Persian campaign of Alexander of the North

The relationship of Rome and Parthia to the end of the 210s

In the civil war that began in the Roman Empire after the death of Emperor Commodus , Pestenny Niger was an opponent of Septimius Severus in the East. Having lost 20,000 soldiers in the decisive battle, the latter fled to Antioch and was killed at the border in late April 194, trying to hide in Parthia ^[1] . Around May of this year ^{[2], the} North arrived in Syria and spent some time organizing the state administration of Asia Minor provinces, whose position was rather alarming, since a significant number of Nigerian troops found refuge behind the Euphrates , and some provinces of northern Mesopotamia showed sympathies to the usuruer. In addition, there were other considerations in favor of continuing the eastern war. Nisibis , an important city located far away on the other side of the Euphrates, but in which the Roman garrison was probably located, was attacked jointly by the army of Osroena , Adiaben and the Arabs. After the emperor expressed outrage at what had happened, an embassy was sent to him, trying to prove that the attack was directed against supporters of Niger who were seated in the city. But such an explanation was rejected. The army's weakened discipline in the army forced the emperor to give the legions, who opposed each other in three battles, the opportunity to fight with a common opponent. From a strategic point of view, it was important that the eastern border of the empire received a reliable natural barrier, which was the Euphrates River ^[3] .

In the spring of 195, Septimius Severus began the invasion of Mesopotamia, regardless of the fact that "it will only become a source of constant wars and high expenses and will not bring any benefit to the state" ^[5] . Crossing the border from Zeugma The North immediately annexed most of the kingdom of Osroena, forming a new province, stretching to the Tigris River. Even at the beginning of the campaign, before the first serious clashes occurred, the emperor took the titles Arabicus and Adiabenicus , reflecting the subordination of these peoples of Mesopotamia. However, the full form of these titles, which traditionally began on Parthicus , was not used to avoid a conflict with the Parthian king, whose war had not yet been declared. After a difficult transition through the desert, the army reached Nisibis, from where the armor was started and successfully completed . felicissima expeditio Mesopotamena (“the happiest Mesopotamian expedition”), about which information was not preserved ^[6] . Probably, the success achieved was recognized as sufficient, and in 196 the emperor returned to Rome to continue the struggle with Claudius Albin ^[7] .

The following year, 197, the empire’s insurgency was over, and Septimius Severus again decided to launch a campaign against Parthia. During this time, the Parthians went on the offensive, and their king, Vologoz V, laid siege to Nisibis. Protected by Julius Summer ( lat. Julius Laetus ) fortress survived until the arrival of the emperor. Accompanied by the brother of the Parthian king, the North at the head of the Roman army, without meeting resistance, occupied Babylon , Seleucia and Ctesiphon . On the hundredth anniversary of the ascension to the throne of Emperor Trajan , January 28, 1988., Septimius Severus proclaimed the conquest of Parthia. It is not clear whether it was intended to annex all territories to the Persian Gulf . On the way back the other road, the emperor unsuccessfully tried (perhaps twice) to seize the important caravan center of Khatra . The remainder of 198 was devoted to the arrangement of the eastern provinces, after which the emperor went to Egypt and never returned to Parthian affairs ^[8] .

With the ascension to the throne of the eldest son Septimius, Caracalla , plans for the conquest of Parthia began again. The rulers of Osroena and Armenia were arrested, and their kingdoms annexed. At this time, the son and successor of Vologda V, Vologoz VI , was in conflict with his brother , who independently ruled in the Medes . Caracalla used the differences between the brothers, while at the same time trying to find a reason for war. When the war began in 216, the army of Caracalla made a march through Mesopotamia, seizing the city of Arbela and rich booty ^[9] . In the spring of 217, before the start of the new campaign, Caracalla was killed as a result of the Macrina conspiracy. Upon learning of the death of Caracalla, Artaban gathered a large army and demanded that Makrin liberate the province of Mesopotamia . Negotiations did not lead to anything, and the two armies met in the fall of 217 near the walls of Nisibis. In this battle, the Romans were defeated, and Macrina had to buy the world at the cost of paying 200 million sestertii - an amount comparable to the eighth part of the annual budget of the empire ^[10] . Nevertheless, the growing pressure from the Sassanid did not allow the latter Arshakids to develop this success ^[11] .

