Rule
Jovian continued the retreat begun by Julian and, continually harassed by the Persians, succeeded in reaching the banks of the Tigris. There, deep inside Sassanid territory, he was forced to sue for a peace treaty on humiliating terms. In exchange for his safety, he agreed to withdraw from the five Roman provinces conquered by Galerius in 298, east of the Tigris, that Diocletian had annexed, and to allow the Persians to occupy the fortresses of Nisibis, Castra Maurorum and Singara. The Romans also surrendered their interests in the Kingdom of Armenia to the Persians. The Christian king of Armenia, Arsaces II (Arshak II), was to stay neutral in future conflicts between the two empires and was forced to cede part of his kingdom to Shapur. The treaty was widely seen as a disgrace and Jovian rapidly lost popularity.
After arriving at Antioch, Jovian decided to rush to Constantinople to consolidate his political position there. While en route, he was found dead in bed in his tent at Dadastana, halfway between Ancyra and Nicaea. His death has been attributed to either a surfeit of mushrooms or the poisonous carbon monoxide fumes of a charcoal warming fire.
Jovian was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.
Read more about this topic: Jovian (emperor)
Famous quotes containing the word rule:
“Every man needs slaves like he needs clean air. To rule is to breathe, is it not? And even the most disenfranchised get to breathe. The lowest on the social scale have their spouses or their children.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“With our principles we seek to rule our habits with an iron hand, or to justify, honor, scold, or conceal them:Mtwo men with identical principles are likely to be seeking fundamentally different things with them.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”
—Harper Lee (b. 1926)