Mihr-Mihroe's campaign of 554 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Lazic War | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Sasanian Empire | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Mihr-Mihroe | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
Large force | Smaller force |
The assault on Telephis and Ollaria occurred in 553 during the Lazic War between the Sasanian Empire and the Byzantine Empire.
As the Byzantine position was strengthened by fresh forces, the Sasanian commander Mihr-Mihroe took the initiative and dislodged the Byzantine forces in a surprise offensive westward to the Nesos "island".
The primary source of this conflict is the Byzantine historian Agathias, who seems to have had access to the reports of the inquiry into the defeat. [1]
The Byzantines had reinforced the region with a large force under the generals Martin, Bessas, and Bouzes, accompanied by Justin, son of Germanus. Martin stationed at a frontier stronghold guarding a strategic narrow pass at Telephis, while Bessas and Justin stationed nearby at Ollaria. The Sasanian general Mihr-Mihroe had stationed nearby at Kutais. Knowing that he could not defeat the Byzantine force right away, he reportedly spread disinformation by rumoring about himself being critically ill, which caused the Byzantine forces to relax their defenses (he actually died of illness afterward; see below). The following Sasanian assault caused a general retreat of the Byzantines at Telephis, and later Ollaria, westward as far as the stronghold at Nesos "island" [2] [3] (perhaps the Tekhuri–Abasha). [4] Mihr-Mihroe was not able to follow up the victory due to supply problems and lack of siege equipment and retreated to Mocheresis, reinforcing his strategic garrison at Onoguris on his way, and died of illness shortly afterward. [5] [6]
The Lazic king Gubazes soon protested to Justinian about the incompetence of the Byzantine generals, who dismissed some of them.
The Byzantine generals under Martin attempted to capture Onoguris but were defeated by a small relief force under Nachoragan who had just succeeded general Mihr-Mihroe.
The Sabirs were a nomadic Turkic equestrian people who lived in the north of the Caucasus beginning in the late-5th–7th century, on the eastern shores of the Black Sea, in the Kuban area, and possibly came from Western Siberia. They were skilled in warfare, used siege machinery, had a large army and were boat-builders. They were also referred to as Huns, a title applied to various Eurasian nomadic tribes in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe during late antiquity. Sabirs led incursions into Transcaucasia in the late-400s/early-500s, but quickly began serving as soldiers and mercenaries during the Byzantine–Sasanian Wars on both sides. Their alliance with the Byzantines laid the basis for the later Khazar-Byzantine alliance.
The Lazic War, also known as the Colchidian War or in Georgian historiography as the Great War of Egrisi, was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire for control of the ancient Georgian region of Lazica. The Lazic War lasted for twenty years, from 541 to 562, and ended with the Fifty-Year Peace Treaty, which obligated the Byzantine Empire to pay tribute to Persia each year for the recognition of Lazica as a Byzantine vassal state by Persians. The Lazic War is narrated in detail in the works of Procopius and Agathias.
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 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.
Flavius Mar. Petrus Theodorus Valentinus Rusticius Boraides Germanus Iustinus, simply and commonly known as Justin, was an Eastern Roman aristocrat and general. A member of the Justinian Dynasty and nephew of Emperor Justinian I, he was appointed as one of the last Roman consuls in 540, before going on to assume senior military commands in the Balkans and in Lazica. He fought against the Slavs, the Sassanid Persians and supervised the Byzantine Empire's first contacts with the Avars. At the time of Justinian's death, he was seen as a probable successor, but was beaten to the throne by his cousin, Justin II, who exiled him to Egypt, where he was murdered.
Shahraplakan, rendered Sarablangas (Σαραβλαγγᾶς) in Greek sources, was a Sassanid Persian general (spahbed) who participated in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 and the Third Perso-Turkic War.
