Beate Dignas & Engelbert Winter - Kaveh Farrokh

170 5 Arabia between the great powers
royal title and thus ruling over all Saracens in Persia, which meant that he was able
to use the entire army at any time in order to attack whichever parts of the Roman
Empire he desired. (46) However, neither one of the Roman generals, who are
called duces, nor one of the commanders of the Saracens allied with the Romans,
who bear the title phylarchs, possessed enough power to oppose Alamoundaros
with his men. For none of the units present in these territories was strong enough
to be the enemies’ equal. (47) This is why the emperor Justinian made Arethas,
the son of ˘ Gabala, who ruled the Saracens in Arabia, the leader of as many tribes
as possible and thereby honoured him as never before among the Romans. (48)
However, in the following period Alamoundaros did not thwart Roman interests
any less than before, that is rather more, because whenever he attacked or when they
competed with each other Arethas was either markedly unsuccessful or deserted
his men very quickly. For we know very little about him. And thus Alamoundaros
had the opportunity to loot the entire East without any resistance and for a long
time, in particular as in addition he simply reached a very old age.
During the reigns of Kavādh I (488–97/499–531) and Xusrō I Anōˇsarvān
(531–79) al-Mundir III, whom the Greek sources call Alamoundaros, was
the leader of the Lahmids. Procopius’ account emphasises how much this
Arab ruler posed a threat for Byzantium. Only when the Byzantine emperor
Justinian (527–65) established a client relationship with the Ghassanid
dynasty similar to the one that existed between the Lahmids and the Sasanians,
did the situation change. 99 In 529 Justinian placed the famous ruler
al-Hārit V ibn ˘ Gabala, whom Procopius calls Arethas, at the head of as many
tribes as possible. 100 The centre of his rule was in Gabīyā, close to Damascus,
and his sphere of influence reached as far as the Red Sea (map 10). He
was also given the title of king and must have ruled over all Arabs in Syria.
Justinian’s intentions are obvious. He wanted to set up a counterpart to the
Lahmids, who were pursuing Persian interests most successfully. 101 During
the sixth century the relations between the two dynasties, siding with the
Byzantine and Sasanian side respectively, were characterised by permanent
military confrontations. 102
Procopius gives a comprehensive account of the continuing quarrels
and fighting and also comments on their military consequences for the
confrontations between West and East. Alamoundaros acted as the leader
of a Persian army 103 and Arethas’ soldiers reinforced Justinian’s troops. 104
We are also told that Arethas gathered a large army which he used to support
99 On the Byzantine–Arabian relations during the sixth century see Vasiliev 1935–50 and Shahîd 1995a;
on the violent proxy war fought between the kingdoms of the Lahmids and Gassānids during the
following period see Funke 1996: 232–5; Whittow 1999: 207–24.
100 Kawar 1959: 321–43. 101 Casey 1996: 214–22. 102 Devreesse 1943: 263–307.
103 Proc. BP i.18.1 and 9.
104 Ibid. i.18.7 and 35.