page_title: Romans in Persia
section_title: Valerian Bridge
hierarchical_section_title: Romans in Persia / Valerian Bridge
caption_attribution_description: English: Roman-built Band-e Kaisar ("Caesar's dam") in Shushtar, Iran, said to have been built by Roman prisoners during the reign of Shapur I (ca. 260−270 AD). The dam bridge, the most eastern Roman engineering structure, was the first of its kind in Iran. Deutsch: Der römische Band-e Kaisar ("Caesars Damm") in Schuschtar (Iran), der laut der persischen Überlieferung unter der Herrschaft von Schapur I. von römischen Kriegsgefangenen errichtet wurde (um 260−270 n. Chr.). Der Brückendamm, der östlichste jemals errichtete römische Ingenieurbau, war der erste seiner Art in Iran.
context_page_description: Romans in Persia is related to the brief invasion and occupation of western and central areas of Parthia by the Romans during their empire. Emperor Trajan was even temporarily able to nominate a king of western parts of Parthia, Parthamaspates, as ruler of a Roman "client state" in Parthia.
context_section_description: There are few Roman ruins in Persia, but one seems to be related to curious war events: the Valerian Bridge.
  This Valerian Bridge (Band-e Kaisar in Persian, literally "bridge of Caesar") is named after the Roman emperor Valerian (253–260 AD) who was captured with many legionaries by the Sassanid ruler Shapur I after having been defeated in the Battle of Edessa (260). This vast labour force, which may have numbered up to 50,000 men and included the Roman engineering corps, was deported and was probably employed by the victors for construction work in Shushtar, an important agricultural center in south-western Iran. To service its large stretches of arable land, altogether some 150,000 hectares, the Romans set out to construct three structures: a canal called Ab-i Gargar, and the two dams of Band-e Kaisar and Band-e Mizan which directed the water flow of the Karun river into the artificial watercourse. Perhaps the bridge was built by soldiers of the Sixth legion Ferrata, because this unit disappears from sources after Valerian's defeat.
  The story of the Valerian Bridge was written by the Muslim historians Tabari and Masudi in the 9th and 10th centuries. Although their novel-like narrative cannot be ignored, the historical presence of the Romans is corroborated by modern local names, such as "Roumischgan" for a nearby village, and a Lurs tribe by the name of "Rumian". Moreover, local tradition ascribes to Roman settlers the origin of a number of trades, like the local production of brocade, and several popular customs.
  The bridge has been designated by UNESCO as Iran's 10th World Heritage Site in 2009.
caption: Valerian Bridge or Bridge of Caesar
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