The coming to power of the Sassanids

Persian written sources, the modern fall of the Arshakid dynasty, did not survive ^[12] . Based on the analysis of a few later Persian and Arabic sources, as well as epigraphic , numismatic , archaeological, and other evidence, the researchers suggested several versions of the chronology of events, about which not much is known either. It is reliably known that during the weakening of the Parthian state as a result of the campaigns of Septimius Severus, the ruler of Pars Papak strengthened his power so much that around the year 205 he was able to declare himself an independent ruler ^[13] . Probably, this revolt was suppressed by Volognez VI , and the expansion of the Sassanid power beyond the limits of central Pars occurred after Papac was succeeded by his youngest son, Ardashir . The defeat of Parthia could have been the result of both the formation of a coalition of Ardashir with the rulers of Adiabena, Kirkuk and other small states, as reported by the Syrian Chronicle of Arbela , and the inner Parthenian internecine struggle when his brother Artaban V spoke out against Vologenz VI. The first year of the reign of Ardashir, counted from the death of the last Parthian king in the battle of Khormuz , falls on either 226 or 223 ^[14] .

After the defeat of the last Arshakid king of Parthia and the pacification of most of the satraps , Armenia remained the most serious opponent of Ardashir , the king of which was Khosrov, the younger brother of the deceased Artaban. In 228, he was able to inflict a number of sensitive defeats on Ardashir, while advancing deep into Persian territory as far as Ctesiphon . Moreover, perhaps he even sought an alliance with Rome. However, in the end, Armenia fell and was temporarily included in the possession of Persia ^[15] . Until about 230, some northern regions were kept by Artavan’s son, Artavazd ^[16] .

Ardashir’s success is explained not only by the fact that he was a man of outstanding personal merit, as the later historical tradition paints him. Movses Khorenatsi in his “History of Armenia” explains the arrival of a new dynasty by the fact that “two Pahlai (Parthian) branches, called in Pakhla Suren and Aspahpat, envying the reigning [in Parthia] branch, [originating] from their own kind, that is Artashes, voluntarily consent to Artashir, the son of Sasan, reign ” ^[17] . What was important was the desire of the influential forces of the country to create and maintain a strong state and establish the economic life of the country, which was in ruin. Of considerable importance was the fact that, after becoming kings of Pars, the Sassanids closely connected themselves with the Zoroastrian center of the country ^[18] .

Roman Empire from Caracalla to Alexander Sever

The position of Makrin , who had just concluded a peace treaty with Parthia, was not solid. His only equestrian rank, Moorish origin and unpopular appointments did not bring him the support of the senate , and he did not have enough money to win the support of the army that Caracalla used. Death in Antioch, the widow of Septimius Severus, Julia Domna , increased sympathy for the former dynasty . Her sister Julia Mesa , who lived in Ames at that time, initiated an uprising in favor of her eldest grandson Heliogabal , the son of her daughter Yulia Soemia , who was declared illegal by Caracalla. On May 16, 218, Heliogabal was represented as an army in Ames, and on June 8, Makrin was defeated and fled ^{[19] [20]} .

Despite the fact that the lifestyle and behavior of the new emperor had very little in common with the established traditions, the reign of Heliogabal lasted almost four years. The situation, dangerous for the preservation of the dynasty, forced Yulia Mesa to take measures to transfer power to another grandson, Alexian Bassian, the son of another to his daughter, Julia Mamei . On June 26, 221 Geliogabal adopted his cousin, who took the name of Alexander , and from January 1, 222, their joint consulate began . Understanding the danger to his power, the emperor and his mother tried to intrigue against Alexander, but to no avail. On March 13, 222, they ordered the army to arrest Alexander, but they themselves were killed by the insurgent troops ^[21] .

