Siege of Dura-Europos (256)
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Era | Date not recorded (no reliable year in Wikidata) | derived from year |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Syria | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Shapur I's Syrio-Mesopotamian campaign | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Roman Empire, Sasanian Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 34.7475, 40.7300 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Dura Europos took place when the Sasanians under Shapur I besieged the Roman city of Dura-Europos in 256 after capturing Antioch.
Dura-Europos was an important trading center in Roman Syria. It may or may not be the same as the "Doura" recorded in Shapur I's inscriptions. The town was in Sasanian hands for some time after its fall, and was later abandoned. Intact archaeological evidences at Dura provide details of the Roman presence there, and the dramatic course of the siege. The garrison was determined to resist the siege, and the Sasanians employed a variety of siege warfare techniques to defeat them. Archaeological evidences suggest that the garrison at Dura-Europos was mixed, composed of Cohors XX Palmyrenorum (which is known more than the others), vexillations from Legio IV Scythica Valeriana Galliena, III Cyrenaica, XVI Flavia Firma, and other cohorts, including Cohors II Paphlagonum Galliana Volusiana and possibly Cohors II Equestris. The relationship between these forces are uncertain. XX Palmyrenorum was certainly based in Dura-Europos, and may have been an "inferior" contingent of the garrison relative to the legionaries. The numbers of the legionaries are unknown.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Dura-Europos (256) (revision 1370740906), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Shapur I's Syrio-Mesopotamian campaign
- Battle of Barbalissos 252
- Siege of Nisibis (252) 252
- Siege of Antioch (253) 253
- Siege of Emesa (253) 253
- Battle of Edessa 260
- Siege of Antioch (260) 260
- Siege of Caesarea in Cappadocia (260) 260
All 8 battles of the Shapur I's Syrio-Mesopotamian campaign →
Browse more: battles in Syria · Asia · Date not recorded battles