Late Roman Empire, Constantinian Dynasty (305-364): 66 Jovian

66 JOVIAN (33; r.363-364) (all)

The senior officers of the Persian expedition met to elect a new emperor. No agreement was reached until Saturninius Secundus Salutius, a praetorian prefect of the East, was proposed. But Salutius declined the age on grounds of age and ill-health. Elsewhere in the camp a few soldiers proclaimed ³⁰Flavius Jovianus (33; fl.343-344), whose father Varronianus was well known as a successful soldier.

Jovian retreated along the east bank of the Tigris, but hesitated before attempting the dangerous crossing. Shapur made the offer of a thirty-year peace if Jovian would cede roman provinces east of the Tigris and fifteen fortresses in the same region, along with Nisibis, Singara and Castra Maurorum, and give up Roman protection of the Armenian Kingdom. Jovian agreed on condition that the Roman population of the two border cities be evacuated before they surrendered.

Jovian crossed the river, found Procopius’ detachment, and then evacuated the border region. Pausing at Antioch to recall Athanasius and lift the legal disabilities that Julian had imposed on Christians, Jovian set out for Constantinople in early 364. But at Galatia he died in a freak accident. Apparently the charcoal fire that heated his bedroom suffocated him.