Roman sources tell about the extremely benevolent attitude of the people, the army and the senate to the fact that in fact the power in the empire was in the hands of the sixteen most respectable senators or, more likely, the emperor's mother and grandmother. Distinguished by his calm and gentle disposition, the emperor readily engaged in legislative activities . Among those who had the influence of public figures on him are the distinguished jurist Ulpian , historians Dion Cassius and Maria Maxima . Nevertheless, the influence of Mamea on the emperor was decisive. Distinguished, according to the testimony of Herodian , extreme love for money, she, despite the indignation of Alexander, "took away the wealth and inheritance of some people on the basis of slander" ^[21] . It appears on numerous coins and inscriptions with various previously unseen titles, such as, for example, matri domini n. sanctissimi imp. Severi Alexandri Pii Felicis Aug. et castrorum et senatus et patriae et universi generis humani (“the mother of the lord of our most holy emperor of the North, Alexander Pius Felix Augustus, and military camps, the senate, the fatherland, and the whole human race”) ^[22] . As a result, with external well-being, the regime was internally weak, the emperor and his advisers failed to establish discipline and respect for authority in the army. During the reign of Alexander of the North, there were numerous riots in the provincial armies, especially in the east. In Rome, where Ulpian was killed in 223, and the praetorians threatened to kill Dion Cassius , who required discipline, in 229, the situation was no better ^[23] .

Roman Army in the North

Army composition

The main characteristics of the Roman army to the III century remained unchanged since the reforms of Maria and Octavian Augustus ^[24] . In the middle of the II century, the headcount of the regular army, which included 28 legions , praetorian and urban cohorts , as well as equites singulares Augusti , amounted to 160,000 people, including 5,000 cavalry . To this number it is necessary to add 156,500 auxiliary infantry , 53,000 riders in ala and 27,500 in cohorts. Thus, the total strength of the army reached 311,500 infantry and 85,500 cavalry. However, data on the actual number of units are not fully known, so the exact size of the army is not known. Two new legions ( II and III Italica ) were formed by Marcus Aurelius , and 3 more ( I , II and III Parthica ) by Septimius Severus ; while maintaining the same proportion of regular troops and auxilii ^[25] . After the victory of Septimius Severus in the civil war, the former composition of the Praetorian Guard, which had compromised itself by trading in imperial titles, was disbanded, and the new one was recruited from the Danube legions loyal to the new emperor. As a result, Rome , according to Dion Cassius, was overrun by barbarians, and the garrison was four times larger ^[26] . The size of the urban formations also increased - the urban cohorts now consisted of 6,000 soldiers, and the Vigilians of 7,000. Although immigrants from Italy continued to serve as leading army posts, the provincials had long prevailed. During the reign of the first North, officer positions became more accessible to lower social strata ^[27] .

Important for the formation of the Roman army was adopted in 212 by the emperor Caracalla edict , which provided Roman citizenship to the entire free population of the empire. Regardless of whether the emperor was guided by the desire to do good to his subjects or by greed, as Dion Cassius believed, the law caused various changes in Roman society, eliminating, in particular, the difference between the main and auxiliary legions ^[28] .

Military Administration in Mesopotamia

The province of Mesopotamia , organized by Septimius Severus in the year 198, was located east of the new province of Osroena and the remnants of the Kingdom of Eden and extended further along the Khabur River up to the upper course of the Tigris River. Two of the three new legions were based in this province: I Parthica in Singapore and III Parthica , possibly in Nisibis . She was ruled by a prefect with the rank of a rider. Compared with the short-lived province that existed under Trajan , the province founded by Septimius Severus allowed to solve long-term strategic tasks and became a reliable defense for Syria . The completion of the formation of the system of the eastern provinces occurred with the abolition of Caracalla of the formally independent kingdom in Edessa and its annexation to the province of Osroën in 212 ^[29] .

The papyrus archives, discovered during the excavations in Dura-Europos in 1931-1932, indicate that there were numerous Roman fortifications and settlements to the north and south of this city, as well as along the Khabur River. At various times, the city itself housed the legions of III Cyrenaica , X Fretensis , XVI Flavia Firma and IV Scythica . The greatest amount of information is preserved about the cohort XX of Palmyrenorum ^{[30] [31]} . From these documents, it is clear that Dura-Europos was an important center of civil administration throughout the region during the Parthian period, and that with the arrival of the Romans, the garrison soldiers who were in the city and dispersed in the surrounding settlements ^[32] significantly contributed to the Romanization of northern Mesopotamia. The intensive militarization of the region during the rule of the North and the construction of a dense chain of fortifications were designed to withstand large-scale invasion, but the forces for this were not enough ^{[33] [34]} .

