Evaluation and analysis of the Battle of Edessa and its consequences in the Middle East

Unlike the Parthians, the Sassanids from the very beginning pursued an aggressive policy towards the Roman Empire. In fact, they sought to retake the lands of their ancestors to the shores of the Mediterranean. It was because of this policy that Ardeshir Babakan was able to annex territories from the Middle East to Iran at the end of his reign. With the rise of Shapur I, the Romans launched an offensive to retake the lost territories to the east, leading to the Battle of Edessa. The findings of this study, which is based on historical documents and reports and with a descriptive-analytical method, show that the Roman emperor was captured by the Sassanids and due to the power vacuum that had arisen in the Middle East, claimants such as Macrianus and his sons, as well as the ruler of Palmyra, ruled the region. Due to the unrest that followed the capture of Valerian in the West and the Near East, the Roman emperors, with the support of the rulers of Palmyra, were initially able to restore the situation in the region to before the Battle of Edessa, but later the rule of Palmyra They also suppressed and restored their power over the region.