Geoffrey Greatrex (2005). Byzantium and the East in - Kaveh Farrokh

The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian
for centuries. Justinian, however, succeeded where others had failed by
a combination of evangelisation and vigorous military campaigns. As
Procopius rather optimistically declared, “they [the Tzani] immediately
changed their belief to piety, all of them becoming Christians, and they
altered their manner of life to a milder way, giving up all brigandage
and always marching with the Romans whenever they went against their
enemies.” 52 The 520s and 530s were indeed an encouraging period for
Roman ambitions in the Caucasus, yet already by 540 the tide was turning
against them. The problem came with the encroachment of Roman
troops, commanders, and regulations in the region. For Justinian aimed
not only at extending Roman influence through diplomacy but also
at fully integrating all the remotest parts of his domains into the empire.
Thus in 536 he issued a decree “that the Armenians should follow
Roman laws in all ways.” The whole provincial structure was changed,
fortifications were built or improved, and Roman troops took up positions
throughout the region; in Lazica, a new city was even established
at Petra. 53 All this proved too much for the Armenians and Lazi to bear.
First the Armenians appealed to the Persians for help, followed in quick
succession by the Lazi, dismayed at the corrupt administration of their
territory by the Roman general John Tzibus. A Persian invasion in 541
met with much local support, and Khusro was able to seize and garrison
the city of Petra. 54
The subsequent vicissitudes of the region follow a similar pattern.
Already by 542 certain Armenians had begun to transfer their loyalties
back to the Romans, while Persian plans to consolidate their hold on
Lazica soon persuaded the Lazic king Gubazes to throw in his lot with
the emperor again. For the next twenty years the region would be the
scene of sporadic campaigning by the two major powers, constantly
seeking to attract the aid of local peoples. As neither proved capable of
gaining a decisive advantage, the war gradually lost momentum until at
last the general peace was concluded in 562. 55
Justinian’s penchant for regularisation and consolidation is also in
evidence in his dealings with Rome’s Arab allies (Map 16, Ch. 20). From
the very start of Roman expansion into the Near East, the new power
had relied on local allies. While most of these were gradually absorbed
into the empire, certain regions, notably marginal steppe lands in the
hands of nomadic or seminomadic tribes, were never taken over. 56 In
the fourth and fifth centuries, some of these tribes were converted to
Christianity and came to ally themselves with the Romans; meanwhile,
across the Syrian desert to the east, one tribe in particular, the Lakhmids,
emerged as the privileged ally of the Persians. At the start of the sixth
498
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