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{{About|2=the conflict between Napoleon's empire and Portugal, Spain and Britain|3=Peninsular War}} {{Short description|6th-century conflict between the Byzantine and Sassanid empires}}
{{pp-pc|small=yes}} {{pp-pc}}
{{Infobox military conflict {{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Iberian War | conflict = Iberian War
| partof = the ] | partof = the ]
| image = Roman-Persian Frontier in Late Antiquity.svg | image = Roman-Persian Frontier in Late Antiquity.svg
| image_size = 280px | image_size = 280px
| caption = The Roman-Persian frontier in the 4th to 7th centuries | caption = The Roman-Persian frontier in the 4th to 7th centuries
| date = 526–532 | date = 526–532 AD
| place = ], ], ] | place = ], ], ]
| territory =
⚫ | territory = ] retained Iberia<br>] retained ]<ref name="Barker">{{harvnb|Barker|1966|p=118}}.</ref>
| result = Inconclusive{{sfn|Neusner|1970|pp=76–77}}{{sfn|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|pp=96–97}}
| result = Persian victory<ref> « Kavad’s last campaign was hardly decisive. Given the troubles he had had to overcome at home and on other frontiers, however, he had achieved a signal victory simply by holding his own. »</ref>
Treaty of ]<br>] paid tribute of 11,000 lbs (5000 kg) gold<ref name="Barker"/> * Treaty of ]
* Sasanians retained Iberia
| combatant1 = ]<br />]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]
⚫ * Byzantines retained ]<ref name="Barker">{{harvnb|Barker|1966|p=118}}.</ref>
| combatant2 = ]<br>]<br>]
| combatant1 = ]
⚫ | commander1 = ],<br />],<br />],<br />],<br />Gregory<br>],<br>],<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]{{POW}}<br> Al-Harith of ]<ref>{{cite web |title=SASANIAN DYNASTY – Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sasanian-dynasty |website=www.iranicaonline.org |access-date=25 February 2020}}</ref>
* ]
⚫ | commander2 = ],<br />],<br />]<br />]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]{{KIA}}<br>]<br>]<br/>]
* ]
⚫ | strength1 =
* ]
⚫ | strength2 =
* ]
⚫ | casualties1 =
* ]
⚫ | casualties2 =
* ]
| combatant2 = ]
* ]
* ]
⚫ | commander1 = ]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>Gregory<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]{{KIA}}<br>]<br>]<br>]{{POW}}<br> Al-Harith of ]{{KIA}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Sasanian Dynasty – Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sasanian-dynasty |website=www.iranicaonline.org |access-date=25 February 2020}}</ref><br>]<br>]<br>]
⚫ | commander2 = ]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]{{KIA}}<br>]<br>]<br>]
⚫ | strength1 =
⚫ | strength2 =
⚫ | casualties1 =
⚫ | casualties2 =
}} }}
{{Campaignbox Iberian War}} {{Campaignbox Iberian War}}
{{Campaignbox Roman-Persian Wars}} {{Campaignbox Roman-Persian Wars}}
{{Campaignbox Wars of Justinian I}} {{Campaignbox Wars of Justinian I}}
The '''Iberian War''' was fought from 526 to 532 between the ] and the ] over the eastern ] kingdom of ]—a Sasanian client state that defected to the Byzantines. Conflict erupted among tensions over tribute and the spice trade. The '''Iberian War''' was fought from 526 to 532 between the ] and the ] over the eastern ] kingdom of ]—a Sasanian client state that defected to the Byzantines. Conflict erupted among tensions over tribute and the spice trade.


The Sasanians maintained the upper hand until 530 but the Byzantines recovered their position in battles at Dara and Satala while their Ghassanid allies defeated the Sasanian-aligned Lakhmids. A Sasanian victory at Callinicum in 531 continued the war for another year until the empires signed the "]". The Sasanians maintained the upper hand until 530 but the Byzantines recovered their position in battles at Dara and Satala while their Ghassanid allies defeated the Sasanian-aligned Lakhmids. A Sasanian victory at Callinicum in 531 continued the war for another year until the empires signed the "]".


