Provincia Mesopotamia

The Roman Empire’s Eastern Frontier; Parthian Territory

Rome’s first foothold in Mesopotamia came with Trajan’s conquests in 116 CE, but his successor, the one and only emperor Hadrian, did not hold it for long as he considered the empire’s borders expanded too thin and far. Decades later, the Libyan emperor Septimius Severus returned east and secured the land between the rivers as a permanent province in 198 CE. From then on, Mesopotamia stood as a vital but embattled frontier, guarding Rome against the rising Persian powers.