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Julian's Persian Expedition
Julian's Persian expedition was the last military undertaking of the Roman emperor Julian which began in March 363. It was a war against the Sasanian Empire which was ruled by Shapur II. Aiming for the Sasanian winter capital Ctesiphon, Julian assembled a large army. In order to mislead the opponent and carry out a pincer attack, he sent a detachment to join with his ally Arshak II of Arsacid Armenia and to take the Tigris route from the north. Meanwhile, his main army and a large fleet advanced rapidly down the Euphrates relatively unopposed, destroying several well-fortified cities. The ships then reached the walls of Ctesiphon, where a large force was assembled to defend it. The Romans won a victory outside the city, but the northern army failed to arrive, and the fortified capital seemed impregnable. Thus, Julian did not attempt to besiege the city and instead burned the Roman fleet of supplies and marched into Persia's interior. Shapur II's army, however, still avoide ...
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Roman–Persian Wars
The Roman–Persian Wars, also known as the Roman–Iranian Wars, were a series of conflicts between states of the Greco-Roman world and two successive Iranian empires: the Parthian and the Sasanian. Battles between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Republic began in 54 BC; wars began under the late Republic, and continued through the Roman (later Byzantine) and Sasanian empires. A plethora of vassal kingdoms and allied nomadic nations in the form of buffer states and proxies also played a role. The wars were ended by the early Muslim conquests, which led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire and huge territorial losses for the Byzantine Empire, shortly after the end of the last war between them. Although warfare between the Romans and Persians continued over seven centuries, the frontier, aside from shifts in the north, remained largely stable. A game of tug of war ensued: towns, fortifications, and provinces were continually sacked, captured, destroyed, and traded. Neith ...
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Procopius (usurper)
Procopius (Ancient Greek: Προκόπιος) (c. 325/326 – 27 May 366 AD) was a Roman usurper against Valens, and a member of the Constantinian dynasty. Life Procopius was a native of Cilicia born in Corycus. On his mother's side, Procopius was a Greek, a maternal cousin, to Emperor Julian, since their maternal grandfather was Julius Julianus. His first wife was probably Artemisia, having married secondly the dowager Empress Faustina, while the Roman general of the 5th century Procopius and his son, the Emperor Anthemius, were among his descendants, the first being the son of his son Procopius. In 358, during the reign of Constantius II, he was sent with Lucillianus as an envoy to the Sassanid court; in this period he was ''tribunus'' and ''notarius''.Ammianus Marcellinus, XXVI.6.1. Procopius entered Julian's retinue and took part in his campaign against the Sassanids in 363. Together with Sebastianus he was entrusted with controlling the upper Tigris with 30,000 men a ...
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Besiege
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static, defensive position. Consequently, an opportunity for negotiation between combatants is common, as proximity and fluctuating advantage can encourage diplomacy. The art of conducting and resisting sieges is called siege warfare, siegecraft, or poliorcetics. A siege occurs when an attacker encounters a city or fortress that cannot be easily taken by a quick assault, and which refuses to surrender. Sieges involve surrounding the target to block the provision of supplies and the reinforcement or escape of troops (a tactic known as "investment"). This is typically coupled with attempts to reduce the fortifications by means of siege engines, artillery bombardment, mining (also known as sapping), or the us ...
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Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab, which empties into the Persian Gulf. Etymology The Ancient Greek form ''Euphrátēs'' ( grc, Εὐφράτης, as if from Greek εὖ "good" and φράζω "I announce or declare") was adapted from Old Persian 𐎢𐎳𐎼𐎠𐎬𐎢 ''Ufrātu'', itself from Elamite language, Elamite 𒌑𒅁𒊏𒌅𒅖 ''ú-ip-ra-tu-iš''. The Elamite name is ultimately derived from a name spelt in cuneiform as 𒌓𒄒𒉣 , which read as Sumerian language, Sumerian is "Buranuna" and read as Akkadian language, Akkadian is "Purattu"; many cuneiform signs have a Sumerian pronunciation and an Akkadian pronunciation, taken from a Sumerian word a ...
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Tigris
The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the Persian Gulf. Geography The Tigris is 1,750 km (1,090 mi) long, rising in the Taurus Mountains of eastern Turkey about 25 km (16 mi) southeast of the city of Elazığ and about 30 km (20 mi) from the headwaters of the Euphrates. The river then flows for 400 km (250 mi) through Southeastern Turkey before becoming part of the Syria-Turkey border. This stretch of 44 km (27 mi) is the only part of the river that is located in Syria. Some of its affluences are Garzan, Anbarçayi, Batman, and the Great and the Little Zab. Close to its confluence with the Euphrates, the Tigris splits into several channels. First, the artificial Shatt al-Hayy branches off, to join the Euphrates near Nasiriy ...
