contemporary chronological narratives of Roman history, until the narratives of [[Lactantius]] and [[Eusebius]] at the beginning of the fourth century, both from a Christian perspective.<ref>Dodgeon-Greatrex-Lieu (2002), I, 5; Potter (2004), 232-233</ref>
The principal sources for the early Sassanid period are not contemporary. Among them the most important are the Greeks [[Agathias]] and [[Malalas]], the Persians [[Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari|Tabari]] and [[Ferdowsi]], the Armenian [[Agathangelos]], and the Syriac Chronicles of Edessa and Arbela, most of whom depended on late Sassanid sources, especially [[Khoday Namag]]. The [[Augustan History]] is neither contemporary nor reliable, but it is the chief narrative source we have for Severus and Carus. The trilingual (Greek, Parthian, and Middle Persian) inscriptions of Shapur are prime sources, albeit solely expressing the Persian point of view.<ref>Frye (2005), 461-463; Shahbazi, [http://www.iranica.com/newsite/index.isc?Article=http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/unicode/v12f3/v12f3036b.html Historiography]</ref> These were isolated attempts at approaching written historiography however, and by the end of the fourth century AD, even the practice of carving rock reliefs and leaving short inscriptions was abandoned by the Sassanids.<ref name="Iranica">Shahbazi, [http://www.iranica.com/newsite/index.isc?Article=http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/unicode/v12f3/v12f3036b.html Historiography]</ref>
For the period between 353 and 378, there is an eyewitness source to the main events on the eastern frontier in the ''Res Gestae'' of [[Ammianus Marcellinus]]. For the events covering the period between the fourth and the sixth century, the works of [[Sozomenus]], [[Zosimus]], [[Priscus]], and [[Zonaras]] are especially valuable.<ref>Dodgeon-Greatrex-Lieu (2002), I, 7</ref> [[Theophylact Simocatta]] is the main source for the reign of Maurice,<ref>Boyd (1999), 160</ref> while [[Theophanes the Confessor|Theophanes]], [[Chronicon Paschale]] and the poems of [[George of Pisidia]] are useful sources for the last Roman–Persian war. In addition to Byzantine sources, two Armenian historians, [[Sebeos]] and [[Movses]], contribute to the coherent narrative of Heraclius' war, and are regarded by Howard-Johnston as "the most important of extant non-Muslim sources."<ref>Howard-Johnston (2006), 42-43</ref>
==See also==
* [[Roman relations with the Parthians and Sassanids]]
==Citations and notes==
{{Reflist|2}}
==References==
===Primary Sources===
<div class="references-small">
*[[Agathias]], ''Histories''. Book 4.
*[[Aurelius Victor]], ''Liber de Caesaribus''. See original text in the [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/victor.caes.html Latin Library].
*[[Cassius Dio]], ''Roman History''. Book LXXX. Translated by [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/home.html Earnest Cary].
*''[[Chronicon Paschale]]''. See the original text in [http://books.google.gr/books?hl=en&id=jnAGAAAAQAAJ&dq=chronicon+paschale&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=NO45ZcnLkz&sig=5pzV1DkNl4OqmPleANkYSrHe3io Google Book].
*[[Corippus]], ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=d9kFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=Corippus.+Johannidos&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPA21,M1 Johannis]''. Book I.
*[[Eutropius]], ''Abridgment of Roman History''. Book IX. Translated by [http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/eutropius/index.html the Rev. John Selby Watson].
*[[Herodian]], ''History of the Roman Empire''. Book VI. Translated by [http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodian/hre000.html#Book_six:_the_reign_of_Severus_Alexander Edward C. Echols]
*John of Epiphania. ''[http://www.ancientsites.com/aw/Post/1048936 History]''.
*[[Joshua the Stylite]], ''Chronicle''. Translated by [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/joshua_the_stylite_02_trans.htm William Wright].
