Roman historian Festus. Archaeologist André Maricq "convincingly equates it with the Āsurestān of the 3rd century Šāpur inscription". However, other sources contend that the province was located near Armenia and east of the Tigris, in a region formerly known as Adiabene, which was a Neo-Assyrian kingdom. Further Roman activity in Mesopotamia Hadrian's withdrawal in 118 did not mark the end of Roman rule in Mesopotamia. A second Parthian campaign was launched from 161-165 under the command of Lucius Verus, with the Roman army once more conquering territory east of the Euphrates. Rome pursued military action against the Parthians again in 197-8 under the command of emperor Septimius Severus. Following his successful campaign, Septimius Severus instituted two new Roman provinces: Mesopotamia and Osroene, a kingdom founded in the 2nd century BC, centered on Edessa. He also stationed two Roman legions in the new provinces to ensure stability and prevent against first Parthian, and later Sassanian attacks. Roman influence in the area came to an end under Jovian in 363, who abandoned the region after concluding a hasty peace agreement with the Sassanians and retreating to Constantinople to consolidate his political power. Despite continued Roman activity in the region, no further reference is made to a Roman province of Assyria following Hadrian's evacuation in 118 AD. When Septimus Severus created the provinces of Osroene and Mesopotamia at the end of the 2nd century, no mention is made of a Roman province of Assyria. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (c. 330 − c. 391) says that the district of Adiabene was formerly called Assyria, with no indication that either ever was a Roman province. He says that Assyria was the nearest to Rome of the chief Persian provinces and that in his time it was known by a single name, though previously divided among several peoples and tribes. He lists among the cities of Assyria Babylon, Seleucia and Ctesiphon. He speaks of the Emperor Julian as, in his campaign against the Sasanian Empire, attacking Assyrians shortly before crossing the Euphrates into Osroene, as living near the Euphrates to the south of Carrhae, Thus, it seems that the province of Assyria only existed during Trajan's reign, if even then, and was not reinstated during later Roman occupations of the region. The general area coincided with ancient Assyria; however, and the Medes, Achaemenid Persians, Seleucid Greeks, Sassanids and Parthians all had similar names for the