Persian power peaks under the long reign of Sassanid king Shapur II, who has recaptured Mesopotamia from Rome and subdued the Kushans in present Afghanistan to annex their kingdom.

After a long campaign against the Chionites (353-358), Shapur is ready for a second encounter with Rome and sends an ambassador to Constantius, bearing presents and a letter wrapped in white silk.

This letter reads, in part, “I Sapor, king of kings, partner of the stars, brother of the sun and the moon, to Constantius Caesar my brother send much greeting … Because … the language of truth ought to be unrestrained and free, and because men in the highest rank ought only to say what they mean, I will reduce my propositions into a few words … Even your own ancient records bear witness that my ancestors possessed all the country up to the Strymon and the frontier of Macedonia.

And these lands it is fitting that I who (not to speak arrogantly) am superior to those ancient kings in magnificence, and in all eminent virtues, should now reclaim.

But I am at all times thoughtful to remember that, from my earliest youth, I have never done anything to repent of.”

When Constantius politely refuses to hand over these lands, …

…Shapur marches into northern Mesopotamia, this time with marked success.

Athanasius, who has suffered several periods of exile since 335, had written of early monasticism in his Life of St. Antony, produced around 356, and defends Nicene orthodoxy in three Discourses against the Arians, issued about two years later.

The Franks—the Salians, Ripuarians, and Chatti, or Hessians—had begun penetrating the Roman frontier around Mainz in the mid-fourth century.

The Salian Franks capitulate to Julian, whose abandonment in 358 of the district of Toxandria, roughly equivalent to modern Belgium, to its barbarian squatters on condition of their defending it against other invaders, is no doubt a realistic decision.

Constantius returns east to fight Shapur, who has renewed his attacks on the eastern frontier.

Amid(a), also known by various names throughout its long history, had been established as an Assyrian settlement, circa the third millennium BCE.

The oldest artifact from Amida (modern Diyarbakir, Turkey) is the famous stele of king Naram-Sin, also believed to be from third millennia BCE.

The name Amida first appears in the writings of Assyrian King Adad Nirari who ruled the city from about 1310 to 1281 BCE as a part of the Assyrian homeland, of which Amida had remained an important region throughout the reign of king Tiglath-Pileser-I (1114–1076 BCE).

The name Amida appeared in the annals of Assyrian rulers until 705 BCE, and also appears in the archives of Armenian king Tiridates II in 305, and the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (325–391).

Constantius II has enlarged and strengthened this city on the upper Tigris.

Marcellinus narrates vividly the episode of Shapur’s capture of Amida with the aid of Xionite auxiliaries.

Arianism, despite its condemnation by the first council of Nicaea, becomes the Roman Empire’s official faith in 359, when the Eastern bishops meet in council at Seleucia (now Silifke, Turkey).

Concurrent with the Council of Seleucia, four hundred bishops of the Western Roman Empire attend a church council called by the emperor and held at Ariminum (modern Rimini, Italy).

Most of the bishops in attendance are orthodox and accept the faith of Nicaea, but the Arian minority includes skilled diplomats who successfully undo the orthodox decision of the majority when it reaches the emperor.

The orthodox bishops remaining at Ariminum are then forced to recant and subscribe to an Arian creed drawn up at Nice in Thracia.

Pope Liberius, soon repudiating this creed, declares the Council of Ariminum without authority.

The so-called anomoeans had succeeded in having their views endorsed at Sirmium in 357, but their extremism has stimulated the moderates, who assert that the Son was “of similar substance” (homoiousios) with the Father.

Constantius had at first supported these homoiousians but soon transferred his support to the homoeans, led by Acacius, who affirm that the Son was “like” (homoios) the Father.

Their views are approved in 360 at the Council of Constantinople (attended by Ulfilas), where all previous creeds are rejected, the term ousia (“substance,” or “stuff”) is repudiated as too risky, and a statement of faith is issued stating that the Son was “like the Father who begot him.”

Books begin to replace scrolls around 360.

he Renaming of Lutetia to Paris (360 CE)

In 360 CE, Lutetia, the Roman city on the Île de la Cité, was officially renamed Paris, adopting the name of the Gallic Parisii tribe that had once inhabited the region.

1. The Origins of the Name "Paris"

• The Parisii were a Gallic tribe that had settled along the Seine River before the Roman conquest of Gaul in the 1st century BCE.
• While the Romans named their city Lutetia, the local population continued to use "Parisii" as an ethnic and regional identifier.
• The term "Parisiacus" had already been used for centuries as an adjective, referring to things related to the Parisii or Lutetia.

2. Julian and the Renaming of the City

• The renaming of Lutetia to Paris occurred during the reign of Julian, who was serving as Caesar in Gaul at the time.
• Julian had used Lutetia as his winter quarters in 357 CE, after securing a major victory over the Alamanni at the Battle of Strasbourg.
• By 360 CE, he had been proclaimed Augustus by his troops while in Lutetia, further elevating the city’s status.

3. The Significance of the Name Change

• The name change from Lutetia to Paris reflected the enduring influence of Gallic heritage in the region.
• It marked a shift from the older Roman designation to one more closely tied to local identity.
• This renaming foreshadowed the later importance of Paris as a medieval and modern capital, becoming the heart of the Frankish and later French kingdoms.

4. Conclusion: The Birth of Paris as a Lasting Identity

• The transition from Lutetia to Paris in 360 CE signaled the city's growing regional prominence.
• Although still a Roman city, Paris retained its Gallic roots, a blend of Roman and indigenous traditions that would shape its future identity.
• Over time, Paris would rise to become one of the most significant cities in European history, a transformation that began with its renaming in the late Roman period.