Retreat and Treaty

This chapter examines the retreat of the Roman army from Persia to Antioch. The recoil was slow because of permanent attacks by Persian contingents at the expense of serious losses. Moreover, the Romans were suffering from hunger, thirst, and the heat. Somewhat unexpectedly, the Persian king Shapur II offered peace negotiations. The resulting treaty is considered by Ammianus and others, as well as by modern scholarship, as shameful for the Romans because territories and strongholds, including the important city of Nisibis, had to be surrendered. Jovian was being blamed for a bad deal because he wanted to return to Roman soil as soon as possible in order to secure his position as emperor. However, the conditions of the treaty, which are discussed in detail, were not that bad. Rome had to yield Transtigritane regions, fifteen strongholds, and the cities of Nisibis, Singara, and Castra Maurorum, some of which were already de facto but not de jure in Persian possession. In return, Jovian did not have to surrender and was offered a safe return with his complete army to Roman territory. Shapur was adamant about getting back the Transtigritane territories which his grandfather Narses had been forced to surrender to Rome by the treaty of 298/299. The 363 treaty was therefore a return to the situation before the Roman–Persian treaty of 298/299; it restored the balance of power between the Roman and Persian empires, and introduced a long period of relatively peaceful relations between the two empires.