and Thrace into Asia, accompanied by a formidable army and by at least
one good general. Timesitheus, whose daughter Gordian had recently
married, though his life had hitherto been that of a civilian, exhibited
on his elevation to the dignity of prætorian prefect considerable
military ability. The army, nominally commanded by Gordian, really acted
under his orders. With it Timesitheus attacked and beat the bands of
Sapor in a number of engagements, recovered Antioch, crossed the
Euphrates, retook Carrhæ, defeated the Persian monarch in a pitched
battle near Resaina (Ras-el-Ain), recovered Nisibis, and once more
planted the Roman standards on the banks of the Tigris. Sapor hastily
evacuated most of his conquests, and retired first across the Euphrates,
and then across the more eastern river, while the Romans advanced as he
retreated, placed garrisons in the various Mesopotamian towns, and even
threatened the great city of Ctesiphon.
Gordian was confident that his general would gain further triumphs, and
wrote to the senate to that effect; but either disease or the arts of a
rival cut short the career of the victor, and from the time of his death
the Romans ceased to be successful. The legions had, it would seem,
invaded Southern Mesopotamia when the prætorian prefect who had
succeeded Timesitheus brought them intentionally into difficulties by
his mismanagement of the commissariat, and at last retreat was
determined on.
The young Emperor had almost reached his own frontier, when the
discontent of the army, fomented by the prefect, Philip, came to a head.
Gordian was murdered at a place called Zaitha, about twenty miles south
of Circesium, and was buried where he fell, the soldiers raising a
tumulus in his honor. His successor, Philip, was glad to make peace on
any tolerable terms with the Persians; he felt himself insecure upon his
throne, and was anxious to obtain the senate's sanction of his
usurpation. He therefore quitted the East in A.D. 244, having concluded
a treaty with Sapor by which Armenia seems to have been left to the
Persians, while Mesopotamia returned to its old condition of a Roman
province.
The peace made between Philip and Sapor was followed by an interval of
fourteen years, during which scarcely anything is known of the condition
of Persia. We may suspect that troubles in the northeast of his empire
occupied Sapor during this period, for at the end of it we find Bactria,
which was certainly subject to Persia during the earlier years of the
monarchy, occupying an independent position, and even assuming an
attitude of hostility toward the Persian monarch. Bactria had, from a
remote antiquity, claims to preëminence among the Aryan nations. She was
more than once inclined to revolt from the Achæmenidæ, and during the
later Parthian period she had enjoyed a sort of semi-independence. It
would seem that she now succeeded in detaching herself altogether from
her southern neighbor and becoming a distinct and separate power. To
strengthen her position she entered into relations with Rome, which
gladly welcomed any adhesions to her cause in this remote region.
Sapor's second war with Rome was, like his first, provoked by himself.
After concluding his peace with Philip he had seen the Roman world
governed successively by six weak emperors, of whom four had died
violent deaths, while at the same time there had been a continued series
of attacks upon the northern frontiers of the empire by Alamanni, Goths,
and Franks, who had ravaged at will a number of the finest provinces,
and threatened the absolute destruction of the great monarchy of the
West. It was natural that the chief kingdom of Western Asia should note
these events, and should seek to promote its own interests by taking
advantage of the circumstances of the time. Sapor, in A.D. 258,
determined on a fresh invasion of the Roman provinces, and once more
entering Mesopotamia carried all before him, became master of Nisibis,
Carrhæ, and Edessa, and, crossing the Euphrates, surprised Antioch,
which was wrapped in the enjoyment of theatrical and other
representations, and only knew its fate on the exclamation of a couple
of actors that "the Persians were in possession of the town!" The aged
Emperor, Valerian, hastened to the protection of his more eastern
territories, and at first gained some successes, retaking Antioch, and
making that city his head-quarters during his stay in the East.
But after this the tide turned. Valerian intrusted the whole conduct of
the war to Macrianus, his prætorian prefect, whose talents he admired,
and of whose fidelity he did not entertain a suspicion. Macrianus,
however, aspired to the empire, and intentionally brought Valerian into
difficulties in the hope of disgracing or removing him. His tactics were
successful. The Roman army in Mesopotamia was betrayed into a situation
whence escape was impossible and where its capitulation was only a
question of time. A bold attempt made to force a way through the enemy's
lines failed utterly, after which famine and pestilence began to do
their work. In vain did the aged Emperor send envoys to propose a peace
and offer to purchase escape by the payment of an immense sum in gold.
