Siege of Dura-Europos (256) (nonfiction)

Ruins of a city wall at the site of Dura Europos.

The Siege of Dura Europos took place when the Sassanians under Shapur I besieged the Roman city of Dura-Europos in 256 after capturing Antioch.

Dura-Europos was an important trading center in Roman Syria. It may or may not be the same as the "Doura" recorded in Shapur I's inscriptions. The town was in Sasanian hands for some time after its fall, and was later abandoned. Intact archaeological evidences at Dura provide details of the Roman presence there, and the dramatic course of the siege. The garrison was determined to resist the siege, and the Sasanians employed a variety of siege warfare techniques to defeat them. Archaelogical evidences suggest that the garrison at Dura-Europos was mixed, composed of Cohors XX Palmyrenorum (which is known more than the others), vexillations from Legio IV Scythica Valeriana Galliena, III Cyrenaica, XVI Flavia Firma, and other cohorts, including Cohors II Paphlagonum Galliana Volusiana and possibly Cohors II Equestris. The relationship between these forces are uncertain. XX Palmyrenorum was certainly based in Dura-Europos, and may have been an "inferior" contingent of the garrison relative to the legionaries. The numbers of the legionaries are unknown.

The use of chemical weapons

The siege was notable for the early use of chemical weapons by the attacking Persian army. During the siege the attackers dug several underground shaft mines under the city walls. The Romans dug tunnels to reach the mines and fight the diggers underground. In one such tunnel, when the Romans broke through into the Sassanian tunnel the tunnelers ignited a mixture of sulfur and pitch, producing a cloud of sulfur dioxide, which killed twenty Roman soldiers. Archaeologists excavated the site in the 1930s. In 2009 tests showed the presence of sulfur dioxide inside the tunnel.

Fiction cross-reference

• Crimes against chemical constants
• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles

Nonfiction cross-reference

• Pitch (resin) (nonfiction)
• Shapur I (nonfiction) - the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent till the death of the latter in 242. Shapur consolidated and expanded the empire of Ardashir I, waging war against the Roman Empire, whom he seized the cities of Nisibis and Carrhae from, whilst advancing as far as Roman Syria. He was defeated at the Battle of Resaena in 243, but was able to conclude a favorable peace treaty the following year with the Roman emperor Philip the Arab, which was regarded by the Romans as "a most shameful treaty". Shapur I's support for Zoroastrianism caused a rise in the position of the clergy, and his religious tolerance accelerated the spread of Manichaeanism and Christianity in Persia. He is also noted in the Jewish tradition.
• Sulfur (nonfiction)
• Sulfur dioxide (nonfiction)
• War (nonfiction)

External links:

• Siege of Dura-Europos (256) @ Wikipedia