Julian's Persian War



Julian's Persian War, or the Perso-Roman War of 363, was the last undertaking of the Roman emperor Julian, begun in March 363. It was an aggressive war against the Persian Empire ruled by the Sassanian king Shapur II. Shapur is believed to have expected an invasion by way of the Tigris valley. Julian sent a detachment to join with his ally Arshak II of Armenia and take the Tigris route. Meanwhile, with his main army he advanced rapidly down the Euphrates valley, meeting only scattered opposition, and reached the walls of the Persian capital Ctesiphon where he met and defeated the Persian army at the Battle of Ctesiphon (363). Unable to take the city, and with a faltering plan of campaign, He was misled by Persian spies into burning his fleet and taking a disadvantageous route of retreat in which his army was constantly harassed and his progress crawled to a halt.

In one of the skirmishes Julian was wounded and later died of his wounds leaving his successor along with his army trapped in Persian territory. The leaderless Roman army chose Jovian as Julian's successor. The new emperor, in light of the "crushing military defeat" the Romans had suffered, was left no option but to agree to humiliating terms in order to save the remnants of his army, and himself, from complete annihilation. The ignominious treaty of 363 transferred to Persian rule the major cities and fortresses of Nisibis and Singara, and renounced the alliance with Armenia, giving Shapur de facto authority to invade and annex Arsacid Armenia as a result. Thus Arsaces II of Armenia was left without any military or diplomatic support. He was captured and imprisoned by Shapur in 368; he committed suicide in 369 or 370 whilst in Persian captivity.

Aims and preparations
According to contemporary Roman sources Julian's aim was to punish the Persians for their recent invasion of Rome's eastern provinces; for this reason he refused Shapur's immediate offer of negotiations. Among the leaders of the expedition was Hormizd, a brother of Shapur II, who had fled from the Persian Empire forty years earlier and had been welcomed by the then Roman emperor Constantine I. Julian is said to have intended to place Hormizd on the Persian throne in place of Shapur. A devout believer in the old Roman religion, Julian asked several major oracles about the outcome of his expedition.

The philosopher Sallustius, a friend of Julian, wrote advising him to abandon his plan, and numerous adverse omens were reported; at the urging of other advisers he went ahead. He instructed Arshak II of Armenia to prepare a large army, but without revealing its purpose; he sent Lucillianus to Samosata in the upper Euphrates valley to build a fleet of river ships. These preparations are thought by scholars to have suggested to Shapur that an invasion from the north, by way of the Tigris valley, was Julian's plan.

The advance
Julian had wintered at Antioch in Roman Syria. On 5 March 363 he set out north-west with his army by way of Aleppo and Manbij, where fifty soldiers were killed in the collapse of a portico while they were marching under it. The whole army mustered there, crossed the middle Euphrates and proceeded to Harran, known to the Romans as Carrhae, site of the famous battle in which the Roman general Crassus was defeated and killed in 53 BC. "From there two different royal highways lead to Persia," writes the eye-witness Ammianus Marcellinus: "the one on the left through Adiabene and across the Tigris; the one on the right through Assyria and across the Euphrates." Julian made use of both. He sent a detachment (numbering 30 000 according to Ammianus but only 18 000 according to Zosimus) under Procopius and Sebastianus towards the Tigris where they were to join Arshak and his Armenian army. They were then to attack the Persians from the north.

Julian himself, with the larger part of his army (which numbered 65,000 although whether that was before or after Procopius' departure is unclear) turned south towards the lower Euphrates, reaching Callinicum (al-Raqqah) on 27 March and meeting the fleet under the command of Lucillianus. There he was met by leaders of the "Saraceni" (Arab nomads), who offered Julian a gold crown. He refused to pay the traditional tribute in return. The army followed the Euphrates downstream to Circesium (the border city) and crossed the river Aboras (Khabur) with the help of a pontoon bridge assembled for the purpose. <!-- Romani nunc iuxta sinistram Euphratis ripam iter fecerunt, nunc dextram, a canalibus paludibusque saepe impediti. Zaitham die 4 Aprilis 363 attingerunt, ubi ad monumentum Gordiani Iulianus sacra funxit, urbemque desertam Duram die 6 Aprilis 363.

Oppidum Anatham Lucillianus capere temptavit, Hormisdas ad submissionem suasit. Die 12 Aprilis 363 turbo ventorum "ita confuderat omnia tecta, ut tabernacula multa conscinderentur et supini plerique milites sternerentur vel proni, spiritu stabilitatem vestigii subvertente". Insuper fluvio "repente extra margines evagato mersae sunt quaedam frumentariae naves, cataractis avulsis ... opere saxo structis: quod utrum per insidias an magnitudine acciderit fluentorum sciri non potuit". Inde plura oppida ad ripam Euphratis stantia sine proelio praeterita sunt, Thilutha, Achaiacala, Diacira, Sitha, Ozagardana; hic autem excursionem fecerunt Persae et Saraceni Assanitae (duce Podosace) e qua Hormisdas aegre evasit. Ab hoc die exercitus Persarum, duce ipso Surena, vestigia Romanorum aut secuti sunt aut praeierunt. Castellum Pirisabora post obsidionem die circiter 29 Iunii 363 captum est; exploratoribus Romanis postridie subito aggressis et debellatis aliqui evaserunt sed a Iuliano decimati sunt.