Sapor, confident of victory, refused the overture, and, waiting
patiently till his adversary was at the last gasp, invited him to a
conference, and then treacherously seized his person. The army
surrendered or dispersed. Macrianus, the prætorian prefect, shortly
assumed the title of emperor and marched against Gallienus, the son and
colleague of Valerian, who had been left to direct affairs in the West.
But another rival started up in the East. Sapor conceived the idea of
complicating the Roman affairs by himself putting forward a pretender;
and an obscure citizen of Antioch, a certain Miriades, or Cyriades, a
refugee in his camp, was invested with the purple and assumed the title
of Cæsar.
The blow struck at Edessa laid the whole of Roman Asia open to attack,
and the Persian monarch was not slow to seize the occasion. His troops
crossed the Euphrates in force, and, marching on Antioch, once more
captured that unfortunate town, from which the more prudent citizens had
withdrawn, but where the bulk of the people, not displeased at the turn
of affairs, remained and welcomed the conqueror. Miriades was installed
in power, while Sapor himself, at the head of his irresistible
squadrons, pressed forward, bursting "like a mountain torrent" into
Cilicia, and thence into Cappadocia. Tarsus, the birthplace of St. Paul,
at once a famous seat of learning and a great emporium of commerce,
fell; Cilicia Campestris was overrun, and the passes of Taurus, deserted
or weakly defended by the Romans, came into Sapor's hand.
Penetrating through them and entering the campaign country beyond, his
bands soon began the siege of Cæsarea Mazaca, the greatest city of these
parts, estimated at this time to have contained a population of four
hundred thousand souls. Demosthenes, the governor of Cæsarea, defended
it bravely, and, had force only been used against him, might have
prevailed; but Sapor found friends within the walls, and by their help
made himself master of the place, while its bold defender was obliged to
content himself with escaping by cutting his way through the victorious
host. All Asia Minor now seemed open to the conqueror; and it is
difficult to understand why he did not at any rate attempt a permanent
occupation of the territory which he had so easily overrun. But it seems
certain that he entertained no such idea.
Devastation and plunder, revenge and gain, not permanent conquest, were
his objects; and hence his course was everywhere marked by ruin and
carnage, by smoking towns, ravaged fields, and heaps of slain. His
cruelties have no doubt been exaggerated; but when we hear that he
filled the ravines and valleys of Cappadocia with dead bodies, and so
led his cavalry across them; that he depopulated Antioch, killing or
carrying off into slavery almost the whole population; that he suffered
his prisoners in many cases to perish of hunger, and that he drove them
to water once a day like beasts, we may be sure that the guise in which
he showed himself to the Romans was that of a merciless scourge--an
avenger bent on spreading the terror of his name, not of one who really
sought to enlarge the limits of his empire. During the whole course of
this plundering expedition, until the retreat began, we hear but of one
check that the bands of Sapor received. It had been determined to attack
Emesa, one of the most important of the Syrian towns, where the temple
of Venus was known to contain a vast treasure. The invaders approached,
scarcely expecting to be resisted; but the high-priest of the temple,
having collected a large body of peasants, appeared in his sacerdotal
robes at the head of a fanatic multitude armed with slings, and
succeeded in beating off the assailants. Emesa, its temple, and its
treasure escaped the rapacity of the Persians; and an example of
resistance was set, which was not perhaps without important
consequences.
