The crisis of the third century saw Rome not only embroiled in contests of succeeding short-lived Emperors, but assailed by an increasing variety of hostile peoples from outside its frontiers. Owing to the complex racial interplay of this period, the sources for its history have to be compiled from a wide variety of sources. The least adequate are those in Latin, the imperial lives of the Historia Augusta . These have to be supplemented by the Greek chronicles of Zosimus and John Malalas of Antioch, as well as the Armenian history of Moses of Chorene, the Arabic History of the Arabs of Al-Tabari , as well as inscriptions in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Syrian and other languages. This volume collects these diverse sources for the first time in English translation, and will be a uniquely valuable resource for scholars working on a period of Roman history that is attracting increasing attention.

Late Antiquity was an eventful period on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire, with the Romans and Persians engaged in almost constant conflict. This book provides translations of key texts on relations between the opposing sides.

Late Antiquity was an eventful period on the eastern frontier of the Roman empire. From the failure of the Emperor Julian's invasion of Persia in 363 AD to the overwhelming victory of the Emperor Heraclius in 628, the Romans and Persians were engaged in almost constant conflict. This book, sequel to the volume covering the years 226-363 AD, provides translations of key texts on relations between the opposing sides, taken from a wide range of sources. Many have never before been available in a modern language, and all are fully set in context with expert commentary and extensive annotation. For more information please visit the author's supplementary website at http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~greatrex/ref.html

A narrative history, with sourcebook, of the turbulent relations between Rome and the Sasanian Empire.

Collects and translates such diverse sources as Zosimus, John Malalas, Al-Tabari and Moses of Chorene, to give us a picture of this complex, fraught period of Roman history.

This study of the Roman Empire’s combat with its rivals to the east examines the evolution of ancient military strategy and tactics. During the Perso-Roman wars of 337-363, Roman forces abandoned their traditional reliance on a strategic offensive to bring about a decisive victory. Instead, the Emperor Constantius II adopted a defensive strategy and conducted a mobile defense based upon small frontier forces defending fortified cities. These forces were then supported by limited counteroffensives by the Field Army of the East. These methods successfully checked Persian assaults for twenty-four years. However, when Julian became emperor, his access to greater resources tempted him to abandon mobile defense in favor of a major invasion aimed at regime change in Persia. Although he reached the Persian capital, he failed to take it. In fact, he was defeated in battle and killed. The Romans subsequently resumed and refined the mobile defense, allowing the Eastern provinces to survive the fall of the Western Empire. In this fascinating study, John Harrel applies his personal experience of military command to a strategic, operational, tactical and logistical analysis of these campaigns and battles, highlighting their long-term significance.

Provides students with important source material covering an age of major transition in Europe - the establishment of Rome as a Christian empire. Most of the material was previously unavailable in English.

It is widely believed that the Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity politicized religious allegiances, dividing the Christian Roman Empire from the Zoroastrian Sasanian Empire and leading to the persecution of Christians in Persia. This account, however, is based on Greek ecclesiastical histories and Syriac martyrdom narratives that date to centuries after the fact. In this groundbreaking study, Kyle Smith analyzes diverse Greek, Latin, and Syriac sources to show that there was not a single history of fourth-century Mesopotamia. By examining the conflicting hagiographical and historical evidence, Constantine and the Captive Christians of Persia presents an evocative and evolving portrait of the first Christian emperor, uncovering how Syriac Christians manipulated the image of their western Christian counterparts to fashion their own political and religious identities during this century of radical change.

This 2004 book is a single-volume collection of sources for Manichaeism, a world religion founded by Mani, the Syrian visionary.