The Battle of Barbalissos was fought between the Sasanian Persians and

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Barbalissos Barbalissos ( grc, Βαρβαλισσός, la, Barbalissus) was a city in the Roman province of Euphratensis. Its site is marked by the ruins at Qala'at Balis ( ar, قلعة بالس), which partly retains the old name, south of Maskanah (the a ...

. Shapur I used Roman incursions into

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

as pretext and resumed hostilities with the Romans. The

Sassanids The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

attacked a Roman force of 60,000 strong at

and the Roman army was destroyed. The defeat of this large Roman force left the Roman east open to attack and led to the eventual capture of

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

and

Dura Europos Dura-Europos, ; la, Dūra Eurōpus, ( el, Δούρα Ευρωπός, Doúra Evropós, ) was a Hellenistic, Parthian, and Roman border city built on an escarpment above the southwestern bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the vil ...

three years later. This battle is only known through Shapur I's inscription at Naqsh-e Rostam.

Overview

The battle was fought between the Sassanid Persians and Romans at Barbalissos, an old Roman town near

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in modern-day Syria and close to the

Euphrates River The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eu ...

. The battle was fought in 252 when Shapur I (239-270 AD), King of the Sassanian Empire led his army from the

and met with a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

army 60,000 strong of legionaries, archers, and Roman cavalry. Although the number of forces of

Sassanid Persians The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

are unclear, through tactics and use of strategy Shapur I managed to win the battle and open a way through the Syrian cities and castles. The defeat was very costly for Valerian who appointed many more armies to stop Shapur I from quick advance into Roman soil and later decided to lead an army of 70,000 legionaries himself in what became known as the

Battle of Edessa The Battle of Edessa took place between the armies of the Roman Empire under the command of Emperor Valerian and Sasanian forces under Shahanshah (King of the Kings) Shapur I in 260. The Roman army was defeated and captured in its entirety by ...

Sources

* Kaveh Farroukh, ''Sassanian Elite Cavalry AD 224-642'' * David S. Potter, ''The Roman Empire at Bay'' * ''

Res Gestae Divi Saporis Shapur I's Ka'ba-ye Zartosht inscription (shortened as Shapur-KZ, ŠKZ, SKZ), also referred to as The Great Inscription of Shapur I, and ''Res Gestae Divi Saporis'' (RGDS), is a trilingual inscription made during the reign of the Sasanian king Sh ...

References

{{coord, 36.0610, N, 37.8912, E, source:wikidata, display=title 250s conflicts, Barbalissos

253 250s in the Roman Empire 3rd century in Iran Shapur I