The Battle of Resaena or Resaina, near present-day

Ceylanpınar Ceylanpınar ( ku, Serêkaniyê, ar, رأس العين Ra's al 'Ayn, ota, رأس العين ''Resülayn'') is a district of Şanlıurfa Province in southeastern Turkey. On the border with Syria, it is reached by a long straight road across t ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, was fought in 243 between the forces of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

, led by the Emperor Gordian III and the Praetorian Prefect Timesitheus against the Sasanian Empire's forces during the reign 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 ...

. The Romans were victorious.

Background

The battle was fought during a campaign ordered by Emperor Gordian III to reoccupy the cities of

Hatra Hatra ( ar, الحضر; syr, ‎ܚܛܪܐ) was an ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia located in present-day eastern Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. The city lies northwest of Baghdad and southwest of Mosul. Hatra was a strongly fortified ...

Nisibis Nusaybin (; '; ar, نُصَيْبِيْن, translit=Nuṣaybīn; syr, ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, translit=Nṣībīn), historically known as Nisibis () or Nesbin, is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is ...

, and Carrhae. These territories had been conquered by Shapur and his father, Ardashir I, when the Roman Empire plunged into the

Crisis of the Third Century The Crisis of the Third Century, also known as the Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis (AD 235–284), was a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed. The crisis ended due to the military victories of Aurelian and with the ascensio ...

, a conflict among several pretenders to the imperial throne.

Aftermath

Following this victory, the Roman legions recovered Nisibis and

Singara Singara (, ''tà Síngara'') 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 Persians. It was the camp o ...

, and advanced by way of the Khabur to the Euphrates, intending to take Ctesiphon. However, Gordian's army was defeated at the battle of Misiche in 244 and the Roman Emperor was either killed during the battle or assassinated afterwards.Trevor Bryce, ''Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History'', (Oxford University Press, 2014), 265.

Notes

243 Resaena Resaena 243 Resaena 3rd century in Iran 240s in the Roman Empire {{AncientRome-battle-stub