Podcasts about shapur

Tuesday in the Octave of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Tarbula; Fourth-Century virgin and martyr, the sister of St. Simeon, the Persian bishop and martyr; she was a consecrated virgin, and met her own martyrdom soon after the death of her brother; accused of practicing witchcraft and of causing sickness to befall the wife of the ardently anti-Christian Persian king Shapur, she was condemned and executed by being sawed in half Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/22/25 Gospel: John 20:11-18

The son of Shahrbaraz succeeds him after a brief interregnum and will try to establish some legitimacy during the greatest crisis the empire has ever seen. But don't worry, there are many other contenders for the throne. You can find all the images on our website! https://soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia.wordpress.com/2025/03/23/89-shapur-v/ Here's the link to our Patreon! www.patreon.com/soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia

Our previous good king for a while has been murdered by nobles so now we have to deal with the succession. Shapur is already king of Armenia so everything will be easy for him right? Right??   You can find all the images on our website! https://soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia.wordpress.com/2024/09/01/73-shapur-iv/ Here's the link to our Patreon! www.patreon.com/soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia

Shapur III carries an important name that gave us two greats, will he be up for the challenge? He'll face another situation in Armenia, nomads in the east, and complaints about tent manufacturing. You can find all the images on our website! https://soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia.wordpress.com/2024/07/07/70-shapur-iii/ Here's the link to our Patreon! www.patreon.com/soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia

A last mishnah! On divided properties, including gardens, when one is above the other - who owns the produce? Unusually, the mishnah explains the rationale of the disputants' different views here, and the garden's nourishment from above. Also: one who can reach out one's hand to take produce is allowed to take the produce, but what if he can only reach the roots or only the leaves? Plus, the Persian king Shapur, who likes R. Shimon's approach (he seems to have liked Jewish law... might he have been Shmuel?).

Shapur has made a name for himself in his first decades of life but now he must face Julian the Apostate and end the war with Rome. Find out here how he fares and what legacy he will leave behind You can find all the images on our website! https://soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia.wordpress.com/2024/06/09/68-shapur-ii/ Here's the link to our Patreon! www.patreon.com/soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia

Crowned before even being born, Shapur has a difficult life ahead of him with raids from without and treacherous nobles from within. But despite all of that, he gets two episodes, join us to discover how.   You can find all the images on our website! https://soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia.wordpress.com/2024/06/09/68-shapur-ii/ Here's the link to our Patreon! www.patreon.com/soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia

Who could have possibly imagined, that when Rome's fortunes hit their nadir, when the West had fallen away (to be ruled by the new Gallic Emperor Postumus) and the East crumbled under Shapur's relentless onslaught, it would not be a Roman Emperor, or a Roman General that saved Rome's eastern provinces from annihilation, but it would be a young guy born in the desert oasis town known as Palmyra that would rescue Rome.  Odaenathus rose from obscurity in an obscure place - Palmyra - last stop on the Silk Road, a watering hole in the Syrian desert.  And through sheer force of will and brilliant military and political tactics, he would become Rome's indispensable man in the heart of the storm known as the Crisis of the Third Century.

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Tarbula; Fourth Century Virgin and martyr, the sister of St. Simeon the Persian bishop and martyr; she was consecrated a virgin and met her own martyrdom soon after the death of her brother; she was accused of witchcraft, and of causing sickness to befall the wife of the ardently anti-Christian Persian king Shapur; Tarbula was condemned and executed in 345 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/22/24 Gospel: John 10:1-10

The Sassanids have started strong and now Shapur has stepped up to the throne. In a lifetime full of action, he's going to make sure to treat the empire's fatigue with some very fine Valerian. You can find all the images on our website! https://soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia.wordpress.com/2024/03/03/60-shapur-i/ Here's the link to our Patreon! www.patreon.com/soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia

Saturday of the Second Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Tarbula; sister of bishop and martyr St. Simeon the Persian; she was accused of practicing witchcraft and causing the wife of the anti-Christian Persian king, Shapur, to become ill; she was condemned and executed in 345 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/22/23 Gospel: John 6:16-21

With enemies to confront in every direction, Valerian heads back to the east where Shapur and the Parthians are once again threatening the borders of the Roman empire. While Valerian anticipates a victory, what is to come is the greatest defeat of a Roman emperor. Episode III of 'Valerian'. Guest: Associate Professor Caillan Davenport (Head of the Centre for Classical Studies at the Australian National University).

