11-11-2011, 08:35 PM
Quote:Aha! Thanks, guys. That answers my questions. (It also, rather sadly, disproves one of Gibbon's statements.)Gibbon is, of course, correct that "rex" was a hated title for the men who ruled Rome. But it had common currency amongst the allied or friendly kingdoms ... like Armenia. Constantine appears to have nominated Hannibalianus to take the place of just such a friendly king; this is the natural inference from his title on the coinage that was struck in his name. Incidentally, the Excerpta Valesiana may be wrong to name him rex regum; no other source gives him this "Persian" title. (Another source calls him rex regum Ponticarum gentium, which is significantly different: "king of kings of the Pontic people".) The reason for this peculiar move on Constantine's part has been seen as a preparation for war against Persia; it was always important to bolster Armenia as a prelude to conflict in Mesopotamia.