It is also known about other garrisons in the lower reaches of the Khabur - the papyrus mention the cohorts of III Augusta Thracum (under 227) and XII Palestinorum (at the beginning of the 230s) ^[35] . There are also epigraphic evidence of a stay in Sura where the bridge over the Euphrates was located, the legions of the XVI Flavia Firma ^[36] .

Persian army under the first Sassanids

The Iranian society under the Sassanids was divided — perhaps by Ardashir I — into four estates , the second of which ( arteshtaran ) included cavalry and foot soldiers ^{[37] [app. 1]} . Ardashir, who began his career as a commander, knew the ancient and modern military affairs well. Using the Achaemenid military organization, the Parthian cavalry and the siege technology borrowed from the Romans as a model, he laid the foundations of the army that served his successors for four centuries ^[38] . The basis of the army ( spāh ) was heavy cavalry ^[39] , the first descriptions of which, included in the “Acts” of Ammianus Marcellinus and in the novel “ Ethiopic ” ^[40] , date from the middle of the fourth century ^[38] .

It is known that the Sassanian army used Indian elephants as a means of transportation for shooters and spear throwers, as well as siege and psychological weapons. The History of Augustus dwells in detail on the number of enemy elephants killed and captured (for more details on this, see below ). Researchers question this news and associate it with the desire of the authors of the chronicle to emphasize the similarity of Alexander Sever to his famous namesake , who defeated the Persians with their elephants under Gavgammel ^[41] .

Sassanid historical ambitions

A contemporary of the events under consideration, Herodian, in his History, reports ^[42] that

This point of view, which links Persian's aggressive activity in the western direction with the desire to restore the greatness of the Achaemenid monarchy, is shared by Greek historians, beginning with Ammianus Marcellinus ^[43] , and Muslim, following At-Tabari ^[44] . Until the end of the 19th century, this theory was dominant until the first time the German Orientalist Theodore Nöldeke criticized it, stating that by the 3rd century Iran’s own memories of the era of Alexander the Great were no longer present in Iran, and the legends that came down through Muslim sources are a reflection of the well-known Late Sansian period novel " The Story of Alexander the Great " ^[44] . This view was also shared by the largest German historian Theodor Mommsen . The new theory was widely accepted only after the publication in 1971 of an article by Y. Ehsan “Were the Sasanians Heirs to the Achaemenids?” ^[45] . As a result of the surge in interest of researchers to this topic, a significant number of arguments were put forward both in favor of the Achaemenid tradition continuing in the Sasanian period and against it ^[46] . As a result, most scholars accepted a compromise point of view, which does not deny both of these alternatives, namely that the Sassanids in their case understood the legendary Avestai dynasty of Kayanids as their ancestors , although at the same time, perhaps, they knew through the Hellenistic , Talmudic and Christian traditions about the existence of Achaemenids in the past ^[47] . There is also a point of view according to which the first Sassanian kings knew about the Achaemenids, and the reorientation to the Cayanids took place only in the V century ^[48] .

In this regard, it should also be noted proposed by the Italian historian G. Njoli the theory that according to Ardashir I, the concept of "Iran" was formulated. Prior to this, the term Ērān-vēž was understood in a religious sense as the cradle of humanity, while Ardashir gave it a political meaning, reflecting the idea of ​​reviving the nation state ^[49] . Such a point of view may well explain the territorial claims of the Sassanid state to the Roman Empire by virtue of the specific Zoroastrian view of geography behind it. In “ Shakhname ” it is told how the hero Faridun divided his kingdom between three sons - Tour who got land in the north and east, Selm , received the west, and the younger Iraj , whom his father bequeathed to the central part of the state. Insidious brothers killed Iraj and seized his lot. Thus, in this case, the appearance of "Iran" could be considered by the Sassanids as the restoration of historical justice ^[45] .

