Julian’s Persian Campaign

Julian assembled a large army for an invasion of Mesopotamia and advanced down the Euphrates toward Ctesiphon. Roman forces won engagements and reached the Persian capital’s vicinity but lacked the means to capture it.

Julian ordered the fleet burned and attempted to move inland, where supply difficulties and Sasanian attacks forced a retreat. He was mortally wounded in a skirmish, and his successor Jovian surrendered territory and strategic fortresses to secure the army’s escape.

The campaign is treated in Thirteen Roman Defeats as a strategic disaster produced by ambitious planning, inadequate logistics and the sudden loss of imperial command.