Page "Constantius II" Paragraph 29

However, on account of the immediate Sassanid threat, Constantius was unable to directly respond to his cousin ’ s usurpation other than by sending missives by which he tried to convince Julian to resign the title of Augustus and be satisfied with that of Caesar.

By 361, Constantius saw no alternative but to face the usurper with force ; and yet the threat of the Sassanids remained.

Constantius had already spent part of early 361 unsuccessfully attempting to re-take the fortress of Ad Tigris.

After a time he had withdrawn to Antioch to regroup and prepare for a confrontation with Shapur II.

However, the campaigns of the previous year had inflicted heavy losses on the Sassanids and they did not attempt another round of campaigns that year.

This temporary respite in hostilities allowed Constantius to turn his full attention to facing Julian.