The Sassanian dynasty attributed their lineage to deities, the shahanshahs they considered themselves representatives of the divine power on Earth and, therefore, were bound by Zoroastrian law to materialize the teachings of Zoroaster and Ohrmazd . The 3rd century reliefs of Ardashir and Narsés are clear testimonies of the divine attributions of the monarchs. However, unlike the sovereigns mentioned, Sapur I not only opted for a visual testimony, but also a written one, which clarifies the ideas of this shah regarding his authority and development on Earth. Thus, at the beginning of his inscription known as Res Gestae Divi Saporis , Sapor conveys the link between the king's political power and religion:
Note the importance of evoking his predecessor, Ardashir; with this, Sapor I shows that their material work (or bone, Zoroastrian denomination) is not exclusively individual, but dynastic:it requires the joint cooperation of the entire lineage to ensure Zoroastrian teachings in the world, especially when “Ardashir […] organized the empire and promoted the revelation of the cult of Mazda and established many religious usages which he bequeathed to his dynasty” (Bundahishn. XXXIII. 15). Likewise, the attribution of shahanshah of Iranians and non-Iranians is interesting, as he conveys that his praxis It is not limited only to the confines of the Sassanid Empire; When mentioning non-Iranians, Sapor highlights the existence of other peoples –such as the Romans– who, due to ideologies that may be detrimental to the Ērānšahr, they also require the intervention of the Iranian king. In the Denkard Likewise, the importance of the association between the king and religion in the future of the State is mentioned:
When the doctrine is diligently followed, both king and citizens can reach the Garonmana , this is “the best world”, the “paradise”. The optimal execution of his political and military power ensures the subsistence of the Ērānšahr, brings the state closer to luminosity. In contrast, if the king is a despot and does not care for the well-being of the Empire, Persia's voyage approaches darkness, where the frahang Persian (culture) is threatened with being exterminated by disorder, lies and chaos. In bone life, poor government shows itself in wartime incompetence.
Rome and Sassanian Persia
It is not surprising that, during the first clashes against the Roman Empire , the Sassanians have referred to the Zoroastrian faith to represent the enemy. The Romans, in effect, were agents of chaos; Sapor in the Res Gestae alleges that “Caesar lied again, [and] harmed Armenia” (RGDS. IX). Due to the disrespect of the peace clauses imposed on Philip the Arab, the Romans are promoters of lies and disorder. So for the arteshtaran , specifically the aswaran Sassanids, fighting against the legions was an incentive, since it allowed to represent their Zoroastrian devotion that aspired to eradicate malleable elements in the kingdom or die honorably in their deed. Some mowbeds , in fact, they watched the combat to determine the fallen warriors who, unremittingly, had manifested their faith and protected the frahang; enabling its significance. Precisely, it is plausible that before each battle, these have been entrusted to Mithras, who during the Sassanian era led the forces of heaven against the hordes of the abyss. In the Sassanian Empire, the religious formalities that characterized the ancient states at the beginning of hostilities are fully appreciated.
Now then, the Roman State, to a large extent, linked its performance in the world with the law. Relations with other civilizations were linked to the ius gentium. Extending her empire from Hispania to Syria, Rome was bound to regulate the decisions and actions of the populations that were both under her rule and in her field of influence. Being the Sassanian Empire the most powerful neighbor installed on the eastern border, the events that took place in it were related to the Roman perspective of law.
When the first contact between the Rome of Alexander Severus and Persia, the historiography of the urbs he did not omit to point out the legality of the actions of both belligerents. Although it is debatable whether the Sassanids had historical knowledge about their Achaemenid predecessors, Roman historiography attributes it to them. Rome was not oblivious to the apparent right that the Sassanids possessed to restore their empire:
Herodian extrapolates Roman customary law to the Persians, who request a rerum repetitio , a return of your goods. Likewise, by revealing his wisdom in history and geography, it is fitting that he continues a tradition that goes back to Herodotus, who in his History he argued the reasons for the struggle between Europe and Asia (Herodotus. I. 1-4). Due to the Hellenistic assimilations by Rome, it is likely that the Empire of the third century was conceived as the epigone of the Greek successes. Thus, there is not only a representation of the belligerent, but also a portrait of the State itself.
Casius Dio reinforces Herodian's view of the Sassanids' legitimate right to restore Achaemenid possessions:“He [Ardashir] boasted that he would recover all that the ancient Persians had , to the Greek sea, alleging that all this was his right inheritance from his ancestors” (LXXX. 4.1.). The attributions referring to the legitimacy of law are only glimpsed in the Roman perspective, the Sassanids do not include it, either due to ignorance of the Achaemenids or due to their predilection for religion when associating with other civilizations. However, the legitimacy that the Sassanians possessed to restore the empire of Cyrus the Great was not acquiescent enough for the Romans to give up their assets in the East, Rome, likewise, had rights that empowered her to preserve the eastern provinces.
Augustus held a naumachy reenacting the Battle of Salamis in 2 BC. C. (Dión. LV. 10. 7), homage that shows that the urbs she was conceived, of course, as a protector of Greek culture. Thus, although the Persians and Romans obtained rights through conquest, the legions had subsequently imposed themselves on Parthian designs. Its legitimacy, therefore, lay in its virtus historical, which had surpassed the Sassanid in merit.
The rise of the Sassanids threatened the "grand strategy" of the urbs and his pax, achieved with arms and with the granting of Roman citizenship to the free inhabitants of the Empire after the promulgation of the Constitutio Antoniniana (212), which affected a feeling of Roman identity, as revealed by Odenato de Palmira when facing Sapor. Being the East a source of wealth in which its free inhabitants had also acquired citizenship, Rome could not avoid protecting its inhabitants installed in the vicinity of the limes Oriental. For the inhabitants of the Empire, the borders were defined, it was a legitimate and unalterable space within its sacred limits, perhaps an idea derived from the pomerium :religion converges with law to form a legal discourse in the international law of war.
The conflict against Sassanian Persia involved the concept of bellum iustum by guaranteeing the protection of Roman territory, both its own and its ally or client – Armenia, for example. The success of the company guaranteed the continuity of stability in foreign policy, which in the east would be undermined after the disaster caused by the military skills of Ardashir and Sapor. However, Rome wanted to keep her possessions almost intact, which is why the subsequent campaigns of Galerius against Narsés they did not have a conquering, but a restorative approach, which was restricted to their sphere of influence:“The human race knows that the Roman and Persian kingdoms resemble two great luminaries, and that, like the two eyes of a man, they must be adorned and enlighten each other, not behave with hostility in search of their mutual destruction” (Peter the Patrician. Frag. XIII).
In conclusion, by right, both empires were able to exercise authority in their respective territories, promoting their ideals of civilization in an international framework governed by divine law and the customary law. From this it can be inferred that the belligerent's annexation efforts were unexpected, perhaps limited to the subsequent campaigns of Julian and Khosroes II.
Fonts
- Bundahishn . Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1897 (Translation:E. W. West).
- Denkard, The Acts of Religion, Book III, 1999 (Translation and notes:Ratanshah E. Kohiyar).
- Casius Dio, Roman History, Books L-LX . Madrid:Gredos, 2011 (Translation and notes:Juan Manuel Cortés Copete).
- Casius Dio, Roman History, books LXXI-LXXX . Murcia, 2015 (Translation and notes:Antonio Diego Duarte Sánchez).
- Herodian, History of the Roman Empire . Madrid:Planeta-DeAgostini, 1996 (Translation and notes by Juan J. Torres Esbarranch).
- Herodotus, History . Madrid:Cátedra, 2002 (Translation and notes by Manuel Balasch).
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