In the third century, Rome faced a reinvigorated Persia, led by the Sasanian dynasty. In 260 AD, the Roman Emperor Valerian was defeated and captured. Allegedly, the Persian King used him as a footstool to mount his horse before flaying him and displaying his skin in his palace. How did the Sasanians triumph over the Romans? Find out in this episode.

Perchè ho scritto un libro sulla crisi del III secolo e un breve assaggio del suo contenuto!---Per acquistare il libro:1) andate in libreria! Hanno passato un anno difficile, i vostri acquisti saranno sicuramente benvenuti2) Amazon (link affiliato):https://amzn.to/33b0OsI3) Librerie Feltrinelli:https://www.lafeltrinelli.it/libri/un-pugno-barbari-come-roma/97888282060024) Mondadori store: https://www.mondadoristore.it/pugno-barbari-Come-Roma-fu-Marco-Cappelli/eai978882820600/5) IBShttps://www.ibs.it/per-pugno-di-barbari-come-libro-marco-cappelli/e/9788828206002

St James the Mangled On the 27th day of the Coptic month of Hator we celebrate the Life of Saint James the Mangled.James was one of the soldiers of Sakrod, the son of Shapur, King of Persia. Because of his courage and his uprightness, he was promoted to the highest rank in the king's court. He found favor and access to the king, who even counselled with him on many affairs. In this way, he influenced James greatly to the extent that he turned his heart away from worshipping the Lord Christ.When his mother, his wife, and his sister heard that he adopted the king's belief, they wrote to him saying, "Why have you forsaken the faith in the Lord Christ and worshipped the created objects, the fire and the sun? Know that if you persist in what you are doing, we will disown you and you will become a stranger to us." When he read their letter, he wept and said, "If by doing that, I have become a stranger to my own family and my people, how would the situation be with my Lord Jesus Christ?" Consequently, he resigned from the king's service and devoted his time to reading the holy books.When the news reached the king, he summoned for James. When the King saw the change that had befallen him, he ordered that James be beaten severely and if he did not change his belief, he was to be cut up with knives. They cut off his fingers, his hands, his legs and his arms. Each time they cut off a piece of his body, he praised the Lord and sang saying, "Have mercy upon me O Lord according to Your great compassion." (Psalm 50:1) Eventually, nothing was left of him except his head, his breast and his loins.When he knew that his time was near, he entreated the Lord to have mercy and compassion upon the world and the people therein. He apologized for not standing in the presence of the mighty Lord and said, "I have neither legs to stand before Thee, nor hands to lift up to Thee, behold the parts of my body have been cast around me, O Lord receive my soul." Straightaway, the Lord Christ appeared to him, comforted, and strengthened him and his soul rejoiced. Before he delivered up his soul, one of the guards made haste and cut off his head. He thus received the crown of martyrdom. Some of the believers then came forward and took his body, wrapped it and buried it.When his mother, his sister, and his wife heard that he was martyred, they rejoiced for his soul and came to where the body was and kissed it, weeping. They shrouded it in expensive cloth and poured sweet scents and perfumed oil over it. A church and a monastery were built in his name during the reign of the righteous Emperors Arcadius and Honourius.When the king of Persia heard the news of the miracles and wonders which appeared through the body of St. James and of the other honored martyrs, he ordered all the bodies of the martyrs in all parts of his kingdom, to be burnt. Some of the believers came and took the body of St. James and brought it to Jerusalem and entrusted it to St. Peter El-Rahawy, Bishop of Gaza.The body remained there until the reign of Marcianus, who persecuted the Orthodox Christians everywhere. St. Peter, the Bishop, took the body to Egypt. There he went to the city of Behnasa, where he stayed in a monastery occupied by devoted monks. It happened that at the sixth hour, while they were praying in the place where the holy body was laid, St. James appeared to them with many other martyrs of Persia. They joined them in singing, blessed them and disappeared. Before leaving, however, St. James told them that his body should stay there as the Lord commanded. Despite this, when Anba Peter the Bishop, decided to return to his country, he took the body with him. When he arrived at the seashore, the body was taken from their hands and returned to the place where it had originally been.Lessons from this story“..what God has joined together, let no one separate.” (Matt 19:6) There are many of us that get drawn away from a life in the church. This world is filled with alluring deceptions designed specifically to preoccupy you so there is no room for reading the Bible, going to church or even fasting. Understand that this is by the design of the evil one. Is it wrong to want to work and make a comfortable living for you and your family? Of course not, but you should know that it is all temporary and can be taken away in the blink of an eye. Yes do your part in this world to ensure safety for you and your family, but that includes time for God, time for your spiritual salvation.There is a growning at times that the liturgy at church is too long. The deacons chant linger too long, or the sermon puts you to sleep, whatever the reason, there at times is s grumbling that the liturgy is too long. “After a week of working 12 to 14 hours a day I just need a day of rest.” No one faults you for that. In fact God agrees with you that there should be a day of rest. But understand the meaning, it is a day of rest, not a day of laziness.Rest your cares at the foot of the altar. Rest your fears upon the icon of the risen creator. Rest your anxieties about work, life and family on the words of comfort that come from your time with God. A visit with Him is just as important as visit with a dear friend, a parent or other loved one. Important for both you and Him. A day of rest? Yes, a day for you to rest your weary soul and drink from the fountain of eternal youth and energy.And just like St. James, if you get too lazy in your faith, your mother, your sister and your wife will let you know.PrayerLord always strengthen our resolve to ever work on a lasting relationship with you, a daily communion between us, that our spirits and souls are lifted above the dirt of this world. May the prayers of St James be with us always, amen.

