Siege of Nisibis (252)
| Siege of Nisibis | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Roman–Persian wars | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Roman Empire | Sasanian Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Unknown | Shapur I | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 2,000-5,000 Legionaries | Unknown | ||||||||
The siege of Nisibis took place when the Sasanians under Shah Shapur I besieged the Roman city of Nisibis in 252. This marks the beginning of Shapur's I second invasion of the Roman empire which saw the first Sassanid invasion of Syria; the year of the invasion is debated as Shapur's inscription from Naqsh-e Rustam regarding his second campaign against Rome do not mention the city of Nisibis. But Syriac and Arabic sources, mainly the Chronicle of Seert and Al-Tabari, mention that Shapur took Nisibis in his eleventh regnal year; according to the historian David Stone Potter, this regnal year is 252. Another Syriac account, the Liber Caliphorum, from the eighth century, mentions the invasion of the city in 252.[3][4]
References
Citations
- ^ A Journey to Palmyra: Collected Essays to Remember Delbert R. Hillers "Sometime in the middle of the century, Shapur took possession of Armenia and invaded Roman Mesopotamia. Nisibis and Charrae fell into his hands"
- ^ Empress Zenobia: Palmyra's Rebel Queen "Shapur also claimed that he had devastated Syria and captured thirty-seven cities with their surrounding territories. He may have captured Nisibis, and destroyed Antioch."
- ^ Edwell 2007, p. 185.
- ^ Dodgeon & Lieu 2002, p. 306.
Sources
- Edwell, Peter (2007). Between Rome and Persia: The Middle Euphrates, Mesopotamia and Palmyra Under Roman Control. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-09573-5.
- Dodgeon, Michael H; Lieu, Samuel N. C (2002). The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD 226-363: A Documentary History. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-96113-9.