Comparison of the eastern mediterranean policy of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian and the Sassanid Emperor Khosrow Anushiruwān

In this doctoral dissertation, the parallel lives (bioi paralleloi) of Khosrow Anushiruwan, the Sassanid emperor, and Justinian, the Eastern Roman emperor were examined along with their Eastern Mediterranean policy; and the imperial ideologies of the two emperors were compared. Study deals with the similarities and differences between the two comtemporary emperors; Khosrow, who influenced both his own and the following periods with his justice, and Justinian, through a complete picture of the VI. century AD. The primary sources of the study are the ancient sources (works of Roman, Armenian Syriac, Arabic/Islamic historiographers), epigraphical documents, archaeological finds; the critical editions of which are used together with the related modern literature. The main points of the study are that both empires which the aforemenioned emperors inherited from their predecessors, were collapsing at that time; both emperors carried out a series of reforms in order to reach prosperity; and the two were the reflections of each other in the mirror. Thus, the study compares and contrasts the lives –from the birth till death– families, educations, early years, virtues, imperfections and military and political achievements of the two emperors; identifies the essential factors in the foreign policies of both Eastern Roman Empire and the Sassanid Empire; and focuses on the roles of the two empires in the formation of the political history of the Eastern Mediterranean throughout the VI. century.