Jun 26

The Defeated Roman Emperor was killed by an Iranian soldier

Flavius C. Julianus On 26 June 363 AD, during the war between the two Iranian and Roman empires, Flavius Claudius Julianus – known as Julian the Apostate the Roman Emperor, from the Constantinian dynasty, who was fleeing from the Iranian army in Samaria (today’s Iraq) was hit by the javelin of an Iranian soldier, got wounded and died after a few hours, on 27 June. He was the last non-Christian Roman Emperor and because of his rash behavior with the Christians was called “irreligious”.     Julianus, who is famous in history as Julianus the 2nd (for not mistaking with Didius Julianus), was philosopher in Neoplatonism and also had writing skill, especially in novel writing.     It was Julianus who, in 363 AD, started the war with Iran by crossing the Euphrates River and invaded the Iranian territories, which ended in the defeat of the Romans and his death. Julianus wanted to take advantage of the absence of Shapur the 2nd, the time king of Iran, from the capital, and take back the lands that Constantinius the 2nd had lost to Iran and make history for himself, but instead lost his life in this war. Julianus took advantage of the expedition of Shapur the 2nd to Central Asia (Fararud) to drive the Huns away towards Europe. They invaded Iranian borders.     The Roman army historian writes: “Julianus was in such a hurry to reach the Iranian capital, Ctesiphon, that he did not wait for his 30,000 auxiliary soldiers who were on their way to Ctesiphon, at a short distance, and started the war with 60,000 legionary against the same number of soldiers under command of an Iranian general, and was halted. When the Roman Emperor heard that Shapur the 2nd was returning to Ctesiphon, he retreated hastily in order to wait in the mountains for the auxiliary force (the present mountains in Iraq’s Kurdistan), when the Iranian forces pursued him and before reaching the mountains, attacked from two sides, and there he was hit by a javelin. The efforts of Oribasius, the army surgeon, to save him did not have any result and he died at dawn.     After the death of Julianus, the Roman generals unanimously nominated Juvian as their temporary emperor and since he did not find skill nor ability to fight in the Roman forces, proposed peace to Shapur the 2nd. He had to undergo a very heavy commitment, i.e., he wrote and signed whatever that the victorious king dictated to him and saved the rest of the Roman army. According to the peace treaty, Juvian gave up the claim of Romans over the five large areas east of the Mediterranean and any claim of Rome over Armenia and committed himself to personally go to those five areas and hoist the flag of Iran, which he did and this act is mentioned in the history of Roman Empire as an insult.     Following the Iranian culture (respecting the dead and his will) Shapur the 2nd allowed the body of Julianus to be taken out of Iranian borders with respect.     Three interesting stories have remained from Julianus the 2nd, which Wilmer Cave Wright translated into English and printed in London, in 1923, in three volumes, under the name “The Works of emperor Julianus”.          Translation by Rowshan Lohrasbpour