==Origin== ==Origin==
After the ], a seven-year truce was agreed on, yet it lasted for nearly twenty years. Even during the war in 505, Emperor ] had already started fortifying ] as a counter to the Persian fortress city of ] for a looming conflict. In 524–525, the Persian shah ] (r. 488–531) proposed that Emperor ] adopt his son, ]; the priority of the Persian king was to secure the succession of Khosrow, whose position was threatened by rival brothers and the ] sect. The proposal was initially greeted with enthusiasm by the Roman Emperor and his nephew, ] but Justin's '']'', Proculus, opposed the move. Despite the breakdown of the negotiations, it was not until 530 that war on the main eastern frontier began. In the intervening years, the two sides preferred to wage war by proxy, through ] allies in the south and ] in the north.<ref name="Gl81-82">{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|pp=81–82}}.</ref> After the ], a seven-year truce was agreed on, yet it lasted for nearly twenty years. Even during the war in 505, Emperor ] had already started fortifying ] as a counter to the Persian fortress city of ] for a looming conflict. During the reign of Justin I, investment in fortification efforts were increased in Dara.<ref>Sarris, Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint, 2023, p.98</ref>


Fearing the security of his succession, the elderly ] (r. 488–531) proposed the adoption of his favoured son ] by the Emperor ].<ref name="Gl81-82">{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|pp=81–82}}.</ref> Whilst initially optimistic of the proposal, Procopius writes that Justin's ] Proklos advised against an adoption out of a fear that Khosrow could use it as pretext to claim the Roman Empire. Justin would instead request a barbarian adoption, by an attire of arms, which would offend Khosrow.<ref>Procopius, Wars, 1.11.22–30</ref>
Tensions between the two powers were further heightened by the defection of the ] king Gourgen to the Romans. According to Procopius, Kavadh I tried to force the Christian ] to become ], who in 524–525 under the leadership of Gourgen rose in revolt against Persia, following the example of the neighboring Christian kingdom of ]. Gourgen received pledges by ] that he would defend Iberia; the Romans indeed recruited Huns from the north of the Caucasus to assist the Iberians.<ref name="Gl82">{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|p=82}}.</ref>

Tensions in the region were compounded by religious affiliations. ], a Christian Kingdom typically allied with the Persians, converted to Christianity and shifted allegiances to the Romans. Their king symbolically adopted Emperor Justin as his godfather.<ref>John Malalas, Chronicle, 17.9</ref> This shift motivated other Christian kingdoms in the Caucasus, such as ], to defect from Persia.

According to Procopius, Kavadh I tried to force the Christian Iberians to become ], and in 523, under the leadership of Gourgen, they rose in revolt against Persia,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Borgeraze |first=A. |author-link= |editor-last= |editor-first= |editor-link= |encyclopedia=Georgia |title=Revolt of Gourgen |trans-title= |url= |access-date= |language=KA |edition= |year=2012 |publisher= |series= |volume=II |location=Tbilisi|id= |isbn= |issn= |oclc= |doi= |pages=211–212 |quote= }}</ref> following the example of the neighboring Christian kingdom of ]. Gourgen received pledges by Justin I that he would defend Iberia.<ref name="Gl82">{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|p=82}}.</ref> ] consistently uses religious motifs, contrasting the Zoroastrian Persian's barbarism with the Christian Roman's civility.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Frendo |first=David |date=1997 |title=The Religious Factor in Byzantine-Iranian Relations |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24049116 |journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute |volume=11 |pages=105–122 |jstor=24049116}}</ref>

As part of his strategic consolidation of power in the East, Justinian further solidified border defences, incorporating Armenian provinces into the empire and stationing Roman garrisons in the area.<ref>Sarris, Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint, 2023, p. 100</ref> Additionally, he aligned pro-Roman Arab clans under the Christian ] Clan, whose leader was appointed king, providing a buffer zone between Rome and Persia.<ref>Procopius, Wars, 1.17. 46–48.</ref>


==War== ==War==
Violence escalated at various points where the power of the two empires met: in 525 a Roman fleet transported an ] army to conquer ] ] and in 525–526, Persia's Arab allies, the ], raided Roman territories on the edge of the desert. The Romans were interested to gain influence in Yemen to protect Christian interests there ''(see ])'' as well as to dominate the ] and ] trade routes to India which were under Persian control.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Magill |first1=Frank N. |title=The Middle Ages: Dictionary of World Biography |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781136593130 |page=560b |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aBHSc2hTfeUC&pg=PA560 |language=en}}</ref> Violence escalated at various points where the power of the two empires met: in 525 a Roman fleet transported an ] army to conquer ] ] and in 525–526, Persia's Arab allies, the ], raided Roman territories on the edge of the desert. The Romans were interested in gaining influence in Yemen to protect Christian interests there ''(see ])'' as well as to dominate the ] and ] trade routes to India which were under Persian control.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Magill |first1=Frank N. |title=The Middle Ages: Dictionary of World Biography |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781136593130 |page=560b |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aBHSc2hTfeUC&pg=PA560 |language=en}}</ref>


