Battle of Nisibis (541)

Battle of Nisibis
	Part of Belisarius invasion of Mesopotamia in 541
Date	541 AD
Location	Nisibis, Sasanian Empire ; (modern-day Nusaybin, Mardin, Turkey) 37°04′31″N41°12′57″E / 37.0753°N 41.2157°E
Result	Sasanian victory
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire ; Goths ; Ghassanids	Sasanian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Belisarius ; Peter ; John Troglita ; Bouzes?	Khosrow I ; Nabedes
Strength
Unknown	Unknown, but outnumbered
Casualties and losses
50 men; Standard of Peter	150 men

Last updated May 19, 2024

The Battle of Nisibis was fought between Byzantine forces under Belisarius and Peter and the Sassanian garrison of the frontier fortress of Nisibis that was under Nabedes. It took place while the Sassanian king Khosrow I was invading the Roman base in Lazica. It was part of a Byzantine offensive led by Belisarius into Persian land. Upon arriving in the area, Belisarius stationed his troops a significant distance away from the fortified city. He hoped to drag the Sasanian garrison into a battle far from the city walls, and after defeating them, capture the undefended city, which seemed impregnable otherwise. The Byzantine commander Peter stationed his forces, together with those of John Troglita who was associated with him, closer to the city. Belisarius warned Peter that since the Byzantines did not normally eat until midday the garrison would sally out then so the Byzantines would have to fight while hungry. Peter ignored this and at midday, his man dispersed to eat. When the Sassanians sallied out his disorganized unit was routed losing 50 men and Peter's standard. He immediately called on Belisarius for help. When the message reached Belisarius he had already seen the dust clouds produced by the Sassanian sally and was well on his way. Despite the garrison being overwhelmed by the larger Byzantine army, they suffered only 150 casualties as they quickly retreated to the city, exactly what Belisarius had sought to avoid.^[1]^[2]

Aftermath

Recognising Nobades would not leave the city again out of fear for another such engagement Belisarius could now bypass the city as its garrison would not attack him in the rear.^[1] After an assault of Sisauranon failed he sent troops to raid rich normally safe Persian territory across the Tigris.^[1] After procuring much wealth from the area the Byzantine raiding forces split up and went home as some were afraid Belisarius would take their loot.^[1] Belisarius wanted to return home too as to avoid being surprised by the arrival of Persian forces under Khosrow.^[1] Procopius later claimed this because of Belisarius wanting to confront his wife Antonina, whose lover his troops had imprisoned, as soon as possible about her affair.^[1] Claiming that Belisarius could have reached Ctesiphon as the path remained undefended.^[1] This argument is flawed however as the same information of the disposition of Persian troops had not been available to Belisarius at that time.^[1]

Related Research Articles

Khosrow I, traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan, was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 531 to 579. He was the son and successor of Kavad I.

The Battle of Dara was fought between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanians in 530 AD. It was one of the battles of the Iberian War.

The Gothic War between the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Emperor Justinian I and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy took place from 535 to 554 in the Italian Peninsula, Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily and Corsica. It was one of the last of the many Gothic Wars against the Roman Empire. The war had its roots in the ambition of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I to recover the provinces of the former Western Roman Empire, which the Romans had lost to invading barbarian tribes in the previous century, during the Migration Period.

The Roman–Persian Wars, also known as the Roman–Iranian Wars, were a series of conflicts between states of the Greco-Roman world and two successive Iranian empires: the Parthian and the Sasanian. Battles between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Republic began in 54 BC; wars began under the late Republic, and continued through the Roman and Sasanian empires. A plethora of vassal kingdoms and allied nomadic nations in the form of buffer states and proxies also played a role. The wars were ended by the early Muslim conquests, which led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire and huge territorial losses for the Byzantine Empire, shortly after the end of the last war between them.

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 Sasanian Empire or Sassanid Empire, sometimes referred to Second Persian Empire or Neo-Persian Empire, officially known as Eranshahr, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th to 8th centuries. Named after the House of Sasan, it endured for over four centuries, from 224 to 651, making it the second longest-lived Persian imperial dynasty after the Arsacids of the Parthian Empire.

