Isn’t it unusual to find such ornate decorative elements (the border, the petals, etc.) on a cross from the 4th century? I thought crosses from this time period, only shortly after Christianity was legalized across the Roman Empire, tend to be simple, unadorned objects.
The area that’s now the UAE would have been over the border; Trajan conquered Mesopotamia, figuratively washing his sword in the Persian Gulf. But that was near the end of his life and his adopted son, Hadrian, didn’t want to spend all his time fighting on the frontiers, to give him more time to spend with his catamites, and Roman rule was ended by Hadrian after just a few years. The ruler of China sent ships with an ambassador and trade delegation to the Romans, only to find they weren’t there any longer. What might have been...