 Faced with Shapur 's third campaign , the Roman emperor Valerian marched against the Persian monarch but was defeated near Edessa in late spring 260 and taken as a prisoner . The Persian emperor then ravaged <unk> , Cilicia and claimed to have captured Antioch , the metropolis of Syria . Taking advantage of the situation , Fulvius Macrianus , the commander of the imperial treasury , declared his sons Quietus and Macrianus Minor as joint emperors in August 260 opposing Valerian 's son Gallienus . Fulvius Macrianus took Antioch as his center and organized the resistance against Shapur ; he dispatched Balista , his <unk> prefect , to Anatolia . Shapur was defeated in the region of <unk> at <unk> prompting the Persians to evacuate Cilicia while Balista went back to Antioch . Balista 's victory was only partial , as Shapur withdrew east of Cilicia where the <unk> Persian units continued to occupy the area , while a Persian force took advantage of Balista 's return to Syria and headed further west in Anatolia . 
