The assault on Telephis and Ollaria occurred in 553 during the

Lazic War 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 fo ...

between the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

and the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. As the Byzantine position was strengthened by fresh forces, the Sasanian commander

Mihr-Mihroe Mihr-Mihroe (died 555), in Middle Persian either ''Mihr-Mihrōē''Encyclopaedia Iranica, edited by Ehsan Yar-Shater, Routledge & Kegan Paul Volume 6, Parts 1-3, page 281a or ''Mihrmāh-rōy''; in Byzantine sources Mermeroes ( el, Μερμερόη� ...

took the initiative and dislodged the Byzantine forces in a surprise offensive westward to the Nesos "island".

Source

The primary source of this conflict is the Byzantine historian

Agathias Agathias or Agathias Scholasticus ( grc-gre, Ἀγαθίας σχολαστικός; Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 23–25582/594), of Myrina (Mysia), an Aeolian city in western Asia Minor (Turkey), was a Greek poet and the principal histo ...

, who seems to have had access to the reports of the inquiry into the defeat.

The campaign

The Byzantines had reinforced the region with a large force under the generals

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

Bessas Bessas is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardèche department The following is a list of the 335 communes of the Ardèche department of France. The communes cooperate in t ...

, and

Bouzes Bouzes or Buzes ( el, Βούζης, ''fl.'' 528–556) was an East Roman (Byzantine) general active in the reign of Justinian I (r. 527–565) in the wars against the Sassanid Persians. Family Bouzes was a native of Thrace. He was likely a son ...

, accompanied by

Justin Justin may refer to: People * Justin (name), including a list of persons with the given name Justin * Justin (historian), a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire * Justin I (c. 450–527), or ''Flavius Iustinius Augustus'', Eastern Rom ...

, 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

had stationed nearby at Kutais. Knowing that he could not defeat the Byzantine force right away, he reportedly spread

disinformation Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. It is sometimes confused with misinformation, which is false information but is not deliberate. The English word ''disinformation'' comes from the application of the L ...

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" (perhaps the Tekhuri–

Abasha Abasha ( ka, აბაშა) is a town in western Georgia with a population of 4,941. It is situated between the rivers of Abasha and Noghela, at 23m above sea level and is located some to the west of Tbilisi. The settlement of ''Abasha'' acq ...

). 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 Onoguris, renamed as Stephanopolis in the Byzantine period, was a town in Lazica (in present-day western Georgia, possibly located at modern village Khuntsi) recorded by Byzantine historian Agathias in his narration of the Lazic War between the ...

on his way, and died of illness shortly afterward.

Aftermath

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 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 po ...

who had just succeeded general Mihr-Mihroe.

References

Lazic War 553 550s conflicts 6th century in Georgia (country) Battles of the Roman–Sasanian Wars 550s in the Byzantine Empire 6th century in Iran Telephis Telephis {{battle-stub