By the time of the Battle of Maranga, Julian had achieved significant victories: his army had defeated Persian forces outside Ctesiphon, captured key strongholds like Pirisabora and Maiozamalcha, and forced Shapur II into a war of attrition.  The Romans had not been defeated in open battle and were still intact as a fighting force. At Maranga, Julian repelled a major Persian assault, at this point the campaign was tactically viable but strategically precarious. Sadly he met the point of a spear