Ardashir Mesopotamian campaign

In the late 220s, Ardashir I had not yet fully consolidated power in the space previously controlled by Parthia. A number of territories, such as Haraken on the coast of the Persian Gulf and Adiaben in upper Mesopotamia , remained unconquered until at least 260, judging by the fact that they are not mentioned in the inscription ŠKZ Shapura I. The priority areas of expansion for Ardashir were the states that were given explicit support by the Roman Empire. Hatra , included in the empire between 198 and 217 years, while maintaining relative independence under the rule of its king Sanatruk II , controlled the Arab tribes in the region ^[50] . In about 229, Ardashir attempted to seize the city, wishing, in the opinion of Dion Cassius, to make it a base for his operations against the Romans ^{[51] [52]} . However, the defense of the city, whose defenses, according to archaeological data, reached 30 meters and allowed to withstand the siege of the army of Septimius Severus twice, this time turned out to be unapproachable for the army of the young Sassanian state ^[53] .

The main center of resistance to Ardashir for a long time is eleven years, according to Agafangel ^[54] , or even until the death of Emperor Philip Arab (249) according to Movses Khorenatsi ^[55] , was Armenia. The chronology of Ardashir’s actions against Armenia is difficult to pinpoint, but probably his first campaigns against Armenia were taken at the same time as the first campaign against Hatra, and were just as unsuccessful. A detailed story of Agafangel, a compilation of the 5th century ^[56] , including a description of the raids in Asuristan and the seizure of Ctesiphon probably exaggerates the scale and significance of events in Armenia in the 220-230s ^[57] .

In 230 ^[58] or 231, Ardashir, finding the resources at his disposal sufficient to clash with the Roman Empire, led his troops to Mesopotamia and Syria ^[42] , laid siege to Nisibis and even reached Cappadocia ^[59] . According to Dion Cassius , Emperor Alexander Severus was not ready for such a development, and his army in that part of the empire was in an unsatisfactory state ^[60] . Herodian reports that the “king of kings” was sent an embassy with a message from the emperor, in which it was suggested to adhere to the existing boundaries and reminded of the great victories of Augustus , Traian and Septimius Severus . Ardashir ignored this warning and continued to ravage Mesopotamia ^[42] .

Preparations

Such a response was, in fact, a declaration of war, and without further formalities, Alexander began preparations and left Rome for personal guidance of the campaign. According to Herodian, Alexander, whose previous years of his reign were in the world, did not want to start military affairs and would gladly stay in the capital, but the impudence of the enemy and the urgent requests of his commanders in the East forced him to gather legally capable legions from Italy and the provinces and prepare for hike. Having gathered an army on the Field of Mars , he turned to the army with a story about Ardashir’s perfidy and his attempts to solve the problem in peace. Then he made a similar speech before the Senate, after which, properly performing religious rituals , he left Rome with tears in his eyes ^{[61] [62]} .

Alexander Sever arrived at Antioch on his way to Illyria as a quick march, from where he began to direct troops and road repair work ^[63] . At the same time, trying to find ways for a peaceful settlement, he again sent envoys to the Shah, but again did not reach the goal. Вслед за императорским посольством в Антиохию прибыло посольство в составе 400 роскошно одетых персов . Они передали послание Ардашира, в котором содержалось требование императору оставить «Сирию и всю Азию, лежащую против Европы, и предоставить персам владеть всеми землями вплоть до Ионии и Карии и народами, отделяемыми Эгейским морем и Понтом , ибо это наследственные владения персов» ^[64] . Вместо ответа Александр поселил посланников в Фригии , «предоставив им деревни для жительства и землю для возделывания, наложив на них только то наказание, чтобы они не возвращались в отечество, ибо он почитал бесчестным и неблагородным убивать не сражавшихся против него» ^[65] .

В этот момент Александр столкнулся с мятежом среди своих солдат, прибывших из Египта , но волнения были быстро подавлены, и подготовка кампании продолжалась. Тогда же Александру удалось достигнуть соглашение с Хатрой о вводе в неё римских войск на правах союзника ^[66] .

Fighting

Когда Александр счёл, что римская армия стала численно равной армии противника, он разделил её на три части. Первый отряд был направлен на север через Армению в « страну мидян ». Второй должен был воевать в южной Месопотамии. Третий, в который были включены лучшие войска, под командованием самого императора должен был нанести главный удар в северной Месопотамии ^[67] .

