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In the semi-legendary period of the early republic, sources record Rome was twice attacked by Etruscan armies. About 509 BC [[Roman-Etruscan Wars#War with Veii and Tarquinii, after the overthrow of the monarchy in 509 BC|war with Veii and Tarquinii]] was said to have been instigated by the recently overthrown king Tarquinius Superbus.<ref name="historyOfRomeP32">Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 32</ref><ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab urbe condita libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'', [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 2#6|2.6–7]]</ref> Again in 508 BC Tarquin persuaded the king of [[Clusium]], [[Lars Porsenna]], to wage [[Roman-Etruscan Wars#War with Clusium in 508 BC|war]] on Rome, resulting in a siege of Rome and afterwards a peace treaty.<ref name="epitomeB1C9">Florus, ''Epitome of Roman History'', Book 1, ch. 9</ref><ref name="historyOfRomeP32"/><ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab urbe condita libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'', [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 2#9|2.9–13]]</ref>
Initially, Rome's immediate neighbours were either [[Latins (Italic tribe)|Latin]] towns and villages<ref name="epitomeB1C11">Florus, ''The Epitome of Roman History'', Book 1, ch. 11</ref> on a tribal system similar to that of Rome, or else tribal Sabines from the Apennine hills beyond.<ref name="historyP38">Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 38</ref> One by one, Rome defeated both the persistent Sabines and the local cities that were either under Etruscan control or else Latin towns that had cast off their Etruscan rulers, as had Rome.<ref name="historyP38"/> Rome defeated the [[Lavinium|Lavinii]] and [[Tusculum|Tusculi]] in the [[Battle of Lake Regillus]] in 496 BC,<ref name="epitomeB1C11"/><ref name="historyP37">Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 37</ref><ref>Livy, ''The Rise of Rome'', p. 89</ref> were defeated by the [[Veii|Veientes]] in the [[Battle of the Cremera]] in 477 BC,<ref>Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 41</ref><ref name="epitomeB1C12">Florus, ''The Epitome of Roman History'', Book 1, ch. 12</ref> defeated the [[Sabines]] in an unnamed battle in 449 BC,<ref name="historyP37"/> the [[Aequi]] in the [[Battle of Mount Algidus]] in 458 BC, the Aequi and [[Volsci]] in 446 BC,<ref>Cassius Dio, ''The Roman History'', Vol. 1, VII, 17</ref><ref>Cassius Dio, ''The Roman History'', Vol. 1, VII, 16</ref> in the [[Battle of Corbio]],<ref name="enemiesP13">''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 13</ref> in 446 BC the [[Aurunci]] in the Battle of Aricia,<ref>Livy, ''The Rise of Rome'', p. 96</ref> the [[Capture of Fidenae]] in 435 BC<ref name="epitomeB1C12"/><ref name="historyP42">Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 42</ref> and the [[Siege of Veii]] in 396 BC,<ref name="epitomeB1C12"/><ref name="enemiesP13"/><ref name="historyP42"/><ref>Cassius Dio, ''The Roman History'', Vol. 1, VII, 20</ref> and the Capture of Antium in 377 BC.<ref name="historyP39">Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 39</ref> After defeating the Veientes, the Romans had effectively completed the conquest of their immediate Etruscan neighbours,<ref>Pennell, ''Ancient Rome'', Ch. II</ref> as well as secured their position against the immediate threat posed by the tribespeople of the Apennine hills. In the meantime, it also affected the agriculture as well as diet regime of the empire. Since the enlargement the population in Apennine peninsula had increased and led to certain changes in agriculture, such as switch to goat breeding from cattle, indicating higher levels of protein supply in the diet which played a crucial role in stature of the locals.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Koepke |first1=Nikola |last2=Baten |first2=Joerg |title=Agricultural specialization and height in ancient and medieval Europe |journal=Explorations in Economic History |date=1 April 2008 |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=127–146 |doi=10.1016/j.eeh.2007.09.003 }}</ref>
However, Rome still controlled only a very limited area and the affairs of Rome were minor even to those in Italy<ref name="enemiesP13"/> and Rome's affairs were only just coming to the attention of the Greeks, the dominant cultural force at the time.<ref name="historyOfRomeP44">Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 44</ref> At this point the bulk of Italy remained in the hands of [[Latin]], [[Sabine]], [[Samnium|Samnite]] and other peoples in the central part of Italy, [[Ancient Greeks|Greek]] colonies to the south, and the [[Celts|Celtic people]], including the [[Gauls]], to the north.
