The siege of Pirisabora took place when the Roman Emperor Julian besieged the fortified city of Pirisabora under Mamersides in April 363. After two days of fierce fighting, the Sasanians and the citizens abandoned the circuit walls and took up a defensive position in the

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

. After some failed attempts, the Romans began to construct a siege tower, after which Mamersides reached a compromise with Julian to hand over the fort in exchange for a safe withdrawal. Julian subsequently pillaged and burned the abandoned city.

Background

After settling political affairs in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, Emperor Julian gathered an army of 95,000 in

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

for his invasion of the

Sassanid Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

. Upon his arrival at Carrhae, Julian sent his generals,

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...

and Sebastianus, with 30,000 men into Armenia to join up with

Arshak II Arshak II (flourished 4th century, died 369 or 370), also written as Arsaces II, was an Arsacid prince who was King of Armenia from 350 (338/339 according to some scholars) until . Although Arshak's reign opened with a period of peace and stabil ...

's army of 24,000. At the same time the main body under Julian himself wheeled south, reaching the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

at Callinicum, whence he directed his march south-east along the river towards

Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; , ''Tyspwn'' or ''Tysfwn''; ; , ; Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified July 28, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/58.) was an ancient city in modern Iraq, on the eastern ba ...

, the winter capital of the Sassanids.

The siege and aftermath

Having accepted the submission of

Anah Anah or Ana (, ), formerly also known as Anna, is an Iraqi town on the Euphrates approximately midway between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Persian Gulf. Anah lies from west to east on the right bank along a bend of the river just before it tu ...

and other important cities of

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

during the course of his march through the province, Julian at length arrived before the walls of Pirisabora, a city 50 miles from

. Garrisoned by a strong detachment of the Persians under Mamersides (per Ammianus), or Momoseiros (per Zosimus), the city maintained a stout defense. However, the walls were soon reduced by the siege engines of the Roman emperor, and the garrison, which retired to an inner citadel while the enemy commenced the sack of the city, was soon after brought to surrender, after a mere two day siege. Pirisabora was burnt and mercilessly ravaged by the soldiery, who well remembered the treatment of the Persians towards

Amida Amida can mean : Places and jurisdictions * Amida (Mesopotamia), now Diyarbakır, an ancient city in Asian Turkey; it is (nominal) seat of: ** The Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Amida ** The Latin titular Metropolitan see of Amida of the Ro ...

, after its capture four years previously (A.D. 359). The spoils of the city were distributed by Julian to the Army. Following this victory, the Roman army marched towards Ctesiphon, sacking and burning Bithra, Diacira and Ozogardana in the process. Julian later saw the bodies of Mamersides's kinsmen near Seleucia. They were apparently killed by the Sasanians in revenge for Mamersides's surrender.

References

Pirisabora 4th century in Iran Julian's Persian expedition Pirisabora Pirisabora Pirisabora History of Al Anbar Governorate Looting in Iraq {{AncientRome-battle-stub