План операции был, вероятно, хорошо продуман, и нанесение одновременных ударов с севера и юга могло помешать действиям противника и открыть дорогу для Александра. Северный отряд, вторгшись в Армению, успешно занялся разорением Мидии, и персидская конница, не привычная к действиям в условиях каменистой местности, не смогла им помешать. В этот момент Ардашир узнал о появлении на своей территории южного отряда, который продвигался без соблюдения боевого порядка, рассчитывая на то, что Александр со своим самым мощным отрядом в нужный момент придёт на помощь. Оставив незначительные силы на севере, шах с основным войском быстро двинулся на юг ^[68] .

Однако Александр по необъяснимой причине не смог присоединиться к южной армии. Эту медлительность Геродиан объясняет трусостью и влиянием его матери, Юлии Мамеи, которая «сдерживала его мужественные порывы, убеждая, что другим следует подвергать себя опасностям ради него, а не ему самому вступать в сражение». В результате южная часть римской армии была полностью уничтожена, и это поражение имело большое психологическое значение для обеих сторон ^[69] . Продвижение отряда под командованием императора можно проследить по археологическим данным, на основании которых можно заключить, что вначале он направился в Пальмиру , где столь важное событие — второй визит римского императора (первым был Адриан около 129 года) — было отмечено надписью . Известно также о пребывании на зимних квартирах зимой 232 года в Катне когорты XII Palaestinorum ^[70] .

When news of the defeat reached Alexander in his camp, he was seriously ill, “either from discouragement, or from unusual air” ^[71] . There was no limit to his chagrin, as well as the discontent of the army, which saw the emperor’s inability to adhere to the previously worked out plan. Seeing that the army, like its leader, was suffering from heat and unusual food, the emperor gave the order to retreat to Antioch. Retreating, the northern squad suffered, in addition to the fighting, great losses from disease and cold. In Antioch, Alexander quickly recovered from his despondency and stifled the grumbling in the troops by distributing cash gifts. He again began to gather troops for the campaign, but the news came that Ardashir decided to stop the war and disbanded his army. It turned out that the dead northern and southern units fought bravely and inflicted losses on the Persians comparable to the Roman ones ^[72] .

Herodian concludes his story with the conclusion that Persia was again forced to stay within its borders and abandon its plans to conquer Roman territory for 3-4 years ^[73] .

Victory or defeat?

The final conclusion of Herodian looks somewhat unexpected. Throughout his story, he talks about the inept leadership of the Roman army; that the Roman strategy was surpassed by the mobility of the Persians; that the army preferred to stay in Antioch to combat. Nevertheless, the victorious Persians themselves turned out to be almost in the position of the vanquished, and their losses were enormous; they were unable to launch the next campaign and finally abandoned plans for territorial expansion in the West. This inconsistency of the narrative correlates with the ancient opinion that Herodian was biased towards Alexander ^[74] . It is possible that the author prepared the reader for a completely different version of the outcome of the war than the one that became official in the presentation of Lampridy ^[75] .

Lamprides obviously knows about the version of Herodian, but rejects it, referring to the report of the emperor before the Senate. In it, Alexander lists the characteristics of the Persian army defeated by him ^[76] :

“First of all there are seven hundred elephants, with towers with arrows and a load of arrows on them. Thirty of them we captured, two hundred lay dead, eighteen we brought here. Thousand and eight hundred chariots supplied with sickles. We could bring here two hundred chariots, in which the animals were killed, but since this could be arranged, we thought it unnecessary to do so. We routed a hundred and twenty thousand of their horsemen — equestrian armor, those whom they call clibanariums — we killed ten thousand during the war; we armed them with our weapons. We captured many Persians and sold them. We regained the inter-river lands (that is, the lands of Mesopotamia) that this dirty monster did not care about. ”

In Rome, Alexander arranged a triumph during which, according to Lampridi, four elephants carried his chariot.

Of the other historians, the Latin unanimously agree with Lampridia ^[77] , and the Greek writers mostly follow Herodian ^[78] , although Zonara stresses that heavy losses were on both sides, and Zoshima passes silence on this issue ^[79] .

