The Treaty of Dara, also known as the Fifty-Year Peace, was a peace treaty concluded between the

Byzantine 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 ...

(Eastern Roman) and

Sassanid 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 last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

(Persian) empires at the frontier town of

Dara Dara is a given name used for both males and females, with more than one origin. Dara is found in the Bible's Old Testament Books of Chronicles. Dara �רעwas a descendant of Judah (son of Jacob). (The Bible. 1 Chronicles 2:6). Dara (also known ...

in what is now southern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in 562. The treaty, negotiated by Peter the Patrician for the Byzantine emperor

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

and

Izadgushasp Izadgushasp (also spelled Yazdgushnasp), known in Byzantine sources as Isdigousnas Zikh, was an Iranian nobleman from the House of Mihran, who served as one of Khosrow I's ''viziers'' ('' wuzurg framadar''). Biography Izadgushasp is first mention ...

for the Sassanid king

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 ...

ended the 20-year-long Lazic War, war over the South Caucasus, Caucasian kingdom of

Lazica Lazica ( ka, ეგრისი, ; lzz, ლაზიკა, ; grc-gre, Λαζική, ; fa, لازستان, ; hy, Եգեր, ) was the Latin name given to the territory of Colchis during the Roman/Byzantine period, from about the 1st centur ...

. The treaty contained 13 articles, and is well-recorded. It covered all parts of the two empires, Persarmenia, Lazica, the client states, and the Arab allies. The Sassanids undertook to evacuate Lazica, but the status of the neighboring country of Suania was left unclear to become a future source of disagreement. The Sassanids were to receive an annual subsidy of 30,000 gold ''

nomismata ''Nomisma'' ( el, νόμισμα) was the ancient Greek word for "money" and is derived from nomos (νόμος) anything assigned, a usage, custom, law, ordinance".The King James Version New Testament Greek Lexicon; Strong's Number:3546 The te ...

'', with the first seven years payable immediately. The expenses of the defense lines in the Caucasus against the nomads in the north, for which there was a mutual interest and had been the responsibility of the Sasanians, were included in the payments. Both sides agreed not to establish new fortifications or fortify the existing settlements on the border. To prevent spying, trade was restricted to Callinicum,

Nisibis Nusaybin (; '; ar, نُصَيْبِيْن, translit=Nuṣaybīn; syr, ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, translit=Nṣībīn), historically known as Nisibis () or Nesbin, is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is ...

, and Dvin, while traders from other nations were restricted to

(under the Byzantines) and Nisibis (under the Sasanians). Refugees were free to return to their homes. In a separate treaty, the

Christians in the Sasanian Empire Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

were promised freedom of religion. The peace treaty was to last for 50 years, but it remained in effect only until 572, when

Justin II Justin II ( la, Iustinus; grc-gre, Ἰουστῖνος, Ioustînos; died 5 October 578) or Justin the Younger ( la, Iustinus minor) was Eastern Roman Emperor from 565 until 578. He was the nephew of Justinian I and the husband of Sophia, the ...

broke the treaty after years of increased tensions at multiple fronts, initiating the war of 572–591. Among ancient sources,

Menander Protector Menander Protector (Menander the Guardsman, Menander the Byzantian; el, Μένανδρος Προτήκτωρ or Προτέκτωρ), Byzantine historian, was born in Constantinople in the middle of the 6th century AD. The little that is known of ...

and

Theophylaktos Simokattes Theophylact Simocatta (Byzantine Greek: Θεοφύλακτος Σιμοκάτ(τ)ης ''Theophýlaktos Simokát(t)ēs''; la, Theophylactus Simocatta) was an early seventh-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine historiographer, arguably ranking as th ...

blame Justin II, while

Theophanes of Byzantium Theophanes of Byzantium ( el, Θεόφανης ὁ Βυζάντιος; fl. 6th century) was a Byzantine historian. He wrote, in ten books, the history of the Eastern Empire during the Persian war under Justin II, beginning from the second year of ...

disagrees.

References

{{Reflist 6th-century treaties 560s in the Byzantine Empire 6th century in Iran 6th century in Georgia (country) Treaties of the Byzantine Empire Treaties of the Sasanian Empire Roman–Sasanian Wars Justinian I Lazic War Svaneti Khosrow I 562