Beate Dignas & Engelbert Winter - Kaveh Farrokh

90 3 Military confrontations
Although ˇ Sāpūr was victorious in the majority of the nine battles mentioned
by Festus, he apparently did not gain significant advantages as a
result. The oriental limes, 72 which had been fortified during the reign
of Diocletian, obviously represented a strong bulwark against the Sasanian
attacks. The Persians besieged Nisibis three times in the years 337(8), 346(8)
and 350 but were not able to capture the city. 73 ˇ Sāpūr’s luck in war did not
turn until 359, when he took Amida 74 and soon after Singara. 75 According
to the contemporary observer Ammianus Marcellinus, who himself barely
escaped from Amida, the Chionites fought on the side of the Persians. 76
At the beginning of the 350s this tribe of the Huns had caused unrest along
the northern border of the Sasanian Empire, forcing ˇ Sāpūr II to withdraw
from Mesopotamia. In fact, the Chionites’ activities put the confrontation
between Romans and Persians on hold for ten years, during which, however,
peace was not officially restored. In 356, while the Sasanians were still
engaged in fighting in the East, Constantius II sent ambassadors and a
peace offer to ˇ Sāpūr II. Ammianus Marcellinus tells us about an exchange
of letters in which both parties express their views. ˇ Sāpūr II demanded that
the Romans return Armenia and Mesopotamia, 77 conditions that were
unacceptable for Constantius II. Until the death of this Roman emperor
the Sasanians remained a dangerous opponent along the Eastern frontier
of the Roman Empire.
8: Julian’s Persian War (363)
Julian’s Persian War and his death in enemy territory have received
much attention among both ancient and modern authors. 78 The excellent
accounts by the eyewitness Ammianus Marcellinus 79 and by the fifthcentury
pagan author Zosimus, 80 who wrote in Greek, give us a detailed
knowledge of the events.
72 On the Roman Eastern frontier in late antiquity see Wagner 1985: 67–70.
73 On the rivalry over this ‘strongest fortress of the East’ (orientis firmissimum claustrum, Amm. xxv.8.14)
during the reign of ˇ Sāpūr II see Maróth 1979: 239–43; Lightfoot 1988: 105–25; on the date of the first
siege see Burgess 1999: 7–17.
74 Amm. xix.1–9; for a comprehensive treatment see Lightfoot 1989: 285–94.
75 Amm. xx.6.1–9; see also Lenssen 1999: 40–50.
76 Amm. xix.1.7 and xix.2.3; on the history of this tribe of the Huns see Schippmann 1990: 38–9.
77 Amm. xvii.5.3–5 and xxv.4.24; cf. also below pp. 182–4.
78 On Julian’s Persian campaign see Ridley 1973: 317–30; Blockley 1973: 54–5; Arce 1974: 340–3; Wirth
1978: 455–507; Kaegi 1981a: 209–13.
79 Matthews 1986: 549–64; Fornara 1991: 1–15; Seager 1997: 253–68.
80 On Zosimus and his work see Veh 1990; Paschoud 1971–1989; Ridley 1984.