Arab rulers and vassals of the Roman empire: the Roman - Arab relations from the invasion of Syria (64 BCE) to the council of Nicaea (325 CE) /

Abstract

This study on Roman-Arab relation embraces its political, cultural, military and religious relation from the first to the 4th century CE, and extends to the 7th century CE to include Byzantium-Arabia political and military encounters. The discussion takes into consideration the opinions and reports of prominent classical historians, especially Cassius Dio and Herodian as well as other published archeological research. Archeological reports are also gathered from most secondary sources. In dissecting and analyzing Roman history in the East, the use of sources that are considered primarily Islamic that are the Quran and Hadith- strays from traditional classical historiography, however it is still relevant. In the Holy Scripture of Islam, evidence has been found against the theories of Edward Gibbon and this provides a platform for evaluating Roman history in an alternative light. The research concludes that Arabia was an agent of a ‘cultural revolution’ in the late Roman Empire, especially in military organization and urbanization. The researcher also discovers that in the last years before the Western Roman Empire succumbed to barbarian invasion and handed the baton to Constantinople as her successor in the east, Arabia was the advocate of Roman culture. What has diminished or almost annihilated in the West was continued by the Romanized people of Arabia and its representing institutions. This study has emphasized the importance of pre-Islamic tribalism, religion and society of Arabia through vassals and allies to Rome, and has possibly become the epilogue for Europe’s enduring fascination of the East.