For it seems certain that the return of Sapor across the Euphrates was
not effected without considerable loss and difficulty. On his advance
into Syria he had received an embassy from a certain Odenathus, a
Syrian, or Arab chief, who occupied a position of semi-independence at
Palmyra, which through the advantages of its situation, had lately
become a flourishing commercial town. Odenathus sent a long train of
camels laden with gifts, consisting in part of rare and precious
merchandise, to the Persian monarch, begging him to accept them, and
claiming his favorable regard on the ground that he had hitherto
refrained from all acts of hostility against the Persians. It appears
that Sapor took offence at the tone of the communication, which was not
sufficiently humble to please him. Tearing the letter to fragments and
trampling it beneath his feet he exclaimed: "Who is this Odenathus, and
of what country, that he ventures thus to address his lord? Let him now,
if he would lighten his punishment, come here and fall prostrate before
me with his hands tied behind his back. Should he refuse, let him be
well assured that I will destroy himself, his race, and his land." At
the same time he ordered his servants to cast the costly presents of the
Palmyrene prince into the Euphrates.
This arrogant and offensive behavior naturally turned the willing friend
into an enemy. Odenathus, finding himself forced into a hostile
position, took arms and watched his opportunity. So long as Sapor
continued to advance he kept aloof. As soon, however, as the retreat
commenced, and the Persian army, encumbered with its spoil and captives,
proceeded to make its way back slowly and painfully to the Euphrates,
Odenathus, who had collected a large force--in part from the Syrian
villages, in part from the wild tribes of Arabia--made his appearance in
the field. His light and agile horsemen hovered about the Persian host,
cut off their stragglers, made prize of much of their spoil, and even
captured a portion of the seraglio of the great king.
The harassed troops were glad when they had placed the Euphrates between
themselves and their pursuer, and congratulated each other on their
escape. So much had they suffered and so little did they feel equal to
further conflicts that on their march through Mesopotamia they consented
to purchase the neutrality of the people of Edessa by making over to
them all the coined money that they had carried off in their Syrian
raid. After this it would seem that the retreat was unmolested, and
Sapor succeeded in conveying the greater part of his army, together with
his illustrious prisoner, to his own country.
With regard to the treatment that Valerian received at the hands of his
conqueror it is difficult to form a decided opinion. The writers nearest
to the time speak vaguely and moderately, merely telling us that he grew
old in his captivity and was kept in the condition of a slave. It is
reserved for authors of the next generation to inform us that he was
exposed to the constant gaze of the multitude, fettered, but clad in the
imperial purple; and that Sapor, whenever he mounted on horseback,
placed his foot upon his prisoner's neck. Some add that when the
unhappy captive died, about the year A.D. 265 or 266, his body was
flayed and the skin inflated and hung up to view in one of the most
frequented temples of Persia, where it was seen by Roman envoys on their
visits to the great king's court.
It is impossible to deny that oriental barbarism may conceivably have
gone to these lengths; and it is in favor of the truth of the details
that Roman vanity would naturally have been opposed to their invention.
But, on the other hand, we have to remember that in the East the person
of a king is generally regarded as sacred, and that self-interest
restrains the conquering monarch from dishonoring one of his own class.
We have also to give due weight to the fact that the earlier authorities
are silent with respect to any such atrocities, and that they are first
related half a century after the time when they are said to have
occurred.
Under these circumstances the scepticism of Gibbon with respect to them
is perhaps worthy of commendation.
It may be added that oriental monarchs, when they are cruel, do not show
themselves ashamed of their cruelties, but usually relate them openly in
their inscriptions or represent them in their bas-reliefs. The remains
ascribed on good grounds to Sapor do not, however, contain anything
confirmatory of the stories which we are considering. Valerian is
represented on them in a humble attitude, but not fettered, and never in
the posture of extreme degradation commonly associated with his name. He
bends his knee, as no doubt he would be required to do, on being brought
into the great king's presence; but otherwise he does not appear to be
subjected to any indignity. It seems thus to be on the whole most
probable that the Roman Emperor was not more severely treated than the
generality of captive princes, and that Sapor has been unjustly taxed
with abusing the rights of conquest.