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Pincer Attack
The pincer movement, or double envelopment, is a military maneuver in which forces simultaneously attack both flanks (sides) of an enemy formation. This classic maneuver holds an important foothold throughout the history of warfare. The pincer movement typically occurs when opposing forces advance towards the center of an army that responds by moving its outside forces to the enemy's flanks to surround it. At the same time, a second layer of pincers may attack the more distant flanks to keep reinforcements from the target units. Description A full pincer movement leads to the attacking army facing the enemy in front, on both flanks, and in the rear. If attacking pincers link up in the enemy's rear, the enemy is encircled. Such battles often end in surrendering or destroying the enemy force, but the encircled force can try to break out. They can attack the encirclement from the inside to escape, or a friendly external force can attack from the outside to open an escape rout ...
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Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon ( ; Middle Persian: 𐭲𐭩𐭮𐭯𐭥𐭭 ''tyspwn'' or ''tysfwn''; fa, تیسفون; grc-gre, Κτησιφῶν, ; syr, ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢThomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified July 28, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/58.) was an ancient city, located on the eastern bank of the Tigris, about southeast of present-day Baghdad. Ctesiphon served as a royal capital of the empires in the Parthian and Sasanian eras for over eight hundred years. Ctesiphon was capital of the Sasanian Empire from 226–637 until the Muslim conquest of Persia in 651 AD. Ctesiphon developed into a rich commercial metropolis, merging with the surrounding cities along both shores of the river, including the Hellenistic city of Seleucia. Ctesiphon and its environs were therefore sometimes referred to as "The Cities" (Aramaic: ''Mahuza'', ar, المدائن, '' al-Mada'in''). In the late sixth and early seventh century, it was listed ...
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Nohodares
Flavius Claudius Constantius Gallus (326–354) was a statesman and ruler in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire from 351 to 354, as ''Caesar'' under emperor Constantius II (), his cousin. A grandson of emperor Constantius Chlorus () and empress Flavia Maximiana Theodora, and a son of Julius Constantius and Galla, he belonged to the Constantinian dynasty. He was born during the reign of his uncle Constantine the Great (), and was among the few to survive the killings of male members of the imperial family in 337. Under Constantius II, he married Constantina, Constantine's daughter and Constantius' sister. As ''Caesar'' he dealt with a Jewish revolt (351–352) and ruled from Antioch, but the emperor came to mistrust him, and ultimately had him executed and replaced with his younger half-brother Julian. Family Gallus was a son of Julius Constantius by his first wife Galla. Gallus' paternal grandparents were the emperor Constantius Chlorus and his second wife Flavia Ma ...
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Merena
Merena was a 4th-century Iranian military officer active during the reign of the Sasanian king (shah) Shapur II (). According to the Iranologist Touraj Daryaee, Merena's real name may have been ''Mihrān'', thus making him a member of the House of Mihran, one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran. He was a cavalry commander in the Sasanian army in the course of the Roman-Persian Wars soon after the Battle of Ctesiphon in 363, which took place outside the Sasanian capital Ctesiphon in the province of Asoristan. As cavalry commander, he also appeared in the Battle of Maranga. He was among those killed at the subsequent Battle of Samarra, a few hours before the death of the Roman emperor Julian.Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'', Book 253.13/ref> Citations Sources * Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (pr ...
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Surena (4th-century)
Surena (also spelled Suren) was a 4th-century Iranian military officer active during the reign of the Sasanian king (shah) Shapur II (). He played an important role in the denial of the Roman invasion in 363 and the peace negotiations that followed. Biography Surena was a member of the House of Suren, one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran. The family, of Parthian origin, had been active in Iranian politics since the Arsacid Empire, and held parts of Sakastan as their personal fiefdom. Surena was seemingly a powerful figure in the country, being described as "second in power after the king." He is first mentioned in 363, when he on April 24 ambushed a patrol force led by Hormizd, a brother of Shapur II, who had entered the service of the Roman emperor Julian (). Hormizd only managed to escape due to the overflow of the Euphrates which proved too much for Surena and his men. The following day after the Roman sack of Pirisabora, Surena ambushed three squadrons of the Roman caval ...
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Pigranes
Pigranes was a 4th-century Sasanian military officer active during the reign of Shapur II (). According to Ammianus Marcellinus, on 29 May 363, when the forces of the Roman Emperor Julian () besieged the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; Middle Persian: 𐭲𐭩𐭮𐭯𐭥𐭭 ''tyspwn'' or ''tysfwn''; fa, تیسفون; grc-gre, Κτησιφῶν, ; syr, ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢThomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modi ..., Pigranes along with his fellow officers Narseus and Surena were defeated and forced to flee to the interior of the city walls. Sources * People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars Generals of Shapur II 4th-century Iranian people Julian's Persian expedition {{Sasanian-bio-stub ...
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