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{{Campaignbox Samnite Wars}}
[[File:Roman conquest of Italy.PNG|thumb|300px|[[Roman expansion in Italy]] from 500 BC to 218 BC through the [[Latin War]] (light red), [[Samnite Wars]] (pink/orange), [[Pyrrhic War]] (beige), and [[First Punic War|First]] and [[Second Punic War|Second]] [[Punic Wars|Punic War]] (yellow and green). [[Cisalpine Gaul]] (238-146 BC) and [[Alps|Alpine]] valleys (16-7 BC) were later added. The [[Roman Republic]] in 500 BC is marked with dark red.]]
After swiftly recovering from the sack of Rome,<ref>Pennell, ''Ancient Rome'', Ch. IX, para. 4</ref> the Romans immediately resumed their expansion within Italy. Despite their successes, their mastery of the whole of Italy was by no means assured. The [[Samnites]] were a people just as martial<ref>Pennell, ''Ancient Rome'', Ch. IX, para. 23</ref> and as rich<ref name="epitomeB1C16">Florus, ''The Epitome of Roman history'', Book 1, ch. 16</ref> as the Romans and had the objective of their own to secure more lands in the fertile<ref name="epitomeB1C16"/> Italian plains on which Rome itself lay.<ref>Lane Fox, ''The Classical World'', p. 282</ref> The [[First Samnite War]] of between 343 BC and 341 BC that followed widespread Samnite incursions into Rome's territory<ref>Pennell, ''Ancient Rome'', Ch. IX, para. 8</ref> was a relatively short affair: the Romans beat the Samnites in both the [[Battle of Mount Gaurus]] in 342 BC and the [[Battle of Suessula]] in 341 BC but were forced to withdraw from the war before they could pursue the conflict further due to the revolt of several of their Latin allies in the [[Latin War]].<ref name="historyP48">Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 48</ref><ref name="pennellC9P13">Pennell, ''Ancient Rome'', Ch. IX, para. 13</ref>
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[[File:Pyrrhic War Italy en.svg|300px|thumb|Route of Pyrrhus of Epirus]]
{{Campaignbox Pyrrhic War}}
By the beginning of the 3rd century
In the naval [[Battle of Thurii]],<ref name="historyOrRomeP78"/> [[Taranto|Tarentum]] appealed for military aid to [[Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus]], ruler of [[Epirus]].<ref name="historyOrRomeP78"/><ref>Cantor, ''Antiquity'', p. 151</ref> Motivated by his diplomatic obligations to Tarentum, and a personal desire for military accomplishment,<ref>Pennell, ''Ancient Rome'', Ch. X, para. 6</ref> Pyrrhus landed a Greek army of some 25,000 men<ref name="historyOrRomeP78"/> and a contingent of [[war elephant]]s<ref name="historyOrRomeP78"/><ref name="epitomeB1C18">Florus, ''The Epitome of Roman history'', Book 1, ch. 18</ref> on Italian soil in 280 BC,<ref>Lane Fox, ''The Classical World'', p. 304</ref> where his forces were joined by some Greek colonists and a portion of the [[Samnites]] who revolted against Roman control, taking up arms against Rome for the fourth time in seventy years.
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Unable to defeat Hannibal himself on Italian soil, and with Hannibal savaging the Italian countryside but unwilling or unable to destroy Rome itself, the Romans boldly sent an army to Africa with the intention of threatening the Carthaginian capital.<ref>Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 40</ref> In 203 BC at the [[Battle of Bagbrades]] the invading Roman army under [[Scipio Africanus Major]] defeated the Carthaginian army of [[Hasdrubal Gisco]] and [[Syphax]] and Hannibal was recalled to Africa.<ref name="antiquityP153"/> At the famous [[Battle of Zama]] Scipio decisively defeated<ref>Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 41</ref> – perhaps even "annihilated"<ref name="antiquityP153"/> – [[Hannibal]]'s army in North Africa, ending the [[Second Punic War]].
