Byzantine-Persian Wars
The Byzantine-Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Byzantine Empire and the Sāsānid Empire of Persia that spanned several centuries, beginning in the early 6th century. These wars were largely driven by territorial disputes and the strategic necessity of securing the Byzantine eastern front, especially after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The initial hostilities erupted in 502 when Persian King Kawad I attacked the Byzantines after they refused to pay tribute. Throughout the following decades, the two empires experienced alternating phases of war and temporary peace, with notable military engagements, including the Battle of Dara in 530 and the siege of various cities.
The wars saw significant military leaders on both sides, with Byzantine Emperor Justinian I's general, Belisarius, achieving early victories but also facing setbacks. The conflict saw shifts in power, with Persia managing to capture major cities and territories, leading to a cycle of invasions and treaties. Notably, the wars included the invasion of Syria by the Persians and the eventual Byzantine counterattacks that expanded their territory into parts of modern Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. The interplay of military actions, political intrigue, and leadership changes significantly influenced the course of both empires, leading to a complex legacy of rivalry in the region.
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Byzantine-Persian Wars
At issue: Control of Asia between the Bosporus and beyond the Euphrates
Date: August, 502-spring, 591
Location: Roman East and Western Persia
Combatants: Byzantines vs. Persians
Principal commanders:Byzantine, Belisarius (c. 505-565), Justinianus (525-572), Maurice (c. 539-602); Persian, King Kawad (c. 460-531), King Chosroes I (c. 500-579)
Principal battles: Amida, Dara, Callinicum, Melitene, Constantina, Solachi, Gazacca
Result: Byzantine victory; expansion of the Byzantine Empire to the east, in Armenia
Background
For centuries, Persia was the only civilized power in contact with Rome. Intermittent warfare intensified when the Sāsānid Dynasty took control of Persia in 225. When the Western Roman Empire fell in 476, the surviving Eastern Empire, known as the Byzantine Empire after its capital, found that security on its eastern frontier was essential to its survival. When the Byzantine emperor Anastasius refused to pay tribute to Persia, the Persian king Kawad, also known as Kavadh I, aware that Byzantium’s eastern frontiers were weakly defended because of distractions elsewhere, attacked in August, 502.
Action
King Kawad captured Theodisipolis-Karin, Martyropolis, and, after a long siege, Amida (503). The Persian king demanded a substantial tribute and was refused. Celer, appointed Byzantine commander in 504, invaded Persian Armenia. The following year, King Kawad asked for peace; however, in 506, dissatisfied with the terms, he renewed the war. The treaty was finally ratified toward the end of 506, with the Byzantines, in effect, buying peace. Emperor Anastasius, expecting renewed war, strengthened Byzantine defenses. War recommenced in 527, the first year of the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. Justinian’s general, Belisarius, won a victory at Dara (530) but was repulsed at Callinicum (April, 531) while trying to stop a Persian advance. Belisarius was replaced by Mundus, who accomplished little. After King Kawad died in September, 531, his successor, Chosroes I, also known as Khosrav I, negotiated a compromise peace treaty in September, 532.
In 540, Persia, uneasy over Byzantine expansion, renewed the war, invading Syria, capturing Antioch, and spreading devastation; the Byzantine generals Germanius and Belisarius lacked the resources to stop Persia. An invasion of Persian Armenia with 30,000 Byzantine troops failed. Persia, unable to capture Edessa (Syria), negotiated peace in 545. In 549, appeals by allies of both sides resulted in renewed, inconclusive war, ending in 557. A compromise peace treaty was signed in 562.
Justinian’s successor, Justin II, refusing payment to Persia, declared war in 572. The Byzantine general Justinianus, son of Germanius, was ineffective at first, and Persia captured the Syrian cities of Antioch and Apamea. The fall of Dara (573) was followed by a one-year truce in effect bought by the Byzantines. Byzantium built up its forces, winning a two-day battle at Melitene (575). Justinianus destroyed the Persian army, and the Persian king fled on an elephant. Persia proper was invaded, but the Byzantines under Justinianus were stopped (577). Maurice replaced him and stopped the Persians. Peace negotiations were interrupted by the death of King Chosroes.
The new king, Hormisdas IV, renewed the war in 579. The Byzantines invaded Persia, crossing the Euphrates, taking the capital Ctesiphon (580), and defeating Persia near Constantina (580). Maurice became Byzantine emperor on August, 582. His generals included Philippicus, who was victorious at Solachi (summer, 586) and Germanus. Despite a Persian victory at Martyropolis in 589, Persia was weakened by civil strife. Hormisdas was assassinated in early 590, and Chosroes II was proclaimed king but had to flee to Byzantine territory (late spring, 590). The Emperor Maurice agreed to Chosroes’s plea for help in restoring him to his throne and ordered attacks against the rebels under Bahram. The rebels were decisively defeated by Byzantine forces at Gazacca (spring, 591). The restored Chosroes II negotiated a treaty with Byzantium.
Aftermath
The resulting treaty expanded Byzantine territory eastward into modern Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
Bibliography
Blockley, R. C. East Roman Foreign Policy: Formation and Conduct from Diocletian to Anastasius. Leeds, England: Francis Cairns, 1992.
Treadgold, Warren. Byzantium and Its Army. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1995.
Whitby, Michael. The Emperor Maurice and His Historian. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.