The Battle of Carrhae, also known as the Battle of Callinicum, took place in 296 or 297,Frye (1993), 130; Southern (2001), 242 after the invasion of

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

and

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 ' ...

by the

Sasanian 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 ...

king

Narseh Narseh (also spelled Narses or Narseus; pal, 𐭭𐭥𐭮𐭧𐭩, New Persian: , ''Narsē'') was the seventh Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 293 to 303. The youngest son of Shapur I (), Narseh served as the governor of Sakastan, Hind and ...

. The battle took place between Carrhae (

Harran Harran (), historically known as Carrhae ( el, Kάρραι, Kárrhai), is a rural town and district of the Şanlıurfa Province in southeastern Turkey, approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Urfa and 20 kilometers from the border cr ...

) and Callinicum (

al-Raqqah Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) ( Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Ro ...

) and was a victory for the Sasanians. Narseh attacked with forces recruited from the Euphrates frontier. He managed to defeat his opponent by good timing. Galerius and

Tiridates III of Armenia Tiridates III ( Armenian: Գ ''Trdat III''; – c. 330), also known as Tiridates the Great ( hy, Տրդատ Մեծ ''Trdat Mets''), or Tiridates IV, was the Armenian Arsacid king from c.298 to c. 330. In 301, Tiridates proclaimed Christiani ...

escaped with a remnant of their forces. Galerius met Diocletian in

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� ...

. Eutropius and

Theophanes the Confessor Theophanes the Confessor ( el, Θεοφάνης Ὁμολογητής; c. 758/760 – 12 March 817/818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking ...

have recorded versions of a celebrated story regarding a public humiliation of Galerius by Diocletian, though the latter retained Galerius in command. Diocletian later sent reinforcements for Galerius, and the latter managed to defeat 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 last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

two years later at the Battle of Satala.

Roman Campaign

During 296, a war ignited between Sasanian Persia and the Roman Empire. Shah Narseh who led the Sasanian’s invaded Rome’s state in west Armenia. This conquest leads on to Mesopotamia and Orhoene. However, despite the countless victories over the Roman's, Narseh halted further conquest.

Domitius Domitianus

297 Egypt, Domitius self-appointed himself as emperor of Egypt. He received support from Achilleus which lead him to becoming emperor. This event made Diocletian to leave his campaign with his commander Galerius, and marched to Egypt when he then swiftly took out Domitianus. This led Galerius to command during the second battle of Carrhae which ended in defeat for the Romans. After his quick victory Diocletian then executed every traitor against his empire and slaughtered people in the city.

Peace

Narseh wanted peace, so he sent his envoy to Galerius with a message. Galerius was furious, he ignored the envoy and didn’t give an answer as to whether he wanted to accept the peace agreements. Galerius then spoke with Diocletian pertaining to a peace agreement. Diocletian convinced Galerius to speak about the terms of peace to the Sasanians. The treaty was accepted and ratified by both empires. The message sent by Narseh went as follows: "The whole human race knows that the Roman and Persian kingdoms resemble two great luminaries, and that, like a man's two eyes, they ought mutually to adorn and illustrate each other, and not in the extremity of their wrath to seek rather each other's destruction. So to act is not to act manfully, but is indicative rather of levity and weakness; for it is to suppose that our inferiors can never be of any service to us, and that therefore we had better get rid of them. Narseh, moreover, ought not to be accounted a weaker prince than other Persian kings; thou hast indeed conquered him, but then thou surpassed all other monarchs; and thus Narseh has of course been worsted by thee, though he is no whit inferior in merit to the best of his ancestors. The orders which my master has given me are to entrust all the rights of Persia to the clemency of Rome; and I therefore do not even bring with me any conditions of peace, since it is for the emperor to determine everything. I have only to pray, on my master's behalf, for the restoration of his wives and male children; if he receives them at your hands, he will be forever beholden to you, and will be better pleased than if he recovered them by force of arms. Even now my master cannot sufficiently thank you for the kind treatment which he hears you have vouchsafed them, in that you have offered them no insult, but have behaved towards them as though on the point of giving them back to their kith and kin. He sees herein that you bear in mind the changes of fortune and the instability of all human affairs"

Leaders

Narseh Narseh (also spelled Narses or Narseus; pal, 𐭭𐭥𐭮𐭧𐭩, New Persian: , ''Narsē'') was the seventh Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 293 to 303. The youngest son of Shapur I (), Narseh served as the governor of Sakastan, Hind and ...

Narseh the leader of the Sasanian’s was the youngest child of

Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...

. He lead as governor of three provinces, Sakastan, Turan, and Hind. Narseh later went on to become the ruling king of Sasania after the nobles didn’t support Bahram III who was the current king. The nobles instead, asked Narseh to rule which led to him becoming the king.

Galerius Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus (; 258 – May 311) was Roman emperor from 305 to 311. During his reign he campaigned, aided by Diocletian, against the Sasanian Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 299. He also campaigned across th ...

Galerius was the Roman commander. He first gained notoriety when he married Diocletian’s daughter Valeria. With marrying his daughter, he was given the Illyrian provinces. He then went on to fight the Goths, Danube, and Sarmatians and took control of the legions on the east.

References

Westera, Rick. “Historical Atlas of Europe (Spring 297): Second Battle of Carrhae.” ''Omniatlas'', https://omniatlas.com/maps/europe/2970512/. Weber, Ursula (2012). "Narseh, König der Könige von Ērān und Anērān". Iranica Antiqua. 47: 153–302. doi:10.2143/IA.47.0.2141965 Electricpulp.com. “Encyclopædia Iranica.” ''RSS'', https://web.archive.org/web/20190529113145/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/narseh-sasanian-king. Carrhae Carrhae Carrhae 296 Carrhae 296 296 History of Şanlıurfa Province 3rd century in Iran 290s in the Roman Empire Harran {{Iran-battle-stub