Byzantine–Sassanid Wars
Encyclopedia
The Byzantine–Sassanid Wars refers to a series of conflicts between the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire
and the Sassanid dynasty of the Persian Empire
. A continuation of the Roman-Persian War
s, the conflict involved several smaller campaigns and peace treaties lasting for years at a time.
The Roman Empire had reached its greatest extent under the Emperor Trajan. However, before Trajan, the Emperor Augustus set about stabilizing the frontiers of the Empire. As a result, the Romans were more interested in simply defending their territory and consolidating the Empire rather than attempt to conquer Persia.
Roman Tactics
The Romans employed the best infantry at the time; heavily armed and armoured soldiers plus numerous auxiliaries. By the 4th century A.D., armour was less often used and by the 5th century Germanic mercenaries employed. The Romans continued to use heavy infantry of the legionary type but these were ineffective against the mobile Persian horse archers. From the 3rd century heavy cataphract
cavalry wearing full horse and rider armour became an increasingly important component of Roman armies.
The Sassanid dynasty had a more or less secure northern and eastern border due to the mountainous terrain of Middle Asia and Afghanistan. The Western border was determined by Sassanid control of Mesopotamia. Due to the flat nature of the land, it was easy to overrun and difficult to defend. With these natural boundaries, the Sassanid Persians had only Westward to expand. The Sassanids were becoming as efficient in siege warfare as the Romans, capturing and sacking a number of cities as part of a larger goal of exacting tribute and land from the Romans. However, the nature of the warfare was one of attrition with heavy casualties on both sides. As a result, little land was exchanged between the two powers - rather vassal states and tribute would have been demanded.
Sassanid Tactics
The Sassanid Persians employed cavalry archers and heavy cataphracts to counter the heavy Roman infantry. In battle, these archers proved their worth until the Romans began to adopt similar methods of warfare.
Following Trajan's successful conquest of Mesopotamia in the 2nd century, the Parthian dynasty began to decline. Ctesiphon was overrun by the Romans but the lack of any permanent establishment meant that the Sassanid dynasty filled the power vacuum in the region and started a new Persian Empire in 224. The Sassanids were a more aggressive enemy than their Parthian predecessors and consequently, the Romans found themselves fighting a more dangerous Eastern opponent at a time when the Roman Empire was weakening due to the civil chaos arising from the death of the Roman Emperor Commodus
.
Persian-Roman conflict was renewed shortly after the overthrowing of the Parthian rule and the foundation of the Sassanid empire by Ardashir I
(226–241), who raided in Mesopotamia
and Syria in 230, demanding the restitution of the Achaemenid possessions in Europe. After fruitless negotiations, Alexander Severus
set out against Ardashir in 232; one column of his army marched successfully into Armenia, while two other columns operated to the south and failed, mostly on account of physical hardship. In any case Ardashir was repulsed and Alexander Severus celebrated a triumph in Rome. In 238-240, towards the end of his reign, Ardashir attacked again, taking several cities in Syria and Mesopotamia, including Carrhae, Nisibis and Hatra
.
The struggle resumed and intensified under Ardashir's successor Shapur I
; he invaded Mesopotamia but his forces were defeated at a battle
near Resaena
in 243; Carrhae and Nisibis were retaken by the Romans. Encouraged by this success, the emperor Gordian III
advanced down the Euphrates but was defeated near Ctesiphon
in the Battle of Misiche
in 244. Gordian either died in the battle or was murdered by his own men; Philip
became emperor, and paid 500,000 denarii to the Persians.
In the early 250s, Philip was involved in a struggle over the control of Armenia. Shapur had the Armenian king murdered, and re-opened hostilities against Rome; he defeated the Roman troops at the Battle of Barbalissos
, and then probably took and plundered Antioch
. Some time between 258 and 260, Shapur captured the emperor Valerian I after crushing his army at the Battle of Edessa
, but his subsequent advance into Anatolia ended, when Odaenathus
, the ruler of Palmyra
, attacked detachments of the Persians, causing them to retreat to their homeland.
In 275 and 282 Aurelian
and Probus respectively planned to invade Persia, but they were both murdered before they were able to fulfill their plans. In 283 the emperor Carus
launched a successful invasion of Persia, sacking its capital, Ctesiphon; they would probably have extended their conquests, if Carus had not died in December of the same year. After a brief period of peace during Diocletian
's early reign, Narseh
renewed hostilities with the Romans invading Armenia, and defeated Galerius
not far from Carrhae in 296 or 297. However, in 298 Galerius defeated Narseh at the Battle of Satala
, sacked the capital Ctesiphon and captured the Persian treasury and royal harem. The Roman victory was the most decisive for many decades: many cities east of the Tigris were given to the Romans including Tigranokert, Saird
, Martyropolis
, Balalesa
, Moxos
, Daudia, and Arzan. Also, control of Armenia was given to the Romans.
The arrangements of 299
proved long-lasting. It was Shapur II
who broke the long peace between the two empires in mid 330s, and mounted a series of offensives against the Romans with little lasting effect. Shapur launched a new campaign in 359, successfully laying siege to Amida, and provoked a major offensive in 363 by the Roman Emperor Julian
. Despite victory at the Battle of Ctesiphon
, Julian was unable to take the Persian capital. He was killed the same year at the Battle of Samarra
, during a difficult retreat along the Tigris
. His successor Jovian found his army in a disadvantageous position, and was forced to hand over the former Roman possessions east of the Tigris, as well as Nisiris and Singara; Armenia was also abandoned by the Romans, and was soon conquered by Shapur.
In 383 or 384 Armenia again became a bone of contention between the Roman and the Sassanid empires, but hostilities did not occure. With both empires preoccupied by barbarian threats from the north, a largely peaceful period followed, interrupted only by two brief wars, the first in 421-422 after Bahram V
persecuted high-ranking Persian officials who had converted to Christianity
, and the second in 440, when Yazdegerd II
raided Roman Armenia.
The Anastasia War ended the longest period of peace the two powers ever enjoyed. It broke out, when the Roman emperor Anastasius I
refused to provide financial support to the Persian king, Kavadh I
, who tried to gain the money by force. In 502 Kavadh quickly captured the unprepared city of Theodosiopolis, and then besieged the fortress-city of Amida
through the autumn and winter (502-503). The siege of the city proved to be a far more difficult enterprise than Kavadh expected; the defenders repelled the Persian assaults for three months before they were finally beaten. In 503 the Romans attempted an ultimately unsuccessful siege of the Persian-held Amida while Kavadh invaded Osroene, and laid siege to Edessa with the same results.
Finally in 504, the Romans gained the upper hand with the renewed investment
of Amida leading to the hand-over of the city. That year an armistice was agreed as a result of an invasion of Armenia by the Huns from the Caucasus. Negotiations between the two powers took place, but such was the distrust that in 506 the Romans, suspecting treachery, seized the Persian officials; once released, the Persians preferred to stay in Nisibis. In November 506, a treaty was finally agreed, but little is known of what the terms of the treaty were. Procopius
states that peace was agreed for seven years, and it is likely that some payments was made to the Persians.
In 505 Anastasius ordered the building of a great fortified city at Dara
. The dilapidated fortifications were also upgraded at Edessa, Batnac and Amida. Although no further large-scale conflict took place during Anastasius' reign, tensions continued, especially while work continued at Dara. This construction project was to become a key component of the Roman defenses, and also a lasting source of controversy with the Persians, who complained that it violated the treaty agreed in 422, by which both empires had agreed not to establish new fortifications in the frontier zone. Anastasius pursued however the project, and the walls were completed by 507/508.
