Beate Dignas & Engelbert Winter - Kaveh Farrokh

2.2 The fourth century 33
that had been lost in 298 but also all of Mesopotamia and Armenia. It is
possible that the king followed a far-reaching and programmatic foreign
policy which included the restoration of the former Achaemenid Empire
as far as the Strymon river (2). 78 Although Persia struggled with a period of
political unrest after the death of Hormizd II, Rome kept to the agreement
of 298 and thus missed a good opportunity for a military attack. ˇ Sāpūr II was
still a child when he took over the throne but soon managed to consolidate
his reign – the longest and one of the most renowned reigns of all Sasanian
kings. The year 338 was an important turning-point because at this time
hostilities with Rome started again. Changes in religious affairs that had
occurred within the Roman Empire dramatically affected the relationship
between the two great powers. The reign of Constantine the Great (306–37)
ushered in the turning-point known as the ‘Constantinian Revolution’. 79
Since his victory over Maxentius (306–12) at the Milvian Bridge in the
year 312 Constantine had been convinced that the well-being of the Roman
Empire depended on its protection by the Christian God. From 312 onwards
non-Christian religions were therefore repressed and the Christianisation
of the Roman Empire took place at a much accelerated pace. The fact that
Constantine turned to Christianity and furthered this religion in state and
society encouraged the Christians in Persia to bond even more than before
with their fellow-believers in the Roman Empire. 80 The more Constantine
felt responsible for the well-being also of the Persian Christians, the more
they became the natural allies of the Western arch enemy in the eyes of
ˇSāpūr II. It is therefore not surprising that when the military confrontations
between the two great powers resumed long-lasting and severe persecutions
of the Christians in Persia began. Numerous acts of martyrs reflect the
suffering of the Christians in this period and illustrate the political character
of the persecutions (31). When Constantine the Great died on 22 May 337
in the middle of his preparations for the Persian War, ˇ Sāpūr II used the
opportunity to conquer Armenia, which had been Christianised since the
beginning of the fourth century. The attack formed a prelude to numerous
armed confrontations between Rome and Persia. 81 These lasted to the death
of Constantius II (337–61), who ruled over the Eastern half of the imperium
Romanum after the death of Constantine. Neither of the two sides gained
any major advantages during this period (7).
78 For the Roman–Persian relations under Sāpūr ˇ II in general see Barceló 1981: 73–104 and Hunt 1998:
11–14, 39–43 and 73–7.
79 See Brandt 1998: 32–4 and Girardet 1998. 80 Blum 1980: 26–7.
81 Blockley 1989: 465–90; on Constantius’ objectives see Warmington 1977: 509–20.