The hostile feeling of Odenathus against Sapor did not cease with the
retreat of the latter across the Euphrates. The Palmyrene prince was
bent on taking advantage of the general confusion of the times to carve
out for himself a considerable kingdom, of which Palmyra should be the
capital. Syria and Palestine, on the one hand, Mesopotamia, on the
other, were the provinces that lay most conveniently near to him and
that he especially coveted. But Mesopotamia had remained in the
possession of the Persians as the prize of their victory over Valerian,
and could only be obtained by wresting it from the hands into which it
had fallen. Odenathus did not shrink from this contest. It has been,
with some reason, conjectured that Sapor must have been at this time
occupied with troubles which had broken out on the eastern side of his
empire. At any rate, it appears that Odenathus, after a short contest
with Macrianus and his son, Quietus, turned his arms once more, about
A.D. 263, against the Persians, crossed the Euphrates into Mesopotamia,
took Carrhæ and Nisibis, defeated Sapor and some of his sons in a
battle, and drove the entire Persian host in confusion to the gates of
Ctesiphon. He even returned to lay siege to that city; but it was not
long before effectual relief arrived; from all the provinces flocked in
contingents for the defence of the western capital; several engagements
were fought, in some of which Odenathus was defeated; and at last he
found himself involved in difficulties through his ignorance of the
localities, and so thought it best to retire. Apparently his retreat was
undisturbed; he succeeded in carrying off his booty and his prisoners,
among whom were several satraps, and he retained possession of
Mesopotamia, which continued to form a part of the Palmyrene kingdom
until the capture of Zenobia by Aurelian, A.D. 273.
The successes of Odenathus, in A.D. 263, were followed by a period of
comparative tranquillity. That ambitious prince seems to have been
content with ruling from the Tigris to the Mediterranean, and with the
title of "Augustus," which he received from the Roman emperor Gallienus,
and "King of Kings," which he assumed upon his coins. He did not press
further upon Sapor, nor did the Roman Emperor make any serious attempt
to recover his father's person or revenge his defeat upon the Persians.
An expedition which he sent out to the East, professedly with this
object, in the year A.D. 267, failed utterly, its commander,
Heraclianus, being signally defeated by Zenobia, the widow and successor
of Odenathus. Odenathus himself was murdered by a kinsman three or four
years after his great successes, and though Zenobia ruled his kingdom
almost with a man's vigor, the removal of his powerful adversary must
have been felt as a relief by the Persian monarch. It is evident, too,
that from the time of the accession of Zenobia the relations between
Rome and Palmyra had become unfriendly; the old empire grew jealous of
the new kingdom which had sprung up upon its borders; and the effect of
this jealousy, while it lasted, was to secure Persia from any attack on
the part of either.
It appears that Sapor, relieved from any further necessity of defending
his empire in arms, employed the remaining years of his life in the
construction of great works, and especially in the erection and
ornamentation of a new capital. The ruins of Shapur, which still exist
near Kazerun, in the province of Fars, commemorate the name and afford
some indication of the grandeur of the second Persian monarch. Besides
remains of buildings, they comprise a number of bas-reliefs and rock
inscriptions, some of which were, beyond a doubt, set up by Sapor I. In
one of the most remarkable, the Persian monarch is represented on
horseback, wearing the crown usual upon his coins, and holding by the
hand a tunicked figure, probably Miriades, whom he is presenting to the
captured Romans as their sovereign. Foremost to do him homage is the
kneeling figure of a chieftain, probably Valerian, behind whom are
arranged in a double line seventeen persons, representing probably the
different corps of the Roman army. All these persons are on foot, while
in contrast with them are arranged behind Sapor ten guards on horseback,
who represent his irresistible cavalry. Another bas-relief at the same
place gives us a general view of Sapor on his return to Persia with his
illustrious prisoners. Here fifty-seven guards are ranged behind him,
while in front are thirty-three tribute bearers having with them an
elephant and a chariot. In the centre is a group of seven figures,
comprising: Sapor, who is on horseback in his usual costume; Valerian,
who is under the horse's feet; Miriades, who stands by Sapor's side;
three principal tribute bearers in front of the main figure; and a
_Victory_, which floats in the sky.
Another important work, assigned by tradition to Sapor I, is the great
dike at Shuster. This is a dam across the river Karun, formed of cut
stones, cemented by lime and fastened together by cramps of iron; it is
twenty feet broad and no less than twelve hundred feet in length. The
whole is a solid mass except in the centre, where two small arches have
been constructed for the purpose of allowing a part of the stream to
flow in its natural bed. The greater portion of the water is directed
eastward into a canal cut for it; and the town of Shuster is thus
defended on both sides by a water barrier, whereby the position becomes
one of great strength. Tradition says that Sapor used his power over
Valerian to obtain Roman engineers for this work; and the great dam is
still known as the "Dam of Cæsar" to the inhabitants of the neighboring
country.
