Abstract
The article highlights some problematic aspects in the chronology and sequence of events in the AD 330–350s connected with Roman-Persian wars and east policy of Constantius II. East policy and the conduct of military campaigns against Persia largely went to the Constantius II from his father, the Emperor Constantine I, who was preparing before his death a large military invasion of the territory of Persia. The Roman-Persian wars of the fi rst half of the 4th century AD developed as a series of ongoing border incidents. The Emperor Constantius, unlike his future successor Julian, never attempt a large-scale invasion of Persian territory. The confl icts between Rome and Persia primarily broke out because of the control over strategically important cities and fortresses in Upper Mesopotamia, fi rst of all Nisibis, Amida and Singara. Military campaigns led Constantius against Persians, chronologically divided into two periods – the fi rst of which covers the events of AD 337–350, the second – AD 358–360. The starting point here is the dating of events related to the battles and the capture of the fortress of the Singara and the three sieges of the strategically important city of Upper Mesopotamia Nisibis, to which the Roman and later Byzantine historiography gave special relevance. The reconstruction of the events of that time, which took place on the Eastern borders of the Roman Empire is of great historical importance, as all historians and chroniclers dealing with these issues and describing the external policy of Constantius II as unsuccessful do not always give a chronological picture of the epoch.
Keywords
Roman Empire, Persia, Constantius II, Shapur II, Iulianus, Singara, Ammianus Marcellinus, Rufius Festus
Abramzon, M.G. 2006: Osroena v rimskoy vostochnoy politike [Osroene in the Roman Eastern policy]. Problemy istorii, fi lologii, kul’tury [Journal of historical, philological and cultural studies] XV, 111–119.
Baldwin, B. 1978: Festus the Historian. Historia 27, 197–217.
Barnes, T.D. 1983: Two victory titles of Constantius. Zeitsschrift fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik 52, 229–235.
Boer, W. den 1968: Rome a travers trois auteurs du IVe s. Mnemosyne 21, 254–282.
Boer, W. den 1972: Some minor Roman historians. Leiden.
Bury, J.B. 1896: The date of the battle of Singara. Byzantinische Zeitschrift 5, 304–305.
Dmitriev, V.A. 2008: “Vsadniki v sverkayushchey brone“. Voennoe delo sasanidskogo Irana i istoriya rimsko-persidskikh voyn [“Riders in gleaming armor“. Military of the Sasanian Iran and the history of the Roman-Persian wars]. Saint Petersburg.
Dmitriev, V.A. 2010: K voprosu o meste i roli “nochnogo” srazheniya pod Singaroy [The issue of the place and role of the “night” battle of Singara]. Vestnik Voennogo universiteta [Bulletin of the Military University] 3 (23), 87–90.
Dmitriev, V.A. 2012: “Nochnoe srazhenie” pod Singaroy: k voprosu o khronologii voennopoliticheskikh sobytiy serediny IV v. n. e. v Verkhney Mesopotamii [“Night battle” at Singara: the issue of the chronology of military and political events of the middle of 4th century BC in Upper Mesopotamia]. Problemy istorii, fi lologii, kul’tury [Journal of historical, philological and cultural studies] 3, 77–86.
Dyakonov, M.M. 1967: Ocherk istorii drevnego Irana [Essay on the history of ancient Iran]. Moscow.
Grigoryuk, T.V. 2012: 337 god: Krizis vlasti v Rimskoy imperii i “ubiystva prinzev” [Year 337: The power Crisis in the Roman Empire and the “murder of the princes”]. Vestnik Drevney Istorii [Journal of Ancient History] 2, 155–166.
Kareev, D.V. 1999: Obraz pravitelya y istorika IV veka Evtropiya [The image of a ruler from the 4th century historian Eutropios]. In: A.Z Chernysheva (ed.), Chelovek v kulture obshchestv drevnosti, srednevekov’ya b vozrozhdeniya [Man in the culture of ancient, medieval and Renaissance societies]. Ivanovo, 30–42.
Kareev, D.V. 2004: Pozdnerimskaya istoriografi ya pered vyzovom vremeni: Evtropiy i ego “Breviariy ot osnovaniya Goroda” [Late Roman historiography before the challenge of time: Eutropius and his “Breviary from the Foundation of the city”]. Saint Petersburg.
Kareev, D.V. 2009: Ruf Fest, rimskiy istorik IV veka [Ruf Fest: Roman historian of the 4th century]. Vestnik Ivanovoskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Bulletin of Ivanovo state University] 3, 21–25.
Lukonin, V.G. 1997: Zavoevaniya Sasanidov na Vostoke i problema kushanskoy absolyutnoy khronologii [Conquest of the Sassanids in the East and the problem of Kushan absolute chronology]. In A.I. Pavlovskaya (ed.), Drevnie tsyvilizatsii ot Egipta do Kitaya [Ancient civilizations from Egypt to China]. Moscow, 1000–1024.
Mochalov, M., Polezhaev, D. 2016: Derzhava Sasanidov 224–652 gody [The power of the Sassanids 224–652 years]. Moscow.
Mosig-Walburg, K. 1999: Zur Schlacht bei Singara. Historia 48, 330–384.
Peeters, P. 1931: L’ Intervention politique de Constance II dans la Grande Arménie en 338. Académie royale de Belgique, Bulletins de la Classe des lettres et des sciences morales et politiques 17, 10–47.
Portmann, W. 1989: Die 59. Rede des Libanios und das Datum der Schlacht von Singara. Byzantinische Zeitschrift 82, 1–18.
Potter, D.S. 2004: The Roman Empire at Bay AD 180–395. London–New York.
Seek, O. 1900: Constantius. In: RE 4 (7), 1044–1094.
Streck, M.P. 1913: Hileia. In: M.P. Streck, S. Weninger (ed.), RE, 1606.
Venning, T. A. 2011: Chronology of the Roman Empire. London.
Weissbach, F.H. 1927: Singara. In: J.C. Hinrichs (ed.), RE, 232–233.