Carthage never managed to recover after the Second Punic War<ref>Pennell, ''Ancient Rome'', Ch. XV, para. 24</ref> and the [[Third Punic War]] that followed was in reality a simple punitive mission to raze the city of Carthage to the ground.<ref>Goldsworthy, ''The Punic Wars'', p. 338</ref> Carthage was almost defenceless and when besieged offered immediate surrender, conceding to a string of outrageous Roman demands.<ref name="punicP339">Goldsworthy, ''The Punic Wars'', p. 339</ref> The Romans refused the surrender, demanding as their further terms of surrender the complete destruction of the city<ref name="epitomeB2C15">Florus, ''The Epitome of Roman history'', Book 2, ch. 15</ref> and, seeing little to lose,<ref name="epitomeB2C15"/> the Carthaginians prepared to fight.<ref name="punicP339"/> In the [[
====Conquest of the Iberian peninsula (219–18 BC)====
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[[File:Macedonia and the Aegean World c.200.png|thumb|300px|Greece, Macedonia and their environs. Circa 200 BC.]]
{{Campaignbox Macedonian Wars}}
{{Campaignbox Rome against Antiochus III}}
Rome's preoccupation with its war with Carthage provided an opportunity for [[Philip V of Macedon|Philip V]] of the kingdom of [[Macedon]] in northern [[Greece]] to attempt to extend his power westward. Philip sent ambassadors to Hannibal's camp in Italy, to negotiate an alliance as common enemies of Rome.<ref name="enemiesP47">Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 47</ref><ref name="historyP115">Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 115</ref> However, Rome discovered the agreement when Philip's emissaries, along with emissaries from Hannibal, were captured by a Roman fleet.<ref name="enemiesP47"/> Desiring to prevent Philip from aiding Carthage in Italy and elsewhere, Rome sought out land allies in Greece to fight a [[proxy war]] against Macedon on its behalf and found partners in the [[Aetolian League]] of Greek city-states,<ref name="historyP115"/> the [[Illyrians]] to the north of Macedon and the [[Attalid kingdom]] of [[Pergamon]]<ref name="historyP116">Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 116</ref> and the city-state of [[Rhodes]],<ref name="historyP116"/> which lay across the Aegean from Macedon.<ref name="enemiesP48">Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 48</ref>
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====Campaign against the Cilician pirates (67 BC)====
{{Campaignbox Rome against the Cilician Pirates}}
The Mediterranean had at this time fallen into the hands of [[Pirate|pirates]],<ref name = "Plutarch"/> largely from [[Cilicia]].<ref name = "epitomeB3C6"/> Rome had destroyed many of the states that had previously policed the Mediterranean with fleets, but had failed to step into the gap created.<ref>Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 165</ref> The pirates had seized the opportunity of a relative power vacuum and had not only strangled shipping lanes but had plundered many cities on the coasts of Greece and Asia,<ref name="epitomeB3C6">Florus, ''The Epitome of Roman history'', Book 3, ch. 6</ref> and had even made descents upon Italy itself.<ref>Holland, ''Rubicon'', p. 170</ref> After the Roman admiral [[Marcus Antonius Creticus]] (father of the [[triumvir]] [[Marcus Antonius]]) failed to clear the pirates to the satisfaction of the Roman authorities, [[Pompey]] was nominated his successor as commander of a special naval task force to campaign against them.<ref name="classicalworldP363"/><ref name = "Plutarch"/> It supposedly took Pompey just forty days to clear the western portion of the western Mediterranean of pirates,<ref name="epitomeB3C6"/><ref>Cicero, ''Pro Lege Manilia'', 12 or De Imperio Cn. Pompei (in favour of the [[Manilian Law]] on the command of Pompey), 66 BC.</ref> and restore communication between Iberia, Africa, and Italy. Plutarch describes how Pompey first swept their craft from the Mediterranean in a series of small actions and through the promise of honouring the surrender of cities and craft. He then followed the main body of the pirates to their strongholds on the coast of [[Cilicia]], and destroyed them there in the naval [[Battle of Korakesion]].<ref name = "Plutarch"/>
====Caesar's early campaigns (59–50 BC)====
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==Empire==
===
[[File:RomanEmpire 117.svg|thumb|300px|The Roman Empire
▲[[File:RomanEmpire 117.svg|thumb|300px|The Roman Empire at its greatest extent under [[Trajan]] in 117 AD]]
{{campaignbox Roman conquest of Britain}}
{{Campaignbox Germanic Wars}}
{{Campaignbox Dacian Wars}}
{{Campaignbox Armenian Wars}}