By 526–527, overt fighting between the two empires had broken out in the ] region and upper ]; the Persians continued to exert pressure on the Romans to obtain funds from them.<ref name="Gl84">{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|p=84}}.</ref> Following the emperor Justin I's death in 527, ] acceded to the imperial throne. The early years of war favored the Persians, by 527 the Iberian revolt had been crushed, a Roman offensive against ] and Thebetha in that year failed and forces attempting to fortify ] and Melabasa were prevented from doing so by Persian attacks.<ref name="Gl85">{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|p=85}}.</ref> By 526–527, overt fighting between the two empires had broken out in the ] region and upper ].<ref name="Gl84">{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|p=84}}.</ref> Following the emperor Justin I's death in 527, ] acceded to the imperial throne. The early years of war favored the Persians, by 527 the Iberian revolt had been crushed, a Roman offensive against ] and Thebetha in that year failed and forces attempting to fortify ] and Melabasa were prevented from doing so by Persian attacks.<ref name="Gl85">{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|p=85}}.</ref>


In 528, the Persians pressed on from Iberia to capture forts in eastern Lazica. Attempting to remedy the deficiencies revealed by these Persian successes, Justinian reorganised the eastern armies by dividing the command of the '']'' of the East in two and appointing a separate ''magister militum'' of ] over the northern portion.<ref>{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|p=83}}.</ref> The most important Roman initiative on the southern front in 528 was ]'s expeditions to Thannuris, where he tried to protect Roman workers, undertaking the construction of a fort right on the frontier.<ref>{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|p=86}}</ref> His forces were defeated by ] during the ] and he had to retreat to Dara.<ref>Conor Whately, Battles and Generals: Combat, Culture, and Didacticism in Procopius, 2006, Netherlands, p.238</ref> In 528, the Persians pressed on from Iberia to capture forts in eastern Lazica. Attempting to remedy the deficiencies revealed by these Persian successes, Justinian reorganised the eastern armies by dividing the command of the '']'' of the East in two and appointing a separate ''magister militum'' of ] over the northern portion.<ref>{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|p=83}}.</ref> ]'s forces were defeated by ] during the ] and he had to retreat to Dara.<ref>Conor Whately, Battles and Generals: Combat, Culture, and Didacticism in Procopius, 2006, Netherlands, p.238</ref>


Damaging raids on ] by the Lakhmids in 529 also encouraged Justinian to strengthen his own Arab allies, helping the ] leader ] turn a loose coalition into a coherent kingdom which was able to gain the upper hand against the Lakhmids over the following decades. In 530, Belisarius led the Romans to victory over a much larger Persian force under Perozes at the ], while Sittas and Dorotheus defeated a Persian army under Mihr-Mihroe at the ]. In 531, Belisarius was defeated by Persian and Lakhmid forces at the ] but during the summer, the Romans captured some forts in Armenia and repulsed a Persian offensive.<ref name="GL92-96">{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|pp=92–96}}.</ref> The Roman failure at Callinicum was followed by a commission of inquiry, the result of which was the dismissal of Belisarius from his post.<ref name="GL93">{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|p=93}}.</ref> ], the Persians' commander at Callinicum, was also stripped of his ranks due to his failure to capture any significant fortification. In response to damaging raids on ] by the Lakhmids from 528 to 529, Justinian reorganised the loose network of Arab rulers employed by the Romans under the sole leadership of ] leader ], who was raised to the rank of ].<ref>Greg Fisher, Rome, Persia, and Arabia: shaping the Middle East from Pompey to Muhammad, 2019, London, pp. 114–115</ref> Such reform mirrored the more centralised approach of Persia, whose own Arabic clients had been organised under Lakhmid leader ].
In 530, Belisarius led the Romans to victory over a much larger Persian force under Perozes at the ], while Sittas and Dorotheus defeated a Persian army under Mihr-Mihroe at the ]. In 531, Belisarius was defeated by Persian and Lakhmid forces at the ] but during the summer, the Romans captured some forts in Armenia and repulsed a Persian offensive.<ref name="GL92-96">{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|pp=92–96}}.</ref> The Roman failure at Callinicum was followed by a commission of inquiry; Belisarius was dismissed from his post.<ref name="GL93">{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|p=93}}.</ref> ], the Persians' commander at Callinicum, was also stripped of his ranks due to his failure to capture any significant fortification.


