A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Their military strength is the same as your total population. How can you fight this war?

Unless the enemy gathers all their troops in one place and their commander is an idiot—no, he can't be an idiot either. If he is an idiot and lets the troops fight independently, they still can't win.

The commander must be an undercover agent, working step by step with Ardashir to gradually annihilate the army in order to have any chance of victory.

However, the reality was that the Han Empire's army was divided into several parts, each commanded by someone no less powerful than him. This huge disparity in strength left Ardashir with no hope of victory.

It's a losing proposition no matter how you look at it!

Is the Sassanid Empire he established destined for destruction?!

He had promised his grandfather that he would restore Parthia's glory!

But now.

The foolish Roman Empire actually cooperated with the Han Empire. The Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire were sworn enemies. Both the Parthian Empire and the Sassanid Parthian Empire had great hatred for Rome.

Betrayal by an ally is more despicable than betrayal by an enemy!

Even if the Sasanian Empire were to perish, they would drag Rome down with it.

He wants to make Severus taste the bitterness of a nation's destruction!

Ardashir sent orders back to his country, allowing the people to surrender. Those who were unwilling to surrender to the Han Empire were to rush to the border between the Sasanian Empire and the Roman Empire to carry out a policy of exchanging land for land.

All the troops that were unwilling to surrender to the Han Empire came to the front lines to reclaim the lost lands from the Roman Empire.

After the news reached home, a large number of Sasanian citizens chose to surrender.

To be honest, perhaps they had received a complete patriotic education and had a sense of national honor. Given the difference in living standards between the Han Empire and their own, they would have wanted to surrender long ago.

Now that even their emperor has given up, they no longer feel any psychological pressure to surrender.

However, a large number of Sasanian subjects, unable to let go of the glory of the Parthian people, chose to take revenge on the Roman Empire, just as Ardashir had suggested!

Although they also harbored hatred towards the Han Empire, their hatred towards the Roman Empire ran even deeper, especially since these were people and soldiers from Mesopotamia, far from the eastern battlefields and extremely close to the western front of the Roman Empire.

For them, the Roman Empire was a blood feud passed down from their ancestors hundreds of years ago.

Whose ancestors haven't died at the hands of Roman soldiers?!

Large numbers of fearless Sasanian soldiers and civilians stormed into the Roman Empire, causing immense damage to the lives of the Roman people.

With this group of soldiers whose hearts were filled with hatred and who had disregarded life and death, Ardashir successfully pushed the front line forward.

Even barbarians are terrified of a group of defeated soldiers who disregard life and death; their fear outweighs their longing for Roman citizens.

Although the barbarian legions can fight tough battles, their discipline is no match for that of the true Eagle Standard Legion.

On the battlefield, a phenomenon of timidity and reluctance to advance began to emerge, and this fear, in particular, spread rapidly from one to ten, from ten to a hundred, and from a hundred to a thousand.

The Roman Empire's battle lines were retreating steadily.

Severus even personally went to the front lines to command the battle. As the first citizen and Roman emperor who was born into a military family, unlike the previous Five Good Emperors, he liked to give money and benefits to his legions whenever he had the chance, and he had a high reputation among the legions.

However, his main target was the Eagle Banner Legion. He was giving money to the Barbarian Legion, but even he didn't have that much money.

However, his personal arrival greatly boosted the morale of the army, enabling the Roman army to contend with the army led by Ardashir.

With the last of the empire's military might, Ardashir occupied the eastern provinces of Rome, keeping the Roman legions firmly outside.

The remaining Sasanian people also migrated to the eastern provinces, where they established a new Sasanian Empire.

The generals of the Great Qian Empire did not continue northward. With the strength of their troops, if Ardashir fought desperately, they might not be able to defeat him.

Having conquered such a large territory, now is the time to properly digest it.

Those loyal to the Sasanian Empire had already moved north, and most of the remaining people were willing to surrender, which greatly relieved the pressure on their rule.

Without the pressure from the Han Empire, Ardashir fully demonstrated the power of the 3rd century, holding off the entire Roman Empire's attack with just one eastern province.

He even keenly perceived the rift between Roman citizens and Roman barbarians, and turned some Roman barbarian legions against their cause.

Why wait until Rome grants them Roman citizenship?!

These awakened Roman barbarians wanted to establish their own Roman Empire, to learn from the citizens of the Roman Empire, to exploit the people of the empire, and to become the superior people.

Their loyalty to Rome stemmed from their desire for the civil rights of the Roman Empire and the enjoyment of non-citizen patronage from the entire Roman Empire.

Since that's the case, and since you won't give it to me, I'll take it myself!

It might be easier to enter Rome than to conquer it, even if you gain entry based on merit!

Of course, this was also partly due to the schemes of Jia Xu and others. They were able to consolidate their rule, and the Roman Empire was their next target for conquest.

A united Roman Empire was something they could not defeat even if they exerted all their strength.

However, a divided and turbulent Roman Empire offered far more room for maneuver.

Once Roman barbarians began to rebel, in order to consolidate their rule, the Roman Senate and Severus naturally had to suppress the barbarians. At the same time, they became more wary of the remaining barbarians and made it more difficult for them to become Roman citizens. This led to more barbarians being persuaded to join the camp of rebellion against the Roman Empire.

By the time Severus and his group realized this, the situation had already taken shape and was beyond control.

They also cannot absorb more barbarians into becoming citizens.

Their base of rule is ultimately the citizens, so doing this is tantamount to cutting off their own foundation.

And even if they absorb more, how much can they actually absorb?

Those that haven't been absorbed will definitely continue to rebel; there's simply no solution to this.

The Roman Empire will collapse because of this time bomb.

Severus and his men had no choice but to suppress the rebellion, plunging Rome into chaos. The Ardashir forces in the eastern provinces, the barbarian forces in the northern provinces, and the Roman citizens who controlled the central, southern, and western regions were all in turmoil.

The glorious Roman Empire vanished into the annals of history, never to regain its former power.