In 524/525 Kavadh proposed to Justin I
to adopt his son, Khosrau
. The proposal was initially greeted with enthusiasm by the Roman emperor and his nephew, Justinian, but Justin's quaestor
, Proculus, opposed the move. Despite the final breakdown of the negotiations, it was not until 530 that full-scale warfare on the main eastern frontier broke out. In the intervening years, the two sides preferred to wage war by proxy, through Arab
allies in the south and Huns
in the north. Tensions between the two powers were further heightened by the defection of the Iberian
king Gourgen to the Romans: in 524/525 the Iberians rose a revolt against Persia, following the example of the neighboring Christian kingdom of Lazica, and the Romans recruited Huns from the north of the Caucasus to assist them.
By 526-527, overt fighting between the two empires had broken out in the Transcaucasus region and upper Mesopotamia. At the same time, the Persians continued to exert pressure on the Romans to obtain funds from them. The early years of war favored the Persians: by 527 the Iberian revolt had been crushed, a Roman offensive against Nisibis and Thebetha in that year was unsuccessful and forces trying to fortify Thannuris and Melabasa were prevented from doing so by Persian attacks. Attempting to remedy the deficiencies revealed by these Persian successes, the new Roman emperor, Justinian I, reorganized the eastern armies. In 528 Belisarius
tried unsuccessfully to protect Roman workers in Thannuris, undertaking the construction of a fort right on the frontier. Damaging raids on Syria by the Lakhmids
in 529 encouraged Justinian to strengthen his own Arab allies, helping the Ghassanid leader Al-Harith ibn Jabalah
turn a loose coalition into a coherent kingdom.
In 530 the Romans defeated the Persian troops at Dara
and Satala
. In 531 Belisarius was defeated by Persian and Lakhmid forces at the Battle of Callinicum
, but, during the summer of the same year, the Romans captured some forts in Armenia, and effectively repulsed Persian offensive. Immediately after the Roman failure at Callinicum, which resulted in the dismissal of Belisarius, unsuccessful negotiations between Justinian's envoy, Hermogenes, and Kavadh took place. Justinian then took steps to bolster the Roman position, trying, at the same time, to engage Kavadh diplomatically. In spring 532 negotiations re-opened between the Roman envoys and the new Persian king, Khosrau I, who needed to secure his own position. The two sides finally came to an agreement, and the Eternal Peace, which lasted less than eight years, was signed in September 532. Both powers agreed to return all occupied territories and the Romans to make a one-off payment of 110 centenaria (11,000 lbs of gold). The Romans recovered the Lazic forts, Iberia remained in Persian hands, but the Iberians who had left their country were allowed to remain in Roman territory or to return to their native land.
The successful campaigns of Belisarius in the west encouraged the Persians to return to war, both taking advantage of Roman preoccupation elsewhere and seeking to check the expansion of Roman territory and resources. In 539 the resumption of hostilities was foreshadowed by a Lakhmid raid led by al-Mundhir IV, which was defeated by the Ghassanids under al-Harith ibn Jabalah. In 540, the Persians broke the "Treaty of Eternal Peace" and Khosrau I invaded Syria, destroying the great city of Antioch
and deporting its population to Persia; as he withdrew, he extorted large sums of money from the cities of Syria and Mesopotamia and systematically looted the key cities. In 541 he invaded Lazica in the north.
Belisarius was quickly recalled by Justinian to the East to deal with the Persian threat (The war dragged on under other generals and was to some extent hindered by the so-called Plague of Justinian
, because of which Khosrau temporarily withdrew from Roman territory), while the Ostrogoths in Italy, who were in touch with the Persian King, launched a counter-attack under Totila
. Belisarius took the field and waged an inconclusive campaign against Nisibis
in 541. In the same year Lazica switched its allegiance to Persia and Khosrau led an army to secure the kingdom. In 542 Khosrau launched another offensive in Mesopotamia , and unsuccessfully attempted to capture Sergiopolis
. He soon withdrew in the face of an army under Belisarius, en route sacking the city of Callinicum. Attacks on a number of Roman cities were repulsed and the Persian general Mihr-Mihroe was defeated and captured at Dara
by John Troglita
.
In 543, the Romans fielded a force of 30,000 troops commanded by the magister militum of the East, Martin, for an invasion of Persian-controlled Armenia. They launched an offensive against Dvin
, but were defeated by a small Persian force at Anglon. In 544 Khosrau besieged Edessa without success and was eventually bought off by the defenders. The Edessenes paid five centenaria to Khosrau, and the Persians departed after nearly two months. In the wake of the Persian retreat, two Roman envoys, the newly appointed magister militum, Constantinus, and Sergius proceeded to Ctesiphon to arrange a truce with Khosrau. A five-year truce was agreed in 545, secured by Roman payments to the Persians.
In early 548 AD, king Gubaz of Lazica, having found Persian protection oppressive, asked Justinian to restore the Roman protectorate. The emperor seized the chance, and in 548/549 AD combined Roman and Lazic forces under Gubaz and the magister militum of Armenia Dagistheus won a series of victories against Persian armies under Mihr-Mihroe and Khorianes, but failed in repeated attempts to take the fort of Petra
. In 551 AD, general Bassas who replaced Dagistheus put Abasgia and the rest of Lazica under control, and finally subjected Petra, demolishing its fortifications.
In the same year, however, a Persian army under Mihr-Mihroe but was defeated with heavy losses. That year the truce which had been established in 545 AD was renewed outside Lazica for a further five years, with the Romans paying 2,000 lbs of gold each year. The Romans failed to completely expel the Sassanids from Lazica, and in 554 AD Mihr-Mihroe launched a new attack, and captured the fortress of Telephis, which was commanded by general Martin.
In 557 AD Khusro, who had now to deal with the White Huns, dispatched his envoy Izedh Gushnap to Constantinople renewed the truce, this time without excluding lazica or excluding Lazica, where they kept only a toehold; negotiations continued for a definite peace treaty. Finally, in 561 AD, Justinian's envoy, Peter the Patrician
, and Izedh Gushnap put together a 50-year peace. The Persians agreed to evacuate Lazica, and received an annual subsidy of 30,000 nomismata annually. Both sides agreed not to build new fortifications near the frontier and to ease restrictions on diplomacy and trade between the two empires.
The war began, when the Armenians revolted against Sassanid rule in early 572 AD. Justin II
took them under his protection, and sent his nephew, Marcian, against the Persians. Roman troops raided Arzanene, and invaded Persian Mesopotamia, defeating its local forces. Marcian's sudden dismissal, however, and the arrival of troops under Khosrau resulted in the ravaging of Syria, the failure of the Roman siege of Nisibis, and the falling of Dara. At a cost of 45,000 solidi
a one-year truce (later in the year extended to five years) was arranged, though the Persians still wanted to restore control in Armenia.
In 576 AD Khosrau I attempted to combine aggression in Armenia with discussion of a permanent peace. He failed however to take Theodosiopolis, and after a confrontation near Melitene
the Persian royal baggage was captured; there were severe Persian losses either in set battle or during a disorganized fleet over the Euphrates. Treadgold (1997), 224; Whitby (2000), 95 The Romans exploited Persian disarray by invading deep into Persian territory, raiding Atropatene
. Persian confidence revived, when Tamkhusro defeated Justinian
in Persian Armenia, where Roman actions had alienated local inhabitants. In the spring of 578 AD the Persians raided Byzantine Mesopotamia; the Roman general Maurice
retaliated by invading Arzanene; he also took and garrisoned the stronghold of Aphumon,and sacked Singara in Persian Mesopotamia. Khosrau I died early the next year, defeated after so many victories.
During the 580s the war continued in inconclusive fashion, with victories on both sides. In 582 AD Maurice defeated Tamkhusro, who was killed, but the Roman general did not follow up his victory; he had to hurry to Constantinople to pursue his imperial ambitions. In 589 AD the Persians achieved a last success, capturing Martyropolis
through treachery, but in the same year the stalemate was shattered when the Persian general Bahram Chobin
, having been dismissed and humiliated by Hormizd IV
, raised a rebellion. Hormizd was overthrown in a palace coup in 590 AD and replaced by his son Khosrau II
, but Bahram pressed on with his revolt regardless and the defeated Khosrau was soon forced to flee for safety to Roman territory, while Bahram took the throne as Bahram VI. With support from Maurice, Khosrau raised a rebellion against Bahram, and in 591 AD the combined forces of his supporters and the Romans defeated Bahram, restoring Khosrau II to power and bringing the war to an end. In exchange for their help, Khosrau not only returned Dara and Martyropolis but also agreed to cede the western half of Iberia and more than half of Persian Armenia to the Romans.
During Maurice's Balkan campaigns
, he and his family were murdered by Phocas
in November 602 after a mutiny. Thus Khosrau II seized used the pretext to attack the Roman Empire, and reconquer the Roman province of Mesopotamia. The war initially went the Persians' way, partly because of Phocas' brutal repression and the succession crisis that ensued as the general Heraclius sent his nephew Nicetas
to attack Egypt
, enabling his son Heraclius the younger to claim the throne in 610. Phocas, an unpopular ruler who is invariably described in Byzantine sources as a "tyrant", was eventually deposed by Heraclius, who sailed to Constantinople from Carthage
with an icon affixed to the prow of his ship.
By this time the Persians had conquered Mesopotamia and the Caucasus, and in 611 they overran Syria and entered Anatolia. A major counter-attack led by Heraclius two years later was decisively defeated outside Antioch
by Shahrbaraz
and Shahin and the Roman position collapsed; the Persians devastated parts of Asia Minor, and captured Chalcedon
on the Bosporus
. Over the following decade the Persians were able to conquer Palestine
and Egypt (by mid-621 the whole province was in their hands) and to devastate Anatolia, while the Avars
and Slavs took advantage of the situation to overrun the Balkans
, bringing the Roman Empire to the brink of destruction.
During these years, Heraclius strove to rebuild his army, slashing non-military expenditure, devaluing the currency and melting down, with the backing of Patriarch Sergius
, Church plate to raise the necessary funds to continue the war.
On April 5 622, Heraclius left Constantinople, entrusting the city to Sergius and general Bonus
as regents of his son. He assembled his forces in Asia Minor, probably in Bithynia
, and, after he revived their broken morale, he launched a new counter-offensive, which took on the character of a holy war; an acheiropoietos image of Christ was carried as a military standard. The Roman army proceeded to Armenia, inflicted a defeat on an army led by a Persian-allied Arab chief, and then won a victory over the Persians under Shahrbaraz. On March 25, 624 Heraclius left again Constantinople with his wife, Martina
, and his two children; after he celebrated Easter
in Nicomedia on April 15, he campaigned in the Caucasus, winning a series of victories in Azerbaijan and Armenia against Khosrau and his generals Shahrbaraz, Shahin and Shahraplakan. In 626 the Avars and Slavs besieged Constantinople, supported by a Persian army commanded by Shahrbaraz, but the siege ended in failure (the victory was attributed to the icons of the Virgin which were led in procession by Sergius about the walls of the city), while a second Persian army under Shahin suffered another crushing defeat at the hands of Heraclius' brother Theodore.
With the Persian war effort disintegrating, Heraclius was able to bring the Gokturks
of the Western Turkic Khaganate
into the war against the Sassanids in the Caucasus (see Third Perso-Turkic War
). Late in 627 he launched a winter offensive into Mesopotamia, where, despite the desertion of his Turkish allies, he defeated the Persians under Rhahzadh
at the Battle of Nineveh
. Continuing south along the Tigris he sacked Khosrau's great palace at Dastagird and was only prevented from attacking Ctesiphon by the destruction of the bridges on the Nahrawan Canal. Discredited by this series of disasters, Khosrau was overthrown and killed in a coup led by his son Kavadh II
, who at once sued for peace, agreeing to withdraw from all occupied territories. In 629 Heraclius restored the True Cross
to Jerusalem in a majestic ceremony.
. The Sassanid Empire rapidly succumbed to these attacks and was completely destroyed
. During the Byzantine-Arab Wars
, the exhausted Roman Empire's recently regained southern provinces were also lost during the Muslim conquest of Syria
, Egypt
and North Africa
, reducing the empire to a territorial rump consisting of Anatolia and a scatter of islands and footholds in the Balkans and Italy
. These remaining lands were thoroughly impoverished by frequent attacks
, marking the transition from classical urban civilization to a more rural, medieval form of society. However, unlike Persia the Roman Empire (in its medieval form usually termed the Byzantine Empire
) ultimately survived the Arab assault, holding onto its residual territories and repulsing two Arab sieges
of its capital Constantinople in 674
and 718
.
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and the Sassanid dynasty of the Persian Empire
History of Iran
The history of Iran has been intertwined with the history of a larger historical region, comprising the area from the Danube River in the west to the Indus River and Jaxartes in the east and from the Caucasus, Caspian Sea, and Aral Sea in the north to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and Egypt...
. A continuation of the Roman-Persian War
Roman-Persian Wars
The Roman–Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between states of the Greco-Roman world and two successive Iranic empires: the Parthian and the Sassanid. Contact between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Republic began in 92 BC; wars began under the late Republic, and continued...
s, the conflict involved several smaller campaigns and peace treaties lasting for years at a time.
Romans
Roman StrategyThe Roman Empire had reached its greatest extent under the Emperor Trajan. However, before Trajan, the Emperor Augustus set about stabilizing the frontiers of the Empire. As a result, the Romans were more interested in simply defending their territory and consolidating the Empire rather than attempt to conquer Persia.
Roman Tactics
The Romans employed the best infantry at the time; heavily armed and armoured soldiers plus numerous auxiliaries. By the 4th century A.D., armour was less often used and by the 5th century Germanic mercenaries employed. The Romans continued to use heavy infantry of the legionary type but these were ineffective against the mobile Persian horse archers. From the 3rd century heavy cataphract
Cataphract
A cataphract was a form of armored heavy cavalry utilised in ancient warfare by a number of peoples in Western Eurasia and the Eurasian Steppe....
cavalry wearing full horse and rider armour became an increasingly important component of Roman armies.
Persians
Sassanid StrategyThe Sassanid dynasty had a more or less secure northern and eastern border due to the mountainous terrain of Middle Asia and Afghanistan. The Western border was determined by Sassanid control of Mesopotamia. Due to the flat nature of the land, it was easy to overrun and difficult to defend. With these natural boundaries, the Sassanid Persians had only Westward to expand. The Sassanids were becoming as efficient in siege warfare as the Romans, capturing and sacking a number of cities as part of a larger goal of exacting tribute and land from the Romans. However, the nature of the warfare was one of attrition with heavy casualties on both sides. As a result, little land was exchanged between the two powers - rather vassal states and tribute would have been demanded.
Sassanid Tactics
The Sassanid Persians employed cavalry archers and heavy cataphracts to counter the heavy Roman infantry. In battle, these archers proved their worth until the Romans began to adopt similar methods of warfare.
