Envoys as spies

CAESAR JULIAN ORDERING ARREST OF THE ALEMANNIC ENVOY on suspicion of espionage.

"It must be remembered that when rulers send envoys to one another, they do so not only to convey a message or a letter, which they do openly, but also in terms of hundreds of other sub-tasks they do covertly."

With these words begins a comprehensive description by an Arab author (based on a late antique original from Sasanid Persia) of the secondary roles of diplomats in obtaining military-intelligence information.Just as diplomats are still used today (directly or indirectly)also for intelligence purposes, the ancient and medieval periods were no different.

The most preserved references in this regard we have from the Romans and their ancient wars with the Persians.Both sides were well aware that diplomatic missions usually posed a risk associated with possible unwanted leaks of information.Thus, at the latest from the 6th century onwards, rules were codified at the court in Constantinople, specifying how diplomats of foreign powers were to be treated, from their entry into the empire to their eventual stay in the capital or any other.They were escorted and monitored by members of the Agentes in Rebus(simplifyingly:state secrete agents).When the 10th century ambassador Liutprand of Cremona complained about how he was being kept in check while in Constantinople, he mistakenly saw it as a targeted humiliation designed to ridicule his master, completely unaware that he was merely being subjected to the standard procedure for receiving ambassadors of enemy states that existed for many centuries before his master's state even came into existence.

The Persians did the same.For example, in 579 they deliberately tried to prolong the stay of the Roman diplomatic mission as much as possible because they knew that their war preparations were too extensive and could not be completely hidden from the diplomats, so they at least tried to make Constantinople know about it with as much delay as possible. Indeed, this mission noted how supplies and troops were being gathered all over Persia.The diplomats were of course constantly under surveillance and with assigned guards (as Liutprand would much later experience in Constantinople too).In 359, a Roman diplomat returning from Persia alerted the regional commander to the movement of Persian troops towards the Roman border.

At times the diplomatic mission could even be primarily of a spy nature, in 714 Constantinople sent a mission to Caliph under the guise of peace negotiations, but in reality mainly to gather the most thorough possible "information on the movements of the Arabs against the Roman Empire and their strength". Diplomatic missions were also commonly used to artificially prolong conflicts (again, a frequent occurrence, especially in the Roman-Persian Wars) or to deceive-Tiberius II asked for a truce, but King Khosrow I knew that he was not seeking a real peace, that he was just playing for time to gather the necessary resources to launch a massive attack against Persia.Sometimes, on the contrary, the messengers were purposely shown what the other side wanted them to see. Justinian had the Persian ambassador watch the triumphal parade over the defeat of the Vandals(...which in the end worked against him because Khosrow's was rather alarmed and provoked to try to prevent any further expansion of Roman power in the west),at other occasion the Roman envoy accompanied King Peroz I.on his expedition against the Hephthalites (White Huns), which in turn backfired on the Persians because the diplomat was able to watch one of the most catastrophic Persian defeats. On onother occasion, Khosrow I accepted a Roman diplomatic mission on purpose in the backdrop of a besieged Roman fortress city on the verge of collapse in order to both demonstrate his power and to more effectively induce the embassy to make concessions in negotiations in an attempt to prevent the city's fall.

Diplomats could automatically gain valuable information of a military-intelligence nature by simply describing their impressions of the monarch of the other state and by mentioning the conditions at his court.Was he energetic or lethargic?Did he appear courageous or rather curt, etc.The aforementioned Arabic-Persian text goes so far as to ask about his sexual orientation and preferences. An example of such a testimony is the report of the East Roman ambassador Priskos, describing in detail Attila and his court and, for example, that of all his sons he loved his youngest the most. In the 10th century the Arab ambassador rightly noted the emerging discord between the young Basil II and his first minister over foreign policy and governmental competences.