It was first taken by the Romans during Trajan's eastern campaigns, when general Lusius Quietus captured the city without a fight in the winter of 114;[5] Although it was abandoned following the Roman withdrawal from Mesopotamia in 117, the city became once again part of the Roman Empire with the Parthian campaign of Septimius Severus in 197. The city was raised by Severus to the status of a Roman colony, as is attested by the legend found on some of the coins minted there during the reign of Gordian III: ΑΥΡ.