Sapor died, having reigned thirty-one years, from A.D. 240 to A.D. 271.
He was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable princes of the Sassanian
series. In military talent, indeed, he may not have equalled his father,
for though he defeated Valerian he had to confess himself inferior to
Odenathus. But in general governmental ability he is among the foremost
of the Neo-Persian monarchs, and may compare favorably with almost any
prince of the series. He baffled Odenathus, when he was not able to
defeat him, by placing himself behind walls, and by bringing into play
those advantages which naturally belonged to the position of a monarch
attacked in his own country. He maintained, if he did not permanently
advance, the power of Persia in the West, while in the East it is
probable that he considerably extended the bounds of his dominion.
To the internal administration of his empire he united works of
usefulness with the construction of memorials which had only a
sentimental and æsthetic value. He was a liberal patron of art and is
thought not to have confined his patronage to the encouragement of
native talent. On the subject of religion he did not suffer himself to
be permanently led away by the enthusiasm of a young and bold
freethinker. He decided to maintain the religious system that had
descended to him from his ancestors, and turned a deaf ear to
persuasions that would have led him to revolutionize the religious
opinion of the East without placing it upon a satisfactory footing. The
orientals add to these commendable features of character that he was a
man of remarkable beauty, of great personal courage, and of a noble and
princely liberality. According to them, "he only desired wealth that he
might use it for good and great purposes."
CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE
DECLINE OF PAGANISM
A.D. 300-337
JOHANN LORENZ VON MOSHEIM
A new epoch in the history of the Roman Empire began with the
accession of Diocletian to the throne in A.D. 284. From that time
the old names of consul, tribune, etc., belonging to the republic
lost their significance, and even the senate was practically
abolished. Thenceforth the empire became an oriental sovereignty.
In the year 292, having previously associated with himself one
colleague, Maximianus Herculius, Diocletian created two Cæsars: the
one, Galerius Maximianus, to act as his subordinate in the East;
the other, Constantius Chlorus, to divide the government of the
western provinces with Maximianus Herculius. Each of these emperors
ruled with vigor in his own territory, defending the frontiers of
the empire and also suppressing such revolts as broke out within
its borders.
But these transformations in the empire were preparing the way for
events of unprecedented nature and importance, and for the rise of
an emperor destined to play a part in the history of the world
quite different from that performed by any of his predecessors.
This was Constantine, in whose character, throughout his life,
opposing elements seemed to contend for mastery, as was shown in
his treatment of the perplexing questions that arose during his
reign concerning Christianity, which was persecuted under
Diocletian and the old Roman religion. Of his statesmanship and his
further transformation of the empire, in ways which Diocletian
could not have foreseen, history has made an impressive record.
But the great events of his reign, which caused it to be regarded
as the inauguration of a new era, were his conversion to
Christianity and the acts whereby he secured its toleration and
then its supremacy in the empire. In the account which follows it
is clearly shown by what steps these results were attained, and how
the work of Constantine the Great became the chief agency by which
Christianity mounted the throne of the Cæsars.
In the beginning of the fourth century the Roman Empire had four
sovereigns, of whom two were superior to the others and bore the title
of Augustus, namely, Diocletian and Maximianus Herculius; the two
inferior sovereigns, who bore the title of Cæsars, were Constantius
Chlorus and Galerius Maximianus. Under these four emperors the state of
the Church was peaceful and happy. Diocletian, though superstitious,
indulged no hatred toward the Christians. Constantius Chlorus, following
only the dictates of reason in matters of religion, was averse to the
popular idolatry, and friendly to the Christians. The pagan priests,
therefore, from well-grounded fears lest Christianity, to their great
and lasting injury, should spread far and wide its triumphs, endeavored
to excite Diocletian, whom they knew to be both timid and credulous, by
means of feigned oracles and other impositions, to engage in persecuting
the Christians.