SINGARA
![](Singara.jpg)
Singara
in a detail from Peutinger's map, a medieval copy of a 4th-century
Roman original
Singara
(Greek: tà Síngara) was a strongly fortified post
at the northern extremity of Mesopotamia, which for a while, as
it appears from coins found, was occupied by the Romans as an advanced
colony against the Persians. It was the camp of legio I Parthica.
Location
:
Its position south-east of Nisibis was indifferently defined by
ancient writers, with Stephanus of Byzantium calling it a city of
Arabia "near Edessa" and Ptolemy placing it on the Tigris.
There is no doubt, however, that it and its adjacent mountain (ò
Síngaras óros) were the predecessors of the modern
Sinjar and Mount Sinjar in modern Iraq's Nineveh Plains.
History
:
It was first taken by the Romans during Trajan's eastern campaigns,
when general Lusius Quietus captured the city without a fight in
the winter of 114; Although it was abandoned following the Roman
withdrawal from Mesopotamia in 117, the city became once again part
of the Roman Empire with the Parthian campaign of Septimius Severus
in 197. The city was raised by Severus to the status of a Roman
colony, as is attested by the legend found on some of the coins
minted there during the reign of Gordian III: which is Greek script
for the city's Latin name, Aurelia Septimia Colonia Singara. It
remained one of the easternmost outposts of the Roman Empire throughout
the 3rd century. It was the scene of a celebrated nocturnal conflict
during a siege of the city in 344 by Sassanid King Shapur II, the
result of which was so unsatisfactory that both sides claimed the
victory. Still later, in 359 / 360, during the reign of Constantius
II, it is recorded that it underwent a celebrated siege, and at
length was carried by the Persians by storm, though gallantly defended
by the townspeople and two legions. The country around it is stated
by Ammianus Marcellinus and Theophylact Simocatta to have been extremely
arid, which rendered it equally difficult to take or to relieve
from a distance.
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Singara