The Historical Characters of SAI
- Arshak II -
Arshak II, or Arsaces II, was the king of Armenia from 350 to 367. In the early years of Arshak's reign, he found himself courted by the empires of Rome and Persia, both of which hoped to win Armenia to their side in the ongoing conflicts between them. Arshak consented to marry a Roman princess, but managed to maintain Armenia's neutrality until 361.
Meanwhile, Persian King Shapur II intensified his efforts to conquer Armenia once and for all. Arshak II focused on strengthening the army. He rewarded loyal generals and severely punished disloyal ones. He crafted an ambitious plan in which all criminals that settled in his newly founded city, Arshakavan, were given complete amnesty. Approximately 150 000 individuals settled in the city. His hope was to create a large army directly under his command. But, many in the Armenian nobility did not agree with the plan and subsequently destroyed the city and killed the inhabitants.
Jovian, being a weak emperor, made a dishonorable peace with Shapur II, and Arshak II found himself abandoned by the Romans and left to defend Armenia all alone. The Persians swiftly attacked but were unsuccessful. Shapur II, seeing that brute force was not going to subjugate Arshak II, turned to treachery. Arshak was invited by the Persian king for peace talks. When Arshak arrived, he was taken prisoner.
Living in a Persian prison, the king was unable to stop the Persian invasion and subjugation of Armenia. Years later, an Armenian by the name of Trastamat, saved Shapur’s life in battle. The Persian king thanked him and granted him his wish: to visit the imprisoned Arshak. During the visit Arshak was reminiscing on his glory days and feeling depressed, he took his visitor’s knife and killed himself. Trastamat, moved by what he had just witnessed, took the knife from Asrshak’s chest and stabbed himself as well.
- Chnodomar -
Chnodomar, or Chnodomarius, was the king of an Alamannic canton in what is now south-west Germany, near the Rhine from sometime before 352 till 357. During Magnentius' rebellion Chnodomar engaged in a battle with Magnentius' Caesar and brother, Decentius, in 352, defeating him. Chnodomar may have been acting in concert with Constantius II, against whom Magnentius had rebelled.
In 357 after the Alamanni had forced Barbatio to retire from their territory, seven Alamanni kings united under the leadership of Chnodomar and brought a large force over the Rhine to engage Constantius' Caesar Julian. The armies met in the battle of Strasbourg (Argentoratum), and although the Romans were well outnumbered, they soundly defeated the Alamanni. Chnodomar was captured at the end of the battle. Julian spared his life and sent him off to Constantius. Eventually he died in exile in Rome.
- Constantius II -
Constantius was the second of the three sons of Constantine I and his second wife Fausta. Constantius was born in Sirmium and named Caesar by his father. He married three times, first to a daughter of Julius Constantius, then to Eusebia, and last to Faustina, who gave birth to a posthumous daughter called Constantia, who later married Emperor Gratian. When Constantine died in 337, Constantius II led the massacre of his relatives descended from the second marriage of his grandfather Constantius Chlorus and Theodora, leaving himself, his older brother Constantine II, his younger brother Constans and two cousins (Gallus and his half-brother Julian) as the only surviving males related to Constantine. The three brothers divided the Roman Empire among them, according to their father's will. Constantine II received Britannia, Gaul and Hispania; Constans ruled Italia, Africa, and Illyricum; and Constantius ruled the East.
This division changed when Constantine II died in 340, trying to overthrow Constans in Italy, and Constans became sole ruler in the Western half of the empire. The division changed once more in 350 when Constans was killed in battle by forces loyal to the usurper Magnentius. Until this time, Constantius was preoccupied with fighting the Sassanid Empire, and he was forced to elevate his cousin Gallus to Caesar of the East to assist him, while he turned his attention to this usurper. Constantius eventually met and crushed Magnentius in the Battle of Mursa Major, one of the bloodiest battles in Roman history, in 351. Magnentius committed suicide in 353, and Constantius soon after put his cousin Gallus to death. However, he still could not handle the military affairs of both the Eastern and German frontiers by himself, so in 355 he elevated his last remaining relative, Julian, to Caesar. A few days later, Julian was married to Helena, the last surviving sister of Constantius. Not long after Constantius sent Julian off to Gaul.
In the winter of 357-8, Constantius received ambassadors from Shapur II who demanded that Rome restore the lands surrendered by Narseh. Despite rejecting these terms, Constantius still tried to avert war with the Persians. As a result of Constantius' rejection of his terms, Shapur II launched another invasion of Roman Mesopotamia. In 360 when news reached Constantius that Shapur II had destroyed Singara, and taken Kiphas, Amida, and Ad Tigris, he decided to travel east to face the re-emergent threat.
