19 - Byzantium and the East in the Sixth Century

Summary

In 551 a Persian ambassador, Yazdgushnasp, travelled to Constantinople. The journey from the Roman frontier at Dara took three months; en route he was entertained and provided for by local officials and envoys of the emperor. Once in the imperial capital, he and his retinue were lodged at imperial expense. Within a few days, he was summoned to the palace to meet Justinian and his counsellors. Once the Persian had prostrated himself several times before the emperor and greeted him in the name of the Persian king, Justinian replied to him, “How fares our brother in God? We rejoice in his good health.” Gifts were then exchanged, and the audience concluded. Detailed negotiations began in earnest a few days later.

Here we see one aspect of Romano-Persian relations as they had evolved over three centuries. Diplomatic language permitted the two rulers to address one another as equals, even as brothers. Persian diplomats could claim that the two empires were the “two lamps of the world”; and “as with (two) eyes, each one should be adorned by the brightness of the other.” Later in the sixth century, the emperor Maurice even intervened during a civil war in Persia to restore Khusro II to the throne. His decision flew in the face of the advice of several of his counsellors, however: the polite phrases of diplomats must not be allowed to obscure the abiding mistrust of Persia felt by most Romans.