==Truce== ==Truce==
Justinian's envoy, Hermogenes, visited Kavadh immediately after the Battle of Callinicum to re-open negotiations but without success.<ref name="GL93" /> Justinian took steps to bolster the Roman position, trying, at the same time, to engage Kavadh diplomatically. Justinian tried to make an alliance with the ] of Ethiopia and the ] of Yemen against the Persians but his alliance proposal failed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Sidney |title=Events in Arabia in the 6th Century A. D. |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |date=1954 |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=425–468 |jstor=608617 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00086791}}</ref> The Persians conducted the ] but abandoned it as Kavadh died shortly afterwards and in spring 532, new negotiations began between the Roman envoys and the new Persian king, Khosrow I, who needed to devote his attention to securing his position. The two sides finally came to an agreement and the ], which lasted less than eight years, was signed in September 532. Both sides agreed to return all occupied territories and the Romans to make a one-off payment of 110 ''centenaria'' (11,000 pounds 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|pp=96–97}}.</ref> Justinian's envoy, Hermogenes, visited Kavadh to re-open negotiations but without success.<ref name="GL93" /> Justinian tried to form an alliance with the ] of Ethiopia and the ] of Yemen against the Persians but his alliance proposal failed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Sidney |title=Events in Arabia in the 6th Century A.D. |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |date=1954 |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=425–468 |jstor=608617 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00086791|s2cid=163004552 }}</ref> The Persians conducted the ] but abandoned it as Kavadh died shortly afterwards.

In spring 532 negotiations progressed after the succession of King Khosrow I, who needed to devote attention to domestic threats.<ref>{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|pp=96–97}}</ref> Justinian too favoured an early end to the war, potentially viewing dynastic instability in Vandalic Africa and Ostrogothic Italy as encouragement to reallocate Roman forces in the east towards the western Mediterranean.<ref>Peter Sarris, Empires of faith: the fall of Rome to the rise of Islam 500–700, 2006, Oxford, p.145</ref> Negotiations concluded with the agreement of Eternal Peace, whereby all territories seized during the war by either side were returned and the Dux of eastern forces moved from Dara to Constantia.<ref>{{harvnb|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|p=96}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
* ]
* ] * ]


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|2}} {{reflist}}


==Sources== ==Sources==
* {{cite book|last=Barker|first=John W.|title=Justinian and the Later Roman Empire|year=1966|location=Madison|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|isbn=978-0-29-903944-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LiJljEXvwAoC}} * {{cite book|last=Barker|first=John W.|title=Justinian and the Later Roman Empire|year=1966|location=Madison|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|isbn=978-0-29-903944-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LiJljEXvwAoC}}
* {{cite book|last1=Greatrex|first1=Geoffrey|last2=Lieu|first2=Samuel N. C.|title=The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (Part II, 363–630 AD)|year=2002|location=New York and London|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-14687-6|pages=82–97|chapter=Justinian's First Persian War and the Eternal Peace|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zoZIxpQ8A2IC}} * {{cite book|last1=Greatrex|first1=Geoffrey|last2=Lieu|first2=Samuel N. C.|title=The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (Part II, 363–630 AD)|year=2002|location=New York and London|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-14687-6|pages=82–97|chapter=Justinian's First Persian War and the Eternal Peace|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zoZIxpQ8A2IC}}
* {{cite book | last = Fisher| first = Greg | title = Rome, Persia, and Arabia: shaping the Middle East from Pompey to Muhammad | year = 2019| location=London | publisher=Routledge | isbn=9780429356483 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=n3zADwAAQBAJ }}
* {{cite book |last=Hughes |first=Ian |date=2009 |title=Belisarius: The Last Roman General|location=South Yorkshire |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |isbn=9781844158331}} * {{cite book |last=Hughes |first=Ian |date=2009 |title=Belisarius: The Last Roman General|location=South Yorkshire |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |isbn=9781844158331}}
* {{cite book | last = Neusner | first = Jacob | author-link = Jacob Neusner | title = A History of the Jews in Babylonia, Part 5. Later Sasanian Times | year = 1970 | publisher = Brill | isbn = 978-90-04-50893-4 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=t4x6EAAAQBAJ }}
* {{cite book |last=Sarris |first=Peter|date=2011|title=Empires of Faith: The Fall of Rome to the Rise of Islam, 500–700|location=Oxford | publisher = Oxford University Press |isbn=9780191620027 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d6OMefsyv_EC }}