In the meantime, Julian had won some victories against the Alemanni tribe, who had once again invaded Roman Gaul. As such, Constantius requested reinforcements from Julian for his own campaign against Shapur II. However, when he requested reinforcements from Julian’s army, the Gallic legions revolted and proclaimed Julian Augustus. However, on account of the immediate Sassanid threat, Constantius was unable to directly respond to his cousin’s usurpation other than by sending missives by which he tried to convince Julian to resign the title of Augustus and be satisfied with that of Caesar. By 361, Constantius saw no alternative but to face the usurper with force; and yet the threat of the Sassanids remained. Constantius had already spent part of early 361 unsuccessfully attempting to re-take the fortress of Ad Tigris. After a time he had withdrawn to Antioch to regroup and prepare for a confrontation with Shapur II. However, the campaigns of the previous year had inflicted heavy losses on the Sassanids and they did not attempt another round of campaigns that year. This temporary respite in hostilities allowed Constantius to turn his full attention to facing Julian.
Constantius immediately gathered his forces and set off west. However, by the time he reached Mopsuestia in Cilicia, it was clear that he was fatally ill and would not survive to face Julian. Apparently, realising his death was near, Constantius had himself baptised by Euzoius, the Semi-Arian bishop of Antioch, and then declared that Julian was his rightful successor. Constantius II died of fever on 3 November 361.
- Julianus -
Julian was the son of Julius Constantius, half brother of Emperor Constantine I, and his second wife, Basilina. In the turmoil after the death of Constantine in 337, in order to establish himself as sole emperor, Julian's zealous Arian Christian cousin Constantius II conducted a massacre of his relatives, leaving only Constantius and his brothers Constantine II and Constans, and their cousins Julian and Gallus, Julian's half brother, as surviving males related to Emperor Constantine.
Constantius II then saw to a strict Arian Christian education of the surviving Julian and his brother Gallus. However, in 342, both Julian and his half-brother Gallus were exiled to Cappadocia. However, at the age of 18, the exile was lifted, and Julian able to return to his studies.
In need of support, Constantius II made Julian's brother, Gallus, Caesar of the East in 351, while Constantius himself turned his attention westward to Magnentius, whom he defeated decisively in 351. Shortly afterwards Gallus was executed, and Julian himself was briefly imprisoned. However, Constantius still had to deal with the Sassanid threat, and so he turned to his last remaining male relative, Julian. He was summoned to the emperor in Milan and, on 6 November 355, made Caesar of the West and married to Constantius' sister Helena. In the years afterwards Julian fought the Germanic tribes that tried to intrude upon the Roman Empire. He won back Colonia Agrippina in 356, during his first campaign in Gaul. The following summer he defeated the Alemanni at the Battle of Strasbourg, a major Roman victory. In 358, Julian gained victories over the Salian Franks on the Lower Rhine, settling them in Toxandria, near the city of Xanten, and over the Chamavi. During his residence in Gaul, Julian also attended to non-military matters. He prevented a tax increase by the Gallic praetorian prefect Florentius and personally administered the province of Belgica Secunda.
In February 360, Constantius ordered Julian to send Gallic troops to his eastern army. This provoked an insurrection by troops of the Petulantes, who proclaimed Julian emperor in Paris, and led to a very swift military campaign to secure or win the allegiance of others. From June to August of that year, Julian led a successful campaign against the Attuarian Franks. That same June, forces loyal to Constantius II captured the city of Aquileia on the north Adriatic coast, and were subsequently besieged by forces loyal to Julian. Civil war was avoided only by the death of Constantius II, who, in his last will, recognized Julian as his rightful successor.
It is December 11th 361AD. Julian has arrived in Constantinople after assuming power from his cousin Constantius II who died of a fever near Tarsus, thus avoiding another civil war. This has been a long time coming for Julian who was foretold that one day he would be victorious against the Christians and restore the Pagan gods. Julian had risen to fame and glory on the back of his successful campaigns in Gaul against the Franks and Alemanni, culminating in his famous victory at Argentorum, and now has a desire to emulate Alexander the Great in conquering the might Sassanid Empire. Ironically, it had been Constantius II who had appointed Julian as Caesar in Gaul in 355AD to control the Germanic tribes as he turned his attention to the Sassanids in the east. The situation now is one of a nervous calm. There is peace in the land and great expectations from this philosopher emperor. The provinces of Gaul have been ravaged by barbarians and are in need of repair. But the Germanic tribes are only subdued, not defeated, and there is still the issue of the Persians to deal with. Coupled with this is the resentment of those within the empire who wish to keep Christianity as the official religion of the empire. Julian then, is charged with completing the war with Persia, and capturing Ctesiphon, while maintaining the peace along the Rhine and Danube frontiers at the same time reinstating Paganism as the official religion of the empire. He is the last of the House of Constantine. Will he succeed? Only time will tell.
