A CHANGED WORLDand defi ant stance he had shown when approached by Avar envoys in Con-
stantinople^9 and refused to accept what his envoys had agreed. Theophylact
blames the emperor for the reopening of hostilities in 572, and a botched
attempt at the assassination of the Ghassanid al-Mundhir and Justin’s willing-
ness to accept the persuasion of the Turks to go to war with Persia suggest
that he was right to do so. The ecclesiastical historian Evagrius and other writ-
ers were also highly critical, the historian John of Epiphaneia stating that the
real reason for hostilities was Justin’s refusal to pay the agreed annual amount
of gold according to the treaty. Justin’s stance encouraged the Persarmenians
to leave the side of Persia and join Rome (offering silk as an inducement,
according to Gregory of Tours), thereby provoking the Persians.^10 The em-
peror’s poor judgement continued during the hostilities, according to hostile
reporters, when he interfered disastrously with the leadership of his generals,
and later Justin was to launch a persecution of Miaphysites and to lapse into
insanity on hearing the news of the loss of Dara (573), so that Tiberius and
Justin’s wife Sophia had to be given powers to rule. The result of this sorry
episode for the Romans was that they had to pay a large sum and in addition
agree a truce for fi ve years with a very high level of annual payments.^11
Chosroes took advantage of these gains to attack in Armenia, which fell out-
side the terms of the treaty, and then in Melitene, but was driven into retreat by
Roman troops who were able to send Persian trophies (including war elephants)
to Constantinople as a result.^12 Talks were renewed, and agreement had been
reached when the Persians again defeated the Romans and went on the attack
in Mesopotamia. The Romans, under the general Maurice (emperor from 582)
fought back, together with al-Mundhir and the Ghassanids, despite suspicions
of the latter’s loyalty. The command passed to Philippicus, who defeated the
Persians at Solachon in the Tur Abdin in 586, parading an image of Christ and
the head of Symeon the Stylite which he obtained from Antioch.^13
The two powers existed in an uneasy balance, with episodes of fi ghting
and raiding alternating with short-term agreements, soon broken. Proxy war
was also conducted between their respective clients, the Ghassan and Lakhm.
Neither side won a clear or lasting advantage and the continuing warfare,
which effectively lasted for over a century, was a serious drain on both sides,
while cities, territories and the inhabitants of the contested areas were also
losers. But the two powers also recognized each other’s role. When in 590 the
succession of Chosroes II was opposed by Bahram Chobin, the Persian king
turned to the Roman emperor Maurice for help, and the latter not only as-
sisted him but even called Chosroes his son; Roman and Persian forces fought
together against the usurper.^14 As a result, Chosroes ceded to Rome not only
Martyropolis and Dara but also parts of Armenia and Iberia (Georgia), and an
unusual peace prevailed between the two empires for more than ten years.
The Byzantines and the Sasanians both ruled over vast areas with highly
disparate populations and had much in common in terms of kingship and
organization.^15 Christians, for example, constituted a substantial element
in the Persian empire, and were embedded in the royal court.^16 Tensions