Beate Dignas & Engelbert Winter - Kaveh Farrokh

20 The peace treaty of 562 141
truth has been lost. 116 It read: ‘We thank the brotherly gesture of the emperor for
the peace between the two empires. We have instructed Yazdgushnasp, our divine
chamberlain, and have given him full powers. Our brother the emperor has given
instruction and power to Peter, the magister officiorum of the Romans, together
with Eusebius to negotiate and to conclude the treaty. And the Zich and the man
whom the Romans call magister and Eusebius together negotiated the peace and
made agreements; they have concluded the peace for fifty years and all have sealed
the statements. According to what the Zich and the magister of the Romans and
Eusebius have decided, we now confirm the peace and abide by this.’ This was
the wording. The declaration of the Roman emperor was similar but without the
prescript that the Persian royal letter showed. And in this way they ended their
conversations. . .
After this and many other matters had been argued, the terms of the fifty
years peace were put down in writing in the Persian and the Greek languages,
and the Greek declaration was translated into Persian, the Persian into Greek.
On the Roman side the magister militum praesentalis Peter, Eusebius and others
ratified the treaty, on the Persian side Yazdgushnasp, Surenas and others. After the
declarations from both sides had been fixed, they were compared to see whether
they corresponded in wording and meaning. 117 Every declaration of the peace treaty
was read out. The following points were laid down:
(1) The Persians, Huns, Alans and other barbarians should not have access to the
Roman Empire through the pass, which is called Tzon, 118 and the Caspian Gates,
nor should the Romans send an army against the Persians in this area or in any
other border areas of the Persian Empire. 119
(2) The Saracens, who were allies of both states, should abide by the agreements
and neither should the Saracens allied with the Persians take up arms against the
Romans nor those allied with the Romans take up arms against the Persians.
(3) Roman and Persian merchants of all kinds of goods, and suppliers of this
type, should conduct their business according to old custom at the determined
customs posts.
(4) Ambassadors and public couriers travelling to Roman or Persian territory
should be treated according to their rank and in the appropriate way, should
receive due attention and not be impeded by any means. They should be allowed
to exchange the goods they were carrying without impediment and without any
impost. 120
(5) It was agreed: Saracen and other barbarian merchants should not travel
through either of the two empires via unknown routes but travel via Nisibis and
116 With these words Menander Protector tries to underline his own credibility. See Blockley 1985a: 294
n. 39, ‘Menander appears to be suggesting that he himself had translated the Pahlavi, but perhaps he
merely means that he transcribed the archival translation which he knew would be word-for-word.’
117 For comments on these rather bureaucratic and cautious proceedings see Miller 1971: 72 n. 69.
118 Marquart 1901: 106 identified Tzon with the pass of Derbend, which was the route of Hunnic
invasions through the Caucasus; see also Gropp 1977; 1619–25; Kettenhofen 1996b: 13–19.
119 For the crucial importance of the Caucasus region for East–West relations see 27.
120 The trading activities of the diplomats may have been a means to cover the costs of the embassies;
cf. De Ste. Croix 1991: 129–30.