- Procopius -
Procopius was a Roman usurper against Valens, and member of the Constantinian dynasty. He probably spent his youth in Cilicia. On his mother's side, Procopius was related to Emperor Julian. Procopius entered in Julian's retinue and took part in his campaign against the Sasanids in 363. Together with Sebastianus, he was entrusted with controlling the upper Tigris and, if possible, joining King Arsaces II of Armenia and march southward, to reach Julian's army in Assyria. However, Julian died and, when Procopius reached the main Roman army near Thilsaphata, between Nisibis and Singara, he met the new emperor, Jovian.
According to Zosimus, Julian had given Procopius an imperial robe, explaining his act only to him. When Jovian was proclaimed Emperor, Procopius gave him the robe, revealed him Julian's intention, and asked the new Emperor of being allowed to retire to private life; Jovian accepted, and Procopius and his family retired to Caesarea Mazaca.
After Jovian's death, the new emperors, Valentinian and Valens, sent some soldiers to arrest Procopius. He surrendered, but asked to meet his family; he had his captors dine and drink, and then seized the opportunity to flee with his family, first to the Black Sea and later to the Tauric Chersonese, where they hid. However, Procopius feared a betrayal, and decided to go to Constantinople. Procopius immediately moved to declare himself Emperor. He bribed two legions that were resting at Constantinople to support his efforts, and took control of the imperial city. Shortly after this he proclaimed himself Emperor, and quickly took control of the provinces of Thrace, and later Bithynia.
Valens was left with the task of dealing with this rebel, and over the next months struggled with both cities and units that wavered in their allegiance. Eventually their armies met at the Battle of Thyatira, and Procopius' forces were defeated. He fled the battlefield, but was betrayed to Valens by two of his remaining followers. Valens had all three executed in 366.
- Samudragupta -
Samudragupta succeeded his father in 335, and ruled for about 45 years, till his death in 380. He took the kingdoms of Ahichchhatra and Padmavati early in his reign. He then attacked the Malwas, the Yaudheyas, the Arjunayanas, the Maduras and the Abhiras, all of which were tribes in the area. By his death in 380, he had incorporated over twenty kingdoms into his realm and his rule extended from the Himalayas to the river Narmada and from the Brahmaputra to the Yamuna. He gave himself the titles King of Kings and World Monarch. Historian Vincent Smith described him as the "Indian Napoleon". He performed Ashwamedha yajna (horse sacrifice) to underline the importance of his conquest. The stone replica of the sacrificial horse, then prepared, is in the Lucknow Museum. The Samudragupta Prashasti inscribed on the Ashokan Pillar, now in Akbar’s Fort at Allahabad, is an authentic record of his exploits and his sway over most of the continent.
Samudragupta was not only a talented military leader but also a great patron of art and literature. The important scholars present in his court were Harishena, Vasubandhu and Asanga. He was a poet and musician himself. He was a firm believer in Hinduism and is known to have worshipped Lord Vishnu. He was considerate of other religions and allowed Sri Lanka's Buddhist king Sirimeghvanna to build a monastery at Bodh Gaya. That monastery was called by Xuanzang as the Mahabodhi Sangharama. He provided a gold railing around the Bodhi Tree.
- Shapur II -
Shapur II the Great was the ninth King of the Persian Sassanid Empire from 309 to 379. During his long reign, the Sassanid Empire saw its first golden era since the reign of Shapur I.
When King Hormizd II died, Persian nobles killed his eldest son, blinded the second, and imprisoned the third (Hormizd, who afterwards escaped to the Roman Empire). The throne was reserved for the unborn child of one of the wives of Hormizd II. It is said that Shapur II may have been the only king in history to be crowned in utero: the crown was placed upon his mother's belly. This child, named Shapur, was therefore born king; the government was conducted by his mother and the magnates. But when Shapur II came of age, he turned out to be one of the greatest monarchs of the dynasty.
In 337, just before the death of Constantine I, Shapur II, probably provoked by religious differences, broke the peace concluded in 297 between Narseh and Emperor Diocletian, which had been observed for forty years. This was the beginning of two long drawn-out wars which were inadequately recorded. After crushing a rebellion in the south, Shapur II invaded Roman Mesopotamia and recaptured Armenia. Apparently 9 major battles were fought. The most renowned was the inconclusive Battle of Singara in which Constantius II was at first successful, capturing the Persian camp, only to be driven out by a surprise night attack after Shapur had rallied his troops. Gibbon asserts that Shapur II invariably defeated Constantius, but there is reason to believe that the honours were fairly evenly shared between the two capable commanders.
