Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of maps
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Introduction: West and East, friend and foe, counterpart and mirror image …
- PART I NARRATIVE
- PART II SOURCES AND CONTEXTS
- 1 Political goals
- 2 Warfare
- 3 Military confrontations
- 4 The diplomatic solutions
- 5 Arabia between the great powers
- 6 Shared interests: Continuing conflicts
- 7 Religion: Christianity and Zoroastrianism
- 8 Emperor and King of kings
- 9 Exchange of information between West and East
- Appendix 1 Lists of Sasanian kings and Roman emperors
- Appendix 2 Chronological table
- Appendix 3 Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index of sources
- Index of translated sources
- Index of names
- Index of place names
- General index
8 - Emperor and King of kings
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of maps
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Introduction: West and East, friend and foe, counterpart and mirror image …
- PART I NARRATIVE
- PART II SOURCES AND CONTEXTS
- 1 Political goals
- 2 Warfare
- 3 Military confrontations
- 4 The diplomatic solutions
- 5 Arabia between the great powers
- 6 Shared interests: Continuing conflicts
- 7 Religion: Christianity and Zoroastrianism
- 8 Emperor and King of kings
- 9 Exchange of information between West and East
- Appendix 1 Lists of Sasanian kings and Roman emperors
- Appendix 2 Chronological table
- Appendix 3 Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index of sources
- Index of translated sources
- Index of names
- Index of place names
- General index
Summary
Concepts of ‘legitimate rule’ and the ‘family of kings’
Although the military confrontations between Rome and Persia continued over centuries and their ideological differences were irreconcilable, it is evident that both ‘world powers’ from early on acknowledged the other's claims to being of equal rank. In particular the relationship between the individual rulers and the way they treated each other are good indications for this. Examining this relationship allows us to gain insight not only into the state of diplomatic relations and the political balance of power but also into the degree of mutual respect that existed between the two rulers at a given point. In this context one should pay special attention to two fundamental ideas, namely the legitimacy of the ruler's status and the notion of a ‘family of kings’. Ammianus Marcellinus records an exchange of letters between Constantius II (337–61) and Šāpūr II (309–79), which clearly reveals that the two perceived each other's rank as equal to their own. The Sasanian king addresses the emperor with the following words:
Ammianus Marcellinus xvii.5.3 and 10
(3) ‘I, King of kings, Šāpūr, comrade of the stars, brother of the Sun and the Moon, am sending many greetings to my brother, the Caesar Constantius.’
The emperor's response begins as follows:
(10) ‘I, Constantius, victor by land and by sea, always Augustus, am sending many greetings to my brother, King Šāpār.’
By the middle of the fourth century war between Rome and Persia had been going on for quite some time without substantial gains on either side (7).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Rome and Persia in Late AntiquityNeighbours and Rivals, pp. 232 - 241Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007