The Persian flood of a Roman desert city
(Nusaybin location via Google Maps)
Nisibis
Some city and region names continually reappear in history.
One such place is Nisibis, modern-day Nusaybin, an arid city on the
Turkish-Syrian border. In early history, Nisibis repeatedly changed hands from
conqueror to conqueror. The Assyrians took Nisibis, followed by the Babylonians.
Alexander the Great conquered the region and brought it into his empire in the
4th century BCE. After Alexander’s death, the Seleucid Empire
continued the Hellenistic rule of Nisibis. The Seleucids lost Nisibis to
Armenia and by the 1st century CE, Parthian Persians took the city.
The Roman Empire, however was also interested in Nisibis. During the 3rd
Century CE, the Romans and the Sasanian Persians lost the city to each other multiple
times, but the Romans controlled the region well into the beginning of the 4th
century. This brings us to the clash between two emperors, Constantius II and
Shapur II, over none other than the city of Nisibis.
(Constantius II coin struck 337-347 CE, [Public Domain] via Creative
Commons)
When Constantine the Great died in 337 CE, he left the Roman
Empire to his three sons: Constantine II, Constans and Constantius II. They
were meant to split the empire among themselves as a triumvirate of Augusti
(Emperors), aided by their cousins and relatives, who would serve as Caesars
(kings serving the emperors). Roman successions, however, never ran that
smoothly—the triumvirate did not last.
Constantine II, Constans and Constantius II actually did
coexist as Augusti of their respective realms for years. Other relatives and
rivals, however, were quickly massacred by order of the brother emperors. Shortly
after Constantius and his brothers took power, the Caesars Dalmatius,
Hannibalianus and Julius Constantius were assassinated, ridding the brothers of
potential threats to their thrones. The sons of Constantine assured that they
were the only heirs of the Roman Empire by killing anyone else who could
possibly press a claim for the throne.
Constantius II never attacked his brothers, but eventually
became the sole Augustus of the Roman Empire. Constantine II was killed in an
ambush in 340 and Constans died in 350 while battling a rebel. Without the help
of his brothers in matters of imperial delegation, Constantius allowed two of
his spared relatives to become Caesars. One of the Caesars was Julian, also known
as Julian the Apostate, who will be mentioned again, later.
King of Kings Shapur II (309-379 CE)
(4th Century bust of Shapur II photographed by Marie-Lan Nguyen,
[Public Domain] via Creative Commons)
While the Roman Empire was undergoing another predictable
bout of political maneuverings, power struggles and revolts, an ambitious
leader was on the rise in Sasanian Persia, bringing his people into the height
of their power. His name was Shapur II and he was titled the King of Kings. He
was a child king who emerged from a regency to take his throne at the age of 16,
around 325 CE.
Shapur’s dream was to expand the Sasanian Empire into the
lands once held by the enormous Achaemenid Empire of ancient Persia. Over his
lifetime, he competed with the Roman Empire for dominance in the Middle East. The
toughest region Shapur II struggled with, however, was Nisibis.
(Approximate map of Achaemenid Persia created by Fabienkhan, via
Creative Commons)
The Sieges of Nisibis
Shapur II marched against the Roman Empire in either 337 or
338 CE, during the bloody rise to power of Constantius II and his brothers. One
of the cities that Shapur wanted to take was Nisibis. The Sasanian army set up
camp outside the city and isolated Nisibis from resources and communication—beginning
the first siege of Nisibis.
(Map of Roman-Persian border at the death of Constantius II created by
Giorgos Tzimas, via Creative Commons)
The Persians began the siege through normal means. They used
siege engines in hopes to scale or break the wall, and they used tunnels and
fire to attempt to weaken or crumble the enemy walls. After around 70 days without
success, the army of Shapur II was understandably becoming restless. With their
typical siege engines failing them, the Persians decided to use one of the most
destructive forces on earth—water.
The Sasanian army used dams to channel the Mygdonius River
to flow right up against the walls of Nisibis. The river’s power of erosion proved
too much for the city, and a segment of the wall collapsed into the flooding
water. The gap left by the demolished portion of wall gave Persia an access
point into the city. The river was soon redirected away from the city and
Shapur II’s army waited patiently for the water to leak out of the city and clear
from the gap in the wall.
