East Roman Empire and Sasanian Persia

Impact of the Empires

The East Roman Empire and Sassanian Persia were two of the most powerful states in Eurasia during late antiquity, rivaled only by Tang dynasty China.

• East Roman Empire: Described as a fusion of traditional Roman imperialism with Christianity, creating an imperial community of Orthodox believers.
  • Singularity: Despite occasional divisions, the empire maintained a single imperial community of Orthodox believers.
  • Plurality: There were multiple communities of Christian believers within the East Roman world.
• Sassanian Perspective: The Shahanshah (king of kings) held supreme authority, with lesser kings retaining some authority while recognizing the Shahanshah's control. This indicates a system of management, balancing different interests to ensure the Shahanshah's control.
  • Elite: The elite followed the Zoroastrian faith, but substantial Christian, Jewish, and other communities coexisted with diversity and uniformity.

Power and Sources

Although the empires seemed broadly equal in power, differences may be products of surviving sources.

• Material Traces: Material evidence found outside the empires' territories provides insights into their influence.
  • Caitlin Greene's Article: An article discusses finds outside the Sassanian Empire.
    • Find Spots: Red dots on a map indicate find spots, with clusters in Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, China, and Japan.
  • Examples of Finds:
    • Coin in Anglesey: A single coin found in Anglesey, Wales, raises questions about its journey and authenticity.
    • Glass Bowl in Japan: A glass bowl excavated from a tomb in Japan has Sassanian origins.
    • Galloway Hoard: A Viking Age hoard from around 900 CE found in Scotland contains a container with a Zoroastrian fire altar design.
      • Silver Analysis: Analysis reveals the silver originated from central Iran and was combined with copper, a feature of Sassanian silverware.
    • Sassanian Era: The term "Sassanian" can be ambiguous, referring to objects from Iran, Zoroastrian trading, or those inspired by Iranian designs but manufactured elsewhere.
    • Roman Finds: Roman finds are concentrated in Western Europe, the Indian subcontinent, and China.
    • Gold Coin in Maldives: A gold coin found in the Maldives indicates Roman presence.
    • Wilson Cross: A gold coin from rockets discovered in East Anglia reused as jewelry, specifically a lightweight solidus manufactured to pay tribute to the Avars after 623 C.E.
    • Glassware: Glassware found in a tomb in South Korea indicates Roman presence.
    • Sarcophagus: A sarcophagus found 300 yards from the lecture location features a motif inspired by Sassanian metalwork, depicting a royal hunt.

Political Culture

• Roman World:
  • Imperial Tradition: A long tradition of emperors in an unbroken chain back to Augustus, united in title but not necessarily in descent.
  • Divine Status: Before the fourth century, Roman emperors claimed divine status.
  • Christianization: After Constantine's conversion and the Edict of Milan in 313, Christian Roman emperors had wide but undefined powers, no longer considered gods.
  • Justinian's Claim: In the middle of the sixth century, Justinian claimed Christ as his fellow worker, nearing divine status without explicitly doing so.
• Sassanian Iran:
  • Dynastic Succession: Shahanshahs claimed descent from Sasan, the dynasty's founder, with patrilineal descent from father to son. Power was transmitted linearly, reducing succession to a small circle of relatives.
  • Aristocratic Houses: Major aristocratic families like the Suren, Cod, and Mithun employed similar mechanisms to ensure succession.
  • Divine Lineage: The Sassanian dynasty stressed its descent from the gods, as seen in an inscription from Shapur I, who defined himself as a descendant of the gods.
  • Shapur's Relief: A relief shows Shapur on horseback dominating Philip the Arab and Valerian.
  • Confiscation: Roman emperors had the theoretical right to confiscate territory, while in the Iranian world, this was extraordinarily difficult.

Definitions

• Roman: Denotes membership in the Roman Empire, with legal, political, and religious dimensions that merged with Christian identity.
• Eran and Aneran: Those within the land of Iran and adherents to the "good religion" versus those outside.
• Persia: The term comes from the southern province of Persis (Fars) and applied to the Achaemenid Empire, but those living within the Sasanian Empire thought of themselves as Iranian, not Persian.

