Beate Dignas & Engelbert Winter - Kaveh Farrokh

23 Palmyra 155
Hatraensians, who had been Rome’s enemies during the Arsacid period,
now sought cooperation with Rome against the common opponent, the
Sasanians. Rome and Hatra allied themselves in the following years 20
and the city became part of the Roman defence strategy along the Eastern
frontier, developments which enhanced Rome’s strategic position in
northern Mesopotamia considerably. Latin inscriptions that have been
found in Hatra attest the presence of Roman soldiers in the city during
the reigns of Severus Alexander (222–35) and Gordian III (238–44). 21
Roman activities after 230 such as the building and repair of streets and
fortresses in the vicinity of Hatra further reveal Roman interest in using
the city as an outpost against the Persian enemy and as part of its defence
system.
The military alliance between Rome and Hatra weakened the Sasanian
position in a region that was strategically important as well as from the point
of view of trade. This situation inevitably provoked a reaction from the rising
Eastern power and eventually Hatra was not able to withstand the
Sasanian expansion of power. When the Persians conquered Hatra in the
year 240 22 the political balance of power in this region was affected significantly
and this entailed new military confrontations. In the Roman–
Sasanian peace treaty of 244 (16) the Roman emperor Philip the Arab
(244–9) presumably gave up the Roman protectorate of the territory of
Hatra and, urged to do so by ˇ Sāpūr I, recalled his troops from there. 23
Ammianus Marcellinus describes the Hatra of the year 363 as an old city in
the middle of the desert, which had been deserted a long time ago. 24 The
example of Hatra was not unique. J. Wiesehöfer explains that Hatra’s fate
was typical for that of buffer states between the great powers. They often
rose as a result of the strategic and political interests of their patrons but
as often were crushed between them. 25 Not quite identical but comparable
was the situation of Palmyra, which played an important role in the
Iranian–Roman confrontations.
23: Palmyra
Pliny, Naturalis Historia v.88 26
Palmyra, a city that is privileged by its location, the high quality of its soil and
its pleasant waters, is encircled on all sides by wide sandy deserts and lies – as if
separated from other countries in a natural way – on its own between the two
20 On this alliance see Hauser 1998: 516–19. 21 Oates 1955: 39–43 (nos. 79–81).
22 Cf. the references on pp. 19–22, nn. 9-12. 23 Winter 1988: 103–4. 24 Amm. xxv.8.5.
25 Wiesehöfer 1982: 447. 26 On this passage see Kaizer 2002: 36.