Between Rome and Persia

The Middle Euphrates, Mesopotamia and Palmyra under Roman control

Peter Edwell

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2007
• Print ISBN: 9780415594899
• eBook ISBN: 9781134095728
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Roman Ancient History
• Index: History

This detailed history of explores Rome's interaction with its Persian neighbour and enemy from the first century BC to the third century AD. Peter Edwell takes the innovative approach in treating the area in regional terms, giving more nuanced interpretations than are available in broader treatments of the Roman Near East.

1
ROME ON THE EUPHRATES AND IN MESOPOTAMIA, c.65

–c. AD 200

Introduction

From the time of Pompey’s establishment of the province of Syria in c.65

, the Euphrates came to symbolize a boundary between Roman and Parthian interests in the Near East.¹ On a number of occasions over the next 130 years meetings between senior Roman officials or members of the Imperial family and Parthian representatives were held on the Euphrates, confirming its status during this time as a boundary. During this time, however, there is no evidence for Roman fortifications within the vicinity of the Euphrates, and the river was crossed on many occasions by both Roman and Parthian forces. The Euphrates appears to have played the role of a symbolic boundary between Roman and Parthian interests up to the early Flavian period. Initially the status of the river as a symbolic boundary applied more to its northerly section as it flows from north to south, but during the Augustan period there is some evidence to suggest that it came to include the middle Euphrates in its south-easterly flow towards Mesopotamia.²

Over time the Euphrates came to play an increasingly important military role in the disputes between Rome and Parthia over Armenia, and this was one factor that led to the permanent establishment of Roman troops on or close to the river for the first time during the reign of Vespasian. In the second century the Euphrates played a key role in conflict between Rome and Parthia, including three Roman invasions of its powerful eastern neighbour. As Roman territorial interests extended further east as a result of these conflicts, the Euphrates became increasingly important militarily over an increasing distance. By the end of the second century AD, Rome had organized territory for a considerable distance on the other side of the Euphrates so that Roman provincial territory extended to the banks of the Tigris.³ By this time, the Euphrates itself became less important militarily as the frontier moved further east but there is considerable evidence for the Roman military presence on the middle Euphrates in the third century AD.

From Pompey to Vespasian the more relevant section of the Euphrates as a symbolic boundary was the course it took as it flows south from Cappadocia and Commagene to the point where it turns east near Barbalissos to flow in the direction of Mesopotamia. From this point the evidence is less conclusive; however, in the late first century

the confluence of the Khabur river and the Euphrates may also have marked a boundary between Roman and Parthian interests. In general, the Euphrates was not well suited to act in a defensive capacity for Rome, but there were times when practicality saw it act in this way.⁴ At its most westerly stretch the Euphrates flows close to the Mediterranean coastline in the direction of Antioch, making the most important city in the Roman Near East potentially vulnerable to Parthian and, later, Persian attacks directed from the river. Despite this, fortifications on or close to the river under the Flavians and Trajan were located more to the north, indicating that the main military interest was in Armenia and increasingly in directing attacks into Osrhoene and northern Mesopotamia. In the long term, therefore, the military build-up that developed under the Flavians on the upper and middle Euphrates was focused more on offensive capacity than defence.

While the Roman military presence on the middle and upper Euphrates was maintained in the second century, it appears that there were no Roman fortifications on the river below Zeugma until after the victory over Parthia in the middle of the second century under Lucius Verus. From this period a larger section of the Euphrates came under more direct Roman control, with Roman fortifications located as far down the river as Dura Europos. By the end of the reign of Septimius Severus, Roman fortifications existed on the Euphrates a further 120km downstream from Dura. Prior to AD 165, settlements on the Euphrates below the Khabur, such as Dura, had been under some form of Parthian control, but there are important questions to be asked about the nature of Parthian control on this section of the middle Euphrates and, in particular, the nature of the Palmyrene presence on this part of the river in the second century. As Roman power extended further east towards Mesopotamia in the second century, the Palmyrenes came to play an increasingly important military role in the Roman presence on the Euphrates. This military role was an evolution from the armed protection of the caravans, which Palmyra had established from the first century

. When Septimius Severus initiated a major reorganization of territory in Syria, Osrhoene and northern Mesopotamia, the Palmyrenes continued to play a significant role in the longer-term establishment of Roman authority on the middle Euphrates and in the territory of Palmyra itself. Following its inclusion in the province of Coele Syria, Palmyra would continue to play a unique role in the Roman Near East, which in turn contributed to its dramatic rise and fall later in the third century.

