Battle of Barbalissos

Shapur I used Roman incursions into Armenia as pretext and resumed hostilities with the Romans. The Romans and Sassanids clashed at Barbalissos, a Greek-speaking city on the middle Euprates. The Roman army was allegedly mustering in a camp outside its walls where they were probably attacked by the swift-moving cavalry of the Persians. The Roman army at Barbalissos, according to not-so-reliable Persian sources, consisted of c. 70,000 men, and they were butchered almost to the last man. The defeat of this large Roman force led to the eventual capture of Antioch and Dura Europos in Syria three years later.

Romans	Sassanid Persians
Commander	Commander
Emperor Valerian	King Shapur I
Forces	Forces
70,000	—
Casualties	Casualties
Almost all killed (?)	—

Noteworthy or unique facts about this battle:

This battle is not mentioned by Roman sources. There are doubts about the actual events. Especially, considering that Valerian led another 70,000-army in a similar -and undeniable- disaster 6 years later in Edessa.

The Battles of History