The burly jovial editor of WhatCar India Magazine & deputy editor of AutoCar India Magazine knows what hes talking about. Years & years of experience of driving, testing & writing about these cars. On HrishiKays Auto Show its Shapur Kotwal reviewing the all new Tata Harrier 2020. The more powerful 170hp diesel new 6 speed automatic transmission & extra kit improve the Harriers appeal but the lack of connected tech, cooled seats, wireless charging & an electronic parking brake are bothersome because given the price it isn't unreasonable to expect them. For more you must give this a listen! “The HrishiKay Sessions” are produced & presented by Hrishikesh Kannan popularly known as HrishiKay. Thanks for listening. Should you want to experience more ….for starters hit “subscribe” / “follow” and check out more episodes & be notified when further sessions go up! If ur looking for Hrishi across media & social networking then here goes: Twitter : https://www.twitter.com/hrishikay Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/hrishikay Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/hrishikay Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/hrishikeshkannan Soundcloud : https://www.soundcloud.com/hrishikay

My car & suv reviews with Shapur Kotwal are back. The deputy editor of AutoCar India magazine & editor of WhatCar India magazine reviews the all new Skoda Karoq 2020. He tells HrishiKay that if ur looking for a more affordable, more fun to drive Kodiaq, without the rear seats that is, this is exactly what the doctor ordered. Statutory warning: there is no diesel option on the Karoq thus far. Happy listening! “The HrishiKay Sessions” are produced & presented by Hrishikesh Kannan popularly known as HrishiKay. Thanks for listening. Should you want to experience more ….for starters hit “subscribe” / “follow” and check out more episodes & be notified when further sessions go up! If ur looking for Hrishi across media & social networking then here goes: Twitter : https://www.twitter.com/hrishikay Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/hrishikay Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/hrishikay Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/hrishikeshkannan Soundcloud : https://www.soundcloud.com/hrishikay

Hrishi K with Shapur Kotwal (Deputy Editor AutoCar & WhatCar India)-Best Cars of 2019 by Hrishikesh Kannan

Hrishi K with Shapur Kotwal (Autocar)- MG ZS EV, New BMW 3 series, Cat 777e reviews by Hrishikesh Kannan

Hrishi K with Shapur Kotwal (AutoCar & WhatCar) - Hyundai Venue & MG Hector & eZS by Hrishikesh Kannan

Giuliano è morto e giace esanime nella tenda imperiale: fuori Shapur è pronto ad attaccare i Romani. Gli ufficiali dell'esercito, come marinai di una nave in tempesta, si affideranno al primo che capita pur di avere qualcuno che li aiuti a guidarli fuori dalla Mesopotamia. Per farlo dovranno passare attraverso un'umiliazione che ricorderà le forche caudine. Dall'altro lato non ci sarà la stabilità imperiale, ma ancora caos prima di inaugurare l'ultima grande dinastia dell'Impero Romano d'Occidente. ---Per diventare miei mecenati: www.patreon.com/italiastoria. Altre modalità disponibili sul sito www.italiastoria.com  