The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591 was a war fought between the Sasanian Empire of Persia and the Byzantine Empire. It was triggered by pro-Byzantine revolts in areas of the Caucasus under Persian hegemony, although other events also contributed to its outbreak. The fighting was largely confined to the southern Caucasus and Mesopotamia, although it also extended into eastern Anatolia, Syria, and northern Iran. It was part of an intense sequence of wars between these two empires which occupied the majority of the 6th and early 7th centuries. It was also the last of the many wars between them to follow a pattern in which fighting was largely confined to frontier provinces and neither side achieved any lasting occupation of enemy territory beyond this border zone. It preceded a much more wide-ranging and dramatic final conflict in the early 7th century.

The Anastasian War was fought from 502 to 506 between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire. It was the first major conflict between the two powers since 440, and would be the prelude to a long series of destructive conflicts between the two empires over the next century.

Belisarius was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. Belisarius was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean territory belonging to the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century prior. Belisarius is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history and the greatest of all Byzantine generals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byzantine Empire under the Justinian dynasty</span> Period of Eastern Roman (Byzantine) history from 518 to 602

The Byzantine Empire underwent a golden age under the Justinian dynasty, beginning in 518 AD with the accession of Justin I. Under the Justinian dynasty, particularly the reign of Justinian I, the empire reached its greatest territorial extent since the fall of its Western counterpart, reincorporating North Africa, southern Illyria, southern Spain, and Italy into the empire. The Justinian dynasty ended in 602 with the deposition of Maurice and the ascension of his successor, Phocas.

The Paygān were the conscript light infantry unit within the Sasanian army and formed the bulk of its infantry force.

Bessas was an Eastern Roman general of Gothic origin from Thrace, primarily known for his career in the wars of Justinian I. He distinguished himself against the Sassanid Persians in the Iberian War and under the command of Belisarius in the Gothic War, but after Belisarius' departure from Italy he failed to confront the resurgent Goths and was largely responsible for the loss of Rome in 546. Returning east in disgrace, despite his advanced age he was appointed as commander in the Lazic War. There he redeemed himself with the recapture of Petra, but his subsequent idleness led Justinian to dismiss him and exile him to Abasgia.

Arbāyistān or Beth Arabaye was a Sasanian province in Late Antiquity. Due to its situation and its road systems, the province was a source of income from commercial traffic, as well as a constant area of contention during the Roman–Persian Wars.

The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty is the name used for the Persian dynasty which lasted from 224 to 651 AD.

A siege of Martyropolis occurred in Autumn of 531 during the Iberian War between the Sasanian Empire under Kavadh I and Byzantine Empire under Justinian I.

The Battle of Anglon took place in 543 AD, during the Byzantine invasion of Sasanian-ruled Armenia ("Persarmenia").

The siege of Auximus was a siege during Justinian’s Gothic War which took place in the year 539. It ended with Belisarius’ Byzantine force victorious. The Gothic garrison surrendered the town and joined the Byzantines after negotiations. The siege lasted 7 months.

The history of the Later Roman Empire covers the history of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the rule of Diocletian in 284 AD and the establishment of the Tetrarchy in 293 AD by Diocletian to the death of Heraclius in 641 AD.

The siege of Sisauranon took place in 541 between Byzantine forces under Belisarius and the Sassanian garrison of the Sisauranon fortress under Bleschames.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hughes, Ian (Historian) (2009). Belisarius : the last Roman general . Yardley, Pa.: Westholme. ISBN 9781594160851. OCLC 294885267.
↑ The Wars of Justinian. Hackett Publishing. 2014. pp. 110–113. ISBN 978-1-62466-172-3.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hughes, Ian (Historian) (2009). Belisarius : the last Roman general . Yardley, Pa.: Westholme. ISBN 9781594160851. OCLC 294885267.

[2] The Wars of Justinian. Hackett Publishing. 2014. pp. 110–113. ISBN 978-1-62466-172-3.

[1]

[2]