Number DOI: http://doi.org/10.33209/2519-4348-2707-9627-2021-9-100

VB. – № 9, 2021. – P. 153-167

Summary

An undeniable historical fact is that the governance of Shapur II didn’t spare to show a certain sympathy towards the Christian community that existed in Persian Empire around the early 4th century. Christians were the victims of perpetual persecutions carried out by pagan Roman Emperors. Thus Persia appeared as a haven of refuge. But when Constantine assumed the reins of government in Roman Empire, Christian faith took a quite obvious advantage over paganism. So Shapur became suspicious of his Christian subjects. The occasion for such a suspicion was, in any case, reinforced through prophecies by prominent Christians like the wise Aphrahat, who forecasted an obliteration of Persia as a result of a triumphal Roman victory. Moreover, Constantine sent a letter to his adolescent peer in order to express his concerns about the Christians who lived under Shapur’s reign. Some researchers though, detected in that letter a covert threat, on Constantine’s behalf, that reflected an ulterior intention for an invasion to the Persian Empire. Having, on the one hand, the article of 1985 by Timothy D. Barnes, Constantine and the Christians of Persia, and on the other hand, the article of 2001 by David Frendo, Constantine’s Letter to Shapur II, Its Authenticity, Occasion and Attendant Circumstances, as indicators, this paper disserts how defensible is the theory of Constantine planning to ivade Persia. Actually it is about a theory that has its roots in the mid-19th century and was revitalized in 1930s. Supporters of this theory were historians like O. Seeck, G. Ostrogorsky and F. Dölger, among others. According to that, the new Christian Roman Empire in Constantinople inherited the claims of the old pagan Roman Empire for a universal dominance. Using Constantine’s letter to Shapur as a “litmus test”, this paper examins how sound this theory can be. Ultimately it seems that Shapur took not so much under serious consideration Constantine’s exhortation for taking care of his Christian subjects, and so he effected a wide persecution against them which begun in 339-340 and peaked in 344-345. The paper concludes with a referation to the disputed question on the authenticity of Constantine’s epistle to Shapur.

Key words: Constantine the Great, Roman Empire, Shapur II, Sasanian Empire, Ctesiphon, Roman-Persian Peace Treaty, Aphrahat, Eusebius of Caesarea, Al-Tabari, persecutions, prophecies, Timothy Barnes, David Frendo, Otto Seeck

References:

Πηγὲς: 

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Ἱστοσελίδες:   

Daryaee T., Encyclopædia Iranica, ŠĀPUR II, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/shapur-ii.