Although often victorious in battles, Shapur II had made scarcely any progress. At the same time he was attacked in the east by Scythian Massagetae and other Central Asian tribes. He had to break off the war with the Romans and arrange a hasty truce in order to pay attention to the east. Most able and persistent of Shapur's opponents in the north east was Grumbates, ruler of the Xionites. After a prolonged struggle they were forced to conclude a peace, and Grumbates agreed to enlist large numbers of his warriors into the Persian army and accompany Shapur II in renewed war against the Romans.
In 359, Shapur II invaded southern Armenia, but was held up by the valiant Roman defence of the fortress of Amida which finally surrendered in 358 after a seventy-three day siege in which the Persian army suffered great losses. The delay forced Shapur to halt operations for the winter. Early the following spring he continued his operations against the Roman fortresses, capturing Singara and Bezabde. Constantius arrived from the west at this time, and unsuccessfully tried to recapture Bezabde.
In 363 Julian, at the head of a strong army, advanced to Shapur's capital at Ctesiphon and defeated a superior Sassanid army at the Battle of Ctesiphon; however, he was killed during his retreat back to Roman territory. His successor Jovian made an ignominious peace. The great success is represented in the rock-sculptures near the town Bishapur in Persis under the hooves of the king's horse lies the body of an enemy, probably Julian, and a supplicant Roman, the Emperor Jovian, asks for peace.
Shapur II then invaded Armenia, but was unable to subjugate King Arshak II, the faithful ally of the Romans. Only through treachery did he eventually capture Arshak, but when Shapur attempted to introduce Zoroastrian orthodoxy into Armenia, the Armenian nobles resisted him successfully, secretly supported by the Romans, who sent King Pap, the son of Arshak II, into Armenia. The war with Rome threatened to break out again, but Valens sacrificed Pap, arranging for his assassination in Tarsus, where he had taken refuge.
By his death in 379 the Persian Empire was stronger than ever before, considerably larger than when he came to the throne, the eastern and western enemies were pacified and Persia had gained control over Armenia.
- Valens -
Flavius Julius Valens was Roman Emperor from 364 to 378, after he was given the Eastern part of the empire by his brother Valentinian I.
Valens and his brother Valentinian were both born in Cibalae into an Illyrian family in 328 and 321 respectively. They had grown up on estates purchased by their father Gratian the Elder in Africa and Britain. While Valentinian had enjoyed a successful military career prior to his appointment as emperor, Valens apparently had not. He had spent much of his youth on the family's estate and only joined the army in the 360s, participating with his brother in the Persian campaign of Emperor Julian.
In February 364, reigning Emperor Jovian, while hastening to Constantinople to secure his claim to the throne, was asphyxiated during a stop at Dadastana, 100 miles east of Ankara. Among Jovian's agents was Valentinian, a tribunus scutariorum. He was proclaimed Augustus on 26 February, 364. Valentinian felt that he needed help to govern the large and troublesome empire, and, on 28 March of the same year, appointed his brother Valens as co-emperor in the palace of Hebdomon. The two Augusti travelled together through Adrianople and Naissus to Sirmium, where they divided their personnel, and Valentinian went on to the West. Valens obtained the eastern half of the Balkan Peninsula, Greece, Egypt, Syria and Anatolia as far east as Persia.
- Valentinianus -
Flavius Valentinianus, commonly known as Valentinian I or Valentinian the Great, was Roman Emperor from 364 to 375. He was the last emperor to have de facto control of the entire empire. Upon becoming emperor he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces while Valentinian retained the west.
Valentinian entered the military in his youth and in 340 accompanied his father – the newly appointed Comes Africae – to Africa. Subsequently, he went to Britain when his father was promoted to Comes Britanniarum. After holding this post, Gratianus retired to the family estate in Cibalae, while Valentinian was probably reassigned somewhere along the Rhine or Danube frontier.
Valentinian was assigned to the army of Julian for the next five years, distinguishing himself as a capable soldier and commander. In 359, he traveled through the land of the tributaries, devastating the lands of the Alammanic kings who had escaped him at Argentoratum, receiving their surrender as well. Valentinian proved to be a competent cavalry commander, his robust frame and great courage sitting well with the soldiers.
During his reign, Valentinian fought successfully against the Alamanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians. Most notable was his victory over the Alamanni in 367 at the Battle of Solicinium. His brilliant general Count Theodosius defeated a revolt in Africa and the Great Conspiracy, a coordinated assault on Britain by Picts, Scots, and Saxons. Valentinian was also the last emperor to conduct campaigns across the Rhine and Danube rivers. He rebuilt and improved the fortifications along the frontiers – even building fortresses in enemy territory.
Due to the successful nature of his reign and almost immediate decline of the empire after his death, he is often considered the "last great western emperor". He founded the Valentinian Dynasty, with his sons Gratian and Valentinian II succeeding him in the western half of the empire.
Reply With Quote
