The Peace Treaty of 363 between the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantino ...

and the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

was the subsequent treaty from Emperor

Julian's Persian expedition Julian's Persian expedition was the last military undertaking of the Roman emperor Julian which began in March 363. It was a war against the Sasanian Empire which was ruled by Shapur II. Aiming for the Sasanian winter capital Ctesiphon, Julia ...

. Upon Julian's death, the newly elected Emperor Jovian was forced into signing a humiliating treaty by which territorial and diplomatic concessions were given to the Sasanians.

Background

Julian's preparations

After his accession to the Roman throne in AD 361, Emperor Julian reinitiated the war against Sasanid Persia. Over the winter of 362–63 Julian established his headquarters in

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

, and as soon as spring arrived he was ready to take the field. Within a month of his departure from Antioch, a force of around 80,000 had been assembled at Carrhae. This army under Julian marched swiftly south-east along the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

river on route to

Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; Middle Persian: 𐭲𐭩𐭮𐭯𐭥𐭭 ''tyspwn'' or ''tysfwn''; fa, تیسفون; grc-gre, Κτησιφῶν, ; syr, ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢThomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modi ...

, the enemy capital. The remainder of the Roman forces, with the aid of the King of

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

Arshak II Arshak II ( hy, Արշակ Բ, flourished 4th century, died 369 or 370), also written as Arsaces II or Aršak II, was an Arsacid prince who was King of Armenia from 350 (338/339 according to some scholars) until . Although Arshak's reign opened ...

, was ordered to effect a junction with the emperor before the walls of Ctesiphon, marching east by way of

Nisibis Nusaybin (; '; ar, نُصَيْبِيْن, translit=Nuṣaybīn; syr, ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, translit=Nṣībīn), historically known as Nisibis () or Nesbin, is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is ...

and then south along the

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

Progress of the war

The southern arm of the Roman invasion met with some initial success. The Tigris was crossed, and the Sasanian army which contested its passage was defeated and penned up in Ctesiphon. After a vain attempt to penetrate further east to

Susa Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo- Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...

, Julian was forced to abandon his fleet and most of his provisions, and was at length convinced that no option remained to him but a retreat. On 26 June 363, during the

Battle of Samarra The Battle of Samarra took place in June 363, during the invasion of the Sasanian Empire by the Roman Emperor Julian. After marching his army to the gates of Ctesiphon and failing to take the city, Julian, realizing his army was low on provisio ...

, Julian was wounded. His death that night, and the subsequent election by the troops of Jovian as his successor, seemed to secure the end of the campaign. Jovian led the Roman legions to Dura. By the time they had arrived their provisions were exhausted and their attempts to cross the Tigris failed. Jovian, having no recourse, petitioned Shapur for peace.

Terms of the treaty

The terms of the treaty were: *A thirty years truce *that the Roman influence in

be renounced *the return of

Arzanene Arzanene ( el, Ἀρζανηνή) or Aghdznik () was a historical region in the southwest of the ancient kingdom of Armenia. It was ruled by one of the four ''bdeashkhs'' (''bidakhsh'', ''vitaxa'') of Armenia, the highest ranking nobles below t ...

, Moxoene,

Zabdicene Zabdicene ( hy, Ծաւդէք or Զաւդէք, translit=Tsawdēk' or Zawdēk'; el, Ζαβδικηνή, translit=Zavdikene; la, Zabdiccena; syc, Zawdai, translit=Zawdai) was a CarduchianC. Toumanoff, ''Introduction to Christian Caucasian History I ...

, Rehimena and

Corduene Corduene hy, Կորճայք, translit=Korchayk; ; romanized: ''Kartigini'') was an ancient historical region, located south of Lake Van, present-day eastern Turkey. Many believe that the Kardouchoi—mentioned in Xenophon’s Anabasis as havin ...

to the

*the surrender of

, Castra Maurorum and Singara to the Sasanian Empire

References

Sources

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