From Pompey to Augustus

The Euphrates’ role in conflict

The Euphrates appears to have played the role of a boundary between the north-eastern part of the Roman province of Syria, the Roman clientkingdoms of Commagene and Cappadocia and the Parthian-aligned kingdom of Osrhoene in the first century

.⁵ In this sense it represented a symbolic division between Roman and Parthian interests on sections of the upper and middle Euphrates. Indeed, the Parthians asked Pompey to recognize the Euphrates as a boundary of Roman control, indicating that this was how they conceived of the extent of their own power in the middle of the first century

.⁶ Pompey evaded the request, but the treatment of the Euphrates as a symbolic boundary by the Romans seems to have been the reality over the following 130 years.

The poet Vergil made three references to the Euphrates that are reflective of how the Euphrates represented a point where Roman and Parthian power met and conflicted under Octavian/Augustus. Two references in the Georgics show the employment of the Euphrates as a literary device for strife and war in territory on the upper and middle Euphrates during the civil war between Octavian and Antonius.⁷ These references not only indicate a concern about a possible Parthian invasion during the civil war but in particular the support of the client-kingdoms on the Euphrates for Antonius.⁸ In Georgics 4.561, Octavian deals with the client-kingdoms on the Euphrates as part of the settlement following Actium, and in the Aeneid Augustus receives honours from conquered peoples and the submission of the Euphrates—undoubtedly representatives of the client-kingdoms on the Euphrates that had supported Antonius.⁹ The Euphrates is portrayed by Vergil as a source of war and difficulty which Octavian/Augustus succeeded in subduing. The potentially unstable nature of territory on either side of the river in political and military terms is clearly reflected in these passages, and over the following century the loyalty of the client-kingdoms to Rome was at times questionable. The Euphrates was representative, therefore, of a point at which Roman power was under potential threat and in this sense represents a boundary.

An interesting reference made by Velleius Paterculus also conveys the idea of the Euphrates as symbolizing a boundary on its upper reaches between Roman and Parthian interests in the Augustan period.¹⁰ In his coverage of Gaius Caesar’s tour of the eastern provinces in AD 1, Velleius tells the story of an event he witnessed in which Gaius met Phraates V of Parthia on an island in the Euphrates. The Roman army was arrayed on one side of the river while the Parthian army faced them on the opposite bank. Gaius then entertained Phraates on the Roman side (‘nostra ripa’) before dining with Phraates on enemy soil (‘regem in hostili epulatus est’) on the opposite bank. This is reflective of the representation of the Euphrates by Vergil. There is no indication as to where specifically this meeting took place; however, it immediately follows a report of Gaius meeting Tiberius while he was still in self-exile on Rhodes. It presumably took place in the vicinity of Zeugma. Late in the reign of Tiberius, a similar meeting took place between Vitellius and the Parthian king, which is discussed in more detail on p. 16.

From the establishment of the province of Syria by Pompey until shortly before the reign of Vespasian (AD 69–79) there is no evidence for a permanent Roman or Parthian military presence on the Euphrates, demonstrating that the Euphrates acted more as a symbolic or notional boundary rather than a practically defended one during this period. For a stretch of approximately 250 km downstream from the point at which the Euphrates emerges from the Taurus range at Commagene it was relatively easy in antiquity to cross the river as it had few significant obstacles on either bank. The river was not, therefore, a significant natural barrier on this section. The Syrian coastline in the vicinity of Antioch was potentially vulnerable for the Romans and the plains of Osrhoene and northern Mesopotamia were at risk for the Parthians, but there seems to have been no attempt to locate fortifications on the Euphrates in this period, indicating that neither empire sought the strict enforcement of the river as a boundary.¹¹

Conflict between Rome and Parthia in the first 30 years of the existence of the province of Syria was often begun by the Romans, and it took place on both sides of the Euphrates. The most famous example is Crass...

Table of contents

• CONTENTS
• ILLUSTRATIONS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• ABBREVIATIONS AND ANCIENT SOURCES
• INTRODUCTION
• 1 ROME ON THE EUPHRATES AND IN MESOPOTAMIA, c.65 вс–c. AD 200
• 2 PALMYRA AND ROME FROM THE MID-FIRST CENTURY вс TO THE THIRD CENTURY AD
• 3 ROMAN MILITARY ORGANIZATION OF THE MIDDLE EUPHRATES IN THE THIRD CENTURY AD
• 4 DURA EUROPOS ON THE MIDDLE EUPHRATES IN THE PARTHIAN AND ROMAN PERIODS
• 5 CONFLICT BETWEEN ROME AND SASANIAN PERSIA INVOLVING THE MIDDLE EUPHRATES, MESOPOTAMIA AND PALMYRA, AD 224–258
• CONCLUSION
• NOTES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX