 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(June 2024) |
| Belisarius' invasion of Mesopotamia of 541 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Roman-Persian Wars | |||||
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
| Byzantine Empire | Sasanian Empire | ||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
| Belisarius | Khosrow I | ||||
| Strength | |||||
| Possibly at least 6,000 men (according to Procopius) | Possibly more men | ||||
In 541, General Belisarius of the Byzantine Empire led a counter-offensive in Persian territory into Mesopotamia, as part of a counter-offensive against the Persian King Khosrow I's prior invasion of the Roman East in 540. [1] Upon his arrival in the East, Belisarius quickly instilled order in his army and joined Buzes and the Army of Armenia. After a failed engagement at Nisibis, Belisarius moved past the well-fortified city but managed to capture and destroy the walled town of Sisauranon. Belisarius then proceeded to dispatch his Ghassanid Arab allies to conduct a successful raid on Persian land across the Tigris. [2]
In response to another Persian invasion in 542, Belisarius took 6,000 of his best men with hunting equipment with him. In the eyes of the possibly larger Persian force, it looked like a small hunting party which would later result into baiting the Sasanian army into thinking a larger Roman army was behind the smaller Roman force. The Persians were fooled by the ruse and they retreated, not wanting to face a possibly larger Roman force within Roman territory. [3]
