page_title: Julian's Persian War
section_title: Advance
hierarchical_section_title: Julian's Persian War / Aims and preparations / Advance
caption_attribution_description: English: Ancient Roman road near Tall Aqibrin in Syria. This road connected Antioch and Chalcis. Français&#160;: Ancienne voie romaine près de Tell Aqibrin en Syrie. Elle reliait Antioche à Chalcis (Qinnasrin).
context_page_description: Julian's Persian War, or the Perso-Roman War of 363, was the last undertaking of the Roman emperor Julian, begun in March 363. It was an aggressive war against the Sasanian Empire ruled by Shapur II.
  Aiming for the Sasanian capital Ctesiphon, Julian assembled a large army. In order to mislead the opponent and carry out a pincer attack, he sent a detachment to join with his ally Arshak II of Arsacid Armenia and to take the Tigris route from the north. Meanwhile, with his main army and a large fleet he advanced rapidly down the Euphrates relatively unopposed, destroyed several fortified cities, and reached the walls of the Sasanian capital, where a large force was assembled to defend it.
  The Romans won a victory outside Ctesiphon, but the northern army failed to arrive and the fortified capital seemed impregnable. Thus, Julian did not attempt to besiege the city and instead, burned the Roman fleet of supplies and marched into Persia's interior. Shapur II's army, however, still avoided a full-scale battle and used scorched earth tactics; as a result, Julian's army soon faced supply problems and had to retreat to the north.
context_section_description: Julian had wintered at Antioch in Roman Syria. On 5 March 363 he set out north-east with his army by way of Beroea (Aleppo) and Hierapolis (Manbij), where fifty soldiers were killed in the collapse of a portico while they were marching under it. The whole army mustered there, crossed the middle Euphrates and proceeded to Carrhae (Harran), site of the famous battle in which the Roman general Crassus was defeated and killed in 53 BC. "From there two different royal highways lead to Persia," writes the eyewitness Ammianus Marcellinus: "the one on the left through Adiabene and across the Tigris; the one on the right through Assyria and across the Euphrates." Julian made use of both. He sent a detachment (variously estimated between 16,000-30,000 by ancient sources) under Procopius and Sebastianus towards the Tigris where they were to join Arshak and his Armenian army. They were then to attack the Persians from the north. Thus, by tying Shapur down in northern Mesopotamia, Julian would have been able to quickly advance down the Euphrates without opposition, while the group in Armenia was supposed to join up with Julian in Assyria. Many modern scholars have praised the choice of routes, rapid movements, and deception, while some consider the plan to be inadequate with regard to supply, communication, climate consideration, and the difficulty of crossing between Euphrates and Tigris near Naarmalcha.
  Julian himself, with the larger part of his army (which numbered 65,000 although whether that was before or after Procopius' departure is unclear) turned south along the Balikh River towards the lower Euphrates, reaching Callinicum (al-Raqqah) on 27 March and meeting the fleet of 1,100 supply vessels and 50 armed galleys under the command of Lucillianus. There he was met by leaders of the "Saraceni" (Arab nomads), who offered Julian a gold crown. He refused to pay the traditional tribute in return; though he later requested their envoys to join him. The army followed the Euphrates downstream to Circesium (the border city) and crossed the river Aboras (Khabur) with the help of a pontoon bridge assembled for the purpose.
caption: The Roman road from Antioch to Chalcis and Aleppo, the first stage of Julian's expedition
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