Parthian War of Lucius Verus
| date | C 161–166 |
|---|---|
| place | Armenia , Mesopotamia , Syria and media |
| output | Roman territorial gains in northern Mesopotamia |
| consequences | The Arsacids assert themselves on the Armenian throne, destruction of Seleukia-Ctesiphon . Antonine plague . |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
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Vologaeses IV.
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The Parthian War of Lucius Verus was a conflict between the Roman Empire and the Parthians in the years 161 to 166 AD.
Sources
Since there is a lack of written, contemporary and direct sources, one is largely dependent on coins and the Parthian monument from Ephesus . Lucian of Samosata also gives some references to the Parthian War in his work How to write history , in which he mocked the historians of the Parthian War for their encomies , although some (if not all) of the authors mentioned (see Crepereius Calpurnianus ) may be fictitious are. There is also some information in the Historia Augusta , which is often not very reliable.
course
Prehistory and outbreak of war
With the change of emperor in Rome, the Parthian great king Vologaeses IV apparently believed himself strong enough to intervene in the rulership of the Roman clientele of Armenia in his favor. Apparently tensions had built up over a long period of time. It is not impossible that the Parthian king wanted to forestall a Roman attack by means of a preventive strike, because in previous years Rome had concentrated strong troops on the eastern border. Vologaeses sat in any case arbitrarily a new king in Armenia, the out of the Parthian royal house of Arsakiden originating Pacorus, thereby infringing old agreements with Rome, according to which indeed choose the Armenian king of the Parthians, but was to be completed by the Romans. At the same time he was preparing for a Roman counter-attack, which quickly took place under Marcus Sedatius Severianus, governor of Cappadocia. This poorly prepared Roman advance was successfully repulsed in early summer or late autumn 161 by the Parthian general Chosroes near Elegeia , with Severianus committing suicide in the face of defeat and his army being completely wiped out within a few days. On this occasion, the legio IX Hispana appears to have been completely destroyed. After the Roman defeat, the Parthians took advantage of the situation and plundered as far as Cappadocia .
The Roman counter-offensive
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Roman counter-offensive was carried out with strong formations drawn from all over the empire; an inscription from Rome (ILS 1098) testifies that the entire legio I Minervia was moved from Bonn to the Caucasus. The supreme command of the Roman troops was transferred from Marc Aurel to the iunior Augustus Lucius Verus , who probably left Rome in 162 and set up his headquarters in Antioch on the Orontes at the beginning of 163 . In the same year Statius Priscus, a general of Lucius Verus, conquered Armenia back, whereupon Lucius Verus adorned himself with the epithet Armeniacus . Marcus Claudius Fronto then evidently advanced south from the Caucasus with strong forces. 164 then the Roman general Avidius Cassius forced the Euphrates crossing at Zeugma . As a result, various Roman armies occupied several Parthian regions, such as the Principality of Osrhoene in northern Mesopotamia and the strategically important cities of Dura-Europos and Nisibis . In 165 Cassius took the Parthian double capital Seleukia-Ctesiphon , plundered Seleukia and burned the Parthian main residence in Ctesiphon before he withdrew again. Following this success, Lucius Verus took the acclamation as Parthicus Maximus contrary (but in response to his Mitkaisers he called himself only Parthicus ). Since Avidius Cassius penetrated even further into the Parthian Empire in 166 and plundered as far as the media , Lucius Verus finally added the title Medicus to his victory title .
As a result of the military defeats, the Parthian great king, who had withdrawn into the Iranian highlands, finally asked for peace, which was granted to him. Avidius Cassius led the troops back to the Roman Empire. However, some of his people had contracted an epidemic that had broken out in the devastated Seleukia ctesiphon. Now this disease spread epidemically, was introduced into the empire and developed into one of the greatest epidemic catastrophes of ancient times (the so-called Antonine Plague - probably a very virulent strain of smallpox).
Although there were no major permanent territorial acquisitions (perhaps due to the weakening of the eastern provinces as a result of the spread of the disease), Rome had shown itself able to hold and secure the eastern border. Parts of northern Mesopotamia also remained under indirect Roman control and were ultimately organized by Septimius Severus as the two provinces of Osrhoene and Mesopotamia and thus formally part of the Roman Empire .
Domestically, the military success of Lucius Verus disrupted the balance of power between him and senior Augustus Marc Aurel. Probably for this reason he raised his two little sons to Caesares in 166 to emphasize his family's claim to power. On the same day, October 12, 166, the two emperors celebrated a great triumph together , although Aurelius had no part in the victory. It is also quite possible that the role that Verus, who died in 169, played in the campaign was later deliberately belittled.
literature
- Anthony Birley : Mark Aurel. Emperor and philosopher . Munich 1968.
- Karl Christ : History of the Roman Empire. From Augustus to Constantine . 2nd edition, Munich 1992, pp. 332-338.
- Peter Edwell: Between Rome and Persia. The Middle Euphrates, Mesopotamia, and Palmyra under Roman Control. London 2008.
- Klaus Schippmann : Fundamentals of Parthian History . Darmstadt 1980.
- Karl Strobel : Contemporary history under the Antonines. The Historians of the Parthian War by Lucius Verus . In: Wolfgang Haase (ed.): Rise and decline of the Roman world . History and culture of Rome as reflected in recent research . Part II: Principate . Volume 34, Berlin 1993, pp. 1315-1360.
- Karl-Heinz Ziegler: Relations between Rome and the Parthian Empire. A contribution to the history of international law . Wiesbaden 1964.
Web links
On the Parthian monument from Ephesus:
- http://homepage.univie.ac.at/elisabeth.trinkl/forum/forum0699/11landsk.htm Ethnikon on the battle frieze of the Parthian monument of Ephesus
- http://www.khm.at/de/sammlungen/ephesos-museum/ausgesuchte-meisterwerke/ Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
Remarks
- ↑ See Strobel, Zeitgeschichte unter den Antoninen , pp. 1334ff.
- ↑ See Peter Weiß : Military diplomas and history of the empire. The consulate of L. Neratius Proculus and the prehistory of the Parthian War under Marc Aurel and Lucius Verus. In: Rudolf Haensch, Johannes Heinrichs (Hrsg.): Herrschen und Verwalten. The everyday life of the Roman administration in the High Imperial Era. Cologne 2007, pp. 160–172.