|
Azarethes
Azarethes ( el, ), also recorded as Exarath () and Zuraq, was a Sassanid Persian military commander during the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars. His Greek name is possibly a misunderstanding of the honorific title ''hazaraft''. Biography According to the account of Procopius (''De bello Persico'', I.18), Azarethes was placed in command of the Persian army in Mesopotamia after the Persian defeat in the Battle of Dara in 530. Procopius calls him an "exceptionally able warrior", and Zacharias of Mytilene records that he held the rank of ''astabadh''. In 531, together with his Lakhmid allies, he led an invasion across the Euphrates into the Byzantine region of Commagene (more probably Chalybonitis). When the Byzantine army under Belisarius approached, they withdrew east, halting at Callinicum. In the ensuing battle, the Byzantines suffered a heavy defeat, but Persian losses were also so high that the Persian king Kavadh I (r. 488–531) was displeased with him and relieved him of his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Callinicum
The Battle of Callinicum took place on Easter Saturday, 19 April 531 AD, between an army of the Byzantine Empire under Belisarius and a Sasanian cavalry force commanded by Azarethes. After being defeated at the Battle of Dara, the Sasanians moved to invade Roman Syria in an attempt to turn the tide of the war. Belisarius' rapid response foiled the plan, and his troops pushed the Persians to the Syrian border through maneuvering before forcing a battle in which the Sasanians won a Pyrrhic victory. Prelude In April 531 AD, the Persian king Kavadh I sent an army under Azarethes, consisting of a cavalry force numbering about 15,000 Aswaran with an additional 5,000 Lakhmid Arab cavalry under Al-Mundhir, to invade Syria, not through the heavily-fortified frontier cities of Roman Mesopotamia, but through the less conventional but also less-defended route in Commagene in order to capture Syrian cities such as Antioch. The Persian army crossed the frontier at Circesium on the Euphrat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kavadh I
Kavad I ( pal, 𐭪𐭥𐭠𐭲 ; 473 – 13 September 531) was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 488 to 531, with a two or three-year interruption. A son of Peroz I (), he was crowned by the nobles to replace his deposed and unpopular uncle Balash (). Inheriting a declining empire where the authority and status of the Sasanian kings had largely ended, Kavad tried to reorganize his empire by introducing many reforms whose implementation was completed by his son and successor Khosrow I. They were made possible by Kavad's use of the Mazdakite preacher Mazdak leading to a social revolution that weakened the authority of the nobility and the clergy. Because of this, and the execution of the powerful king-maker Sukhra, Kavad was imprisoned in the Castle of Oblivion ending his reign. He was replaced by his brother Jamasp. However, with the aid of his sister and an officer named Siyawush, Kavad and some of his followers fled east to the territory of the Hephthalite king wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Edessa (544)
The siege of Edessa (then known as Justinopolis) occurred in 544 AD during an invasion of the Byzantine Empire ruled by Justinian I by the Sasanian Empire under Khosrow I in the midst of the ongoing Lazic War in the north. The city withstood the fierce siege. Due to the religious nature of the city, some Christian traditions have attributed the result of the conflict to divine intervention. Background In the midst of the initial phase of the Lazic War, Khosrow I was encouraged to invade via the Mesopotamian front. It was the fourth invasion of the Byzantine territory by Khosrow I. Edessa and Dara were the main strongholds of Roman Mesopotamia at the time. The Byzantine historian Procopius has provided an especially detailed account of the siege. The siege After a minor skirmish which ended in a stalemate, the Sasanians offered the Byzantines to buy peace, but the negotiations failed as the Byzantines rejected the condition of giving up all the wealth inside the fortifications.Pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Edessa (544)
The siege of Edessa (then known as Justinopolis) occurred in 544 AD during an invasion of the Byzantine Empire ruled by Justinian I by the Sasanian Empire under Khosrow I in the midst of the ongoing Lazic War in the north. The city withstood the fierce siege. Due to the religious nature of the city, some Christian traditions have attributed the result of the conflict to divine intervention. Background In the midst of the initial phase of the Lazic War, Khosrow I was encouraged to invade via the Mesopotamian front. It was the fourth invasion of the Byzantine territory by Khosrow I. Edessa and Dara were the main strongholds of Roman Mesopotamia at the time. The Byzantine historian Procopius has provided an especially detailed account of the siege. The siege After a minor skirmish which ended in a stalemate, the Sasanians offered the Byzantines to buy peace, but the negotiations failed as the Byzantines rejected the condition of giving up all the wealth inside the fortifications.Pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hazarbed
''Hazārbed'' (Middle Persian: ḥčʾlpt, or ''hazarbadh'', literally "the commander of thousand"), also known as ''hazaruft''/''hazaraft'' (Middle Persian: hz’lwpt; possibly the older/original form), was a Sasanian office which initially functioned as the commander of the royal guard, but later became increasingly equal to that of the ''wuzurg framadar'' (minister). History The title is first attested in the Achaemenid Empire in its Old Persian form, ''hazāra-pati'' (from *''hazāra-'' "thousand" and *''pati-'' "chief"), the commanding officer of the Immortals. The ''hazarbed'' controlled units of guards which were enlisted from royal families of the Sasanian Empire. One of the units that the ''hazarbed'' controlled was the ''pushtigban'' bodyguard, while other times it would be the palace guards (''darigan''), or in some cases other units, such as the 4,000 Daylamite guard which served the last great Sasanian king, Khosrow II (r. 590–628). The ''hazarbed'' was in charge o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belisarius
Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean territory belonging to the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century prior. One of the defining features of Belisarius' career was his success despite varying levels of available resources. His name is frequently given as one of the so-called "Last of the Romans". He conquered the Vandal Kingdom of North Africa in the Vandalic War in nine months and conquered much of Italy during the Gothic War. He also defeated the Vandal armies in the battle of Ad Decimum and played an important role at Tricamarum, compelling the Vandal king, Gelimer, to surrender. During the Gothic War, despite being significantly outnumbered, he and his troops recaptured the city of Rome and then held out against great odds during the siege ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Dara
The Battle of Dara was fought between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanians in 530 AD. It was one of the battles of the Iberian War. Procopius's account of this engagement is among the most detailed descriptions of a late Roman battle. Background The Byzantine Empire was at war with the Sassanids from 527, supposedly because Kavadh I had tried to force the Iberians to become Zoroastrians. The Iberian king fled from Kavadh, but Kavadh tried to make peace with the Byzantines, and attempted to have Justin I adopt his son Khosrau. Justin agreed, but on the terms that he would do so only in a rite reserved for barbarians. This failed to satisfy Kavadh, who attacked Byzantine allies, so Justin sent his generals Sittas and Belisarius into Persia, where they were initially defeated. In 529, the failed negotiations of Justin's successor Justinian prompted a Sassanian expedition of 40,000 men towards Dara. The next year, Belisarius was sent back to the region alongside Hermogenes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peranius Of Iberia
Peranius ( ka, პერანი, tr) was a Georgian prince from Iberia and a military commander in Roman (Byzantine) service. According to Procopius, he was the eldest son of the Iberian king Gurgenes.Procopius. ''History of the Wars'', I.12. Gurgenes can be identified with Vakhtang I of Iberia of the Georgian sources; and Peranius might have been his brother rather than a son as suggested by Procopius. He was the father of Pacurius and uncle of Phazas, two other Iberian generals of the Roman army. According to Cyril Toumanoff, he may have been a scion of King Sauromaces II of Iberia. Peranius and his family fled the Sassanid oppression of Iberia into Lazica in the 520s. They placed themselves under Roman protection and left for Constantinople where Peranius joined the Byzantine imperial army. Later in the 530s, he served under Belisarius in Italy and was in Rome during the siege by the Goths (537–538). During the siege, he defended the Porta Praenestina and led a sally from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hazaraft
''Hazārbed'' (Middle Persian: ḥčʾlpt, or ''hazarbadh'', literally "the commander of thousand"), also known as ''hazaruft''/''hazaraft'' (Middle Persian: hz’lwpt; possibly the older/original form), was a Sasanian office which initially functioned as the commander of the royal guard, but later became increasingly equal to that of the ''wuzurg framadar'' (minister). History The title is first attested in the Achaemenid Empire in its Old Persian form, ''hazāra-pati'' (from *''hazāra-'' "thousand" and *''pati-'' "chief"), the commanding officer of the Immortals. The ''hazarbed'' controlled units of guards which were enlisted from royal families of the Sasanian Empire. One of the units that the ''hazarbed'' controlled was the ''pushtigban'' bodyguard, while other times it would be the palace guards (''darigan''), or in some cases other units, such as the 4,000 Daylamite guard which served the last great Sasanian king, Khosrow II (r. 590–628). The ''hazarbed'' was in charge o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astabadh
''Spāhbed'' (also spelled ''spahbod'' and ''spahbad'') is a Middle Persian title meaning "army chief" used chiefly in the Sasanian Empire. Originally there was a single ''spāhbed'', called the , who functioned as the generalissimo of the Sasanian army. From the time of Khosrow I ( 531–579) on, the office was split in four, with a ''spāhbed'' for each of the cardinal directions.Gyselen (2004) After the Muslim conquest of Persia, the ''spāhbed'' of the East managed to retain his authority over the inaccessible mountainous region of Tabaristan on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, where the title, often in its Islamic form ( fa, اسپهبذ; in ar, اصبهبذ ), survived as a regnal title until the Mongol conquests of the 13th century.Bosworth (1978), pp. 207–208 An equivalent title of Persian origin, '' ispahsālār or sipahsālār'', gained great currency across the Muslim world in the 10th–15th centuries. The title was also adopted by the Armenians ( hy, սպա ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khosrau I
Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩; New Persian: []), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan ( [] "the Immortal Soul"), was the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 531 to 579. He was the son and successor of Kavad I (). Inheriting a reinvigorated empire at war with the Byzantines, Khosrow I made a peace treaty with them in 532, known as the Perpetual Peace, in which the Byzantine emperor Justinian I paid 11,000 pounds of gold to the Sasanians. Khosrow then focused on consolidating his power, executing conspirators, including his uncle Bawi. Dissatisfied with the actions of the Byzantine clients and vassals, the Ghassanids, and encouraged by the Ostrogoth envoys from Italy, Khosrow violated the peace treaty and declared war against the Byzantines in 540. He sacked the city of Antioch, bathed in the Mediterranean Sea at Seleucia Pieria, and held chariot races at Apamea where he made the Blue Faction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
6th-century Iranian People
The 6th century is the period from 501 through 600 in line with the Julian calendar. In the West, the century marks the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. The collapse of the Western Roman Empire late in the previous century left Europe fractured into many small Germanic kingdoms competing fiercely for land and wealth. From the upheaval the Franks rose to prominence and carved out a sizeable domain covering much of modern France and Germany. Meanwhile, the surviving Eastern Roman Empire began to expand under Emperor Justinian, who recaptured North Africa from the Vandals and attempted fully to recover Italy as well, in the hope of reinstating Roman control over the lands once ruled by the Western Roman Empire. In its second Golden Age, the Sassanid Empire reached the peak of its power under Khosrau I in the 6th century.Roberts, J: "History of the World.". Penguin, 1994. The classical Gupta Empire of Northern India, largely overrun by the Huna, ended in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
