824:"...in 419 or 420 a series of Christian attacks on Magian fire-temples provoked the Sasanian government to a savage persecution of Christians, which in turn led to war between the two empires in 421–422. The incidents that provoked the persecution are described in Persian Christian martyr acts preserved in Syriac, and in a corresponding account in Theodoret. The initial response of the Persian king was surprisingly lenient. Hearing that bishop Abda of Hormizd-Ardashir, or one of his priests, had destroyed a temple, he sent for him, complained “in moderate language,” and ordered him to rebuild the temple...When the ascetic Narsai was arrested for destroying a temple, the king even offered to drop the matter if Narsai would simply deny that he had done the deed. Abda refused to rebuild the temple, and Narsai refused to renounce his action. For their stubbornness, both were executed. At this point the king exhausted his patience and launched a general persecution against the church
139:
25:
804:, had the consecrated gold and silver plate of his church melted down, to procure a sum sufficient to buy 7,000 Persian captives who had wound up in the slave market in consequence of the war, whom he then sent back in freedom to their homeland, as a gesture of Christian generosity to the Persian persecutors. If the story is true,
862:"In some minor battles in mesopotamia, Bahram's forces suffered defeat, and the king agreed to peace terms in which Christianity was tolerated throughout the Persian Empire. In turn, the Romans agreed to tolerate Zoroastrianism, the religion of Persia."
661:
The Roman-Sassanid relationship already had some friction. The
Persians had hired some Roman gold-diggers, but now refused to send them back; furthermore, the Sassanids seized the properties of Roman merchants.
760:). According to this source, the Romans did not try to aid the besieged, but the Sassanids were convinced to lift the siege when the bishop of the city, Eunomius, had a stone-thrower, named after
665:
For these reasons, when the
Persian ambassadors reached the Roman court to demand the return of the fugitives, Theodosius chose to break the peace and declare war, rather than giving them back.
287:
754:
According to a Roman ecclesiastical source, the
Sassanids besieged Theodosiopolis for 30 days, with thousands of soldiers and even siege engines (that the source calls
321:
767:
Despite the evident religious theme of this account, the passage is important as it testifies to an unsuccessful
Sassanid attack on Theodosiopolis. This could be the
42:
89:
61:
68:
280:
75:
57:
273:
797:). Both parties agreed to reject Arab defectors of the other party, as well as to guarantee liberty of religion in their territories.
567:
562:
719:, a Roman province that had been left unguarded, and moved there, but Ardabur foresaw his enemy's plan and intercepted him there.
1109:
859:
326:
746:; at the same time, a large Persian army moved towards Nisibis. To avoid a war on two fronts, Theodosius then recalled Ardabur.
397:
1104:
1060:
363:
647:
392:
82:
601:, which had come as a response to attacks by Christians against Zoroastrian temples; the Christian Eastern Roman Emperor
353:
138:
449:
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1004:
988:
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108:
1089:
469:
348:
491:
46:
731:
358:
258:
1114:
1084:
772:
716:
627:, who shortly before he had been killed, began a persecution of Christians as reprisal for attacks against
331:
169:
631:
by
Christians during his reign; Bahram continued this persecution, during which many died. Among them was
887:, Emperor in 450, who, however, fell ill in Lycia and did not take part in the war (Theophanes, AM 5943).
530:
439:
605:
declared war and obtained some victories, but in the end, the two powers agreed to sign a peace on the
715:, Narses, engaged Ardabur in battle, but was defeated and forced to retreat. Narses planned to attack
646:
The persecuted
Christians fled to Roman territory and were welcomed by the bishop of Constantinople,
506:
454:
373:
368:
776:
768:
689:
341:
1079:
516:
474:
459:
385:
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310:
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Persian Empire agreed to tolerate
Christianity and Roman Empire agreed to tolerate Zoroastrianism
35:
1119:
793:
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607:
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402:
297:
245:
203:
681:. Ardabur needed to collect many troops for his campaign. Theodosius, therefore, allowed some
1016:
997:
There is no crime for those who have Christ: religious violence in the
Christian Roman empire
501:
429:
336:
674:
584:
479:
241:
220:
8:
914:
801:
496:
761:
628:
130:
738:), who, however, were dispersed by the Romans. In the meantime, the King of the Huns,
1056:
1040:
1000:
984:
969:
707:, where he joined the rebels, while Ardabur entered Persian territory and devastated
523:
511:
417:
412:
316:
779:, and in this case the attack should be dated after the Roman retreat from Nisibis.
632:
444:
225:
743:
636:
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805:
712:
651:
602:
407:
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966:
The Rome that did not fall: the survival of the East in the fifth century
771:, and in this case the siege should be dated to 421, while Narses was in
704:
650:, who informed the Emperor of the persecution. The Eastern Roman Emperor
624:
593:
552:
254:
165:
685:
742:, had attacked the dioceses of Dacia and Thracia and had even menaced
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588:
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265:
24:
727:
708:
682:
620:
598:
250:
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884:
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Among which was a unit in which was enlisted an obscure soldier,
723:
787:
The peace treaty that ended the war (422) was negotiated by the
791:
Helio. It returned everything to the situation before the war (
739:
635:, a political counsellor of Yazdegerd's, who had converted to
808:
remarks, this will have facilitated the conclusion of peace.
735:
678:
16:
Conflict between
Eastern Roman Empire and Sasanians (602-628)
1053:
The
Sasanian empire at War.Persia,Rome and the rise od Islam
693:
658:, and had become more and more interested in Christianity.
