The Arian controversy, the continuation of which…

The former Jin general Yao Xiang, who, after rebelling against Jin in 354, had intended to establish his independent state, attacks Former Qin's northern territory in 357; the Former Qin generals Deng Qiang and Fu Huangmei, the Prince of Guangping, fight back and capture and execute him.

Fu Sheng, still respectful of Yao Xiang and his father Yao Yizhong, whose casket Yao had carried with his army, buries both with honors.

However, not only does he not reward Fu Huangmei but further insults him, leading Fu Huangmei to plot an unsuccessful assassination against him, resulting in Fu Huangmei's death.

Yu Zun is executed in 357 along with his sons and grandsons after Fu Sheng dreams of a large fish in Chinese) eating calamus palm.

Later in 357, Fu Sheng becomes suspicious of his cousins Fu Jiān, the Prince of Donghai, and Fu Fa, the Prince of Qinghe, and considers killing them.

His ladies in waiting leak the news to Fu Jiān, who immediately leads his private army to attack the palace.

The imperial guards, who already resent Fu Sheng's ferocity, surrender without resisting.

Fu Jiān captures Fu Sheng, who is still in a drunken stupor, and has him deposed and then executed.

Fu Jiān now takes the throne.

Constantius has ordered the closure of all pagan temples throughout the Empire and banned the veneration of non-Christian images, but when the emperor visits Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory over Magnentius and to address the Senate and the people in 357, he is so struck by its pagan grandeur—the historian Ammianus Marcellinus portrays him as deeply moved—that he apparently suspends the application of these measures.

Julian’s Triumph at the Battle of Strasbourg (Argentoratum) and His Rise in Gaul (357 CE)

By 357 CE, Julian had established himself as a resolute and highly effective military commander, successfully evicting barbarian invaders from Gaul and restoring the defensive line of forts along the Rhine, which had been largely destroyed during the civil war of 350–353 CE.

His greatest victory came at the Battle of Strasbourg (Argentoratum) in 357 CE, the climax of his campaigns to restore Roman control in Gaul.

1. The Battle of Strasbourg: A Decisive Roman Victory

• Julian’s army, though smaller in number, faced a large force of Alamanni led by their king, Chnodomar.
• Despite being outnumbered, the Roman infantry fought with superior discipline and tactics, turning the tide of battle.
• The Roman cavalry initially performed poorly, but Julian managed to rally his forces, leading to a resounding Roman victory.
• The Alamanni were driven beyond the Rhine, suffering heavy losses, while Roman casualties were minimal.

2. The Aftermath: Julian Restores Roman Gaul

• Julian restored approximately seventy plundered villages, reinforcing Roman control over the devastated province.
• With this victory, Gaul was largely secured, and the Rhine frontier was reestablished as the northern boundary of the empire.
• His military leadership and restoration of order made him immensely popular with both his troops and the Gallic population.

3. Julian Gains Supreme Command in Gaul

• After his successes in battle, Emperor Constantius II officially granted Julian supreme command over all military operations in Gaul.
• Despite this, relations between Constantius and Julian remained tense, as the emperor feared Julian’s growing popularity.
• Julian’s practice of distributing pay ex manubiis (from the spoils of war) further endeared him to the legions, increasing concerns that he might become a rival for the throne.

4. The Army Hails Julian as Augustus: The Seeds of Civil War (357 CE)

• After his famous victory at Strasbourg, Julian’s troops attempted to proclaim him Augustus, elevating him to equal status with Constantius II.
• Julian refused the title, avoiding an immediate break with Constantius, but the event foreshadowed a looming civil war.
• As Julian’s reputation as a military leader grew, Constantius’ suspicions deepened, setting the stage for an eventual confrontation.

5. Conclusion: Julian’s Rise and the Unraveling of the Empire

• The Battle of Strasbourg was a turning point in Julian’s career, solidifying his reputation as a brilliant general.
• His successful campaigns in Gaul secured Rome’s northern frontier, but also made him a political threat to Constantius II.
• Although civil war was temporarily averted, tensions between the two rulers would continue to escalate, eventually leading to Julian’s proclamation as Augustus in 360 CE and the final struggle for control of the empire.

Julian’s meteoric rise as a commander in Gaul ultimately set the stage for his later claim to the throne, as the empire teetered on the brink of another internal war.

Constantius defeats the Quadi and the Goths on the Danube in 357-358, but court intrigues, Magnentius' usurpation, and the interminable war against the Persians have allowed the barbarians to wreak great havoc in Pannonia.

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.