Nel 401 avanti cristo un gruppo di mercenari persiani, al cui seguito c'era il grande storico-soldato Senofonte, si unì al pretendente al trono persiano, Ciro, in una marcia verso il cuore della Mesopotamia. La spedizione terminerà in un disastro ma i diecimila riuscirono a salvarsi e Senofonte a scrivere la sua storia, che intitolerà "Anabasi" o viaggio verso l'interno (dell'Asia). Un gruppo di Romani, più di 700 anni dopo, tenterà qualcosa di simile. Per fortuna abbiamo un altro storico-soldato al seguito, il nostro Ammiano Marcellino, che ci racconterà la storia della sua Anabasi.---Per diventare miei mecenati: www.patreon.com/italiastoria. Altre modalità disponibili sul sito www.italiastoria.com

The Roman city of Amida is attacked by 100,000 Persians under king Shapur. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Shapur I, written and narrated by Joshua J. Mark: https://www.ancient.eu/Shapur_I/ This article was sponsored by Total War and is about the historical background of Total War: Rome II - Empire Divided: - goo.gl/MQzTGR If you like our audio articles, please support us by becoming a member or donating to our non-profit company: - www.ancient.eu/membership/ - www.ancient.eu/donate/ - https://www.patreon.com/ahe Shapur I (240-270 CE) was the son of Ardashir (224 - c. 241 CE), the founder of the Sasanian dynasty, who made him his co-ruler and brought him on campaigns to learn the art of war. Ardashir was a skilled military leader who not only defeated the Parthian king Artabanus V (c. 208-224 CE) in numerous battles but finally killed him and brought down the Parthian Empire, replacing it with his own. Shapur I learned the lessons his father taught well and used them effectively against his own enemies, most notably Rome.

Synopsis:  Odaenathus helps drive the Persians from Syria and preserve Gallienus’ throne.  After his peace offering is spurned by Shapur, Odaenathus prepares to invade the Sasanid Empire. “Had not Odaenathus, prince of the Palmyrenes, seized the imperial power after the capture of Valerian, when the […] The post Episode B45 – Odaenathus first appeared on THE ANCIENT WORLD.

Synopsis:  After his humiliating defeat at the hands of Shapur, Valerian joins tens of thousands of Roman captives deported to the heartland of Persia.  “Going without consideration to Shapur with a small retinue, to treat for a peace, (Valerian) was presently laid hold off by […] The post Episode B44 – Edessa first appeared on THE ANCIENT WORLD.

Synopsis:  Shortly after Hatra’s destruction, Shapur inherits the Persian Empire.  Gordian’s invasion the following year ends in defeat and humiliation for Rome. “When at first we had become established in the Empire, Gordian Caesar raised in all of the Roman Empire a force from the […] The post Episode B41 – Samsigeramus first appeared on THE ANCIENT WORLD.

In this episode Mick chats with Major General John S Harrel (Ret'd), author of The Nisibis War. They discuss the Roman defence of the east in late antiquity and the war with Persia that lasted 25 years! John provides a lawyer's response to the final question.  You can support the show here.

So here we are, hitting rock bottom. Valerian seemed to not want to wield too much power, but now he does, he is not going to sit back and do nothing while the empire falls around him. He is going to teach that pesky Shapur a lesson! With his mighty (cough) army, (cough cough) he will go east (cough) and... why does everyone look so ill? Oh dear. 