1035:
Michael H. Dodgeon, Samuel N. C. Lieu, Geoffrey Greatrex,
654:
was at the time deeply influenced by his religious sister
1031:. English translations of these sections are present in:
865:
722:
Ardabur received reinforcements and put the fortress of
677:, who, incidentally, came from the Iranian tribe of the
1037:
The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars, Part 2
696:
while the Thracian Roman troops were sent to the East.
597:
was the persecution of Christians by the Sassanid king
1015:
The most complete account of the war is preserved in
841:
942:, (The Modern Library, 1932), chap. XXXII., p. 1179
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
1071:
673:The commander-in-chief of the Roman army was
281:
981:A history of the Byzantine state and society
764:, kill a lesser king of the Sassanid army.
1023:VII.18, but some passages are included by
749:
288:
274:
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
940:The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
1072:
1050:
994:
871:
847:
800:It is related that Acacius, bishop of
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269:
726:under siege. Bahram allied with the
47:adding citations to reliable sources
18:
983:, Stanford University Press, 1997,
13:
999:. University of California Press.
692:, to defend the province from the
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1131:
964:Stephen Williams, Gerard Friell,
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58:"Roman–Sasanian War of 421–422"
34:needs additional citations for
1110:Battles involving the Lakhmids
920:
908:
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877:
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1:
834:
614:
581:Roman–Sasanian war of 421–422
398:Campaign of Severus Alexander
124:Roman–Sasanian War of 421–422
1105:420s in the Byzantine Empire
1055:. Westholme Publishing,LLC.
7:
1051:Decker, Michael J. (2022).
668:
639:but then converted back to
583:was a conflict between the
492:Julian's Persian expedition
470:Perso-Roman wars of 337–361
164:Roman - Sassanid frontier (
10:
1136:
359:Trajan's Parthian campaign
327:Pompeian–Parthian invasion
777:Theodosiopolis in Osroene
769:Theodosiopolis in Armenia
374:Parthian war of Caracalla
322:Caesar's planned invasion
307:
235:
214:
147:
143:Roman - Sasanian frontier
136:
128:
123:
995:Gaddis, Michael (2005).
811:
905:Dodgeon, p. 258, n. 50.
896:Theodoretus, V.37.6-10.
750:Siege of Theodosiopolis
531:Byzantine–Sasanian wars
364:Lucius Verus' campaigns
1029:Historia Ecclesiastica
1021:Historia Ecclesiastica
794:status quo ante bellum
349:Mark Antony's campaign
236:Commanders and leaders
204:status quo ante bellum
1017:Socrates Scholasticus
979:Warren T. Treadgold,
711:. The general of the
623:succeeded his father
354:Armenian War of 58–63
585:Eastern Roman Empire
221:Eastern Roman Empire
43:improve this article
1115:5th century in Iran
1090:Roman–Sasanian Wars
1085:Religion-based wars
1039:, CRC Press, 2002,
968:, Routledge, 1999,
789:magister officiorum
629:Zoroastrian temples
386:Roman–Sasanian wars
311:Roman–Parthian Wars
874:, p. 196-197.
860:Dictionary of Wars
762:Thomas the Apostle
299:Roman–Persian Wars
131:Roman-Persian Wars
1062:978-1-59416-692-1
917:, fragment 1.4-7.
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425:Nisibis (252)
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32:This article
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783:Peace treaty
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732:Al-Mundhir I
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502:Maiozamalcha
440:Dura-Europos
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259:Al-Mundhir I
215:Belligerents
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129:Part of the
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53:
41:Please help
36:verification
33:
872:Gaddis 2005
848:Decker 2022
773:Mesopotamia
717:Mesopotamia
705:Persarmenia
625:Yazdegerd I
594:casus belli
553:Iberian War
485:2nd Singara
475:1st Singara
430:Barbalissos
393:Mesopotamia
342:Mt Gindarus
337:Amanus Pass
255:Mehr Narseh
197:Territorial
170:Mesopotamia
166:Persarmenia
99:August 2024
1074:Categories
835:References
686:Ostrogoths
615:Background
543:War of 440
497:Pirisabora
155:421–422 AD
69:newspapers
1025:Theodoret
927:Chr. Arb.
757:helepolis
701:Anatolius
683:Pannonian
656:Pulcheria
589:Sasanians
558:Lazic War
524:Bagrevand
507:Ctesiphon
246:Anatolius
709:Arzanene
669:Conflict
621:Bahram V
619:In 421,
599:Bahram V
587:and the
251:Bahram V
230:Lakhmids
160:Location
1027:in his
1011:196-197
915:Malchus
885:Marcian
724:Nisibis
690:Thracia
675:Ardabur
648:Atticus
517:Samarra
512:Maranga
435:Antioch
418:Misiche
413:Resaena
379:Nisibis
317:Carrhae
242:Ardabur
199:changes
83:scholar
1059:
1043:
1003:
987:
972:
806:Gibbon
591:. The
465:Satala
445:Edessa
178:Result
85:
78:
71:
64:
56:
929:, 16.
812:Notes
802:Amida
775:, or
736:Hirah
679:Alans
480:Amida
408:Hatra
90:JSTOR
76:books
1057:ISBN
1041:ISBN
1001:ISBN
985:ISBN
970:ISBN
694:Huns
579:The
152:Date
62:news
1100:422
1095:421
740:Rua
734:of
703:to
45:by
1076::
1019:,
826:."
643:.
611:.
168:,
1065:.
1009:.
289:e
282:t
275:v
172:)
112:)
106:(
101:)
97:(
87:·
80:·
73:·
66:·
39:.
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