Battle of Dathin
| date | 634 |
|---|---|
| place | Dathin |
| output | Arab victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Dux Sergius
|
|
Byzantine-Arab Wars
Early battles
Mu'ta - Tabuk - Dathin - Firaz
Arab conquest of the Levant
Qartin - Bosra - Adschnadain - Marj al-Rahit - Fahl - Damascus - Marj ad Dibadsch - Emesa - Yarmouk - Jerusalem - Hazir - Aleppo
Muslim conquest of Egypt
Heliopolis - Alexandria - Nikiou
Umayyad Conquest of North Africa
Sufetula -Vescera - Carthage
Umayyadidische invasion of Anatolia
and Constantinople
Iron Bridge - Germanikeia - 1. Konstantin Opel - Sebastopolis - Tyana - 2. Konstantin Opel - Nicaea - Akroinon
Arabic-Byzantine border war
Kamacha - Kopidnadon - Krasos - Anzen and Amorion - Mauropotamos - Lalakaon - Bathys Ryax
Sicily and Southern Italy
1st Syracuse - 2nd Syracuse - Campaigns of the Maniac
Byzantine counterstrike
Marasch - Raban - Andrassos - Campaigns of Nikephoros Phokas - Campaigns of Johannes Tzimiskes - Orontes - Campaigns of Basil II - Azaz Sea
operations of
Phoinix - Muslim conquest of Crete - Thasos - Damiette - Thessalonike - Byzantine reconquest of Crete
The Battle of Dathin was a minor battle between the Islamic Caliphate and the Christian allies of the Eastern Roman Empire in February 634, which nonetheless found a large echo in contemporary literature. The battle was preceded by an Arab raid on the outskirts of Gaza . The Eastern Roman ( Dux and Candidatus ) Sergius assembled a small contingent of troops (the Eastern Empire was suffering from a troop shortage at the time), it could have been perhaps only 300 soldiers, while the Arab expeditionary army was over a thousand strong and was led by Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan . He led this mounted army from his headquarters in Caesarea Maritima near Gaza (about 125 kilometers). The armies met on February 4, 634 AD near the village of Dathin. The Eastern Romans were defeated and the Candidatus Sergius was killed.
According to the almost contemporary work Doctrina Jacobi nuper baptizati , the local Jews celebrated the Arab victory because they had recently experienced persecution in the Eastern Roman Empire.