Talk:Battle of Edessa

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Valerian fate

This article says Valerian lived after the battle, while according Valerian (emperor) atricle, the emperor was executed after the defeat. Could anyone solve the matter?--Panairjdde 17:59, 20 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Valerian was not killed, he was captured and died in captivity, Taranto?

Anymore questions —Preceding unsigned comment added by Arvand (talk • contribs)

Regarding the figures of Roman dead. A gaming site is not a reputable source for casualty figures. Need better refs. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.156.38.227 (talk) 00:40, 20 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"Battle" of Edessa?

Hello everyone. I'll be blunt and go straight to the point: which sources actually speak of a pitched engagement between Romans and Sassanids, between the official, propagandistic reliefs of the Persian monarchy?

Eutropius (historian) (living in the 4th century) (Breviarium ab Urbe Condita, IX 7), Festus (4th century) (Breviarium rerum gestarum populi Romani, XXIII), and Aurelius Victor (4th century) (De Caesaribus, XXXII, 5) mention a pitched battle, which was a serious Roman defeat.
Zosimus (V-VI century) (New History, I, 36.2) says Shapur treacherously ambushed Valerian, asking for a summit in order to treat peace, and actually capturing him.
John Zonaras (XII century) (Epitome of Histories XII, 23) says Valerian sought a sort of "political asylum" in Persia to escape a plot against him, fuelled by the rage of the soldiers.

Now. Shall not these other sources be included in the article? Where does the latter gets its factual credibility, anyway? I mean, how can be even sure there was a battle anyway. If we do trust the Res Gestae Divi Saporis, it is certain there was a battle; but why should we trust that more than Zosimus (and vice versa)? I hope I've made myself clear. --2.39.115.236 (talk) 18:49, 12 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Hello. I think that analyzing the primary sources (essentially a form of original research) is not the proper way for contributing material in Wikipedia. This method is even less acceptable for deciding the very substance of this article (i.e. where there was a battle or not). Instead, one must use reliable secondary sources. For instance, this is what David S. Potter says on the matter: "...Western accounts are much less so (i.e. in saying that Valerian was captured during a battle), but it looks as if they too told of a battle in which the Romans were defeated and besieged)".--Dipa1965 (talk) 07:54, 13 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Size of Sassanid force

The reason given for removing the figure listed for the Sasanid force was not clear. Neither DK publishing (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DK_(publisher)) nor the specific work cited appear to have any affiliation with the individual named by LouisAragon as the reason for the reversion. TransparentEye (talk) 19:23, 1 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

TransparentEye, it seems that DK Publishing specializes in popularized science books for minors (and?) adults. I would clearly prefer an academic resource over this kind of stuff.--Dipa1965 (talk) 16:51, 6 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Dipa1965 DK publishing appears to publish works by a variety of authors on a variety of subjects for a variety of audiences as stated by the company. I agree that a better source from a more academically established publisher is desirable, however this is the only figure I have found on the subject. If there is some reason that disqualifies the team that produced the cited work, I would appreciate you stating it, as I only had time to give a cursory look into their background. --TransparentEye —Preceding undated comment added 08:20, 7 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Hello TransparentEye and thank you for responding. LouisAragon probably visited this Amazon page which is clearly wrong on author identity. However, while this book has indeed a professional historian as its editorian consultant and at least one else among its contributors, the overall format and target audience seems extremely discouraging for using it as reference material here. Should we rely on popularizing history books? Should we trust a publishing house with this variety of subjects? Let's also consider that neither a single academic (or primary) source is able to cite a figure for the Iranian force. That's my 2c on the matter.--Dipa1965 (talk) 19:33, 21 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I'll ask a seasoned admin who's often involved in identifying reliable sources.

@Doug Weller: Is The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Warfare: From Ancient Egypt to Iraq. DK Publishing. a reliable source for this article? In short; can we use it?[1] Thanks, - LouisAragon (talk) 22:40, 21 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

No. Not even a named author. I'm not saying we can never use DK books, but for this article we need academic sources. Doug Weller talk 20:18, 22 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

When?

259 or 260? Bianchi-Bihan (talk) 17:21, 4 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

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The Battle of Edessa took place between the armies of the Roman Empire under the command of Emperor Valerian and the Sasanian Empire under Shahanshah (King of the Kings) Shapur I, Shapur I, on the site of the modern Turkish city of Urfa in 260. The Roman army was defeated and captured in its entirety by the Sasanian forces; for the first time, a Roman emperor was taken prisoner. This 3rd-century Sasanian rock-face relief, located at the ancient necropolis of Naqsh-e Rostam in modern-day Iran, depicts Shapur's triumph over Valerian in the battle.

Sculpture credit: Sasanian Empire; photographed by Diego Delso

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