Jovian (/ˈdʒoʊviən/;[3]Latin:Jovianus;Ancient Greek:Ἰοβιανός,romanized: Iobianós; 331 – 17 February 364) wasRoman emperor from June 363 to February 364. As part of the imperial bodyguard, he accompaniedJulian on hiscampaign against theSasanian Empire. Julian was killed in battle, and the exhausted and ill-provisioned army declared Jovian his successor. Unable to cross theTigris, Jovian made peace with the Sasanids on humiliating terms. He spent the rest of his seven-month reign traveling back toConstantinople. After his arrival atEdessa, Jovian was petitioned by bishops over doctrinal issues concerning Christianity. He died atDadastana, never having reached the capital.
From Jovian's successorsValentinian I andValens to thefall of the Western Roman Empire, all subsequent administrations involved co-emperors governing a territory split intoEastern andWestern jurisdictions. Jovian was consequently the last emperor to rule the entire empire for the whole of his reign.[b]
Jovian accompanied the EmperorJulian on theMesopotamian campaign of the same year againstShapur II, the Sassanid king. At theBattle of Samarra, a small but decisive engagement, Julian was mortally wounded.[7]Ammianus Marcellinus reports that the dying emperor declined to name his preferred successor, fearful that he either might overlook a worthy candidate, or put his desired candidate in danger of power-hungry nobles.[8] Julian died on 26 June 363.[9] The next day, the army offered the throne to the agedSaturninius Secundus Salutius,praetorian prefect of the Orient, who refused it.[10] Instead, and in spite of Julian's reinstitution of paganism, the army chose the Christian Jovian, senior officer of theScholae, as Emperor.[10][11]
On the very morning of his accession, Jovian resumed the retreat begun by Julian.[10] Though harassed by the Sasanids, the army succeeded in reaching the city ofDura on the banks of the Tigris.[12] Unable to bridge the river and reach Roman lands on the western bank, Jovian was forced to sue for apeace treaty on humiliating terms.[12] In exchange for an unhindered retreat to his own territory, he agreed to a thirty-year truce,[13] a withdrawal from the fiveRoman provinces, Arzamena, Moxoeona, Azbdicena, Rehimena andCorduena, and to allow the Sasanids to occupy the fortresses ofNisibis, Castra Maurorum andSingara.[12] The Romans also surrendered their interests in theKingdom of Armenia to the Sasanids.[14] The king of Armenia,Arsaces II (Arshak II), was to receive no help from Rome.[12] The treaty was widely seen as a disgrace.[15]
After crossing the Tigris, Jovian sent an embassy to theWest to announce his elevation.[16] With the treaty signed, Jovian and his army marched to Nisibis.[12] The populace of Nisibis, devastated by the news their city was to be given to the Sasanids, were given three days to leave.[12]
In September 363 Jovian arrived atEdessa where he issued two edicts.[13] The first, a limitation on the distance a soldier could be sent for straw, was to indicate an end to the war withSasanid Persia.[13] The second was the restoration of estates of theres privata to the Imperial finances following Julian's incorporating them to pagan temples.[13]
Jovian's arrival atAntioch in October 363, was met with an enraged populace.[17] Faced with offensive graffiti and insulting authorless bills (famosi) throughout the city,[18] he ordered theLibrary of Antioch to be burned down.[c][18][19] Jovian left Antioch in November 363,[d] making his way back toConstantinople.[18]
By December 363 Jovian was atAncyra proclaiming his infant son,Varronianus, consul.[21] While en route from there to Constantinople, Jovian was found dead in his tent at Dadastana, halfway between Ancyra andNicaea,[22] on 17 February 364.[e] His death, which went uninvestigated,[20] was possibly the result of suffocating on poisonous fumes seeping from the newly painted bedchamber walls by abrazier.[11][20][21][25][f] Jovian died aged 33 and was buried in theChurch of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople,[26][27] in aporphyry sarcophagus.[g] He was succeeded by two brothers,Valentinian I andValens, who subsequently divided the empire between them.[29]
Following Jovian's death, Valentinian and Valens removed any threats to their position.[30] Jovian's son Varronianus was blinded to ensure he would never inherit the throne.[30] According toJohn Chrysostom, Jovian's wife Charito lived in fear the remaining days of her life.[30]
Jovian was met at Edessa by a group ofbishops, includingAthanasius,[h][32] who was newly returned from exile.[33] TheSemi-Arian bishops received a poor greeting, while Athanasius delivered a letter to Jovian insisting on theNicene Creed and the rejection ofArianism.[33] Athanasius was restored to his episcopal duties,[34] and allowed to accompany Jovian toAntioch.[32]
Upon his arrival in the city, Jovian received a letter from the Synod of Antioch, imploring forMeletius' restoration as bishop.[35] By September 363, Jovian restored thelabarum ("Chi-Rho") as the army's standard[29] and revoked theedicts of Julian against Christians, but did not close any pagan temples.[36][i] He issued an edict of toleration, to the effect that his subjects could enjoy full liberty of conscience,[36] but he banned magic and divination.[38] Despite supporting the Nicene doctrines, he passed no edicts against Arians.[29]Philostorgius, an Arian church historian, stated, "The Emperor Jovian restored the churches to their original uses, and set them free from all the vexatious persecutions inflicted on them by the Apostate Julian."[29]
^Jovian may have adopted thenomen "Flavius" in an attempt to claim descent from theConstantinian dynasty. The name is only attested in a few inscriptions.[1] One in particular calls him "Flavius Claudius Iovianus",[1] though this could be a confusion with his predecessor,Flavius Claudius Iulianus. From this point onwards the name "Flavius" began to be used as a status marker rather than personal name.[2]
^Julian (361–363) ruled 1 year ½, whileConstantius II (353–361) ruled alone for 8 years.Constantine I (324–337) ruled alone for 13 years, the longest solo reign sinceSeverus Alexander (222–235). After Jovian, Valentinian I ruled 1 month alone, andTheodosius 4 months.
^Curran cites theHistoria Acephala for a claim that Jovian made Christianity the official religion of the empire,[20] but Salzman indicates that the notice is mistaken.[37]
^Ammianus Marcellinus,Rerum gestarum libri XXXI, ed. and trs. J. C. Roffe, 3 vols, Loeb Classical Library 300, 315 and 331 (Cambridge, MA, 1939–50). Book XXV, Chapter 3, Section 20.
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