*[[Justin (historian)|Justin]], ''Historiarum Philippicarum''. Book XLI. See original text in the [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/justin/41.html Latin Library].
*[[Lactantius]], ''De Mortibus Persecutorum''. See original text in the [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/lactantius/demort.shtml Latin Library].
*[[Image:wikisource-logo.svg|15px]] [[Plutarch]], ''[[s:Lives/Antony|Antony]]''. Translated by [[John Dryden]].
*[[Image:wikisource-logo.svg|15px]] [[Plutarch]], ''[[s:Lives/Crassus|Crassus]]''. Translated by [[John Dryden]].
*[[Image:wikisource-logo.svg|15px]] [[Plutarch]], ''[[s:Lives/Sylla|Sylla]]''. Translated by [[John Dryden]].
*[[Procopius]], ''History of the Wars'', Book II. Translated by [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16764 H. B. Dewing].
*''[[Sibylline Oracles]]''. Book XIII. Translated by [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/sib/ Milton S. Terry].
*[[Sozomen]], ''Ecclesiastical History'', Book II. Translated by [http://www.freewebs.com/vitaphone1/history/sozomen.html Chester D. Hartranft, Philip Schaff and Henry Wace].
*[[Image:wikisource-logo.svg|15px]] [[Tacitus]], ''[[:Wikisource:The Annals (Tacitus)|The Annals]]''. Translation based on Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb.
*[[Theophanes the Confessor]]. ''Chronicle''. See original text in [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/0700-0800,_Theophanes_Abbas_Confessor,_Chronographia_(CSHB_Classeni_Recensio),_GR.pdf Documenta Catholica Omnia].
*[[Theophylact Simocatta]]. ''History''. Books I and V. Translated by [http://www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika/pdf/Theophylact.pdf Michael and Mary Whitby].
*[[Vegetius]]. ''[[De Re Militari|Epitoma Rei Militaris]]''. Book III. See original text in the [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/vegetius3.html Latin Library].
*[[Zacharias Rhetor]]. ''Historia Ecclesiastica''.
</div>
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*{{cite book |title=The Evolution of Middle Eastern Landscapes: An Outline to A.D. 1840|last=Wagstaff|first=John|year=1985|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=0-389-20577-X|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=tcPWhU10mGMC&dq=limes,+Rome,+Parthian,+Sasanian&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0|chapter=Hellenistic West and Persian East}}
*{{cite book |title=A Companion to the Roman Army|last=Wheeler|first=Everett|editor=Paul Erdkamp|year=2007|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|isbn=1-405-12153-X|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=hR73TNL7YMAC&dq=Roman-Persian+Wars,+assessment&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0|chapter=The Army and the Limes in the East}}
*{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Ancient History (volume XIV)|last=Whitby|first=Michael|editor=Averil Cameron, Bryan Ward-Perkins, Michael Whitby|year=2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-32591-9|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Qf8mrHjfZRoC&dq=Marcian,+Nisibis&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0|chapter=The Army, c. 420-602}}
*{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Ancient History (volume XIV)|last=Whitby|first=Michael|editor=Averil Cameron, Bryan Ward-Perkins, Michael Whitby|year=2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-32591-9|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Qf8mrHjfZRoC&dq=Marcian,+Nisibis&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0|chapter=The Successors of Justinian}}
*{{cite book |title=The Rome that Did Not Fall: The Survival of the East in the Fifth Century|last=Williams|first=Stephen|coauthors=Friell, Gerald|year=1999|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-415-15403-0|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=M_SfLnZt68QC&dq=East,+importance+to+Rome,+trade&as_brr=3&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0|chapter=Imperial Wealth and Expenditure}}
</div>
