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imperium and imperial politics 689
v. imperium and imperial politics
It will be seen from the above that there was little in Arabia to attract the
attention of the great powers of late antiquity, and at first it was only
Arabia’s role athwart the route to the east that lent it any importance to
them. This factor alone was sufficient to make Arabia a focus of imperial
manoeuvring and power politics, but trade operated in conjunction with
other factors as well. The spread of Christianity and to a lesser extent
Judaism in Arabia reflects the interest of external powers from an early
date. In fact, it was the great triad of politics, trade and religion that determined
the course of events there from late antiquity onward, with trade
providing an imperial momentum later transferred to the other two.
All around the peripheries of Arabia the impact of imperium was being
felt. Behind the Roman presence advancing in the north came Roman
roads, way stations and forts, reflecting an increasing interest in control of
what lay beyond. Far more vigorous, however, were the inroads by the
Sasanians, who, with their capital at Ctesiphon, the rich agricultural alluvium
of Iraq, and the Persian Gulf trade to consider, had a more immediate
stake in Arabia. Settlements were founded up and down the Gulf, and
Oman was annexed by Shāpūr I (reigned 241–72). In the fourth century,
Arab raids provoked a punitive expedition that reached as far as the H · ijāz.
Discovery of silver and copper in the Najd led to the foundation of a
Sasanian outpost at Shamām. 66
The rivalry between the two powers was exacerbated by several factors.
The establishment under Constantine of a Christian empire based at
Constantinople made competition with Persia more immediate and provided
yet another arena for intrigue and dispute. But more important by far
was the evolution of the rival polities themselves. From largely decentralized
and culturally diverse empires tolerant of a broad range of contradictory
ideologies and traditions, both developed into world powers using
political, economic and military strength, justified by élitist ideologies and
spurred by aspirations to universal dominion, to pursue imperial aims
increasingly dictated from the capital. These states, the empires of
Byzantium and the Sasanians, competed for control of the west Asian
heartland and adopted more global strategies in efforts to promote their
own interests and undermine those of their rival. 67 Thus, while the rise of
Christianity led to the collapse of the market for the incense consumed so
massively and ostentatiously by pagan Rome, 68 the demise of this formerly
66 Nöldeke (1879) 56; Dunlop (1957) 40; Crone (1987) 46.
67 Fowden (1993) esp. 24–36, 80–137, though the focus on monotheism and the stress on premeditated
planning from the centre seem overstated. Cf. Crone (1987) 47.
68 Müller (1978) 733–64; Groom (1981) 162; Crone (1987) 27.
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