Battle of Satala (530)

This article deals with the Eastern Roman victory over the Sassanids in the 6th century AD. For the battle in the 3rd century see Battle of Satala (297) .

Battle of Callinicum

Part of: Roman-Persian Wars

Map of the Roman-Persian border

date	Summer 530
place	Satala , Roman Armenia
output	Eastern Roman victory

Parties to the conflict
Eastern Roman Empire	Sassanid Empire
Commander
Sittas , Dorotheus (army master)	Mihr-Mihroe
Troop strength
15,000 cavalry	30,000 cavalry
losses
Low	High

The Battle of Satala was fought between the armies of the Eastern Roman Empire and the Persian Sassanid Empire in the summer of 530 near the village of Satala in Eastern Roman Armenia . The Persian army was approaching the city to besiege it when it was attacked in the flank by a smaller Eastern Roman army. The Persians turned to face the danger, but were then attacked again in the rear by the garrison in Satala. A targeted attack by an Eastern Roman unit led to the loss of the Persian general's banner, which caused the Persians to flee in panic.

background

In the spring of 530 the Persian attack on the Roman province of Mesopotamia ended in defeat in the Battle of Dara . At the same time, however, the Persians gained the upper hand in the Caucasus after subjugating Caucasian Iberia and attacking Lasika . The Persian Shah, Kavadh I (reign 488-531) decided to take advantage of the advantageous location and send an army to Armenia, which was ruled by the Eastern Romans. For this task he chose General Mihr-Mihroe (Mermeroes).

Mihr-Mihroe began to concentrate his troops near the eastern Roman border fortress Theodosiopolis . According to Prokopios of Caesarea , his army consisted largely of Pers-Armenians and Sunitae from what is now the North Caucasus, as well as 3,000 Sabirs . The Eastern Roman commanders were Sittas ( Greek  Σίττας ), who had just been promoted from magister militum per Armeniam to magister militum praesentalis , and his successor in the former post Dorotheus . As soon as the news of the Persian war preparations reached them, they sent two of their guards to espionage into enemy territory. One was captured, but the other returned and provided the Eastern Romans with clues so that they could attempt an attack on the Persian camp. The Persian army was wiped out with minor losses, and the Eastern Romans returned to their camp after looting the camp.

battle

As soon as Mihr-Mihroe had mustered his entire army, he invaded eastern Roman territory. Bypassing Theodosiopolis, he marched to Satala and set up camp within reach of the walls. The Eastern Roman troops, according to Prokopios about half as strong as the Persian, evaded him. Sittas occupied the hills around the city with a few thousand men, while most of the Eastern Roman army with Dorotheus remained within the ramparts.

The next day the Persians advanced and began to encircle the city and start a siege. At this point, Sittas and his men stormed out of the hills. The Persians, who mistakenly believed Sittas and his men to be the main eastern Roman armed forces because of the large amount of dust that had been blown up, quickly rallied and waved towards the attackers. Dorotheus then ordered his men to attack the new Persian flank. Despite their poor tactical situation, the Persian army continued to resist because of their numerical superiority. But then an Eastern Roman captain, Florentius the Thracian, attacked the Persian center with his unit and managed to conquer the standard of Mihr-Mihroe. Although he was killed a little later, the loss of the banner caused great panic in the Persian ranks. The Persian army began to withdraw to their camp.

Aftermath

The next day the Persian army withdrew to Persarmenia (Nor-Shirakan), undisturbed by the Eastern Romans, who were satisfied with their victory over the numerically vastly superior army. This victory was a great success for the Eastern Roman Empire and caused some Armenian nobles to switch to the side of the empire (e.g. that of the brothers Narses, Aratius and Isaac). In addition, the Eastern Romans succeeded in taking some important fortresses such as Bolum and Pharangium . Negotiations between Persia and the Eastern Roman Empire resumed shortly after the battle, but yielded no result, and in the spring of 531 the war flared up again with a new Persian campaign that led to the Battle of Callinicum .

Remarks

1. ↑ Greatrex & Lieu (2002), pp. 88-91
2. ↑ Prokopios, Historien , 1, 15,1-2
3. ↑ Prokopios, Historien , 1,15,3-8
4. ↑ Greatrex & Lieu (2002), p. 91
5. ↑ Procopius, histories , 1,15,9-11
6. ↑ Prokopios, Historien , 1,15,10-13
7. ↑ Prokopios, Historien , 1,15,14-16
8. ↑ Greatrex & Lieu (2002), pp. 91-92

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, ISBN 0-415-14687-9 .