Beate Dignas & Engelbert Winter - Kaveh Farrokh

2.4 The sixth century 43
asking the emperor not to ally himself with Xusrō. Bahrām promised that
if the emperor remained neutral he would hand over Nisibis and all of
Mesopotamia as far as the river Tigris. 150 Xusrō II Parvēz in turn offered
Maurice Dārā, Martyropolis, part of Armenia and remission of the annual
tributary payments. 151 In Constantinople the opinions on what should be
done were divided. The Senate demanded that Maurice give priority to
the interests of his own empire, that is, to let Persia fall into a state of
anarchy. 152 However, Maurice decided to support the legitimate claims of
Xusrō II Parvēz and to restore him to the throne. 153 In this way Maurice
abandoned the basic principle of Western policy not to intervene in internal
matters of the Sasanian Empire. 154 For the first time Roman and Persian
units fought side by side. In the spring of 591 Xusrō II embarked on an
advance against Bahrām VI Čōbīn. With Roman help he managed to defeat
the rebel. 155 The latter escaped to the Western Turks but was assassinated
a year later. 156 Xusrō II Parvēz was restored to the throne in 591157 and
the same year brought about a peace treaty, 158 which ended the third great
Roman–Persian War of the sixth century.
The following paragraphs summarise the relations during this century:
at the beginning of the sixth century we observe a turning-point in the
relations between the empires. By renewing royal power, dealing with the
Mazdakite movement and introducing social reforms Xusrō I Anōˇsarvān
enabled the Sasanians, who possessed immense financial resources, to inflict
serious harm on their western neighbour. Although for a short period of
time the reign of Justinian I revived the former glory of the Roman Empire,
150 Theoph. Simoc. iv.14.8; Theoph. Chron. A. M. 6080 (p. 265, 24–6, ed. de Boor).
151 Theoph. Simoc. iv.13.24.
152 There is silence on this conflict in the Greek sources but the oriental literature provides us with
stories embellished in the typical way; cf. e.g. the national epos ˇ Sahnāma by the Persian poet Firdausi
(died in 1020), a history of Persia from the beginning to Sasanian times (select Engl. tr. Levy 1996;
German tr. Mohl vol. 7: 101–23); according to Theoph Sim. iv.14.1 and Tabarī (tr. Nöldeke 283–4;
Bosworth 311–12 [999]) Xusrō II received military support from Byzantium without any delay.
Xusrō in fact had to wait several months for the requested aid; cf. Higgins 1941: 310 n. 88; on the
discussion in Constantinople regarding Roman involvement in the Sasanian succession see also
Goubert 1951: 143. See also ch. 8 n. 22.
153 See also Frendo 1992a: 59–68 and Riedlberger 1998: 161–75.
154 On the emperor’s motives see Winter 1989a: 84–8.
155 On the cooperation between Roman and Sasanian units and the decisive victory over Bahrām VI
Čōbīn at Gandzak see Theoph. Sim. v.11–2; on the date of the battle see Higgins 1939: 53–4 and
Schreiner 1985: 314–15 n. 744.
156 See Christensen 1944: 445.
157 Euagr. HE vi.19; Chr. pasch. a. 591; for an English translation with introduction see Whitby 2000.
158 On this peace treaty see Goubert 1951: 167–70; on the frontier line after 591 see Honigmann 1935:
28–37.