196 The Imperial Government
theParthiansinthreebattlesandkillingtheirking,Artahanus,made
acampaignagainstHatra,intheendeavourtocaptureitasabasefor
attackingtheRomans....Heaccordinglybecameasourceoffearto
us;forhewasencampedwithalargearmysoastothreatennotonly
MesopotamiabutalsoSyria,andheboastedthathewouldwinback
everythingthattheancientPersianshadonceheld,asfarastheGre-
cian Sea, claiming that all this was his rightful inheritance from his
forefathers.ThePersiansneverdidreachtheAegean,thoughfourcenturieslatertheirin-
vasionandbriefconquestofSyriaandPalestine,andHeraclius’greatcounter-
invasion,weretoformthebackgroundtothesuddenandwhollyunexpected
conquestsofIslam.Longbeforethat,however,theimperialistself-imageof
thenewdynastyhadproduced,intheformofthegreatinscriptionofShapur
IatNaqsh-e-RustaminIran,thefirstdocumentaryrepresentationwhichwe
haveoftheexternalrelationsoftheRomanEmpireasseenfromoutside:
Whenatfirstwehadbecomeestablishedintheempire,GordianCaesar
raisedinalloftheRomanEmpireaforcefromtheGothandGerman
realmsandmarchedonBabylonia[Assyria](Asuristan)againsttheEm-
pire of Iran and against us. On the border of Babylonia at Misikhe,
a great ‘‘frontal’’ battle occurred. Gordian Caesar was killed and the
Romanforcewasdestroyed.AndtheRomansmadePhilipCaesar.Then
PhilipCaesarcametousforterms,andtoransomtheirlives,gaveus
500,000denarii,andbecametributarytous.Andforthisreasonwehave
renamedMisikhePeroz-Shapur.
AndCaesarliedagainanddidwrongtoArmenia.Thenweattacked
the Roman Empire and annihilated at Barbalissos a Roman force of
60,000andSyriaandtheenvironsofSyriaweburned,ruinedandpil-
laged all. In this one campaign we conquered of the Roman Empire
fortresses and towns: the town of Sura, Barbalissos...atotal of 37
townswithsurroundings.
Inthethirdcampaign,whenweattackedCarrhaeandUrhai[Edessa]
andwerebesiegingCarrhaeandEdessaValerianCaesarmarchedagainst
us.Hehadwithhim aforceof70,000from Germany,Raetia,Nori-
cum....AndbeyondCarrhaeandEdessawehadagreatbattlewith
ValerianCaesar.WemadeprisonerourselveswithourownhandsVale-
rianCaesarandothers,chiefsofthatarmy,thepraetorianprefect,sena-
tors;wemadeallprisonersanddeportedthemtoPersis.
AndSyria,CiliciaandCappadociaweburned,ruinedandpillaged.
In that campaign we conquered of the Roman Empire the town of