Secured from internal threats, Rome achieved great territorial gains in both the East and the West. In the West, following humiliating [[Clades Lolliana|defeats]] at the hands of the [[Sugambri]], [[Tencteri]] and [[Usipetes]] tribes in 16 BC,<ref name="nameOfRomeP244">Goldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 244</ref> Roman armies [[Early Imperial campaigns in Germania|pushed]] north and east out of Gaul to subdue much of Germania. The [[Pannonian revolt]] in 6 AD<ref name="nameOfRomeP244"/> forced the Romans to cancel their plan to cement their conquest of Germania.<ref name="luttwakP8"/><ref>Luttwak, ''The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire'', p. 37</ref><ref>Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 208</ref> Despite the loss of a large army almost to the man of [[Publius Quinctilius Varus|Varus]]' famous defeat at the hands of the Germanic leader [[Arminius]] in the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]] in 9 AD,<ref>Goldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 245</ref><ref>Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 159</ref><ref>[[Tony Clunn|Clunn]], ''In Quest of the Lost Legions'', p. xv</ref> Rome recovered and continued its expansion up to and beyond the borders of the known world. Roman armies under [[Germanicus]] pursued several more campaigns against the Germanic tribes of the [[Marcomanni]], [[Hermunduri]], [[Chatti]],<ref>Tacitus, ''The Annals'', Book 1, ch, 56</ref> [[Cherusci]],<ref name="annalsB1C60">Tacitus, ''The Annals'', Book 1, ch. 60</ref> [[Bructeri]],<ref name="annalsB1C60"/> and [[Marsi]].<ref>Santosuosso, ''Storming the Heavens'', p. 143–144</ref> Overcoming several mutinies in the armies along the Rhine,<ref>Goldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 248</ref> Germanicus defeated the Germanic tribes of Arminius in a series of battles culminating in the [[Battle of the Weser River]].<ref>Goldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 260</ref>
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Further east, [[Trajan]] turned his attention to [[Dacia]], an area north of Macedon and Greece and east of the Danube that had been on the Roman agenda since before the days of Caesar<ref>Goldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 322</ref><ref>Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 213</ref> when they had beaten a Roman army at the [[Battle of Histria]].<ref>Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 215</ref> In 85 AD, the Dacians had swarmed over the Danube and pillaged [[Moesia]]<ref>Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 216</ref><ref name = "Luttwak p53">Luttwak, ''The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire'', p. 53</ref> and initially defeated an army the Emperor [[Domitian]] sent against them,<ref name="enemiesP217">Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 217</ref> but the Romans were victorious in the [[Battle of Tapae 88|Battle of Tapae]] in AD 88 and a truce was drawn up.<ref name="enemiesP217"/>
Emperor Trajan recommenced hostilities against Dacia and, following an uncertain number of battles,<ref>Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 219</ref> defeated the Dacian general [[Decebalus]] in the [[Battle of Tapae (101)|Second Battle of Tapae]] in 101 AD.<ref>Luttwak, ''The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire'', p. 54</ref> With Trajan's troops pressing towards the Dacian capital [[Sarmizegethusa]], Decebalus once more sought terms.<ref>Goldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 329</ref> Decebalus rebuilt his power over the following years and attacked Roman garrisons again in 105 AD. In response Trajan again marched into Dacia,<ref>Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 222</ref> besieging the Dacian capital in the [[Siege of
The [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Armenia]] between the [[Black Sea]] and [[Caspian Sea]] became a focus of contention between Rome and the Parthian Empire, and control of the region was repeatedly gained and lost. The Parthians forced [[Armenia]] into submission from 37 AD<ref>Tacitus, ''The Annals'', Book 2, ch, 3</ref> but in 47 AD the Romans retook control of the kingdom and offered it [[client state|client kingdom]] status. Under [[Nero]], the Romans fought a [[Roman-Parthian War of 58–63|campaign between 55 and 63 AD]] against the Parthian Empire, which had again invaded Armenia. After gaining Armenia once more in 60 AD and subsequently losing it again in 62 AD, the Romans sent [[Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo]] in 63 AD into the territories of [[Vologases I]] of [[Parthia]]. Corbulo succeeded in returning Armenia to Roman client status, where it remained for the next century.
