Battle of Melitene

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Battle of Soldachon
date 575 or 576
place Melitene , today's Turkey
output Roman victory
consequences End of the Persian advance
Parties to the conflict

East stream

Sassanids

Commander

Justinian

Chosrau I.

Troop strength
unknown unknown
losses

unknown

unknown

The battle of Melitene in 575 ( 576 according to other sources ) marked an important victory for the Eastern Roman Empire over the Persian Sassanids in the long series of wars that the two great powers of late antiquity fought against each other (see Roman-Persian Wars ).

prehistory

In 572 another war broke out between the Romans and the Sassanids. The offensive of the imperial troops quickly stalled, and in the years before the battle the Persians under their important King Chosrau I had succeeded in conquering northern Mesopotamia, including the important fortress Dara . The situation became so serious for Ostrom that it is reported that Emperor Justin II went mad over it. Empress Sophia decided to appoint Tiberius Constantinus as junior emperor ( Caesar ), who launched a counterattack in 575. At Melitene on the Euphrates , the imperial general Justinian (a relative of Justin II) achieved an important victory over the Persians.

The battle

The already aged Persian king Chosrau I , who was present himself and who had probably intended to march on Caesarea in Cappadocia , was captured by Eastern Roman troops on the way and then tried to break through to Melitene (towards the Euphrates). At the river crossing, however, the Persian army was taken by surprise by the Romans, and Chosrau found it difficult to escape. It was apparently the worst Persian defeat against the Romans in a long time.

Some Roman authors even report that Chosrau decreed after the battle that the great kings should no longer go to war themselves (or only under special conditions); and in fact, in contrast to previous rulers, his two successors went into battle themselves only in exceptional cases.

consequences

The magister militum per Orientem Justinian sent rich booty, including 24 war elephants, to Constantinople, where Caesar presented them to the population in a "triumph". Although the battle gave impetus to the Romans and was apparently taken as a shock on the Persian side, it did not bring the war to an end, but only brought the Sassanid advance to a standstill. From then on, there was a stalemate until the end of the war in 591.

Some historians (e.g. Michael Whitby ) suspect that the Roman sources have exaggerated the importance of the battle: in truth, the imperial troops only fell into the hands of the Persian troops in a minor rearguard battle, and in view of this impressive booty and the Victory celebration in Constantinople would have authors like Euagrios wrongly concluded that a previous great battle had occurred. It is unclear whether this is the case. What is certain, however, is that the success raised the morale of the Roman troops, which had been at a low point after the defeats of the past few years, and that Chosrau soon afterwards expressed readiness for peace - his death in 579, however, prevented a successful conclusion of the negotiations.

The most important sources for the battle are John of Ephesus ( Church history , 3rd part, 6,8f.), Euagrios Scholastikos ( Church history , 5,14), Theophylactos Simokates ( Historien , 3,12ff.) And Johannes von Biclaro ( Chronicle , sub anno 575).

literature

  • Geoffrey B. Greatrex , Samuel NC Lieu: The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars. Part II AD 363-630. A narrative sourcebook. London and New York 2002, pp. 153ff.
  • Michael Whitby: The Emperor Maurice and his Historian - Theophylact Simocatta on Persian and Balkan Warfare. Oxford 1988, p. 262ff.
  • Michael Whitby: The Persian King at War. In: Edward Dabrowa (Ed.): The Roman and Byzantine Army in the East. Krakau 1994, pp. 227-263.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Cf. Euagrios Scholastikos 5:14.
  2. ↑ See Michael Whitby: The Persian King at War. In: Edward Dabrowa (Ed.): The Roman and Byzantine Army in the East. Krakau 1994, pp. 227-263, here pp. 227f .; Michael Whitby: The Emperor Maurice and his Historian - Theophylact Simocatta on Persian and Balkan Warfare. Oxford 1988, pp. 266f.
  3. ^ Michael Whitby: The Emperor Maurice and his Historian - Theophylact Simocatta on Persian and Balkan Warfare. Oxford 1988, pp. 265f.