«Тахиййат»: Сборник статей в честь Н. Н. Дьякова

Byzantine Foreign, Defence And Demographic Policy During the Establishment... m 65 n precise manner, mostly in connection to the later peace treaty at Justinian II’s time 1 . Theophanes dates the activities of the Mardaites at the 6169 “year of the World” (676/677 AD), corresponding to the ninth regnal year of the Emperor Constantine IV 2 . Bar Hebraeus and Michael the Syrian confirm Theophanes’ information 3 . A peace agreement between Byzantium and the Arabs dated 677–678 AD and before August 12 4 , was concluded as a result of many factors considered by both sides. The destruction of the Arab fleet after the first disastrous for the Arabs siege of Constantinople should have played a considerable role in order to ask the Byzantine Emperor for a peace; internal contestation of Mu‘āwiya’s authority and the dangerous involvement of the Mardaites in the front hostilities must have contributed to this decision as well. From the Arab sources later information recorded by al-Ma c sūdī 5 gives a reference to this treaty, in which the name of the Byzantine Emperor is confused. His in- formation points to the fact that an envoy with apparent Greek origin, Fanāq al-Rūmī 6 , has been sent to the Emperor Constantine IV. More details are pro- vided by the Greek sources. Theophanes and Nikephoros’ information was based on the same original and the later Greek sources were mostly copying Theophanes with slight variations 7 . In an envoys exchange Constantine IV sent to Mu‘āwiya an embassy headed by ’Aωάννης Πιτζιγα  δις and finally a πλατε  α ε  ρήνη was concluded for thirty years. The Arab sources do not de- liver any starting point for the date of the treaty and a conjectural date based on the Greek sources and an overall assessment of the situation is usually 1 Ostrogorsky (1963) 110. Christophilopoulou (1993) 66f., 73ff. is sceptical about the conclusion of a treaty at the last year of Constantine IV’s reign and discusses the problem and the relevant information in connection to the later treaty at Justinian II’s reign. Stratos (1968– 1980) IV 39ff. is cautious, stresses the controversial information recorded in the sources and pinpoints that questions remain unanswered. Zakythinos (1979) 71f., implies two reaffirmations of the treaty concluded in 678 AD, one in 685 AD and a second in 688 AD, following Theophanes; he just mentions that Mu‘āwiya was obliged to conclude the first treaty, after the siege of Constantinople, among others due to the Mardaites’threat; Kaegi (1992) 108, places the Mardaites’ attacks at the caliphate of ‘Abd al-Malik. 2 Cf. Ditten (1993) 139f. 3 Michael Syrian II 455; Bar Hebraeus 101; Agapius of Menbidj 492f. Cf. DITTEN’s re- marks (1993) 140, nn. 84ff. 4 Beihammer (2000) 330ff. (Reg. 284). 5 al-Ma c sūdī XXX: II 335, 3–4. 6 L ILIE et al. (ed.) (1999), Fanaki (#1879), I/1 591. 7 On this peace treaty: DÖLGER (1924) 239; BEIHAMMER (2000), Reg. 284, 230ff. Greek Sources: Theophanes 355, 12–356, 2; Nikephoros 34, 21–31; Leo Grammaticus 160, 12–24; Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De administrando imperio 21, 8–16; Georgius Cedrenus I 766, 2–7; Ioannis Zonaras XIV 20, 20–24: 224, 13–225, 8.