As for Alexander himself, he officially called himself the winner on the coins he issued. The celebration of his triumph is marked on a 233 year coin. Even earlier, in the year 231, the legends of VICTORIA AVGVSTI ( Rus. August Victory ) appear on the coins, although it cannot be said for sure whether this legend has anything to do with the war ^[80] . The most definite of all the coins is the 233-year coin, on which the emperor, crowned with the Victory , is depicted between two rivers. These rivers are the Tigris and the Euphrates , and, although the figures are grotesque and roughly carved, their meaning is quite understandable. It is unlikely that such a simple emperor would openly assert that he would have won a glorious victory, if in fact everything was the opposite ^[79] .

Similarly, the inscriptions testify to the success of Alexander. In December 232 or January 233, in the Greek colony of Antinopol , the statues of Alexander and Julia Mamea were installed “for their victory and the eternal security of themselves and their home.” In Pannonia, Julius Canin ( lat. Julius Caninus ) erected an altar to Hercules "in honor of the safety and return of Emperor Alexander of the North" ^[79] .

Contemporaries Estimates

As mentioned above, the information about Herodian and Lampridia on the progress of the campaign is different, but this conflict is not difficult to explain. Herodian was a contemporary of events and, having more opportunities to study the course of the war, he could closely follow the development of events where later historians were content with generalizations. There is no doubt his story about the strategy of Alexander. The emperor, obviously, intended to break the enemy's forces in parts, dividing his army into three divisions, but he was outwitted by a more skilled and mobile opponent ^[81] .

Hardly Herodian understood that the invasions of barbarians in the III century are much more destructive than before. Most likely, the historian's own convictions did not coincide with the rhetoric attributed to him to Macrina in the style of “empire in danger” ^[82] about the Parthian threat. Herodian did not consider the Persians as more serious opponents than the Parthians were; estimates of the motives of their actions given to them are most likely erroneous; he believed that only thanks to the Niger's supporters who had fled, the Eastern barbarians "became more stubborn in the melee battles against the Romans" ^[83] . The defeat of the Romans is attributed by the historian to the cowardice and cowardice of Alexander of the North ^[69] rather than the unwillingness of the army - after all, even after winning, the Sassanids suffered such losses that for several years they did not take up arms. And the enemy army itself, which “is neither orderly nor permanent, but represents an unorganized crowd rather than an army” ^[84] , according to the Roman historian, was not a worthy opponent. The greatest danger, as the emperor believed at the time, was presented by the Germans because of their proximity to Italy ^[85] . In general, although Herodian considered his time as a period of considerable instability, one can hardly find in his writings a premonition of what was later called the “ III century crisis ” ^[86] .

Strategic implications

On the conclusion of a peace treaty as a result of this collision is not known. An indirect sign that at least by the year 232 Roman Mesopotamia belonged to the Romans is, in the opinion of F. Millar (referring to the Chronicle of George Sinkella ), information on the construction of the road between Sinhara and Carr ^[87] . Further, it is known that in the year 235, in the year of the death of Alexander of the North , the Roman garrison was located in Hatra, up until the city was captured by Shapur I in 240 ^[87] . Sinkell also reports that Nisibis and Carrs were taken by the Persians under Maximin (235–238) ^[87] , although a more likely date for the resumption of war is 239 years ^[87] . However, this time the status quo was restored, and although this first military confrontation did not bring a decisive victory for one of the parties, in the West the fact that the advance of the Persians was stopped was considered by the Romans as an important achievement.

Perhaps the lack of clear strategic results of the campaign was caused by the urgent need to take action against the increased activity of the Germans on the Rhine and Danube borders. Upon learning of this in Antioch, Alexander transferred part of his Mesopotamian army to the Mogonziak ^{[approx. 2]} , which he and his mother chose as their residence. However, instead of, as expected by the troops, to join the battle with the enemy and win, the emperor chose to join the barbarians in the negotiations and achieve peace by paying tribute. Dissatisfaction with the army led to the fact that in the spring of 235 Alexander North and Julia Mamei were killed ^[88] .