King Shapur summoned his commanders and opened the royal treasuries, bestowing rich stipends upon his warriors until their hearts burned with vengeful fury. Leading his vast host from Iran toward the Roman frontier, he laid waste to everything in his path, casting fire upon their settlements and putting their defenders to the sword.
Under the cover of a pitch-black night, as the opposing forces clashed, fortune favored the Iranian King: the famous Caesar of Rome was trapped and captured upon the battlefield. News of his capture sent shockwaves of grief across the empire, and the populace wept, cursing the foolish Caesar whose recklessness had brought Shapur's wrath upon their realm.
Caesar had a younger brother named Yanus—a brave, generous prince. Urged by his grieving mother who distributed vast wealth to recruit soldiers, Yanus swore that his brother's capture would not go unavenged. He sounded the war drums, brought out the great sacred Holy Cross, and marched forth with a terrifying army.
The two armies clashed on a narrow plain hemmed in by steep mountains on one side and surging waters on the other. A dark cloud of dust enveloped the field as the sun began to set, and the earth became carpeted with iron-clad corpses. Seeing the stalemate, Shapur charged directly from the center, summoning his elite cavalry. As the King spurred his steed, the ground trembled beneath their hooves.
Realizing he could not withstand Shapur's overwhelming might, Yanus broke ranks and fled. Shapur pursued the retreating Romans ruthlessly, heaping up mounds of the slain across the plains. Monasteries, fortresses, and holy altars were leveled; the sacred crosses were shattered, and the girdles of the priests consumed by flame. So vast was the plunder that the Iranian soldiers marvelled at their fortune, though Shapur distributed it all to his men, retaining only Caesar's personal royal treasure as recompense for the suffering inflicted upon Iran.
The surviving Romans gathered in sorrow, cursing Caesar's memory for bringing their domain to utter ruin, reducing the glory of Rome to the quiet desolation of Kannauj and extinguishing the loud chants of their sacred faith.