Ancient Rome · BATTLE SITE · 260

Battle of Edessa (260)

On the Ancient Rome map as “Valerian captured at Edessa”

AD 260 — Shapur I of Persia takes Valerian alive at Edessa. A Roman emperor will die in captivity, with no ransom, rescue or reprisal for a decade. It is a low point for the empire.

When: AD 260
Type: Battle site
Chapter: Crisis of the Third Century (chapter 8 of Ancient Rome)
Atlas: The Rise and Fall of Rome, 264 BC – AD 476
Also in: Crusades

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Map showing Battle of Edessa (260), battle site in The Rise and Fall of Rome, 264 BC – AD 476 — BATTLE SITE · THE RISE AND FALL OF ROME, 264 BC – AD 476

These maps are reconstructed from published sources · Cliopatria v0.2.1 · English Heritage: Hadrian’s Wall facts and FAQs · The Metropolitan Museum: Palmyra · Natural Earth physical coastlines and rivers · Pleiades: ancient places and Hadrian’s Wall forts · UNESCO: Frontiers of the Roman Empire

Source details

Cliopatria contributors / Seshat Global History Databank. Selected, combined, and reprojected by Maps of History; dated adjustments are recorded per layer.. CC BY 4.0
English Heritage, facts checked by Dr Frances McIntosh (2026): wall endpoints and fort sequence.. Historical evidence citation; no copyrighted map traced
Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2000).. Historical evidence citation; no prose or map copied
Made with Natural Earth. Modern physical geography is a coastline/river reference, not evidence of ancient sovereignty.. Public domain
Pleiades contributors; A. S. Esmonde Cleary, R. Talbert and subsequent editors (individual record credits retained in the review). Wall route reconstructed through published fort locations.. CC BY 3.0
UNESCO World Heritage Centre: frontier-system identification and dates.. Historical evidence citation; no map copied

Palmyra is shown using a nearby source outline, with its political date explicitly corrected.

Displayed geometry: 271 (s271); chapter framing: 271. The map shows the moment selected for the chapter, even when the chapter spans several events.

proxy: AD265–269 source used for AD271 · reconstruction: 271 · reconstruction: AD122 onward · reconstruction: AD271 · reconstruction: Modern physical shoreline reference · reconstruction: Roman Rhine–Danube frontier system; changing over time · vector: -630 to 337 · vector: 106 to 370 · vector: 207 to 298 · vector: 224 to 346 · vector: 261 to 282 · vector: 265 to 305 · vector: 270 to 282 · vector: 270 to 307 · vector: 270 to 401 · vector: 78 to 370

Layer records and reconstruction methods