Siege of Caesarea Cappadocia (260)
The siege of Caesarea by the Sassanids under Shapur I took place following their siege of the Roman city of Antioch in 260 which followed their major victory over the Romans in the Battle of Edessa.
| Siege of Caesarea (260) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Roman-Persian wars | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Sassanid Empire | Roman Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Shapur I Hormizd I | Demosthenes | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown, probably minimal |
Unknown number of soldiers killed Deportation of 400,000 people | ||||||||
Background
The siege took place during a Sassanid invasion of the Roman east. Caesarea during that time had a large population (about 400,000 inhabitants).
The siege
The Sassanids were unable to take the city, and took a Roman as captive and tortured him until he revealed another route they could use. The Sassanids then raided Caesarea during the night, killing every Roman soldier.
Aftermath
According to Percy Sykes, "He [Shapur] captured Caesarea Mazaca, the greatest city in Cappadocia; but probably from the lack of a standing army, again made no attempt to organize and administer, or even to retain, his conquests. He merely killed and ravaged with barbarous severity".[2]
References
- History of the Jews in Babylonia "At that point, and then alone, Shapur made a violent attack upon Syria and Asia Minor, devastated Antiochia, ravaged Cilicia and Cappadocia, took Tarsus, and, after a protracted siege, Caesarea."
- Percy Sykes, A History of Persia, Vol. I, (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969), 402.