Rise of the Sassanid dynasty
Commodus
Commodus , was Roman Emperor from 180 to 192. He also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. His name changed throughout his reign; see changes of name for earlier and later forms. His accession as emperor was the first time a son had succeeded...
.
Early Roman-Sassanid conflicts
Ardashir I
Ardashir I was the founder of the Sassanid Empire, was ruler of Istakhr , subsequently Fars Province , and finally "King of Kings of Sassanid Empire " with the overthrow of the Parthian Empire...
(226–241), who raided in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
and Syria in 230, demanding the restitution of the Achaemenid possessions in Europe. After fruitless negotiations, Alexander Severus
Alexander Severus
Severus Alexander was Roman Emperor from 222 to 235. Alexander was the last emperor of the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his cousin Elagabalus upon the latter's assassination in 222, and was ultimately assassinated himself, marking the epoch event for the Crisis of the Third Century — nearly fifty...
set out against Ardashir in 232; one column of his army marched successfully into Armenia, while two other columns operated to the south and failed, mostly on account of physical hardship. In any case Ardashir was repulsed and Alexander Severus celebrated a triumph in Rome. In 238-240, towards the end of his reign, Ardashir attacked again, taking several cities in Syria and Mesopotamia, including Carrhae, Nisibis and Hatra
Hatra
Hatra is an ancient city in the Ninawa Governorate and al-Jazira region of Iraq. It is currently known as al-Hadr, a name which appears once in ancient inscriptions, and it was in the ancient Iranian province of Khvarvaran. The city lies northwest of Baghdad and southwest of Mosul.-History:Hatra...
.
The struggle resumed and intensified under Ardashir's successor Shapur I
Shapur I
Shapur I or also known as Shapur I the Great was the second Sassanid King of the Second Persian Empire. The dates of his reign are commonly given as 240/42 - 270/72, but it is likely that he also reigned as co-regent prior to his father's death in 242 .-Early years:Shapur was the son of Ardashir I...
; he invaded Mesopotamia but his forces were defeated at a battle
Battle of Resaena
The Battle of Resaena or Resaina, near Ceylanpinar, Turkey, was fought in 243 between the forces of the Roman Empire, led by Praetorian Prefect Timesitheus, and a Sassanid Empire army, led by King Shapur I. The Romans were victorious....
near Resaena
Resaena
Resaena was the ancient name of the city of Ras al-Ayn, Syria.Resaena was close to the frontier between the Roman Empire and the Sassanid Empire, and saw the alternate domination of the two powers between the 2nd and 4th century....
in 243; Carrhae and Nisibis were retaken by the Romans. Encouraged by this success, the emperor Gordian III
Gordian III
Gordian III , was Roman Emperor from 238 to 244. Gordian was the son of Antonia Gordiana and an unnamed Roman Senator who died before 238. Antonia Gordiana was the daughter of Emperor Gordian I and younger sister of Emperor Gordian II. Very little is known on his early life before his acclamation...
advanced down the Euphrates but was defeated near Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon, the imperial capital of the Parthian Arsacids and of the Persian Sassanids, was one of the great cities of ancient Mesopotamia.The ruins of the city are located on the east bank of the Tigris, across the river from the Hellenistic city of Seleucia...
in the Battle of Misiche
Battle of Misiche
The Battle of Misiche, Mesiche, or Massice was fought between the Sassanid Persians and the Romans somewhere in ancient Mesopotamia. The result was a Roman defeat.-Background and the Battle:...
in 244. Gordian either died in the battle or was murdered by his own men; Philip
Philip the Arab
Philip the Arab , also known as Philip or Philippus Arabs, was Roman Emperor from 244 to 249. He came from Syria, and rose to become a major figure in the Roman Empire. He achieved power after the death of Gordian III, quickly negotiating peace with the Sassanid Empire...
became emperor, and paid 500,000 denarii to the Persians.
In the early 250s, Philip was involved in a struggle over the control of Armenia. Shapur had the Armenian king murdered, and re-opened hostilities against Rome; he defeated the Roman troops at the Battle of Barbalissos
Battle of Barbalissos
The Battle of Barbalissos was fought between the Sassanid Persians and Romans at Barbalissos. Shapur I used Roman incursions into Armenia as pretext and resumed hostilities with the Romans. The Romans and Sassanids clashed at Barbalissos...
, and then probably took and plundered Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
. Some time between 258 and 260, Shapur captured the emperor Valerian I after crushing his army at the Battle of Edessa
Battle of Edessa
The Battle of Edessa took place between the armies of the Roman Empire under the command of Emperor Valerian and Sassanid forces under Shahanshah Shapur I in 259...
, but his subsequent advance into Anatolia ended, when Odaenathus
Odaenathus
Lucius Septimius Odaenathus, Odenathus or Odenatus , the Latinized form of the Syriac Odainath, was a ruler of Palmyra, Syria and later of the short lived Palmyrene Empire, in the second half of the 3rd century, who succeeded in recovering the Roman East from the Persians and restoring it to the...
, the ruler of Palmyra
Palmyrene Empire
The Palmyrene Empire was a splinter empire, that broke off of the Roman Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century. It encompassed the Roman provinces of Syria Palaestina, Egypt and large parts of Asia Minor....
, attacked detachments of the Persians, causing them to retreat to their homeland.
Aurelian
Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...
and Probus respectively planned to invade Persia, but they were both murdered before they were able to fulfill their plans. In 283 the emperor Carus
Carus
Carus , was Roman Emperor from 282 to 283. During his short reign, Carus fought the Germanic tribes and Sarmatians along the Danube frontier with success. During his campaign against the Sassanid Empire he sacked their capital Ctesiphon, but died shortly thereafter...
launched a successful invasion of Persia, sacking its capital, Ctesiphon; they would probably have extended their conquests, if Carus had not died in December of the same year. After a brief period of peace during Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
's early reign, Narseh
Narseh
Narseh was the seventh Sassanid King of Persia , and son of Shapur I ....
renewed hostilities with the Romans invading Armenia, and defeated Galerius
Galerius
Galerius , was Roman Emperor from 305 to 311. During his reign he campaigned, aided by Diocletian, against the Sassanid Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 299. He also campaigned across the Danube against the Carpi, defeating them in 297 and 300...
not far from Carrhae in 296 or 297. However, in 298 Galerius defeated Narseh at the Battle of Satala
Battle of Satala (298)
The Battle of Satala was fought in 298 between the forces of the Roman Empire under the Tetrarch Galerius and the forces of the Sassanid Persian ruler Narseh. The battle was a decisive Roman victory. Galerius' forces caught the Persians by surprise and routed them, capturing the Persian camp,...
, sacked the capital Ctesiphon and captured the Persian treasury and royal harem. The Roman victory was the most decisive for many decades: many cities east of the Tigris were given to the Romans including Tigranokert, Saird
Siirt
- External links :* * * *...
, Martyropolis
Martyropolis
Martyropolis was the former name of a city in Turkey, now known in Turkish as Silvan, in Aramaic as Meiafarakin .It is a Catholic titular see....
, Balalesa
Bitlis
Bitlis is a town in eastern Turkey and the capital of Bitlis Province. The town is located at an elevation of 1,400 metres, 15 km from Lake Van, in the steep-sided valley of the Bitlis River, a tributary of the Tigris. The local economy is mainly based on agricultural products which include...
, Moxos
Bakhchisaray
Bakhchisaray is a town in Central Crimea, centre of the Bakhchisaray raion , best known as the former capital of the Crimean Khanate...
, Daudia, and Arzan. Also, control of Armenia was given to the Romans.
The arrangements of 299
Peace of Nisibis
The peace treaty of Nisibis was concluded between the Roman and Sassanid Persian empires at Nisibis in 299. It ended the Roman–Sassanid war and enforced the Roman military exploits during the conflict...
proved long-lasting. It was Shapur II
Shapur II
Shapur II the Great was the ninth King of the Persian Sassanid Empire from 309 to 379 and son of Hormizd II. During his long reign, the Sassanid Empire saw its first golden era since the reign of Shapur I...
who broke the long peace between the two empires in mid 330s, and mounted a series of offensives against the Romans with little lasting effect. Shapur launched a new campaign in 359, successfully laying siege to Amida, and provoked a major offensive in 363 by the Roman Emperor Julian
Julian the Apostate
Julian "the Apostate" , commonly known as Julian, or also Julian the Philosopher, was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363 and a noted philosopher and Greek writer....
. Despite victory at the Battle of Ctesiphon
Battle of Ctesiphon (363)
The Battle of Ctesiphon took place on May 29, 363 between the armies of Roman Emperor Julian and the Sassanid King Shapur II outside the walls of the Persian capital Ctesiphon...
, Julian was unable to take the Persian capital. He was killed the same year at the Battle of Samarra
Battle of Samarra
The Battle of Samarra took place 26 June 363, after the invasion of Sassanid Persia by the Roman Emperor Julian. A major skirmish, the fighting was indecisive but Julian was killed in the battle...
, during a difficult retreat along the Tigris
Tigris
The Tigris River is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.-Geography:...
. His successor Jovian found his army in a disadvantageous position, and was forced to hand over the former Roman possessions east of the Tigris, as well as Nisiris and Singara; Armenia was also abandoned by the Romans, and was soon conquered by Shapur.
In 383 or 384 Armenia again became a bone of contention between the Roman and the Sassanid empires, but hostilities did not occure. With both empires preoccupied by barbarian threats from the north, a largely peaceful period followed, interrupted only by two brief wars, the first in 421-422 after Bahram V
Bahram V
Bahram V was the fourteenth Sassanid King of Persia . Also called Bahram Gur or Bahramgur , he was a son of Yazdegerd I , after whose sudden death he gained the crown against the opposition of the grandees by the help of Mundhir, the Arab dynast of al-Hirah.- Reign and war with Rome :Bahram V...
persecuted high-ranking Persian officials who had converted to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, and the second in 440, when Yazdegerd II
Yazdegerd II
Yazdegerd II was the fifteenth Sassanid King of Persia. He was the son of Bahram V and reigned from 438 to 457....
raided Roman Armenia.
Anastasian War
The Anastasia War ended the longest period of peace the two powers ever enjoyed. It broke out, when the Roman emperor Anastasius I
Anastasius I (emperor)
Anastasius I was Byzantine Emperor from 491 to 518. During his reign the Roman eastern frontier underwent extensive re-fortification, including the construction of Dara, a stronghold intended to counter the Persian fortress of Nisibis....
refused to provide financial support to the Persian king, Kavadh I
Kavadh I
Kavad or Kavadh I was the son of Peroz I and the nineteenth Sassanid king of Persia, reigning from 488 to 531...
, who tried to gain the money by force. In 502 Kavadh quickly captured the unprepared city of Theodosiopolis, and then besieged the fortress-city of Amida
Amida (Roman city)
Amida was an ancient city located where modern Diyarbakır, Turkey. The Roman writers Ammianus Marcellinus and Procopius consider it a city of Mesopotamia, but it may be more properly viewed as belonging to Armenia Major....
through the autumn and winter (502-503). The siege of the city proved to be a far more difficult enterprise than Kavadh expected; the defenders repelled the Persian assaults for three months before they were finally beaten. In 503 the Romans attempted an ultimately unsuccessful siege of the Persian-held Amida while Kavadh invaded Osroene, and laid siege to Edessa with the same results.
Finally in 504, the Romans gained the upper hand with the renewed investment
Investment (military)
Investment is the military tactic of surrounding an enemy fort with armed forces to prevent entry or escape.A circumvallation is a line of fortifications, built by the attackers around the besieged fortification facing towards the enemy fort...
of Amida leading to the hand-over of the city. That year an armistice was agreed as a result of an invasion of Armenia by the Huns from the Caucasus. Negotiations between the two powers took place, but such was the distrust that in 506 the Romans, suspecting treachery, seized the Persian officials; once released, the Persians preferred to stay in Nisibis. In November 506, a treaty was finally agreed, but little is known of what the terms of the treaty were. Procopius
Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History...
states that peace was agreed for seven years, and it is likely that some payments was made to the Persians.
In 505 Anastasius ordered the building of a great fortified city at Dara
Dara (Mesopotamia)
Dara or Daras was an important East Roman fortress city in northern Mesopotamia on the border with the Sassanid Empire. Because of its great strategic importance, it featured prominently in the Roman-Persian conflicts of the 6th century, with the famous Battle of Dara taking place before its walls...
. The dilapidated fortifications were also upgraded at Edessa, Batnac and Amida. Although no further large-scale conflict took place during Anastasius' reign, tensions continued, especially while work continued at Dara. This construction project was to become a key component of the Roman defenses, and also a lasting source of controversy with the Persians, who complained that it violated the treaty agreed in 422, by which both empires had agreed not to establish new fortifications in the frontier zone. Anastasius pursued however the project, and the walls were completed by 507/508.
Iberian War
In 524/525 Kavadh proposed to Justin I
Justin I
Justin I was Byzantine Emperor from 518 to 527. He rose through the ranks of the army and ultimately became its Emperor, in spite of the fact he was illiterate and almost 70 years old at the time of accession...
to adopt his son, Khosrau
Khosrau I
Khosrau I , also known as Anushiravan the Just or Anushirawan the Just Khosrau I (also called Chosroes I in classical sources, most commonly known in Persian as Anushirvan or Anushirwan, Persian: انوشيروان meaning the immortal soul), also known as Anushiravan the Just or Anushirawan the Just...
. The proposal was initially greeted with enthusiasm by the Roman emperor and his nephew, Justinian, but Justin's quaestor
Quaestor sacri palatii
The quaestor sacri palatii , in English Quaestor of the Sacred Palace, was the senior legal authority in the late Roman and early Byzantine empires, responsible for drafting laws. In the later Byzantine Empire, the office of the quaestor was altered and it became a senior judicial official for the...
, Proculus, opposed the move. Despite the final breakdown of the negotiations, it was not until 530 that full-scale warfare on the main eastern frontier broke out. In the intervening years, the two sides preferred to wage war by proxy, through Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
allies in the south and Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
in the north. Tensions between the two powers were further heightened by the defection of the Iberian
Caucasian Iberia
Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli , corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia...
king Gourgen to the Romans: in 524/525 the Iberians rose a revolt against Persia, following the example of the neighboring Christian kingdom of Lazica, and the Romans recruited Huns from the north of the Caucasus to assist them.