{{Campaignbox Year of the Four Emperors}}
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Under pretence of siding with Vespasian, [[Gaius Julius Civilis|Civilis]] of [[Batavians|Batavia]] had taken up arms and induced the inhabitants of his native country to rebel.<ref name="grandstrategyP52"/><ref>Lane Fox, ''The Classical World'', p. 543</ref> The rebelling Batavians were immediately joined by several neighbouring German tribes including the [[Frisii]]. These forces drove out the Roman garrisons near the Rhine and defeated a Roman army at the [[Battle of Castra Vetera]], after which many Roman troops along the Rhine and in Gaul defected to the Batavian cause. However, disputes soon broke out amongst the different tribes, rendering co-operation impossible; Vespasian, having successfully ended the civil war, called upon Civilis to lay down his arms, and on his refusal his legions met him in force, defeating him<ref name = "Luttwak p53"/> in the [[Battle of Augusta Treverorum]].
{{Campaignbox_Jewish-Roman wars}}
{{Campaignbox First Jewish-Roman War}}
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In 115 AD, revolt broke out again in the province, leading to the second Jewish-Roman war known as the [[Kitos War]], and again in 132 AD in what is known as [[Bar Kokhba's revolt]]. Both were brutally crushed.
{{Campaignbox Roman-Parthian Wars}}
By the 2nd century AD the territories of Persia were controlled by the Arsacid dynasty and known as the [[Parthian Empire]]. Due in large part to their employment of [[cataphract|powerful heavy cavalry]] and mobile [[horse archer]]s, Parthia was the most formidable enemy of the Roman Empire in the east. As early as 53 BC, the Roman general Crassus had invaded Parthia, but he was killed and his army was defeated at the [[Battle of Carrhae]]. In the years following Carrhae, the Romans were divided in civil war and hence unable to campaign against Parthia. Trajan also campaigned against the Parthians from 114 to 117 AD and briefly captured their capital [[Ctesiphon]], putting the puppet ruler [[Parthamaspates of Parthia|Parthamaspates]] on the throne. However, rebellions in [[Babylonia]] and the Jewish revolts in Judea made it difficult to maintain the captured province and the territories were abandoned.
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Throughout the Parthian wars, tribal groups along the Rhine and Danube took advantage of Rome's preoccupation with the eastern frontier (and the plague that the Romans suffered from after bringing it back from the east) and launched a series of incursions into Roman territories, including the [[Marcomannic Wars]].
