(the capital of Atropatene) during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, just a few years before the Arab conquest of Sassanian Persia. Valerian Bridge There are few Roman ruins in Persia, but one seems to be related to curious war events: the Valerian Bridge. This Valerian Bridge (Band-e Kaisar in Persian, literally "bridge of Caesar") is named after the Roman emperor Valerian (253–260 AD) who was captured with many legionaries by the Sassanid ruler Shapur I after having been defeated in the Battle of Edessa (260). This vast labour force, which may have numbered up to 50,000 men and included the Roman engineering corps, was deported and was probably employed by the victors for construction work in Shushtar, an important agricultural center in south-western Iran. To service its large stretches of arable land, altogether some 150,000 hectares, the Romans set out to construct three structures: a canal called Ab-i Gargar, and the two dams of Band-e Kaisar and Band-e Mizan which directed the water flow of the Karun river into the artificial watercourse. Perhaps the bridge was built by soldiers of the Sixth legion Ferrata, because this unit disappears from sources after Valerian's defeat. The story of the Valerian Bridge was written by the Muslim historians Tabari and Masudi in the 9th and 10th centuries. Although their novel-like narrative cannot be ignored, the historical presence of the Romans is corroborated by modern local names, such as "Roumischgan" for a nearby village, and a Lurs tribe by the name of "Rumian". Moreover, local tradition ascribes to Roman settlers the origin of a number of trades, like the local production of brocade, and several popular customs. The bridge has been designated by UNESCO as Iran's 10th World Heritage Site in 2009. See also Roman Armenia Roman Mesopotamia Roman Assyria Roman Azerbaijan Roman Georgia Trajan Galerius Heraclius Media Atropatene Roman relations with the Parthians and Sasanians Parthia Sassanid Empire Roman Empire Arrajan Weh Antiok Khosrow Gundishapur Notes Bibliography Angeli Bertinelli, Maria. Roma e l'Oriente: strategia, economia, società e cultura nelle relazioni politiche fra Roma, la Giudea e l'Iran. L'Erma di Bretschneider editore. Roma, 1979 Arborio Mella, Federico. L'impero persiano. Da Ciro il grande alla conquista araba. Mursia editore. Milano, 1980 Dignas, Beate and Winter, Engelbert. Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity: Neighbours and Rivals. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, 2004 Lepper, F.A. Trajan's Parthian War. London: Oxford University Press, 1948. Luttvak, Edward N. The Grand