By 526-527, overt fighting between the two empires had broken out in the Transcaucasus region and upper Mesopotamia. At the same time, the Persians continued to exert pressure on the Romans to obtain funds from them. The early years of war favored the Persians: by 527 the Iberian revolt had been crushed, a Roman offensive against Nisibis and Thebetha in that year was unsuccessful and forces trying to fortify Thannuris and Melabasa were prevented from doing so by Persian attacks. Attempting to remedy the deficiencies revealed by these Persian successes, the new Roman emperor, Justinian I, reorganized the eastern armies. In 528 Belisarius
Belisarius
Flavius Belisarius was a general of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Emperor Justinian's ambitious project of reconquering much of the Mediterranean territory of the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century previously....
tried unsuccessfully to protect Roman workers in Thannuris, undertaking the construction of a fort right on the frontier. Damaging raids on Syria by the Lakhmids
Lakhmids
The Lakhmids , Banu Lakhm , Muntherids , were a group of Arab Christians who lived in Southern Iraq, and made al-Hirah their capital in 266. Poets described it as a Paradise on earth, an Arab Poet described the city's pleasant climate and beauty "One day in al-Hirah is better than a year of...
in 529 encouraged Justinian to strengthen his own Arab allies, helping the Ghassanid leader Al-Harith ibn Jabalah
Al-Harith ibn Jabalah
Al-Ḥārith ibn Jabalah , [Flavios] Arethas in Greek sources and Khalid ibn Jabalah in later Islamic sources, was a king of the Ghassanids, a pre-Islamic Arab people who lived on the eastern frontier of the Byzantine Empire. The fifth Ghassanid ruler of that name, he reigned from ca...
turn a loose coalition into a coherent kingdom.
Battle of Dara
The Battle of Dara was fought between the Sassanids and the Byzantine Empire in 530. It was one of the battles of the Iberian War.- Background :...
and Satala
Satala
Located in Turkey, the city of Satala , according to the ancient geographers, was situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, a little north of the Euphrates, where the road from Trapezus to Samosata crossed the boundary of the Roman Empire...
. In 531 Belisarius was defeated by Persian and Lakhmid forces at the Battle of Callinicum
Battle of Callinicum
The Battle of Callinicum took place Easter day, 19 April 531, between the armies of the Eastern Roman Empire under Belisarius and the Sassanid Persians under Azarethes. After a defeat at the Battle of Dara, the Sassanids moved to invade Syria in an attempt to turn the tide of the war...
, but, during the summer of the same year, the Romans captured some forts in Armenia, and effectively repulsed Persian offensive. Immediately after the Roman failure at Callinicum, which resulted in the dismissal of Belisarius, unsuccessful negotiations between Justinian's envoy, Hermogenes, and Kavadh took place. Justinian then took steps to bolster the Roman position, trying, at the same time, to engage Kavadh diplomatically. In spring 532 negotiations re-opened between the Roman envoys and the new Persian king, Khosrau I, who needed to secure his own position. The two sides finally came to an agreement, and the Eternal Peace, which lasted less than eight years, was signed in September 532. Both powers agreed to return all occupied territories and the Romans to make a one-off payment of 110 centenaria (11,000 lbs of gold). The Romans recovered the Lazic forts, Iberia remained in Persian hands, but the Iberians who had left their country were allowed to remain in Roman territory or to return to their native land.
Ascendancy of Khosrau I
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
and deporting its population to Persia; as he withdrew, he extorted large sums of money from the cities of Syria and Mesopotamia and systematically looted the key cities. In 541 he invaded Lazica in the north.
Belisarius was quickly recalled by Justinian to the East to deal with the Persian threat (The war dragged on under other generals and was to some extent hindered by the so-called Plague of Justinian
Plague of Justinian
The Plague of Justinian was a pandemic that afflicted the Eastern Roman Empire , including its capital Constantinople, in 541–542 AD. It was one of the greatest plagues in history. The most commonly accepted cause of the pandemic is bubonic plague, which later became infamous for either causing or...
, because of which Khosrau temporarily withdrew from Roman territory), while the Ostrogoths in Italy, who were in touch with the Persian King, launched a counter-attack under Totila
Totila
Totila, original name Baduila was King of the Ostrogoths from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the territories in Italy that the Eastern Roman Empire had captured from his Kingdom in 540.A relative of...
. Belisarius took the field and waged an inconclusive campaign against Nisibis
Nisibis
Nusaybin Nisêbîn) is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey, populated mainly by Kurds. Earlier Arameans, Arabs, and Armenians lived in the city. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009.-Ancient Period:...
in 541. In the same year Lazica switched its allegiance to Persia and Khosrau led an army to secure the kingdom. In 542 Khosrau launched another offensive in Mesopotamia , and unsuccessfully attempted to capture Sergiopolis
Resafa
Resafa , known in Roman times as Sergiopolis, was a city located in what is now modern-day Syria. It is an archaeological site situated south-west of the city of Ar Raqqah and the Euphrates.-History:...
. He soon withdrew in the face of an army under Belisarius, en route sacking the city of Callinicum. Attacks on a number of Roman cities were repulsed and the Persian general Mihr-Mihroe was defeated and captured at Dara
Dara (Mesopotamia)
Dara or Daras was an important East Roman fortress city in northern Mesopotamia on the border with the Sassanid Empire. Because of its great strategic importance, it featured prominently in the Roman-Persian conflicts of the 6th century, with the famous Battle of Dara taking place before its walls...
by John Troglita
John Troglita
John Troglita was a 6th-century Byzantine general. His exploits against the Sassanid Persians in the East and especially against the Moorish rebels in North Africa are the subject of the last Latin epic poem of Antiquity, the Iohannis or de Bellis Libycis of Flavius Cresconius Corippus.- Origins...
.
In 543, the Romans fielded a force of 30,000 troops commanded by the magister militum of the East, Martin, for an invasion of Persian-controlled Armenia. They launched an offensive against Dvin
Dvin
Dvin was a large commercial city and the capital of early medieval Armenia. It was situated north of the previous ancient capital of Armenia, the city of Artaxata, along the banks of the Metsamor River, 35 km to the south of modern Yerevan...
, but were defeated by a small Persian force at Anglon. In 544 Khosrau besieged Edessa without success and was eventually bought off by the defenders. The Edessenes paid five centenaria to Khosrau, and the Persians departed after nearly two months. In the wake of the Persian retreat, two Roman envoys, the newly appointed magister militum, Constantinus, and Sergius proceeded to Ctesiphon to arrange a truce with Khosrau. A five-year truce was agreed in 545, secured by Roman payments to the Persians.
Lazic War
In early 548 AD, king Gubaz of Lazica, having found Persian protection oppressive, asked Justinian to restore the Roman protectorate. The emperor seized the chance, and in 548/549 AD combined Roman and Lazic forces under Gubaz and the magister militum of Armenia Dagistheus won a series of victories against Persian armies under Mihr-Mihroe and Khorianes, but failed in repeated attempts to take the fort of Petra
Petra
Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited...
. In 551 AD, general Bassas who replaced Dagistheus put Abasgia and the rest of Lazica under control, and finally subjected Petra, demolishing its fortifications.
In the same year, however, a Persian army under Mihr-Mihroe but was defeated with heavy losses. That year the truce which had been established in 545 AD was renewed outside Lazica for a further five years, with the Romans paying 2,000 lbs of gold each year. The Romans failed to completely expel the Sassanids from Lazica, and in 554 AD Mihr-Mihroe launched a new attack, and captured the fortress of Telephis, which was commanded by general Martin.
In 557 AD Khusro, who had now to deal with the White Huns, dispatched his envoy Izedh Gushnap to Constantinople renewed the truce, this time without excluding lazica or excluding Lazica, where they kept only a toehold; negotiations continued for a definite peace treaty. Finally, in 561 AD, Justinian's envoy, Peter the Patrician
Peter the Patrician
Peter the Patrician was a senior East Roman or Byzantine official, diplomat and historian. A well-educated and successful lawyer, he was repeatedly sent as envoy to Ostrogothic Italy in the prelude to the Gothic War of 535–554. Despite his diplomatic skill, he was not able to avert war, and was...