Throughout this week Neil MacGregor is describing how people across the globe around 1700 years ago found new images to express their religious beliefs. Today's object is a dramatic visualisation of power and faith in 4th Century Iran. It is a silver plate that shows King Shapur II out hunting deer. Neil describes how this apparently secular image reveals the beliefs of the day, when the king was seen as the agent of god and the upholder of the state religion - Zoroastrianism. How might we read this hunting scene as a religious image? And why did the belief system of such a powerful dynasty fail to become a dominant world religion? With contributions from the historian Tom Holland and the Iranian art historian Guitty Azarpay. Producer: Anthony Denselow.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Sassanian Empire. Founded around 226 AD, in Persia, the Sassanian Empire lasted over 400 years as a grand imperial rival to Rome. In modern day Iran, just down the road from the ancient Persian capital of Persepolis, there is a picture carved into a rock. It depicts a king, triumphant on horseback, facing two defeated enemies. This is no pair of petty princes, they are Roman Emperors - Philip and Valerian - and the king towering above them is Shapur I of the Sassanian Empire. So complete was his victory that Shapur is reputed to have used Valerian as a footstool when mounting his horse. This super-power traded goods from Constantinople to Beijing, handed regular defeats to the Roman army and only fell to the Islamic conquests of the 7th century. It still influences Persian identity to this day. But what was the culture and the literature of the empire, its structure and organisation? And what was its role in the great geopolitical game played out between the decaying empires in late antiquity?With Hugh Kennedy, Professor of Arabic in the Faculty of Languages and Cultures at the School of Oriental and African Studies; Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Curator of Iranian and Islamic Coins in the British Museum; James Howard-Johnston, University Lecturer in Byzantine Studies at the University of Oxford.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Sassanian Empire. Founded around 226 AD, in Persia, the Sassanian Empire lasted over 400 years as a grand imperial rival to Rome. In modern day Iran, just down the road from the ancient Persian capital of Persepolis, there is a picture carved into a rock. It depicts a king, triumphant on horseback, facing two defeated enemies. This is no pair of petty princes, they are Roman Emperors - Philip and Valerian - and the king towering above them is Shapur I of the Sassanian Empire. So complete was his victory that Shapur is reputed to have used Valerian as a footstool when mounting his horse. This super-power traded goods from Constantinople to Beijing, handed regular defeats to the Roman army and only fell to the Islamic conquests of the 7th century. It still influences Persian identity to this day. But what was the culture and the literature of the empire, its structure and organisation? And what was its role in the great geopolitical game played out between the decaying empires in late antiquity?With Hugh Kennedy, Professor of Arabic in the Faculty of Languages and Cultures at the School of Oriental and African Studies; Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Curator of Iranian and Islamic Coins in the British Museum; James Howard-Johnston, University Lecturer in Byzantine Studies at the University of Oxford.

