The Capture of the Sassanid Emperor\'s Harem

[Nathan Ross]

I have been wondering why the Romans had not been capable of using that feat of capturing the Royal harem to force Shapur to certain hard concessions as some decades later Galerius did.

But it would depend on who the 'Romans' were, in this case! It was (apparently) Ballista who captured the concubines, but he was only praetorian prefect of the wobbly usurper Macrianus - it was Odenathus of Palmyra who actually won the war against Shapur, attacking him during his retreat from Syria and later laying siege to Ctesiphon. And Odenathus and Ballista were not exactly allies... Quite possibly Odenathus later 'won' the captured harem from Ballista, after having him killed - that might explain the confusion in the H.A. about who originally captured Shapur's women. By that point, though, the Persians were already a beaten force, and Odenathus was the real power in the east.

Besides, Shapur still had the emperor Valerian as a hostage, and preferred using him as a footstool or whatever to bargaining for the return of his harem! Sadly, one live emperor seems to have been worth more than any amount of concubines...

- Nathan