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Latest revision as of 15:46, 29 December 2024

6th-century conflict between the Byzantine and Sassanid empires

Iberian War
Part of the Byzantine–Sasanian Wars

The Roman-Persian frontier in the 4th to 7th centuries
Date526–532 AD
LocationIberia, Transcaucasus, Upper Mesopotamia
Result

Inconclusive

Belligerents

Byzantine Empire

Sasanian Empire

Commanders and leaders
Justin I
Justinian I
Belisarius
Sittas
Gregory
Hermogenes
Pharas
John of Lydia
Sunicas
Tzath I of Lazica
Jabalah IV ibn al-Harith †
Al-Harith ibn Jabalah
Dorotheus
Domnentiolus (POW)
Al-Harith of Kinda †
Aïgan
Simmas
Ascan		 Kavadh I
Perozes
Xerxes
Azarethes
Bawi
Mihr-Mihroe
Chanaranges
Baresmanas †
Pityaxes
Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man
Aratius
Iberian War
Roman–Persian Wars
Roman–Parthian Wars

Roman–Sasanian wars

Byzantine–Sasanian Wars

Wars of Justinian I
Iberian War
Vandalic War and Moorish Wars
Gothic War
Sasanian war of 540–562

Lazic War

Other

The Iberian War was fought from 526 to 532 between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire over the eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia—a Sasanian client state that defected to the Byzantines. Conflict erupted among tensions over tribute and the spice trade.

The Sasanians maintained the upper hand until 530 but the Byzantines recovered their position in battles at Dara and Satala while their Ghassanid allies defeated the Sasanian-aligned Lakhmids. A Sasanian victory at Callinicum in 531 continued the war for another year until the empires signed the "Perpetual Peace".

Origin

After the Anastasian War, a seven-year truce was agreed on, yet it lasted for nearly twenty years. Even during the war in 505, Emperor Anastasius I had already started fortifying Dara as a counter to the Persian fortress city of Nisibis for a looming conflict. During the reign of Justin I, investment in fortification efforts were increased in Dara.

Fearing the security of his succession, the elderly Kavadh I (r. 488–531) proposed the adoption of his favoured son Khosrow I by the Emperor Justin I. Whilst initially optimistic of the proposal, Procopius writes that Justin's quaestor Proklos advised against an adoption out of a fear that Khosrow could use it as pretext to claim the Roman Empire. Justin would instead request a barbarian adoption, by an attire of arms, which would offend Khosrow.

Tensions in the region were compounded by religious affiliations. Lazica, a Christian Kingdom typically allied with the Persians, converted to Christianity and shifted allegiances to the Romans. Their king symbolically adopted Emperor Justin as his godfather. This shift motivated other Christian kingdoms in the Caucasus, such as Iberia, to defect from Persia.

According to Procopius, Kavadh I tried to force the Christian Iberians to become Zoroastrians, and in 523, under the leadership of Gourgen, they rose in revolt against Persia, following the example of the neighboring Christian kingdom of Lazica. Gourgen received pledges by Justin I that he would defend Iberia. Procopius consistently uses religious motifs, contrasting the Zoroastrian Persian's barbarism with the Christian Roman's civility.

As part of his strategic consolidation of power in the East, Justinian further solidified border defences, incorporating Armenian provinces into the empire and stationing Roman garrisons in the area. Additionally, he aligned pro-Roman Arab clans under the Christian Jafnid Clan, whose leader was appointed king, providing a buffer zone between Rome and Persia.

War

Violence escalated at various points where the power of the two empires met: in 525 a Roman fleet transported an Aksumite army to conquer Himyarite Yemen and in 525–526, Persia's Arab allies, the Lakhmids, raided Roman territories on the edge of the desert. The Romans were interested in gaining influence in Yemen to protect Christian interests there (see Christian community of Najran) as well as to dominate the spice and silk trade routes to India which were under Persian control.

By 526–527, overt fighting between the two empires had broken out in the Transcaucasus region and upper Mesopotamia. Following the emperor Justin I's death in 527, Justinian I acceded to the imperial throne. 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 failed and forces attempting to fortify Thannuris and Melabasa were prevented from doing so by Persian attacks.