This episode of Communio Santorum is titled, “And In the East – Part 1.”The 5th C Church Father Jerome wrote, “[Jesus] was present in all places with Thomas in India, with Peter in Rome, with Paul in Illyria, with Titus in Crete, with Andrew in Greece, with each apostle . . . in his own separate region.”So far we've been following the track of most western studies of history, both secular & religious, by concentrating on what took place in the West & Roman Empire. Even though we've delved briefly into the Eastern Roman Empire, as Lars Brownworth aptly reminds us in his outstanding podcast, 12 Byzantine Emperors, even after the West fell in the 5th Century, the Eastern Empire continued to think of & call itself Roman. It's later historians who refer to it as the Byzantine Empire.Recently we've seen the focus of attention shift to the East with the Christological controversies of the 4th & 5th Cs. In this episode, we'll stay in the East and follow the track of the expansion of the Faith as it moved Eastward. This is an amazing chapter often neglected in traditional treatments of church history. It's well captured by Philip Jenkins in his book, The Lost History of Christianity.We start all the way back at the beginning with the apostle Thomas.  He's linked by pretty solid tradition to the spread of Christianity into the East. In the quote we started with from the early 5th C Church Father Jerome, we learn that the Apostle Thomas carried the Gospel East all the way to India.In the early 4th C, Eusebius also attributed the expansion of the faith in India to Thomas. Though these traditions do face some dispute, there are still so-called ‘Thomas Christians' in the southern Indian state of Kerala today. They use an Aramaic form of worship that had to have been transported there very early. A tomb & shrine in honor of Thomas at Mylapore is built of bricks used by a Roman trading colony but was abandoned after ad 50. There's abundant evidence of several Roman trading colonies along the coast of India, with hundreds of 1st C coins & ample evidence of Jewish communities. Jews were known to be a significant part of Roman trade ventures. Their communities were prime stopping places for the efforts of Christian missionaries as they followed the Apostle Paul's model as described in the Book of Acts.A song commemorating Thomas' role in bringing the faith to India, wasn't committed to writing till 1601 but was said to have been passed on in Kerala for 50 generations. Many trading vessels sailed to India in the 1st C when the secret of the monsoon winds was finally discovered, so it's quite possible Thomas did indeed make the journey.  Once the monsoons were finally figured out, over 100 trade ships a year crossed from the Red Sea to India.Jesus told the disciples to take the Gospel to the ends of the Earth. While they were slow to catch on to the need to leave Jerusalem, persecution eventually convinced them to get moving. It's not hard to imagine Thomas considering a voyage to India as a way to literally fulfill the command of Christ. India would have seemed the end of the Earth.Thomas's work in India began in the northwest region of the country. A 4th C work called The Acts of Thomas says that he led a ruler there named Gundafor to faith. That story was rejected by most scholars & critics until an inscription was discovered in 1890 along with some coins which verify the 20-year reign in the 1st C of a King Gundafor.After planting the church in the North, Thomas traveled by ship to the Malabar Coast in the South. He planted several churches, mainly along the Periyar River.  He preached to all classes of people and had about 17,000 converts from all Indian castes. Stone crosses were erected at the places where churches were founded, and they became centers for pilgrimages. Thomas was careful to appoint local leadership for the churches he founded.He then traveled overland to the Southeast Indian coast & the area around Madras. Another local king and many of his subjects were converted. But the Brahmins, highest of the Indian castes, were concerned the Gospel would undermine a cultural system that was to their advantage, so they convinced the king at Mylapore, to arrest & interrogate him. Thomas was sentenced to death & executed in AD 72. The church in that area then came under persecution and many Christians fled for refuge to Kerala.A hundred years later, according to both Eusebius & Jerome, a theologian from the great school at Alexandria named Pantaenus, traveled to India to “preach Christ to the Brahmins.”[1]Serving to confirm Thomas' work in India is the writing of Bar-Daisan. At the opening of the 3rd Century, he spoke of entire tribes following Jesus in North India who claimed to have been converted by Thomas.  They had numerous books and relics to prove it. By AD 226 there were bishops of the Church in the East in northwest India, Afghanistan & Baluchistan, with thousands of laymen and clergy engaging in missionary activity. Such a well-established Christian community means the presence of the Faith there for the previous several decades at the least.The first church historian, Eusebius of Caesarea, to whom we owe so much of our information about the early Church, attributed to Thomas the spread of the Gospel to the East. As those familiar with the history of the Roman Empire know, the Romans faced continuous grief in the East by one Persian group after another. Their contest with the Parthians & Sassanids is a thing of legend. The buffer zone between the Romans & Persians was called Osrhoene with its capital city of Edessa, located at the border of what today is northern Syria & eastern Turkey. According to Eusebius, Thomas received a request from Abgar, king of Edessa, for healing & responded by sending Thaddaeus, one of the disciples mentioned in Luke 10.