Geography, Resources, and Neighbors

• Roman Empire:
  • Territories: Territories retaken by Justinian, with North Africa and Egypt being major centers of financial and material resources.
  • Egypt: Egypt's wealth came from double harvests made possible by the Nile, with defense and security privatized. The economy involved commodification, cash crops, and sophisticated arrangements for rents, tenancies, and labor contracts.
• Iranian World:
  • Capital: Ctesiphon was the capital, located in Mesopotamia, the most urbanized and heavily settled area.
  • North Canal: Constructed in the sixth century, a 280-300 mile canal with multiple offshoots indicates a powerful state capable of moving and channeling resources.
  • Military Infrastructure: Walls like those at Derbent (the Caspian Gates) and the Gorgan Wall (280 miles long) represent major investments in defense and demarcation.
  • Nomadic Threats: Nomadic confederations to the north and east, such as the Huns and the Hephthalites, posed significant threats.
    • Hephthalites: They killed the Shahanshah Peroz in battle, and the Iranian state paid them tribute for at least 30 years.
    • Turkic Nomads: Both empires sought to exploit Turkic forces, with Persian epic traditions featuring Iranian heroes in single combat with Turanians (Turkic nomads).
    • Afterlife Fine: A late fifth-century afterlife fine depicts a ruler wearing the crown of Peroz, showing the relationship between these worlds.

Conflict and Engagement

• Antagonism: A tradition of antagonism between the Greek and Persian worlds persisted, with the Sasanian Iran and the East Roman Empire.
• Visual Representations:
  • Cameo: A cameo shows Shapur and Valerian in single combat, with Shapur dominating Valerian without drawing his sword.
  • Biography Ivory: A biography ivory in the Louvre depicts Persians bringing wealth to Justinian, but underneath the ruins.
• Letters: Letters illustrate relationships ways that one side can talk to the other side, with the letter from Shapur II to Caesar Constantius expressing brotherhood and equality.
• Negotiations: Despite the dominant discourse of conflict, long periods of peace and genuine attempts to negotiate settlements, but regime changes undermined trust, the intent was there.

Urbanism

• East Roman Empire: Includes structures like the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
• Sassanian Empire: Consists of ruins like the palace of Khosrau I at Ctesiphon, featuring a large vaulted hall.
• City Founding: Political leaders in both cultures founded cities bearing their names, for example:
  • Theodosiopolis (modern Erzurum in Turkey)
  • Adrianople (modern Edirne in Turkey)
  • Khosrow-Shapur (circular city in Southern Iran, also called Shah-Gord)
• Building Materials: The principal difference between these urban cultures is the building materials. With the Iranian world relying on mud brick and stucco versus the Roman world depending on limestone and marble.
  *Material Remains: The key distinction between these worlds of urban remains is more about material. Cities might have been similar in size and function, but they left behind different traces.

Expressions of State

• Seals: Seals authenticate, legitimize, and assert power.
  • Roman World: Seals bear the name of the office holder and the office, but are not dated.
  • Sasanian World: Bullion seals of clay, with about 400,000 seals to date.
  • Military Command: Military commanders in the sixth century divided for dividing the military into four quarters. Evidence to that is body of seals with Middle Persian inscriptions mentioning the military commander of the region of the South, Khosrow Narrows.
• Coins:
  • Roman World: Gold and copper coins are used.
  • Iranian World: Entirely silver-based coins are leveraged.
  • Dating: Can be dated
  • Minting Locations: For example, a coin of Khosrau II minted in Ardashir-Khwarrah in southern Iran.

Conclusions

• State Characteristics: Both empires were huge, successful, resourceful states capable of exploiting natural and human resources, characterized by agricultural productivity, commercial networks, literacy, and sophisticated legal cultures.
• Urban Centers: Cities were substantial, inhabited, productive, and centers of state control.
• Power Extension: Both empires extended their power, wealth, and culture far beyond their frontiers.
• Differences: but not identical. There are ways of doing things between the two and different ways of doing a state.