THE CAMBRIDGE MEDIEVAL HISTORY I 119
The Betrayal of the Burgundians and the Defeat of Sapor
8-4. The Betrayal of the Burgundians and the Defeat of Sapor
While his lieutenant had been restoring order in Britain, Valentinian had been actively engaged in Gaul. The winter of 367-8 the Emperor spent at Rheims preparing for his vengeance upon the disturbers of the peace in the West. But the new year opened with a disaster, for while the Christian inhabitants of Mainz were keeping festival (Epiphany 368) the Aleman prince Rando surprised and sacked the town. The Romans, however, gained a treacherous advantage by the murder of King Withicab, and in the summer of the same year the Emperor together with his son invaded the territory between Neckar and Rhine. Our authorities give us no certain information as to his route, perhaps he advanced by the Rhine road and then turned off by Ettlingen and Pforzheim. Solicinium (near Rottenburg on the left bank of the Neckar) was the scene of the decisive struggle. The barbarians occupied a strong position on a precipitous hill; the Romans experienced great difficulty in dislodging them but were at length successful, and the enemy fled over the Neckar by Lopodunum towards the Danube. The advantage thus gained was secured by the building of a strong fort, apparently at Altrip, and for its erection it seems possible that the ruins of Lopodunum were employed.
The Emperor spent the winter in Trier, and with the new year (369) began his great work of frontier defence extending from the province of Rhaetia to the ocean. Valentinian even sought to plant his fortresses in the enemy's territory. This was regarded by the Alemanni as a breach of treaty rights, and the Romans suffered a serious reverse at the Mons Piri near Heidelberg. The Emperor accordingly entered into negotiations with the Burgundians, who were to attack the Alemanni with the support of the Roman troops. The Burgundians, long at feud with their neighbours over the possession of some salt springs on their borders, gladly accepted the Emperor's overtures and appeared in immense force on the Rhine: the confederate seemed more terrible than the foe. Valentinian was absent superintending the building of his new forts, and feared either to accept or refuse the assistance of such dangerous allies. He sought to gain time by inaction, and the Burgundians, infuriated at this betrayal, were forced to withdraw, since the Alemanni threatened to oppose their homeward march.
Meanwhile Theodosius, newly arrived in Gaul from Britain, swept upon the distracted Alemanni from Rhaetia, and after a successful campaign was able to settle his captives as farmers in the valley of the Po. Macrian, king of the Alemanni, had been the heart and soul of his people's resistance to Rome; with the intention therefore of capturing this dangerous enemy by a sudden surprise, in September 371 Valentinian accompanied by Theodosius left Mainz for Aquae Mattiacae; but with the troops the opportunities for pillage outweighed the Emperor's strictest orders. The smoke of burning homesteads betrayed the Roman approach; the army advanced some fifty miles, but the purpose of the expedition was defeated and the Emperor returned disappointed to Trier.
Meanwhile in the East time only served to shew the futility of Jovian's peace with Persia. Rome had sacrificed much but had settled nothing. Sapor claimed that under the treaty he could do as he would with Armenia, which still remained the apple of discord as before, and that Rome had relinquished any right to interfere. But it was precisely this claim that Rome could never in the last resort allow — Armenia under Persian rule was far too great a menace. The chronology of the events which followed the treaty must remain to some extent a matter of conjecture, but from the first Sapor seems to have enforced his conception of his rights, seeking in turn by bribes and forays to reduce Armenia to Persian vassalage. Valens as early as 365 was on his way to the Persian frontier when he was recalled by the revolt of Procopius. At the close of the year 368, or at the beginning of 369, Sapor got possession of King Arsaces, whom he put to death some years later.
In 369, it would appear, Persia interfered in the affairs of Hiberia: Sauromaces, ruling under Roman protection, was expelled, and Aspacures, a Persian nominee, was made king. In Armenia the fortress of Artagherk (Artogerassa) where the queen Pharrantsem had taken refuge was besieged (369), while her son Pap, acting on his mother's counsel, fled to the protection of Valens; in his flight he was assisted by Cylaces and Artabannes, Armenian renegades, who now proved disloyal to their Persian master. The exile was well received, and accorded a home at Neocaesarea. But when Muschegh, the Armenian general, prayed that the Emperor would take effective action and stay the ravages of Persia, Valens hesitated: he felt that his hands were tied by the terms of the peace of Jovian. Terentius, the Roman dux, accompanied Pap on his return to Armenia, but without the support of the legions the prince was powerless.
Artagherk fell in the fourteenth month of the siege (winter 370), Pharrantsem was hurried away to her death, and Pap was forced to flee into the mountains which lay between Lazica and the Roman frontier. Here he remained in hiding for five months; Persian pillage and massacre proceeded unchecked, until Sapor could leave his generals in command of the army, while two Armenian nobles were entrusted with the civil government of the country and with the introduction of the Magian religion. At length Valens took action, and the Count Arinthaeus, acting in concert with Terentius and Addaeus, was sent to Armenia to place Pap upon the throne and to prevent the commission of further outrage by Persia. In May 371 the Emperor himself left Constantinople, slowly journeying towards Syria. Sapor's next move was an attempt to win Pap by promises of alliance, counseling him to be no longer the puppet of his ministers; the ruse was successful and the king put to death both Cylaces and Artabannes.
Meanwhile a Persian embassy complained that the protection of Armenia by Rome was a breach of her obligations under the treaty. In April 372 Valens reached Antioch. His answer to Persia was further interference in Hiberia. While Muschegh invaded Persian territory, Terentius with twelve legions restored Sauromaces as ruler over the country bordering on Lazica and Armenia, Sapor on his side making great preparations for a campaign in the following spring, raising levies from the surrounding tribes and hiring mercenaries. In 373 Trajan and Vadomar marched to the East with a formidable army, having strict orders not to break the peace but to act on the defensive. The Emperor himself moved to Hierapolis in order to superintend the operations from that city. At Vagobanta (Bagavan) the Romans were forced to engage and in the result were victorious. A truce was concluded at the end of the summer, and while Sapor retired to Ctesiphon, Valens took up his residence in Antioch.
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