THE ROMAN EASTERN FRONTIER AND THE PERSIAN WARS IN LATE ANTIQUITY: CONFRONTATION AND COEXISTENCE IN GREEK AND SYRIAC ECCLESIASTICAL SOURCES (410-428 AD)

Abstract

The history of relations between the Eastern Roman and Sassanid Persian Empires were permeated by warlike conflicts, at different times, between the two powers during Late Antiquity. This theme has been worked on by historiography, especially with emphasis on the conflicting moments recorded by the Greek sources that have come down to us. Considering the context of the search for the affirmation of different Christian strands in the Mesopotamian region between the two empires, in the first half of the fifth century AD, the objective of this article is to demonstrate that, in addition to the conflictual episodes that resulted in warlike confrontations, there was a need, at times, for negotiations and coexistence between the rulers of both empires in the face of the pretensions of the Christian elites that emerged on both sides of the border in the search for for political-administrative autonomy. For this analysis, the "Ecclesiastical Histories" of Socrates of Constantinople and Theodoret of Cyrus, written in Greek, and the "Acts of the Persian Martyrs under King Yazdgird I" and the "Synodicon Orientale" (Records of the Nestorian Synods), written in the Syriac language, will be used.