- The Battle of Ctesiphon (363 CE) was an Invasion of the Persian Sassanid Empire conducted by the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate.
The Reason for the Battle
- The Aim was to take Ctesiphon, the heavily fortified Persian Capital, in order to depose Shapur II and replace him with his brother Hormisdas, turning Persia into a Roman Client Kingdom.
Preparations by Julian
- On the 5th March 363 CE Julian left Antioch with 80-90,000 Legionaries
- He ordered the Legionary Fortress at Samosata to build 1,000 supply ships to accompany the March down the Euphrates and 50 Pontoon ships for crossing the Euphrates and Tigris.
- He then split his army into two parts, sending out a force of 30,000 as a feint, to disguise the main attack on Ctesiphon.
The Battle
- Battle of Ctesiphon took place on 29th May 363 CE.
- Although the Romans won the Battle driving the Persian army back into the City, its defenses were impregnable, as Julian did not have any Siege Engines. Unfortunately, the second force of 30,000 men that Julian had sent as a diversion was unable to rejoin the main army.
- The Persian Army was on its way to relieve Ctesiphon and Julian decided to withdraw.
The Outcome
- During the retreat, outside Samarra, a city on the Tigris to the north of Ctesiphon, Julian was fatally wounded in a surprise attack, and because he had not had time to don his armour, he subsequently died of his wound.
- His dying words were supposedly Viciste Galilaee, ‘You have conquered, Galilean’ meaning Christianity had won in the end.
Source
- Ammianus Marcellinus History of Rome
- The Historian was a friend of Julian, and he wrote in great detail about this Emperor and his thinking.
Ctesiphon, Taq Kasra, Iraq