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:
“Man who man would be,
Must rule the empire of himself; in it
Must be supreme, establishing his throne
On vanquished will, quelling the anarchy
Of hopes and fears, being himself alone.”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)
“When we can drain the Ocean into mill-ponds, and bottle up the Force of Gravity, to be sold by retail, in gas jars; then may we hope to comprehend the infinitudes of man’s soul under formulas of Profit and Loss; and rule over this too, as over a patent engine, by checks, and valves, and balances.”
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881)
“Rules and particular inferences alike are justified by being brought into agreement with each other. A rule is amended if it yields an inference we are unwilling to accept; an inference is rejected if it violates a rule we are unwilling to amend. The process of justification is the delicate one of making mutual adjustments between rules and accepted inferences; and in the agreement achieved lies the only justification needed for either.”
—Nelson Goodman (b. 1906)