===
[[File:Alemanni expansion.png|thumb|300px|Area settled by the Alamanni, and sites of Roman-Alamannic battles, 3rd to 6th century]]
{{Campaignbox Rome against the Alamanni}}
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{{Multiple image |align=left |direction=vertical |width=200
|image1=GothicInvasions250-251-en.svg |caption1=
|image2=GothicInvasions 267-269-en.svg |caption2=[[Gothic and Vandal warfare#Gothic society and forces in the 3rd and 4th
}}
The assembled warbands of the Alamanni frequently crossed the ''limes'', attacking Germania Superior such that they were almost continually engaged in conflicts with the Roman Empire, whilst Goths attacked across the Danube in battles such as the [[Battle of Beroa]]<ref name="jordanes103">Jordanes, ''The Origins and Deeds of the Goths'', 103</ref> and [[Battle of Philippopolis (250)|Battle of Philippopolis]] in 250 AD<ref name="jordanes103"/> and the [[Battle of Abrittus]] in 251 AD,<ref name="jordanes103"/> and both Goths and [[Heruli]] ravaged the Aegean and, later, Greece, Thrace and Macedonia.<ref name="grandStrategyP147"/><ref>Jordanes, ''The Origins and Deeds of the Goths'', 108</ref> However, their first major assault deep into Roman territory came in 268 AD. In that year the Romans were forced to denude much of their German frontier of troops in response to a massive invasion by another new Germanic tribal confederacy, the [[Goths]], from the east. The pressure of tribal groups pushing into the Empire was the result of a chain of migrations with its roots far to the east:<ref>Gibbon, ''The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', p. 624</ref> [[Huns]] from the Russian steppe attacked the [[Goths]],<ref>Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 270</ref><ref>Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 322</ref><ref>Jordanes, ''The Origins and Deeds of the Goths'', 121</ref> who in turn attacked the [[Dacians]], [[Alans]] and [[Sarmatians]] at or within Rome's borders.<ref>Santosuosso, ''Storming the Heavens'', p. 196</ref> The Goths first appeared in history as a distinct people in this invasion of 268 AD when they swarmed over the Balkan peninsula and overran the Roman provinces of Pannonia and Illyricum and even threatened Italia itself.
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At the start of the 5th century, the pressure on Rome's western borders was growing intense. However, it was not only the western borders that were under threat: Rome was also under threat both internally and on its eastern borders.
[[File:Raphael-Constantine at Milvian Bridge.jpg|thumb|''[[The Battle of the Milvian Bridge (Giulio Romano)|The Battle of the Milvian Bridge]]'' by [[Giulio Romano]] (1499–1546)]]
{{Campaignbox Crisis of the Third Century}}
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Successive emperors [[Valens]] and [[Theodosius I]] also defeated usurpers in, respectively, the [[Battle of Thyatira]], and the battles of [[Battle of the Save|the Save]] and [[Battle of the Frigidus|the Frigidus]].
{{Campaignbox Roman-Sassanid Wars}}
After overthrowing the Parthian confederacy,<ref name="luttwakP128"/><ref name="historyP283">Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 283</ref> the [[Sassanid Empire]] that arose from its remains pursued a more aggressive expansionist policy than their predecessors<ref name="enemiesP234">Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 234</ref><ref name="grandStrategyP151">Luttwak, ''The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire'', p. 151</ref> and continued to make war against Rome. In 230 AD, the first Sassanid emperor attacked Roman territory first in [[Armenia]] and then in [[Mesopotamia]]<ref name="grandStrategyP151"/> but Roman losses were largely restored by [[Alexander Severus|Severus]] within a few years.<ref name="enemiesP234"/> In 243 AD, Emperor [[Gordian III]]'s army retook the Roman cities of Hatra, Nisibis and Carrhae from the Sassanids after defeating the Sassanids at the [[Battle of Resaena]]<ref>Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 235</ref> but what happened next is unclear: Persian sources claim that Gordian was defeated and killed in the [[Battle of Misikhe]]<ref>Shapur, ''Deeds of the God-Emperor Shapur''</ref> but Roman sources mention this battle only as an insignificant setback and suggest that Gordian died elsewhere.<ref name="enemiesP236">Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 236</ref>
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There were several future wars, although all brief and small-scale, since both the Romans and the Sassanids were forced to deal with threats from other directions during the 5th century. A war against [[Bahram V]] in 420 AD over the persecution of the Christians in Persia led to a brief war that was soon concluded by treaty and in 441 AD a war with [[Yazdegerd II]] was again swiftly concluded by treaty after both parties battled threats elsewhere.<ref>Procopius, ''History of the Wars'', Book 1, Pt 1, Ch. 2</ref>
[[File:Europe and the Near East at 476 AD.png|thumb|300px|Europe in 476, after the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]]]]
[[File:628px-Western and Eastern Roman Empires 476AD(3).PNG|thumb|The Western and [[Eastern Roman Empire]]s by 476]]
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