The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD 363-628

406 Pages·2002·3.7 MB·English

by  Geoffrey Greatrex

THE ROMAN EASTERN FRONTIER
AND THE PERSIAN WARS

THE ROMAN EASTERN
FRONTIER AND
THE PERSIAN WARS
PART II AD 363–630
A narrative sourcebook
Edited and compiled by
Geoffrey Greatrex
and Samuel N.C. Lieu
London and New York
First published 2002
byRoutledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
byRoutledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledgeis an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor and Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 2002 GeoffreyGreatrexand Samuel N.C. Lieu
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of CongressCatalogingin Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested
ISBN 0-203-99454-X Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0–415–14687–9(Print Edition)
TO MARINA AND JUDITH

CONTENTS
Listofmaps ix
Preface x
Acknowledgements xiii
Abbreviations xv
EasternRomanemperors(363–630) xvii
Persiankings(363–630) xviii
Glossary xix
Notesonthesources xxi
Maps xxviii–xxxii
1 The Peace of Jovian and its aftermath in Mesopotamia (363–399) 1
2 The evolution of the north-east frontier (363–399) 20
3 TheMesopotamianfrontier in the fifth century 31
4 The north-east frontier in the fifth century 53
5 TheAnastasianWar and its aftermath (502–525) 62
6 Justinian’s First Persian War and the Eternal Peace (c.525–540) 82
7 Justinian’s Second Persian War: the southern front (540–545) 102
8 Justinian’s Second Persian War: the northern front (540–562) 115
9 Justinian’s Second Persian War: diplomatic relations (545–562) 123
10 The failure of the Peace of 562 (562–573) 135
vii
CONTENTS
11 The war underTiberius(574–582) 151
12 The reign of Maurice (582–602) 167
13 The Persian takeover of the Near East (602–622) 182
14 The Roman recovery underHeraclius(622–630) 198
15 TheKhuzistanChronicle(first part) 229
16 The evidence of epigraphy: the eastern frontier (363–630) 238
Notes 247
Bibliography 323
Indexofsources 350
Generalindex 355
viii
MAPS
1 The Near East in late antiquity xxviii
2 The southern theatre of war (Mesopotamia and
surrounding regions) xxix
3 The northern theatre of war (Armenia and surrounding regions) xxx
4 The westernTranscaucasus(Lazicaand surrounding regions) xxxi
5 TheTranscaucasus xxxii
6 Provenance of inscriptions discussed in Chapter 16 239
ix