Inside the city, while the Persian army waited for the water
to drain from the city, Bishop Jacob of Nisibis (later made a saint) was
inspiring the defending soldiers and the general population, who were weary
from the siege. He was able to rally the people of Nisibis into a frenzy of
high morale and spirit, ready to put up a fight. Invigorated by Bishop Jacob’s
inspirational coaching, the defenders of Nisibis were prepared when the
Persians arrived at the walls.
Finally, with the water replaced by mud, the Persians were
ready to attack. They rushed the gap, ready to push their way into the city.
When they arrived at the wall, however, the people of Nisibis had created a
makeshift fortification out of the debris left by the fallen stone. Nevertheless,
the Persian army pressed against the rampart of rubble, but the defenders of
Nisibis were able to repel the invaders. Seeing that the walls of the city were
still holding, Shapur II withdrew his troops from the city, ending the 1st
siege of Nisisbis.
Just short of a decade later, in 346, Shapur launched his 2nd
siege of Nisibis. There is hardly any documentation of this siege—the only
reliable information is the fact that the Roman Empire, once more, successfully
defended the city. The Persians withdrew from the city and Shapur began
planning for his most determined siege of Nisibis.
Shapur II initiated his 3rd siege of Nisibis in
350, the same year Constantius II became sole emperor of Rome after the death
of his last remaining brother, Constans. This was the largest of Shapur’s siege
attempts against the resilient city. For around four months, the Sasanian army
sieged the city without any breakthrough. With nothing to lose, they decided to
give the Mygdonius River another shot at washing the Romans from the city of
Nisibis.
The Sasanian army of Shapur II set up their dams and
channeled the power of the river, once more, at the city walls of Nisibis. This
time around, the Persians did not wait for the waters to drain before launching
their attack. Using boats and rafts, the Sasanian besiegers paddled their siege
engines and soldiers to the walls of the city. Despite their determination, the
outcome was the same. Just like the other two sieges, the attack failed. Despite
being besieged for months and surrounded by water, the city of Nisibis was able
to mount a successful defense against the Sasanian army for a third time.
The Fall of Nisibis and the Deaths of Emperors
Constantius II was able to keep Nisibis safe during the
entirety of his life. From his birth in 317 to his death in 361 CE, Nisibis
remained in Roman hands. After the death of Constantius, however, Nisibis’ luck
ran out.
Constantius ruled defensively. He was cautious in both
military matters and politics. Though his reign was not as glamorous as some of
his predecessors who conquered new territories for the Roman Empire, his
defensive posture helped the Roman Empire deflect most of the immense threats
posed by Shapur II. Upon Constantius’ death, however, a new emperor took
power—Constantius’ Caesar, Julian.
Julian the Apostate hungered for the days of Julius Caesar
and Augustus. He abandoned Christianity for the traditional gods of the Roman
Empire. He especially embraced the Mysteries of Mithras. Julian abandoned
Constantius’ cautious military policy just as he had abandoned Christianity.
Julian preferred offense to Constantius’ policy of defense. Seeking glory in
war, Julian quickly took the fight to the Sasanian Persians, which led to his
own demise. He died battling the Sasanians in 363 CE.
The next emperor, Jovian, made a peace with the Sasanians
which relinquished territory, including Nisibis, to Persia. After nearly half a
century of successfully defending against Shapur II’s sieges, Nisibis was
finally defeated by diplomacy, without a single sword being raised.
Despite Shapur II’s no doubt infuriating ordeal of
consistently failing his sieges against Nisibis, Shapur II was an immensely
successful ruler of Sasanian Persia. By the time of his death in 379 CE, he had
succeeded in conquering large swaths of Armenia and Mesopotamia, bringing his
people a step closer to rebuilding the old Achaemenid Empire of Persia. After
Nisibis was transferred to the Sasanians following the death of Julian, the
resilient city would soon become a hub of Persian activity against Rome.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
thehistorianshut.com
Sources
- Michael J. Decker. The Byzantine Art of War. Pennsylvania: Westholme Publishing, 2013.
- Robert Louis Wilken. The Christians as the Romans Saw Them (Second Edition). New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.
- http://www.byzantium.xronikon.com/battle.php?byzbat=b4_07
- http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/nisibis-city-in-northern-mesopotamia
- http://www.byzantium.xronikon.com/battle.php?byzbat=b4_09
- http://www.ancient.eu/Constantius_II/
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Shapur-II
No comments:
Post a Comment