Shapur II’s war with the Chionites, c. 350–358

Shapur II’s war with the Chionites

Around 350 an invasion of nomads on the eastern frontier forced Shapur II to break off his war with Rome. Ammianus Marcellinus, the first to name the Chionites, says that in 356 the king was wintering in their lands and those of the Euseni, and that in 358 he made an alliance with the Chionites and the Gelani; the next year the Chionite king Grumbates marched with him against Rome.

Date

c. 350 – 358start: year known, approximate; end: year known · duration: ≈ 8 years

Place

Eastern frontier of the Sasanian Empire (Merv)approximate locationtoday: Near Mary, Turkmenistan · Central and Northern Asia

Participants

Chionites (Xionites), Shapur II, Sasanian Empire, Grumbates

Threads

The Steppe and Central Asia (1st–5th c.)

Also known as

Chionitae; Xionites; Grumbates; Euseni; Gelani; Хиониты; Грумбат; Евсены; Геланы

Shapur II had long been fighting Rome in Upper Mesopotamia, but by 350 an invasion of nomads from Central Asia made him turn east; who they were is uncertain, and modern authors name the Chionites or the Kidarites. Ammianus Marcellinus, a Roman officer on the eastern front, reports under the year 356 that messages for the king had to be sent to the remotest frontiers of his realm, to the lands of the Chionites and the Euseni, where he was spending the winter while fighting the neighbouring tribes; the Euseni may be a corrupted name of the Kushans. In 358 Shapur was still encamped among the frontier peoples and had just concluded a treaty of alliance with the Chionites and the Gelani, “the fiercest warriors of all”, when a letter about peace with Rome reached him.

The new allies came west. In 359 Ammianus, sent on a scouting mission to the satrap of Corduene, watched from high cliffs as the Persian host marched past: close to the king rode Grumbates, king of the Chionites, “a man of moderate strength, it is true, and with shrivelled limbs, but of a certain greatness of mind”. At the siege of Amida Grumbates’ only son was killed by a bolt from a Roman ballista; the Chionites mourned him for seven days, took the eastern side of the siege and would not move on until the city was destroyed to appease his shade. The alliance did not last: in the following decades the Sasanians lost Bactria to new Hunnic rulers.

Who the Chionites were is disputed. Many historians regard them as the first Huns of Central Asia and connect their name with xwn, the Sogdian name of the Xiongnu; others consider them an Iranian people. The dates are approximate: Ammianus gives only 356 and 358, the beginning of the war around 350 is inferred from Shapur’s withdrawal from the Roman front, and some accounts date the Chionite attacks to 353–358.

Connections

Consequences

Siege of Amida359 · Middle East and Egyptafter their alliance with Shapur in 358 the Chionites under Grumbates fought for him at Amida

Part of

Reign of Shapur II309–379 · Middle East and Egypta war on Shapur II’s eastern frontier

Related events

Shapur I conquers Kushanshahrbetween 230 and 262 · Central and Northern Asiaa century earlier Shapur I had brought the Kushan lands north of the Hindu Kush under Sasanian rule

The Kushano-Sasanian kingdom in Bactriabetween 230 and 262 – between 350 and 370 · Central and Northern Asiathe nomadic invasion of the mid-4th century ended the rule of the Kushanshahs in Bactria

The Sogdian “Ancient Letters”between 312 and 314 · Central and Northern Asiathe name of the Chionites is often connected with xwn, the Sogdian name of the Xiongnu in the Ancient Letters

Hunnic kings of Bactria: the Kidaritesbetween 360 and 370 – 467 · Central and Northern Asiathe Kidarites seem to have emerged from the Hunnic invaders of the mid-4th century

Adjacent events in the thread

Shapur II’s war with the Chionites

Connections

Consequences

Part of

Related events

Adjacent events in the thread

Meanwhile in the world

Eastern Europe

Balkans and Anatolia

Middle East and Egypt

Africa

South Asia

East Asia

Southeast Asia and Oceania

North America

Latin America

The same period

Sources