In 198 CE, Septimius Severus repeated the old march: down the rivers to Seleucia and Ctesiphon, storm, plunder, withdraw. Cassius Dio says the soldiers “plundered the entire city,” taking up to 100,000 captives. The crimson of plumes mixed with the smoke of burning roofs.
What Happened
Septimius Severus, secure after civil war, turned east to confirm his power. He advanced with veteran legions through Nisibis toward the twin cities on the Tigris. The pattern was familiar—siege engines rolled, rams thudded, walls cracked. Seleucia fell, then Ctesiphon [11].
This time the sack was deliberate and vast. “Upon capturing Ctesiphon, he permitted the soldiers to plunder the entire city, and he slew a vast number of people, besides taking as many as a hundred thousand captives,” Cassius Dio records. Chains clinked as columns of prisoners trudged toward Syria; carts creaked under silver and silk [11].
Severus painted victory on coin and inscription. He claimed the Parthian title and reorganized Roman positions in Mesopotamia, but he did not anchor deep garrisons in the Parthian heartland. The Euphrates remained the empire’s backbone; Antioch its nerve center [11].
Like Trajan and Verus before him, Severus could smash the capital but not the system behind it. The azure river kept flowing. The frontier would, too.
Why This Matters
Severus’ sack demonstrated that Rome retained the capacity to strike Parthia’s core at will, harvesting captives and wealth. It did not translate into permanent occupation—a choice driven by logistics and the risk of overextension [11].
This fits the overreach-and-retrenchment cycle. Spectacular violence purchased prestige and bargaining power, only to be followed by a return to the Euphrates line and frontier management through forts and clients.
The blow also weakened the Arsacid regime, contributing to the conditions in which the Sasanian revolution would soon arise, changing the eastern game entirely.
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