Sumere is identified with the area of modern Samarra on the east bank of the Tigris. In Late Roman sources, it appears as a fortified settlement controlling a strategic stretch of the river corridor.
The site is mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus in his account of the retreat of the army of Julian in 363 CE. This places Sumere within the military and logistical landscape of Roman Mesopotamia, before its later development as an Abbasid capital.