Gubazes II was king of Lazica from circa 541 until his assassination in 555. He was one of the central personalities of the Lazic War (541–562). He originally ascended the throne as a vassal of the Byzantine Empire, but the heavy-handed actions of the Byzantine authorities led him to seek the assistance of Byzantium's main rival, Sassanid Persia. The Byzantines were evicted from Lazica with the aid of a Persian army in 541, but the Persian occupation of the country turned out to be worse, and by 548, Gubazes was requesting assistance from Byzantium. Gubazes remained a Byzantine ally during the next few years, as the two empires fought for control of Lazica, with the fortress of Petra as the focal point of the struggle. Gubazes eventually quarrelled with the Byzantine generals over the fruitless continuation of the war, and was assassinated by them.
Mihr-Mihroe, in Middle Persian either Mihr-Mihrōē or Mihrmāh-rōy; in Byzantine sources Mermeroes, was a 6th-century Sasanian general, and one of the leading commanders of the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars of the time.
The Battle of Satala was fought between the forces of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire and the Sassanid (Persian) Empire in summer 530, near Satala in Byzantine Armenia. The Persian army approached the city to lay siege, when it was attacked in the rear by a small Byzantine force. The Persians turned back to meet them, but were then attacked by the main army from inside the city. A determined attack by a Byzantine unit led to the loss of the Persian general's flag, causing the panicking Persians to retreat.
The siege of Phasis took place in 555–556 during the Lazic War between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires. Expecting an easy victory, the Persians besieged the town of Phasis in Lazica, held by the Byzantines, but were defeated in the ensuing irregular battle. The main source for the siege is the 6th-century historian Agathias.
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.
Bawi was a Sasanian military officer from the Ispahbudhan family who was involved in the Anastasian War and the Iberian War between the Sasanian and Byzantine Empire. He is also known as Aspebedes, which is a corruption of the title spahbed.
Fariburz, known in Byzantine sources as Phabrizus, was a 6th-century Iranian military officer from the Mihran family, who served under the Sasanian king Khosrau I.
The siege of Petra took place in 549 when the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, under Emperor Justinian I, besieged the strategic fortress of Petra in Lazica, held by the Sasanians. Petra's garrison took heavy casualties, but it stood firm until the arrival of a strong army under Mihr-Mihroe relieved the siege.
A siege of Martyropolis occurred in the Autumn of 531 during the Iberian War between the Sasanian Empire under Kavadh I and the Byzantine Empire under Justinian I.
Naved, Nabed, Nahbed, Nabedes, or Nobades was a Sasanian military commander during the reign of Khosrow I.
Martin or Martinus was a Byzantine general of Thracian origin who served the Byzantine army during the reign of emperor Justinian I on various fronts.
The siege of Petra was fought in 550 AD, between the Byzantines under general Bessas, and the Sasanian Persian garrison of Petra in the buffer state of Lazica. The strategic fortress had previously been held by the Byzantines before it was seized in 541 by the Sasanian king Khosrow I, and his Lazi allies. This conquest gave the Sassanian Empire access to the Black Sea and marked the beginning of the Lazic War. After a failed attempt to recapture Petra in 549, the Byzantine emperor Justinian I sent an army under Bessas to retake the fortress. The Byzantine historian Procopius described the resulting siege in vivid detail.
The siege of Onoguris occurred in 554 or 555 AD during the Lazic War between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire.
Nachoragan was a commander in the military of the Sasanian Empire recorded in the Lazic War by the Byzantine historians. He succeeded Mihr-Mihroe as the commander of the operations in Lazica after the latter's death. As he took the command, the political situation favored the Sasanians, as the assassination of the Lazic king Gubazes by Byzantine generals had alienated the Lazi. Nachoragan relieved the Siege of Onoguris and subsequently destroyed the Byzantine base at Archaeopolis. In the spring of 556 AD, Nachoragan began a new invasion by attacking Nesus with 60,000 men, where Martin and Justin were positioned. After the rejection of his peace proposals by Martin, Nachoragan besieged Phasis, but was heavily defeated. He then retreated to Kutais, left the command of the Sasanians in Lazica to his subordinate Vaphrizes shortly after, and retired to winter quarters in Iberia.