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Revision as of 12:20, 1 March 2008 by Ariobarza (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Battle of Opis | |||||||||
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| Part of the Wars of Cyrus the Great | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Neo-Babylonian Empire | Achaemenid Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Belshazzar unknown others |
Cyrus the Great, Gubaru | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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Unknown, 10,000 to 30,000 civilians | Light | ||||||||
| Campaigns of Cyrus the Great | |
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| Battles against the Satraps
Invasion of Anatolia Invasion of Babylonia |
The Battle of Opis, was the second and final engagement, after the one which was somewhere in February, was between Cyrus the Great of Persia, and Nabonidus of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, eventhough his son fought it. As the gateway to the Babylonian heartland, Cyrus had to go through Opis and the Babylonian king, Nabonidus, knew it. In anticipation of Cyrus's arrival, Nabonidus had stationed the bulk of his army at Opis under the command of his son, Belshazzar and had the bridge, leading to Opis, destroyed. So Cyrus built a pontoon bridge, and, after crossing the river, laid siege to Opis' defensive "Median Walls." After a ferocious battle, the forces of Cyrus captured Opis. And in some accounts, he or Nabonidus slaughtered the people of Akkad for their confusing stance in the battle. As some historians say they were not sure who to fight, because Gubaru was Babylonian, it is likely they were confusingly killing troops from both sides of the battle.
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