Editing Ctesiphon (section)

===Sasanian period===
{{See also|Sasanian civil war of 628–632}}
[[File:Sasanian Asoristan and its surroundings.svg|right|thumb|Map of the southwestern Sasanian province of [[Asoristan]] and its surroundings]]
By 226, Ctesiphon was in the hands of the [[Sasanian Empire]], who also made it their capital and had laid an end to the Parthian dynasty of Iran. Ctesiphon was greatly enlarged and flourished during their rule, thus turning into a metropolis, which was known by in Arabic as [[al-Mada'in]], and in [[Aramaic]] as Mahoze.{{sfn|Morony|2009}} The oldest inhabited places of Ctesiphon were on its eastern side, which in Islamic [[Arabic]] sources is called "the Old City" ({{lang|ar|مدينة العتيقة}} ''Madīnah al-'Atīqah''), where the residence of the Sasanians, known as the [[White Palace (Ctesiphon)|White Palace]] ({{lang|ar|قصر الأبيض}}), was located. The southern side of Ctesiphon was known as Asbānbar or Aspānbar, which was known by its prominent halls, riches, games, stables, and baths. [[Taq Kasra]] was located in the latter.{{sfn|Morony|2009}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Houtsma |first1=M. Th. |title=E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936 |date=1993 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004097919 |page=76a |language=en}}</ref>

The western side was known as [[Veh-Ardashir]] (meaning "the good city of Ardashir" in [[Middle Persian]]), known as Mahoza by the [[Jews]], Kokhe by the Christians, and Behrasir by the Arabs. Veh-Ardashir was populated by many wealthy Jews, and was the seat of the church of the [[List of patriarchs of the Church of the East|Nestorian patriarch]]. To the south of Veh-Ardashir was [[Valashabad]].{{sfn|Morony|2009}} Ctesiphon had several other districts which were named Hanbu Shapur, Darzanidan, Veh Jondiu-Khosrow, Nawinabad and Kardakadh.{{sfn|Morony|2009}}

[[Severus Alexander]] advanced towards Ctesiphon in 233, but as corroborated by [[Herodian]], his armies suffered a humiliating defeat against [[Ardashir I]].<ref>Farrokh, K. (2007). "The rise of Ctesiphon and the Silk Route". In ''Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War'', p. 185.</ref> In 283, emperor [[Carus]] sacked the city uncontested during a period of civil upheaval. Some historians have claimed that Galerius marched on Ctesiphon and was able to capture it. However, this is never explicitly stated in any source and is still a matter of debate among scholars.<ref name="Udo Hartmann The Tetrarchy">Udo Hartmann The Tetrarchy,284–305, in: The Encyclopedia of Ancient Battles, Bd. 3, hrsg. v. Michael Whitby u. Harry Sidebottom, Chichester 2017, 1071–1081</ref>

Hence that he returned it to the Persian king [[Narseh of Persia|Narses]] in exchange for [[Armenia]] and western Mesopotamia is also likely to have never happened. In {{Circa|325}} and again in 410, the city, or the Greek colony directly across the river, was the site of church councils for the [[Assyrian Church of the East|Church of the East]].{{citation needed|date=June 2013}}

[[File:Babylon&Seleuicia1(Peutinger Map).png|thumb|left|4th century Ctesiphon ([[Peutinger Map]])]]
After the conquest of Antioch in 541, [[Khosrow I]] built a new city near Ctesiphon for the inhabitants he captured. He called this new city [[Weh Antiok Khosrow|Veh-Antiok-Xusrō]], or literally, "better than Antioch Khosrow built this".{{sfn|Dignas|Winter|2007|p=109}} Local inhabitants of the area called the new city ''Rumagan'', meaning "town of the Romans" and Arabs called the city ''al-Rumiyya''. Along with Weh Antiok, Khosrow built a number of fortified cities.<ref name="frye">Frye 1993, 259</ref> After a campaign in 573, [[John of Ephesus]] wrote that no fewer than 292,000 persons had been deported from [[Dara (Mesopotamia)|Dara]], [[Apamea, Syria|Apamia]], and other Syrian towns to Veh-Antiokh. John would later cite a letter stating no more than 30,000 prisoners were deported. It's thought that the first number he gave is not to be taken literally.<ref>{{cite book |last=Christensen |title=The Decline of Iranshahr: Irrigation and Environments in the History of the Middle East, 500 B.C. to A.D. 1500 |location=Copenhagen |publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press |year=1993 |isbn=87-7289-259-5 }}</ref>

In 590, a member of the [[House of Mihran]], [[Bahram Chobin]] repelled the newly ascended Sasanian ruler [[Khosrow II]] from Iraq, and conquered the region. One year later, Khosrow II, with aid from the [[Byzantine Empire]], reconquered his domains. During his reign, some of the great fame of al-Mada'in decreased, due to the popularity of Khosrow's new winter residence, [[Dastagerd]].{{sfn|Shapur Shahbazi|2005}} In 627, the Byzantine Emperor [[Heraclius]] surrounded the city, the capital of the Sassanid Empire, leaving it after the Persians accepted his peace terms. In 628, a deadly plague hit Ctesiphon, al-Mada'in and the rest of the western part of the Sasanian Empire, which even killed Khosrow's son and successor, [[Kavad II]].{{sfn|Shapur Shahbazi|2005}}

In 629, Ctesiphon was briefly under the control of Mihranid usurper [[Shahrbaraz]], but the latter was shortly assassinated by the supporters of Khosrow II's daughter [[Borandukht]]. Ctesiphon then continued to be involved in constant fighting between two factions of the Sasanian Empire, the Pahlav (Parthian) faction under the [[House of Ispahbudhan]] and the Parsig (Persian) faction under [[Piruz Khosrow]].