==Further reading==
<div class="references-small">
*{{cite book |title=East Roman Foreign Policy. Formation and Conduct from Diocletian to Anastasius (ARCA 30)|last=Blockley |first=Roger C.|year=1992|publisher=BRILL|location=Leeds|isbn=0-905-20583-9}}
*{{cite book |title=Prokop und die Perser. Untersuchungen zu den Römisch-Sasanidischen Kontakten in der Ausgehenden Spätantike|last=Börm|first=Henning|year=2007|publisher=Steiner (Franz)|location=Leeds|isbn=9-783-515-09052-0}}
*{{cite book |title=Rome and Persia at War, 502-532|last=Greatrex|first=Geoffrey B.|year=1998|publisher=Francis Cairns|location=Rome|isbn=0-905-20593-6|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=0RoMAAAACAAJ&dq=Greatrex,+Rome+and+Persia+at+War&ei=a79LSIPfH5PSjgHukZXmDQ}}
*{{cite book |editor=Averil Cameron, Peter Garnsey|last=Isaac|first=Benjamin|year=1998|publisher=Cambridge University Press|title=The Cambridge Ancient History: The Late Empire, A.D. 337-425 XIII|isbn=0-521-30200-5|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zdoUNivK_hsC&dq=East,+Rome,+Persia&as_brr=3&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0|chapter=The Eastern Frontier}}
*{{cite book |title=Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium|last=Kaegi|first=Walter E.|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-81459-6|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=tlNlFZ_7UhoC&dq=Kaegi,+Heraclius&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0}}
*{{ cite book | last =Kettenhofen | first = Erich | year = 1982 | title =Die Römisch-persischen Kriege des 3. Jahrhunderts. n. Chr. Nach der Inschrift Sāhpuhrs I. an der Ka’be-ye Zartošt (ŠKZ). Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients B 55 | location=Wiesbaden}}
*{{ cite book | last =Millar | first = Fergus | year = 1982 | url=http://www.questia.com/library/book/the-roman-near-east-31-bc-ad-337-by-fergus-millar.jsp|title =The Roman Near East, 31 B.C.-A.D. 337 | publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|location=Cambridge}}
*{{cite book |title=A History of the Later Roman Empire, AD 284-641|last=Mitchell|first=Stephen B.|year=2006|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|isbn=1-405-10857-6}}
*{{cite book |title=The Roman Empire at Bay: Ad 180-395|last=Potter|first=David S.|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|location=London und New York|isbn=0-415-10058-5|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=qDVXRO1CFXAC&dq=Potter,+The+Roman+Empire+at+Bay&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0}}
*{{cite book |title=The Emperor Maurice and his Historian|last=Whitby|first=Michael|year=1988|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=0-198-22945-3|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=VAcAJfJP9KUC&dq=Whitby,+The+Emperor+Maurice+and+his+Historian&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0}}
</div>
==External links==
*{{cite web|title=Sixth Century Alania: between Byzantium, Sasanian Iran and the Turkic World|last=Alemani|first=Agustí|url=http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/alemany.pdf|publisher=Transoxiana Webfestschrift Series I|work=Ēran ud Anērān|accessdate=2008-05-06}}
*{{cite web|title=Rome and Parthia at War|url=http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=war_roman_parthian|publisher=All Empires - Online History Community|work=History Articles - Classical Europe and Mediterranean |accessdate=2008-05-16}}
*{{cite web|title=Sassanids vs Byzantines|url=http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=sassanids_byzantines|publisher=All Empires - Online History Community|work=History Articles - Medieval Europe|accessdate=2008-05-16}}
[[Category:Ancient history]]
[[Category:Roman-Persian Wars| ]]
[[Category:Wars involving Persia]]
{{Link FA|de}}
{{Link FA|es}}
[[de:Römisch-Persische Kriege]]
[[es:Guerras Romano-Sasánidas]]
[[fa:جنگ های ایران و روم]]
[[fr:Guerres perso-romaines]]
[[it:Guerre romano-persiane]]
[[nl:Romeins-Perzische oorlogen]]
[[pl:Wojny partyjsko-rzymskie]]
[[fi:Rooman–Persian sodat]]