The Battle of Narasara was one of the first clashes of the war of position between the Sassanid troops of Shapur II and the Roman troops of the eastern limes of Constantius II.
Historical context
Under the Christian king Tiridates III of Armenia, most of his kingdom had converted to Christianity (by 301). But in 334 the Armenian king was taken prisoner by Shapur II and taken to Persia, forcing the Armenians to invoke the help of Constantine I. The latter wrote to the "king of kings" (Shahanshah) Shapur, who, at the end of a long negotiation, decided to annex Armenia and threatened the nearby Roman province of Mesopotamia.
Constantine I was thus forced to prepare for a great war against Persia, starting from 337, John the Lydian does not hide that Constantine's desire was also to equal emperors such as Trajan and Septimius Severus in the conquest of Persia.
The battle
The great Christian sovereign then entrusted the eastern sector to his son Constantius II. He recruited and drafted new soldiers, including his nephew Hannibalianus, implemented training and drills, expanded the cavalry, and stockpiled supplies. These preparations did not go unnoticed by the Sasanids. It is said that already during this year, the son of the Sassanid king, Narses, managed to advance to Amida and occupy the Roman city, but shortly afterwards he was killed in battle by the advancing Roman troops not far from Amida (in Narasara), and ultimately, Constantius, with the soldiers of the Legio V Parthica and its legatus legionis, was able to push back the invasion, and Shapur failed to make any significant gains. Now the location of the battle has been identified by some with Hileia or Eleia, at the foot of the Djebel Sindjar mountain range, along the Nahr Ghiran river.
Consequences
Amida, shortly after, returned to Roman hands and Constantius ordered the construction of a new and imposing circle of walls and towers, where he could also place a large artillery arsenal, thus making the city almost impregnable.
References
Sources
Primary or ancient
- Ammianus Marcellinus, Historiae X (Latin text). (English facing text available here).
- Annales Valesiani, here is the Latin version with the English translation.
- Eusebius of Caesarea, Vita Costantini, I-IV, (Latin text and English translation); Storia ecclesiastica (English translation).
- Eutropius, Breviarium historiae Romanae (Latin text), X .
- Rufius Festus, Breviarium rerum gestarum populi Romani.
- John the Lydian, De Mensibus.
- Saint Jerome, Chronicle, French version HERE.
- Julian, Oration I, Panegyric of Constantius II.
- Paul Orosius, Historiarum adversos pagas libri VII, VII, Lation version HERE.
- Passio Artemii.
- Theophanes the Confessor, Chronographia (Latin text) .
- Joannes Zonaras, The Epitome of Stories, Latin version HERE.
Inscriptions
- CIL = Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, XVII voll., Berolini, 1863- Das Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum - Homepage
- ILS = Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae of Hermann Dessau, 3 voll., 1892-1916 Inscriptiones latinae selectae. (1892 edition) | Open Library
Secondary or modern
- Dingas, Beate; Winter, Engelbert (2007). Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press.
- Dodgeon, Michael H.; Greatrex, Geoffrey; Lieu, Samuel N. C. (2002). The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (Part I, 226–363 AD). Routledge. ISBN 0-415-00342-3.
- González, Julio R. (2003). Historia de las legiones romanas (in Spanish). Madrid: Signifer Libros. ISBN 8493120782.
- Harrel, John S. (2016). The Nisibis War. Pen & Sword.
- Horst, Eberhard (September 1, 1987). Rusconi Libri (ed.). Costantino il Grande (in Italian).
- Hunt, David (1998). "The successors of Constantine Julian". In Averil Cameron & Peter Garnsey (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History XIII: The Late Empire, A.D. 337–425. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-30200-5.