, and Izedh Gushnap put together a 50-year peace. The Persians agreed to evacuate Lazica, and received an annual subsidy of 30,000 nomismata annually. Both sides agreed not to build new fortifications near the frontier and to ease restrictions on diplomacy and trade between the two empires.
War for the Caucasus
The war began, when the Armenians revolted against Sassanid rule in early 572 AD. Justin II
Justin II
Justin II was Byzantine Emperor from 565 to 578. He was the husband of Sophia, nephew of Justinian I and the late Empress Theodora, and was therefore a member of the Justinian Dynasty. His reign is marked by war with Persia and the loss of the greater part of Italy...
took them under his protection, and sent his nephew, Marcian, against the Persians. Roman troops raided Arzanene, and invaded Persian Mesopotamia, defeating its local forces. Marcian's sudden dismissal, however, and the arrival of troops under Khosrau resulted in the ravaging of Syria, the failure of the Roman siege of Nisibis, and the falling of Dara. At a cost of 45,000 solidi
Solidus (coin)
The solidus was originally a gold coin issued by the Romans, and a weight measure for gold more generally, corresponding to 4.5 grams.-Roman and Byzantine coinage:...
a one-year truce (later in the year extended to five years) was arranged, though the Persians still wanted to restore control in Armenia.
In 576 AD Khosrau I attempted to combine aggression in Armenia with discussion of a permanent peace. He failed however to take Theodosiopolis, and after a confrontation near Melitene
Malatya
Malatya ) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of its eponymous province.-Overview:The city site has been occupied for thousands of years. The Assyrians called the city Meliddu. Following Roman expansion into the east, the city was renamed in Latin as Melitene...
the Persian royal baggage was captured; there were severe Persian losses either in set battle or during a disorganized fleet over the Euphrates. Treadgold (1997), 224; Whitby (2000), 95 The Romans exploited Persian disarray by invading deep into Persian territory, raiding Atropatene
Atropatene
Atropatene was an ancient kingdom established and ruled under local ethnic Iranian dynasts first with "Darius" of Persia and later "Alexander" of Macedonia, starting in the 4th century BC and includes the territory of modern-day Iranian Azarbaijan and Iranian Kurdistan. Its capital was Gazaca...
. Persian confidence revived, when Tamkhusro defeated Justinian
Justinian (general)
Justinian was an East Roman aristocrat and general, and a member of the ruling Justinian dynasty. As a soldier, he had a distinguished career in the Balkans and in the East against Sassanid Persia...
in Persian Armenia, where Roman actions had alienated local inhabitants. In the spring of 578 AD the Persians raided Byzantine Mesopotamia; the Roman general Maurice
Maurice (emperor)
Maurice was Byzantine Emperor from 582 to 602.A prominent general in his youth, Maurice fought with success against the Sassanid Persians...
retaliated by invading Arzanene; he also took and garrisoned the stronghold of Aphumon,and sacked Singara in Persian Mesopotamia. Khosrau I died early the next year, defeated after so many victories.
During the 580s the war continued in inconclusive fashion, with victories on both sides. In 582 AD Maurice defeated Tamkhusro, who was killed, but the Roman general did not follow up his victory; he had to hurry to Constantinople to pursue his imperial ambitions. In 589 AD the Persians achieved a last success, capturing Martyropolis
Silvan, Turkey
Silvan is a district of the Diyarbakır Province of Turkey. Its population is 41,451 Notable attraction is Malabadi Bridge.-History:Silvan has been identified by several scholars as one of two possible locations of Tigranakert, the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Armenia, which was built by...
through treachery, but in the same year the stalemate was shattered when the Persian general Bahram Chobin
Bahram Chobin
General Bahrām Chobin was a famous Eran spahbod during the late 6th century in Persia, usurping the Sassanid throne for a year as Bahram VI .- Life :...
, having been dismissed and humiliated by Hormizd IV
Hormizd IV
Hormizd IV, son of Khosrau I, reigned as the twenty-first King of Persia from 579 to 590.He seems to have been imperious and violent, but not without some kindness of heart. Some very characteristic stories are told of him by Tabari. His father's sympathies had been with the nobles and the priests...
, raised a rebellion. Hormizd was overthrown in a palace coup in 590 AD and replaced by his son Khosrau II
Khosrau II
250px|thumb|Khosrau II 250px|thumb|Khosrau II 250px|thumb|Khosrau II (Khosrow II, Chosroes II, or Xosrov II in classical sources, sometimes called Parvez, "the Ever Victorious" – (in Persian: خسرو پرویز), was the twenty-second Sassanid King of Persia, reigning from 590 to 628...
, but Bahram pressed on with his revolt regardless and the defeated Khosrau was soon forced to flee for safety to Roman territory, while Bahram took the throne as Bahram VI. With support from Maurice, Khosrau raised a rebellion against Bahram, and in 591 AD the combined forces of his supporters and the Romans defeated Bahram, restoring Khosrau II to power and bringing the war to an end. In exchange for their help, Khosrau not only returned Dara and Martyropolis but also agreed to cede the western half of Iberia and more than half of Persian Armenia to the Romans.
Climax
Maurice's Balkan campaigns
Maurice's Illyricum campaigns were a series of military expeditions conducted by emperor of Constantinopolis Maurice in an attempt to defend the Illyrian provinces of the East Roman Empire from Avars and Slavs...
, he and his family were murdered by Phocas
Phocas
Phocas was Byzantine Emperor from 602 to 610. He usurped the throne from the Emperor Maurice, and was himself overthrown by Heraclius after losing a civil war.-Origins:...
in November 602 after a mutiny. Thus Khosrau II seized used the pretext to attack the Roman Empire, and reconquer the Roman province of Mesopotamia. The war initially went the Persians' way, partly because of Phocas' brutal repression and the succession crisis that ensued as the general Heraclius sent his nephew Nicetas
Nicetas (cousin of Heraclius)
Nicetas was the cousin of Emperor Heraclius, helping him the wars against Phocas and the Persians in the Byzantine-Sassanid War of 602–628. He helped Heraclius revolt against Phocas by conquering Egypt in 610. At Egypt, Nicetas established a power base because of his friendship with Patriarch John...
to attack Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, enabling his son Heraclius the younger to claim the throne in 610. Phocas, an unpopular ruler who is invariably described in Byzantine sources as a "tyrant", was eventually deposed by Heraclius, who sailed to Constantinople from Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
with an icon affixed to the prow of his ship.
By this time the Persians had conquered Mesopotamia and the Caucasus, and in 611 they overran Syria and entered Anatolia. A major counter-attack led by Heraclius two years later was decisively defeated outside Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
by Shahrbaraz
Shahrbaraz
Shahrbaraz or Shahrwaraz was a general, with the rank of Eran Spahbod under Khosrau II . His name was Farrokhan, and Shahrbaraz was his title...
and Shahin and the Roman position collapsed; the Persians devastated parts of Asia Minor, and captured Chalcedon
Chalcedon
Chalcedon , sometimes transliterated as Chalkedon) was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari . It is now a district of the city of Istanbul named Kadıköy...
on the Bosporus
Bosporus
The Bosphorus or Bosporus , also known as the Istanbul Strait , is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with the Dardanelles...
. Over the following decade the Persians were able to conquer Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
and Egypt (by mid-621 the whole province was in their hands) and to devastate Anatolia, while the Avars
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
and Slavs took advantage of the situation to overrun the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, bringing the Roman Empire to the brink of destruction.
Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople
Sergius I was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 610 to 638.In 626 during the absence of Emperor Heraclius on campaign against Sassanid Persia, the Avars laid siege to Constantinople. Along with the magister militum Bonus, he had been named regent and was in charge of the city's defense...
, Church plate to raise the necessary funds to continue the war.
On April 5 622, Heraclius left Constantinople, entrusting the city to Sergius and general Bonus
Bonus
The word Bonus refers to extra pay due to good performance.Bonus may also refer to:- People :* Lawrence Bonus, a Filipino basketball player* Petrus Bonus, a physician* Bonus , a Byzantine general, active in the reign of Justin II...
as regents of his son. He assembled his forces in Asia Minor, probably in Bithynia
Bithynia
Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine .-Description:...
, and, after he revived their broken morale, he launched a new counter-offensive, which took on the character of a holy war; an acheiropoietos image of Christ was carried as a military standard. The Roman army proceeded to Armenia, inflicted a defeat on an army led by a Persian-allied Arab chief, and then won a victory over the Persians under Shahrbaraz. On March 25, 624 Heraclius left again Constantinople with his wife, Martina
Martina
Martina was the second Empress consort of Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire.-Family:Martina was a daughter of Maria and a certain Martinus. Her mother was a sister to Heraclius....
, and his two children; after he celebrated Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
in Nicomedia on April 15, he campaigned in the Caucasus, winning a series of victories in Azerbaijan and Armenia against Khosrau and his generals Shahrbaraz, Shahin and Shahraplakan. In 626 the Avars and Slavs besieged Constantinople, supported by a Persian army commanded by Shahrbaraz, but the siege ended in failure (the victory was attributed to the icons of the Virgin which were led in procession by Sergius about the walls of the city), while a second Persian army under Shahin suffered another crushing defeat at the hands of Heraclius' brother Theodore.
Göktürks
The Göktürks or Kök Türks, were a nomadic confederation of peoples in medieval Inner Asia. Known in Chinese sources as 突厥 , the Göktürks under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan The Göktürks or Kök Türks, (Old Turkic: Türük or Kök Türük or Türük; Celestial Turks) were a nomadic confederation of...
of the Western Turkic Khaganate
Western Turkic Khaganate
The Western Turkic Khaganate was formed as a result of the internecine wars in the beginning of the 7th century after the Göktürk Khaganate had splintered into two politiesEastern and Western.The Western Turks initially sought friendly relations with the Byzantine Empire in order to expand their...
into the war against the Sassanids in the Caucasus (see Third Perso-Turkic War
Third Perso-Turkic War
The Third Perso-Turkic War was the third and final conflict between the Sassanian Empire and the Western Turkic Khaganate. Unlike the previous two wars, it was fought, not in Central Asia, but in Transcaucasia. Hostilities were initiated in 627 AD by Khagan Tong Yabghu of the Western Göktürks and...
). Late in 627 he launched a winter offensive into Mesopotamia, where, despite the desertion of his Turkish allies, he defeated the Persians under Rhahzadh
Rhahzadh
Razadh, originally Roch Vehan, known in Byzantine sources as Rhazates was a Persian general of Armenian origin under Sassanid king Khosrau II ....
at the Battle of Nineveh
Battle of Nineveh (627)
The Battle of Nineveh was the climactic battle of the Byzantine-Sassanid War of 602–628. The Byzantine victory broke the power of the Sassanid dynasty and for a period of time restored the empire to its ancient boundaries in the Middle East...
. Continuing south along the Tigris he sacked Khosrau's great palace at Dastagird and was only prevented from attacking Ctesiphon by the destruction of the bridges on the Nahrawan Canal. Discredited by this series of disasters, Khosrau was overthrown and killed in a coup led by his son Kavadh II
Kavadh II
Kavadh II , twenty-third Sassanid King of Persia, son of Khosrau II , was raised to the throne in opposition to his father in February 628, after the great victories of the Emperor Heraclius...
, who at once sued for peace, agreeing to withdraw from all occupied territories. In 629 Heraclius restored the True Cross
True Cross
The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
to Jerusalem in a majestic ceremony.
Aftermath
The devastating impact of this last war, added to the cumulative effects of a century of almost continuous conflict, left both empires crippled. When Kavadh II died only months after coming to the throne, Persia was plunged into several years of dynastic turmoil and civil war. The Sassanids were further weakened by economic decline, heavy taxation from Khosrau II's campaigns, religious unrest, rigid social stratification, and the increasing power of the provincial landholders. The Roman Empire was even more severely affected, with its financial reserves exhausted by the war, the Balkans now largely in the hands of the Slavs, Anatolia devastated by repeated Persian invasions and the empire's hold on Syria, Mesopotamia, Palestine and Egypt loosened by many years of Persian occupation. Neither empire was given any chance to recover, as within a few years they were struck by the onslaught of the Arabs, newly united by IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. The Sassanid Empire rapidly succumbed to these attacks and was completely destroyed
Islamic conquest of Persia
The Muslim conquest of Persia led to the end of the Sassanid Empire in 644, the fall of Sassanid dynasty in 651 and the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion in Persia...
. During the Byzantine-Arab Wars
Byzantine-Arab Wars
The Byzantine–Arab Wars were a series of wars between the Arab Caliphates and the East Roman or Byzantine Empire between the 7th and 12th centuries AD. These started during the initial Muslim conquests under the expansionist Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs and continued in the form of an enduring...
, the exhausted Roman Empire's recently regained southern provinces were also lost during the Muslim conquest of Syria
Muslim conquest of Syria
The Muslim conquest of Syria occurred in the first half of the 7th century, and refers to the region known as the Bilad al-Sham, the Levant, or Greater Syria...
, Egypt
Muslim conquest of Egypt
At the commencement of the Muslims conquest of Egypt, Egypt was part of the Byzantine Empire with its capital in Constantinople. However, it had been occupied just a decade before by the Persian Empire under Khosrau II...
and North Africa
Umayyad conquest of North Africa
The Umayyad conquest of North Africa continued the century of rapid Arab Muslim expansion following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE. By 640 the Arabs controlled Mesopotamia, had invaded Armenia, and were concluding their conquest of Byzantine Syria. Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad caliphate....
, reducing the empire to a territorial rump consisting of Anatolia and a scatter of islands and footholds in the Balkans and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. These remaining lands were thoroughly impoverished by frequent attacks
History of Islam in southern Italy
The history of Islam in southern Italy begins with the Islamic conquest and subsequent rule of Sicily and Malta, a process that started in the 9th century. Islamic rule over Sicily was effective from 902, and the complete rule of the island lasted from 965 until 1061...
, marking the transition from classical urban civilization to a more rural, medieval form of society. However, unlike Persia the Roman Empire (in its medieval form usually termed the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
) ultimately survived the Arab assault, holding onto its residual territories and repulsing two Arab sieges
Sieges of Constantinople
There were several sieges of Constantinople during the history of the Byzantine Empire. Two of them resulted in the capture of Constantinople from Byzantine rule: in 1204 by Crusaders, and in 1453 by the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II....
of its capital Constantinople in 674
Siege of Constantinople (674)
The First Arab Siege of Constantinople in 674 was a major conflict of the Byzantine-Arab Wars, and was one of the numerous times Constantinople's defences were tested. It was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Arab Umayyad Caliphate...
and 718
Siege of Constantinople (718)
The Second Arab Siege of Constantinople was a combined land and sea effort by the Arabs to take the capital city of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople. The Arab ground forces, led by Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik, were held off by the massive city walls, decimated by an outbreak of plague and...
.