THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN – A REGION IN FERMENTcities when faced with the armies of Chosroes I, as well as the fi nancial cost of
peace to the Byzantine empire (Chapter 5). Very large payments were made by
Byzantium to Persia over the course of the sixth century, and there are indica-
tions that Justinian found it diffi cult to maintain suffi cient troops on the east-
ern frontier; the annual payment of 500 lbs of gold agreed in the great peace
treaty of 561 was a considerable burden on Byzantium, and the treaty did
not prevent war from breaking out again between the two sides.^76 Chosroes
II (590–628) suffered a coup at home and owed his throne to the Emperor
Maurice; he renewed the promise of freedom of religion to Christians within
his kingdom who had been included in the peace of 561, and showed his
attachment to the Christian shrine of St Sergius at Resafa with gifts when
the saint answered his prayer that his Christian wife Shirin should conceive.
Theophylact Simocatta records the long letter in Greek which the king sent
to Sergius; Theophylact also tells how the king prayed before an image of
the Theotokos carried by a Byzantine ambassador.^77 Nevertheless he proved
just as ruthless an enemy as Chosroes I had been. Years before, the ageing
Cavadh had proposed to Justin I that the latter adopt his son Chosroes I and
so guarantee the latter’s succession; this overture was taken very seriously on
the Byzantine side and was formally discussed at a high-level diplomatic meet-
ing on the frontier, but no agreement was reached; according to Procopius,
who tells the story, the young Chosroes was deeply offended and vowed to
make the Romans pay for this slight.^78 In real terms relations between the two
empires and their rulers involved a complex interplay of mutual interest, bal-
ance of powers and (at times) overt hostility. Conquest as such was out of the
question on the Byzantine side, but the Persian invasions of the early seventh
century departed from previous precedent. The Persians not only delivered
near-fatal blows to many Roman cities in Asia Minor, and stimulated fl ight
among the Christian populations, especially the monks and clergy, of Pales-
tine and Egypt, but also actually occupied and ruled the Byzantine east – if
only through proxies – for nearly two decades (Chapter 9).
The Roman empire attempted to control and infl uence vast areas of the
east, over a great swathe reaching from the northern Caucasus around to
Egypt and beyond. It could not do this by arms alone, and the interconnection
of mission and defence in late Roman policy in the east is a constant theme.
This can be seen very clearly in the empire’s dealings with the Caucasus, where
the conversion to Christianity of Tzath the king of the Lazi under Justin I
marked a deliberate departure from Persian clientship, and was correspond-
ingly greeted with considerable pomp in Constantinople, including baptism,
marriage to a noble Byzantine bride and the formal acceptance of a crown,
Byzantine ceremonial robes of silk and many other gifts;^79 not surprisingly this
was taken very badly by Cavadh, and proved to be merely an episode in the
complex struggle for control of Lazica by Rome and Persia. The Lazi chafed
under Roman control and appealed again to Persia, which duly invaded in
541 and received the submission of Tzath’s successor Gubazes;^80 however,
they found the Persians no better, and Lazica found itself a theatre of war in