Grumbates

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Grumbates (died after 359) was King of the Chionites in the middle of the 4th century .

The only source for Grumbates is the history of the late ancient Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus . This describes in great detail the struggles of the Sassanid king Shapur II against the Romans under Constantius II. In this context, he also reports how Shapur was confronted with a new opponent on the north-eastern border of Persia in the mid-350s. These were the Chionites, who proved to be tough opponents and had to winter in their area of ​​Shapur. The Chionites are a nomadic tribe who appeared shortly before the so-called Iranian Huns appeared.

When Shapur II invaded the Roman province of Syria with a large army in 359, he was accompanied by Chionite auxiliaries under the leadership of their King Grumbates, whom Ammianus described as a middle-aged man who had won many victories. Ammianus further reports that the Persian king was able to win the Chionites and the Gelan tribe as allies, but neither the details of the treaty nor the exact identity of the Gelaners are known. Ammianus described the Chionites and Gelans as the most capable warriors in the Persian army.

The Persians now moved to the important Roman fortress Amida , where Ammianus was staying at that time, who left an impressive report from his own perspective. Shapur wanted to force the Romans to give up, but they refused. Grumbates himself then tried again to deliver the call to surrender when suddenly a Roman missile hit the young and only son of Grumbates and killed him. Grumbates became enraged and vowed to make the Romans atone for his loss, whereupon Shapur was forced to a regular siege if he did not want to lose his ally. The siege of Amida was supposed to end after 73 days and bind considerable Persian forces. The son of Grumbates, whose name Ammianus does not know or use, was mourned for seven days during the festivities that followed. His body was cremated, which was actually a sacrilege for the Zoroastrian Persians.

Ammianus does not report anything about the further fate of Grumbates. It can be assumed that the Chionite auxiliaries returned to the east after the Persian campaign was broken off in 360, although it is unclear how large their sphere of influence there was. The alliance also broke up, because Chionites and Persians were involved in battles with each other again in the period that followed.

literature

  • John Matthews: The Roman Empire of Ammianus. Duckworth, London 1989, p. 57ff.
  • Daniel T. Potts: Nomadism in Iran. From Antiquity to the Modern Era. Oxford University Press, Oxford u. a. 2014, p. 127f.
  • Khodadad Rezakhani: ReOrienting the Sasanians. East Iran in Late Antiquity. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2017, pp. 89ff.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Ammianus 16.3.
  2. ↑ Ammianus 16.9.
  3. ^ Wolfgang Felix: Chionites . In: Encyclopædia Iranica . Vol. 5 (1992), pp. 485-487.
  4. ↑ Ammianus 18.6.
  5. ↑ Ammianus 17.5.
  6. ↑ Khodadad Rezakhani: ReOrienting the Sasanians. East Iran in Late Antiquity. Edinburgh 2017, pp. 90f. On the problem of the identity of the Gelans see also Janos Harmatta: Chionitae, Euseni, Gelani. In: Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 31, 1985-1988, pp. 43-51, especially pp. 45f.
  7. ↑ Ammianus 19: 1ff.
  8. ↑ Ammianus 19,1,7.
  9. ↑ Ammianus 19.2.
  10. ↑ Khodadad Rezakhani: ReOrienting the Sasanians. East Iran in Late Antiquity. Edinburgh 2017, p. 91.
personal data
SURNAME Grumbates
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of the Chionites
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd century or 4th century
DATE OF DEATH after 359