Battle of Nisibis (217)

Battle of Nisibis
Part of Caracalla's Parthian War
Date217
Location
Nisibis, northern Mesopotamia
(modern-day Nusaybin, Mardin, Turkey)
Result Parthian victory[1]
Belligerents
Parthian Empire Roman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Artabanus IV Macrinus
Strength
Unknown Unknown
Casualties and losses
Heavy Heavy

The Battle of Nisibis was fought in the summer of 217 between the armies of the Roman Empire under the newly ascended emperor Macrinus and the Parthian army of King Artabanus IV. It lasted for three days, and ended with a bloody Parthian victory, with both sides suffering large casualties. As a result of the battle, Macrinus was forced to seek peace, paying the Parthians a huge sum and abandoning the invasion of Mesopotamia that Caracalla had begun a year before.

  1. ^ The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History, ed.Touraj Daryaee, (Oxford University Press, 2012), 178;"A Parthian counteroffensive defeated them in the battle of Nisibis"