You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 54.161.0.0/16 has been blocked (disabled) by ‪Blablubbs‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider or colocation provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts and colocation providers may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host or colocation provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a colocation provider's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: ((unblock|reason=Caught by a colocation web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~)). You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host or colocation provider (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host or colocation provider.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and requests should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 10:07, 1 October 2024.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis. The block was made by ‪Jon Kolbert‬. The reason given is Open proxy/Webhost: See the help page if you are affected .
- Start of block: 18:27, 12 November 2023
- Expiry of block: 18:27, 12 November 2028
Your current IP address is 54.161.166.4. The blocked range is 54.161.0.0/16. Please include all above details in any queries you make. If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

You can view and copy the source of this page:

((Short description|Battle between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sassanid Empire))
((refimprove|date=May 2011))
((Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Ctesiphon (363)
| image             = Julian II under Ctesifon.jpg
| caption           = Julian near Ctesiphon; medieval miniature
| partof            = [[Julian's Persian expedition]]
| campaign          = 
| date              = 29 May 363 CE
| place             = [[Ctesiphon]], [[Mesopotamia]]
| coordinates       = ((coord|33|06|N|44|35|E|source:itwiki_region:IQ-BG_type:event|display=title,inline))
| result            = [[Roman Empire|Roman]] victory
| combatant1        = [[Roman Empire]] 
[[Arsacid Armenia]]
| combatant2        = [[Sasanian Empire]]
| commander1        = [[Julian the Apostate|Julian]]
| commander2        = [[Merena]]<br>[[Surena (4th-century)|Surena]]<br>[[Pigranes]]<br>Narseus
| strength1         = 60,000((sfn|Tucker|2010|p=160)) – 83,000 men((sfn|Shahbazi|2005))
| strength2         = Presumably larger than Roman force((sfn|Tucker|2010|p=160))
| casualties1       = 70((sfn|Tucker|2010|p=160))
| casualties2       = 2,500((sfn|Tucker|2010|p=160))
))
((Campaignbox Roman-Persian Wars))
((Campaignbox Julian's Persian War))

The '''Battle of Ctesiphon''' took place on 29 May 363 between the armies of [[Roman Emperor]] [[Julian the Apostate|Julian]] and an army of the [[Sasanian Empire]] (during [[Shapur II]]'s reign) outside the walls of the Persian capital [[Ctesiphon]]. The battle was a Roman victory,((sfn|Browning|1978|p=243)) but eventually the Roman forces found themselves unable to continue their campaign as they were too far from their supply lines.

==Background==
On November 3, 361, [[Constantius II]] died in the city of [[Mopsucrene]], leaving his cousin Flavius Claudius Julianus, known to history as [[Julian the Apostate]], as sole Emperor of Rome. Arriving at [[Constantinople]] to oversee Constantius' burial, Julian immediately focused on domestic policy and began to greatly reform the Roman Imperial government by reorganizing, streamlining, and reducing the bureaucracy.

Turning next to foreign policy, Julian saw the previously unchecked military incursions of Shapur II of Persia against the Eastern Roman provinces as posing the greatest external threat. After many failed earlier attempts, the Persian king launched a more successful second campaign against the Romans and captured [[Diyarbakır|Amida]] in 359, controlling the headwaters of the [[Tigris]] and the entrance to [[Asia Minor]] from the east. A Roman offensive was desperately needed to halt Shapur.

With Julian's reputation and exploits during his years as Caesar and general of Gaul preceding him, Shapur preferred to negotiate a peace treaty with the intrepid young Julian. Believing it to be incumbent on himself to produce a more permanent settlement in the East, Julian responded to Shapur's calls for peace by saying that the Persian king would be seeing him very soon and began preparing for an expedition against the [[Sassanid dynasty]], collecting all his legions and marching east from Constantinople. Carefully planning and crafting his Persian campaign for over a year, Julian transferred his capital and forward base for the coming war to Antioch, Syria in the summer of 362 and on March 5, 363, set out with 65,000–83,000,<ref>Zosimus, ''Historia Nova'', book 3, chapter 12. Zosimus' text is ambiguous and refers to a smaller force of 18,000 under Procopius and a larger force of 65,000 under Julian himself; it's unclear if the second figure includes the first.</ref><ref>Elton, Hugh, ''Warfare in Roman Europe AD 350–425'', p. 210, using the higher estimate of 83,000.</ref> or 80,000–90,000 men,<ref>Bowersock, ''Julian the Apostate'', p.108.</ref> while Shapur, along with the main Persian army, ''spah'', was away from Ctesiphon. Per his devised plan of attack, Julian sent 18,000 soldiers under the command of his maternal cousin [[Procopius (usurper)|Procopius]] to Armenia, with the aim of obtaining support from the King of Armenia for a clever and not looked-for double pincer movement against Shapur.

==The battle==
Seeing [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]] successfully march into his dominions, Shapur ordered his governors to undertake a [[scorched earth]] policy until he reached the Sassanid capital, Ctesiphon, with the main Persian army. However, after a few minor skirmishes and sieges Julian arrived with his undefeated army((sfn|Lieu|Montserrat|1996|p=208)) before Shapur II to the walls of Ctesiphon on May 29. 