Inde Romani canalem Naarmalcham consecuti sunt quae aquas ab Euphrate ad Tigrim dirigebat, sed difficiliter: terras enim inimici submerserant, molibus delapidatis. Nehardeam urbem Iudaeorum ibi desertam reppererunt. Maiozamalcham obsederunt et die circiter 13 Maii ceperunt. Trans canales nonnullos, inimicis frustra obstantibus, ad paradisum regalem moxque Seleuciae ruinas venerunt. Inde naves per Naarmalcham pergerunt, sed milites ad muros Coche bene munitos, Parthorum olim metropolis.

Navibus revocatis et partim exoneratis, Iulianus noctu milites suos trans Tigridem iuxta muros Ctesiphontis transfretare iussit. Ibi die fere 29 Maii 363 Persas vicerunt, sed propter disciplinam incertam neque victoriae fruere neque urbem intrare valuerunt. Legatione regis Saporis pacem proponente Iulianus audire noluit. Die circiter 5 Iunii 363 ad orientem porrigendum statuit. Naves comburi iussit, id quod diebus 11-15 Iunii perfectum est. Haec consilia, a scriptoribus omnibus pessima recognita, a nonnullis Persa quodam attribuuntur qui se falso regis inimicum praetenderit; nomen autem nullus referre potest.

Regressio
Exercitus Romanus, rege Sapore II cum exercitu iam adstante, frumentis carentibus, novo consilio die circiter 16 Iunii 363 ad septentrionem se vertit ut per Corduenam ad limites imperii revenerit. Hoc itinere, inimicis saepius aggredientibus, Romani ad flumen Dialam victoriam reportaverunt. Inde autem rursus carebant alimenta: Persae enim atque Romani qui cum Armenis hanc regionem invaserant frumenta destruxerant. Persae in proelio prope Maranga die 22 Iunii 363 devicti sunt. Iulianus prope urbem Sumam telo vulneratus est et die 26 Iunii 363 mortem obiit (eisdem insidiis Anatolius magister officiorum interfectus est). Iovianus postridie a militibus imperator electus est, quo duce, Persis saepe aggredientibus, Romani rursus iter boream versus susceperunt per Charcham et Duram ubi frustra flumen Tigrim transire temptaverunt. Iovianus diebus circiter 8-11 Iulii 363 pacem cum rege Sapore confecit ut exercitum suum extra fines Persicas salvum educeret: multa concedit, et inter alia urbem Nisibim. Quo pacto Romani per Hatram et Singaram intra limites suos aegre recederunt. Thilsaphatae cum ala exercitús a Procopio et Sebastiano conducta concurrerunt.

Eventus
Nisibis, incolis evacuatis, die 25 Augusti 363 Persis tradita est. Sapor rex Persa captivos Romanos in partibus orientalibus imperii sui colonos misit, praesertim in Susiana. Rex Armenius Arsaces II, Romanorum fidelis socius sed ab eisdem in foedere ab Ioviano facto abiectus, mox a Sapore debellatus est et incarceratus; qui post aliquot annos desperans sibi mortem intulit. Annis posterioribus Armenia sicut antea inter Romanos et Persas controversa est.

Iovianus ab initio imperium recusavit, se Christianum confitens, sed milites responderunt se quoque Christianos esse: ita consilium Iuliani, qui religionem Christianam deiicere voluit, statim abruptum est neque ab ullo successore restitutum. Iovianus autem dum per Ciliciam Constantinopolim regreditur subito mortuus est; successor Valentinianus I Ioviani aulicus fuerat, sed usurpator imperii Procopius socius Iuliani fuerat et particeps huius expeditionis. Imperatorum Romanorum Iulianus ultimus fuit e Constantini familia ortus.

Fontes
Enarratio Ammiani Marcellini, qui ipse huic expeditioni participavit, in opere suo historico (titulo Res gestae) nobis servatur. Schedae ab Oribasio, medico apud Iulianum, conscriptae mox ab Eunapio sophista in libro historico adhibitae sunt; cuius libri hodie deperditi fragmenta pauca supersunt. Tertii etiam qui expeditionem observavit, Magni Carrhensis rerum gestarum scriptoris, commentarius deperditus a scriptore Byzantino Ioanne Zonara in Epitome historiarum abbreviatur. Eunapii necnon Magni et fortasse alii cuiusdam operibus Zosimus in Historia nova usus est. Pro certo habetur narrationes Ammiani et Zosimi omnium quae supervixerint utilissimas esse. Coaevi Libanius pro Iuliano, Gregorius Nazianzenus in Iulianum praedicaverunt, Ephraemque Syriace hymnos contra Iulianum cantavit.