[2] Thus, the Gospel took root there. There was a sizeable Jewish community in Edessa from which the Gospel made several converts. Word got back to Israel of the Church community growing in the city & when persecution broke out in the Roman Empire, many refugees made their way East to settle in a place that welcomed them.Edessa became a center of the Syrian-speaking church which began sending missionaries East into Mesopotamia, North into Persia, Central Asia, then even further eastward. The missionary Mari managed to plant a church in the Persian capital of Ctesiphon, which became a center of missionary outreach in its own right.By the late 2nd C, Christianity had spread throughout Media, Persia, Parthia, and Bactria. The 2 dozen bishops who oversaw the region carried out their ministry more as itinerant missionaries than by staying in a single city and church. They were what we refer to as tent-makers; earning their way as merchants & craftsmen as they shared the Faith where ever they went.By AD 280 the churches of Mesopotamia & Persia adopted the title of “Catholic” to acknowledge their unity with the Western church during the last days of persecution by the Roman Emperors. In 424 the Mesopotamian church held a council at the city of Ctesiphon where they elected their first lead bishop to have jurisdiction over the whole Church of the East, including India & Ceylon, known today as Sri Lanka. Ctesiphon was an important point on the East-West trade routes which extended to India, China, Java, & Japan.The shift of ecclesiastical authority was away from Edessa, which in 216 became a tributary of Rome. The establishment of an independent patriarchate contributed to a more favorable attitude by the Persians, who no longer had to fear an alliance with the hated Romans.To the west of Persia was the ancient kingdom of Armenia, which had been a political football between the Persians & Romans for generations. Both the Persians & Romans used Armenia as a place to try out new diplomatic maneuvers with each other. The poor Armenians just wanted to be left alone, but that was not to be, given their location between the two empires. Armenia has the historical distinction of being the first state to embrace Christianity as a national religion, even before the conversion of Constantine the Great in the early 4th C.The one who brought the Gospel to Armenia was a member of the royal family named Gregory, called “the Illuminator.” While still a boy, Gregory's family was exiled from Armenia to Cappadocia when his father was thought to have been part of a plot to assassinate the King. As a grown man who'd become a Christian, Gregory returned to Armenia where he shared the Faith with King Tiridates who ruled at the dawn of the 4th C. Tiridates was converted & Gregory's son succeeded him as bishop of the new Armenian church. This son attended the Council of Nicea in 325. Armenian Christianity has remained a distinctive and important brand of the Faith, with 5 million still professing allegiance to the Armenian Church.[3]Though persecution came to an official end in the Roman Empire with Constantine's Edict of Toleration in 313, it BEGAN for the church in Persia in 340. The primary cause for persecution was political. When Rome became Christian, its old enemy turned anti-Christian. Up to that point, the situation had been reversed. For the first 300 hundred years, it was in the West Christians were persecuted & Persia was a refuge. The Parthians were religiously tolerant while their less tolerant Sassanid successors were too busy fighting Rome to waste time or effort on the Christians among them.But in 315 a letter from Constantine to his Persian counterpart Shapur II  triggered the beginnings of an ominous change in the Persian attitude toward Christians. Constantine believed he was writing to help his fellow believers in Persia but succeeded only in exposing them. He wrote to the young Persian ruler: “I rejoice to hear that the fairest provinces of Persia are adorned with Christians. Since you are so powerful and pious, I commend them to your care, and leave them in your protection.”The schemes & intrigues that had flowed for generations between Rome & the Persians were so intense this letter moved Shapur to become suspicious the Christians were a kind of 5th column, working from inside the Empire to bring the Sassanids down. Any doubts were dispelled 20 years later when Constantine gathered his forces in the East for war. Eusebius says Roman bishops accompanied the army into battle. To make matters worse, in Persia, one of their own preachers predicted Rome would defeat the Sassanids.Little wonder then, when persecution began shortly after, the first accusation brought against Christians was that they aided the enemy. Shapur ordered a double taxation on Christians & held their bishop responsible for collecting it. Shapur knew Christians tended to be poor since so many had come from the West fleeing persecution, so the bishop would be hard-pressed to come up w/the money. But Bishop Simon refused to be intimidated. He declared the tax unjust and said, “I'm no tax collector! I'm a shepherd of the Lord's flock.” Shapur counter-declared the church was in rebellion & the killings began.A 2nd decree ordered the destruction of churches and the execution of clergy who refused to participate in the official Sassanid-sponsored sun-worship. Bishop Simon was seized & brought before Shapur. Offered a huge bribe to capitulate, he refused. The Persians promised if he alone would renounce Christ, the rest of the Christian community wouldn't be harmed, but that if he refused he'd be condemning all Christians to destruction. When the Christians heard of this, they rose up, protesting en masse that this was shameful. So Bishop Simon & a large number of the clergy were executed.For the next 20 years, Christians were hunted down from one end of Persia to the other. At times it was a general massacre. But more often it was organized elimination of the church's leaders.Another form of suppression was the search for that part of the Christian community that was most vulnerable to persecution; Persians who'd converted from Zoroastrianism. The faith spread first among non-Persians in the population, especially Jews & Syrians. But by the beginning of the 4th C, Persians in increasing numbers were attracted to the Christian faith. For such converts, church membership often meant the loss of everything - family, property rights, even life.The martyrdom of Bishop Simon and the years of persecution that followed gutted the Persian church of its leadership & organization. As soon as the Christians of Ctesiphon elected a new bishop, he was seized & killed. Adding to the anti-Roman motivation of the government's role in the persecutions was a deep undercurrent of Zoroastrian fanaticism that came as a result of the conversion of so many of their number to Christianity; it was a shocking example of religious envy.Shortly before Shapur II's death in 379, persecution slackened. It had lasted for 40 years and only ended with his death. When at last the suffering ceased, it's estimated close to 200,000 Persian Christians had been put to death.[1] Yates, T. (2004). The expansion of Christianity. Lion Histories Series (28–29). Oxford, England: Lion Publishing.[2] Yates, T. (2004). The expansion of Christianity. Lion Histories Series (24). Oxford, England: Lion Publishing.[3] Yates, T. (2004). The expansion of Christianity. Lion Histories Series (25). Oxford, England: Lion Publishing.