Outside the walls a Persian army under [[Merena]] was formed up for battle across the [[Tigris]]. According to [[Ammianus Marcellinus]], the Persian army featured [[cataphract]]s (''[[clibanarii]])'', backed up by infantry in very close order. Behind them there were [[war elephant]]s.<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'', Book 24, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ammian/24*.html 6.3 το 6.8].</ref>

Julian's force attempted to set foot on the opposite shore of Tigris, under harassment by the Persians.<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'', Book 24, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ammian/24*.html 6.10 to 6.12].</ref> After achieving it, the main battle commenced. It was a stunning tactical victory for the Romans, losing only 70 men to the Persians' 2,500 men.((sfn|Tucker|2010|p=160)) One of the Christian sources and not one friendly to the pagan Julian, [[Socrates Scholasticus]], even states that Julian's victories up to this point in the campaign had been so great that they caused Shapur to offer Julian a large portion of the Persian domains if he and his legions would withdraw from Ctesiphon. But Julian rejected this offer out of desire for the glory of taking the Persian capital and defeating Shapur in battle which would earn him the honorific of ''Parthicus''. However, Julian lacked the equipment to lay siege to the strongly fortified Ctesiphon, and the main Sassanid army, commanded by Shapur and far larger than the one just defeated, was closing in quickly. Also critical was the failure of Procopius to arrive with the 18,000 detachment of the Roman army that could have aided Julian in crushing Shapur's approaching force as he had intended. For as previously captured [[satraps]] had testified after being fairly treated by Julian, the capture or death of Shapur would have compelled the Persian city to open its gates to the new Roman conqueror. While Julian was in favor of advancing further into Persian territory, he was overruled by his officers. Roman morale was low, disease was spreading, and there was very little [[Fodder|forage]] around.((cn|date=July 2021))

==Aftermath==
((unreferenced section|date=July 2021))
[[File:Taq-e Bostan - fallen Roman.jpg|thumb|Detail from a Sassanian relief, depicting the dead Julian.]]

Reluctantly, Julian agreed to retreat back along the Tigris and look for Procopius and the other half of his army that had failed to coordinate the double-pincers movement with him outside of Ctesiphon as had been planned. On 16 June 363, the retreat began. Ten days later, after an indecisive Roman victory at [[Battle of Maranga|Maranga]], the army’s rearguard came under heavy attack, in the [[Battle of Samarra]].<ref>((Cite web |title=Battle of Ctesiphon ((!)) Summary ((!)) Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Ctesiphon-363 |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en))</ref> Not even pausing to put on his armour, Julian plunged into the fray shouting encouragement to his men. Just as the Persians were beginning to pull out with heavy losses, Julian was struck in the side by a flying spear. He died before midnight, on June 26, 363. Ultimately the campaign failed and the Romans were forced to ask for peace under unfavourable terms.

==Citations==
((reflist))

== General and cited references ==
*Bowersock, Glen Warren. ''Julian the Apostate''. London, 1978. ((ISBN|0-674-48881-4))
*((cite book |last=Browning |first=Robert |title=The Emperor Julian |url=https://archive.org/details/emperorjulian00robe |url-access=registration |publisher=University of California Press |year=1978 |isbn=9780520037311 ))
*((cite book |last1=Lieu |first1=Samuel N.C. |first2=Dominic |last2=Montserrat |title=From Constantine to Julian: Pagan and Byzantine views: A Source History |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 ))
*((cite encyclopedia |title=Sasanian dynasty |first=A. Shapur |last=Shahbazi |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Iranica |date=2005-07-20 ))
*((cite book |editor-first=Spencer C. |editor-last=Tucker |title=A Global Chronology of Conflict |volume=1 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2010 ))
*((cite book |last=Wacher |first=J.S. |title=The Roman World |volume= 1 |publisher=Routledge |edition=2 |year=2001 ))

((Julian (emperor)))

[[Category:360s in the Byzantine Empire|Ctesiphon]]
[[Category:363]]
[[Category:4th century in Iran]]
[[Category:4th-century conflicts|Ctesiphon 363]]
[[Category:Ancient history of Iraq]]
[[Category:Battles of the Roman–Sasanian Wars|Ctesiphon 363]]
[[Category:Julian (emperor)]]
[[Category:Julian's Persian expedition]]
[[Category:Sieges of Ctesiphon]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

Battle of Ctesiphon (363) (edit)
Template:Ambox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Campaignbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Campaignbox Julian's Persian War (edit)
Template:Campaignbox Julian's Persian expedition (edit)
Template:Campaignbox Roman-Persian Wars (edit)
Template:Campaignbox Roman–Persian Wars (edit)
Template:Catalog lookup link (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Template:Citation needed (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite book (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite encyclopedia (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
Template:Cn (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Coord (view source) (protected)
Template:Delink (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Fix (view source) (protected)
Template:Fix/category (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:ISBN (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox military conflict (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Julian (emperor) (edit)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:More citations needed (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Template:Refimprove (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:SDcat (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Sfn (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Short description (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description/lowercasecheck (view source) (protected)
Template:Unreferenced (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Unreferenced section (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Yesno (view source) (protected)
Template:Yesno-no (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Yesno-yes (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Catalog lookup link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/shared (view source) (protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Check isxn (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Coordinates (view source) (protected)
Module:Coordinates/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Delink (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Disambiguation (view source) (protected)
Module:Disambiguation/templates (view source) (protected)
Module:Find sources (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/links (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/templates/Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Footnotes (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Footnotes/anchor id list (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Footnotes/whitelist (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:InfoboxImage (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Infobox military conflict (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Infobox military conflict/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Math (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/ambox.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Military navigation (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Namespace detect/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Redirect (view source) (protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:WPMILHIST Infobox style (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to Battle of Ctesiphon (363).

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ctesiphon_(363)"