In 528, the Persians pressed on from Iberia to capture forts in eastern Lazica. Attempting to remedy the deficiencies revealed by these Persian successes, Justinian reorganised the eastern armies by dividing the command of the magister militum of the East in two and appointing a separate magister militum of Armenia over the northern portion. Belisarius's forces were defeated by Xerxes during the battle of Thannuris and he had to retreat to Dara.

In response to damaging raids on Syria by the Lakhmids from 528 to 529, Justinian reorganised the loose network of Arab rulers employed by the Romans under the sole leadership of Ghassanid leader Al-Harith ibn Jabalah, who was raised to the rank of Vir gloriosus. Such reform mirrored the more centralised approach of Persia, whose own Arabic clients had been organised under Lakhmid leader Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man.

In 530, Belisarius led the Romans to victory over a much larger Persian force under Perozes at the Battle of Dara, while Sittas and Dorotheus defeated a Persian army under Mihr-Mihroe at the Battle of Satala. In 531, Belisarius was defeated by Persian and Lakhmid forces at the Battle of Callinicum but during the summer, the Romans captured some forts in Armenia and repulsed a Persian offensive. The Roman failure at Callinicum was followed by a commission of inquiry; Belisarius was dismissed from his post. Azarethes, the Persians' commander at Callinicum, was also stripped of his ranks due to his failure to capture any significant fortification.

Truce

Justinian's envoy, Hermogenes, visited Kavadh to re-open negotiations but without success. Justinian tried to form an alliance with the Axumites of Ethiopia and the Himyarites of Yemen against the Persians but his alliance proposal failed. The Persians conducted the Siege of Martyropolis but abandoned it as Kavadh died shortly afterwards.

In spring 532 negotiations progressed after the succession of King Khosrow I, who needed to devote attention to domestic threats. Justinian too favoured an early end to the war, potentially viewing dynastic instability in Vandalic Africa and Ostrogothic Italy as encouragement to reallocate Roman forces in the east towards the western Mediterranean. Negotiations concluded with the agreement of Eternal Peace, whereby all territories seized during the war by either side were returned and the Dux of eastern forces moved from Dara to Constantia.

See also

References

  1. Neusner 1970, pp. 76–77.
  2. Greatrex & Lieu 2002, pp. 96–97.
  3. Barker 1966, p. 118.
  4. "Sasanian Dynasty – Encyclopaedia Iranica". www.iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  5. Sarris, Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint, 2023, p.98
  6. Greatrex & Lieu 2002, pp. 81–82.
  7. Procopius, Wars, 1.11.22–30
  8. John Malalas, Chronicle, 17.9
  9. Borgeraze, A. (2012). "Revolt of Gourgen". Georgia (in Georgian). Vol. II. Tbilisi. pp. 211–212.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. Greatrex & Lieu 2002, p. 82.
  11. Frendo, David (1997). "The Religious Factor in Byzantine-Iranian Relations". Bulletin of the Asia Institute. 11: 105–122. JSTOR 24049116.
  12. Sarris, Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint, 2023, p. 100
  13. Procopius, Wars, 1.17. 46–48.
  14. Magill, Frank N. (2012). The Middle Ages: Dictionary of World Biography. Routledge. p. 560b. ISBN 9781136593130.
  15. Greatrex & Lieu 2002, p. 84.
  16. Greatrex & Lieu 2002, p. 85.
  17. Greatrex & Lieu 2002, p. 83.
  18. Conor Whately, Battles and Generals: Combat, Culture, and Didacticism in Procopius, 2006, Netherlands, p.238
  19. Greg Fisher, Rome, Persia, and Arabia: shaping the Middle East from Pompey to Muhammad, 2019, London, pp. 114–115
  20. Greatrex & Lieu 2002, pp. 92–96.
  21. ^ Greatrex & Lieu 2002, p. 93.
  22. Smith, Sidney (1954). "Events in Arabia in the 6th Century A.D.". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 16 (3): 425–468. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00086791. JSTOR 608617. S2CID 163004552.
  23. Greatrex & Lieu 2002, pp. 96–97
  24. Peter Sarris, Empires of faith: the fall of Rome to the rise of Islam 500–700, 2006, Oxford, p.145
  25. Greatrex & Lieu 2002, p. 96

Sources

Invasions of Georgia
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