The Battle of Singara was fought in 344 between

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and Sasanian Persian forces. The Romans were led in person by Emperor

Constantius II Constantius II (; ; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civ ...

, while the Persian army was led by King Shapur II of Persia. It is the only one of the nine pitched battles recorded to have been fought in a war of over twenty years, marked primarily by indecisive siege warfare, of which any details have been preserved. Although the Persian forces prevailed on the battlefield, both sides suffered heavy casualties.

Background

When

Shapur II Shapur II ( , 309–379), also known as Shapur the Great, was the tenth King of Kings (List of monarchs of the Sasanian Empire, Shahanshah) of Sasanian Iran. He took the title at birth and held it until his death at age 70, making him the List ...

, who ascended to the throne of the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

in 309 (at the time an unborn infant), came of age and took in hand the administration of his kingdom, he dedicated himself to a lifelong mission of restoring his country's military power, and avenging its recent defeats by the Romans and Saracens. After thoroughly subduing the Lakhmid Arabs rebellion in the south, he directed his attention towards Rome, his main enemy, in 337. The sacking of a Sasanian city and the deportation of its population may have led to the intervention of Shapur II. He began by recapturing

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. and then advanced in his first campaign against

in the following year, however, the Roman defensive lines resisted and the Persian forces made limited progress.

Battle

The Persian troops initially retreated and the Romans broke into the Persian camp. They inflicted heavy casualties including Shapur's son Prince Narseh. However, the Persians counter-attacked and drove the Romans away with heavy losses.

Outcome and aftermath

The result of the battle is disputed. Some sources say the battle resulted in a Sasanian victory, another states a Roman victory. Samuel Lieu and

Dominic Montserrat Dominic Alexander Sebastian Montserrat (2 January 1964 – 23 September 2004) was a British egyptologist and papyrologist. Early life and education Montserrat studied Egyptology at Durham University and received his PhD in Classics at Unive ...

state that both sides claimed victory but ultimately the battle was indecisive, with both armies sustaining heavy casualties. The death of Shapur's son did not facilitate an amicable settlement of the conflict, and the war dragged on for several years. Shapur, notwithstanding the extent of his victory, proved unable to utilize the event to any further advantage. Two years later, he became bogged down in another siege of

Nisibis Nusaybin () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Mardin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,079 km2, and its population is 115,586 (2022). The city is populated by Kurds of different tribal affiliation. Nusaybin is separated ...

, but was then obliged to break off the war to meet the threat of nomadic barbarian invasions in

Sogdiana Sogdia () or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid Empire, and l ...

in the far east. The war resumed in 359 CE, but ended with no conclusive result. In 363 it was taken up energetically by Julian, who was successful but died during the campaign. After his death, the Roman army suffered a decisive defeat. His successor,

Jovian Jovian is the adjectival form of Jupiter and may refer to: * Jovian (emperor) (Flavius Iovianus Augustus), Roman emperor (363–364 AD) * Jovians and Herculians, Roman imperial guard corps * Jovian (lemur), a Coquerel's sifaka known for ''Zobooma ...

, was forced to cede extensive Roman territory in the treaty of Dura, and thus Shapur's ambitions were accomplished.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Siege Of Singara 340s conflicts

Singara Singara (, ''tà Síngara''; Syriac: ܫܝܓܪ) was a strongly fortified post at the northern extremity of Mesopotamia, which for a while, as it appears from coins minted there, was occupied by the Romans as an advanced colony against the Persi ...