The siege of Sisauranon took place in 541 between Byzantine forces under

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 terri ...

and the

Sassanian 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 ...

garrison of the

Sisauranon Sisauranon, Sisauronon ( gr, Σισαυράνων), Sisaurana, or Sarbane was a Sasanian fortress city in the province of Arbayistan, located to the east of Nisibis at the edge of the north Syrian plain. It was situated near the border with the Byz ...

fortress under Bleschames. The Romans employed several approaches, including stratagems and assaults. The garrison eventually surrendered and defected after the Byzantines received information about the fort being without supplies.

Background

In 541, 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 ...

sent Belisarius to launch a campaign in the East. The latter set out from

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 ...

together with his Gothic forces and

Ghassanid The Ghassanids ( ar, الغساسنة, translit=al-Ġasāsina, also Banu Ghassān (, romanized as: ), also called the Jafnids, were an Arab tribe which founded a kingdom. They emigrated from southern Arabia in the early 3rd century to the Levan ...

allies. They camped near

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 ...

, trying to lure out the Persian garrison and defeat them in the field before beginning a regular siege, but this was unsuccessful as the Persian garrison under

Nabedes Naved, Nabed, Nahbed, or Nabedes (Greek: ''Nabédēs'') was a Sasanian military commander during the reign of Khosrow I. He is first recorded as the commander of Nisibis, engaging the Romans in a battle during Belisarius invasion of Mesopotamia ...

performed a surprise raid and retreated to the fortified city. Belisarius gave up, and instead commenced a siege against

, a nearby frontier fortress. Sisauranon was held by a garrison consisting of 800 Persian cavalrymen.

Siege

A Roman assault against the fort was defeated with heavy losses, and the attackers were only saved by a well-directed charge by

Ostrogothic The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...

cavalrymen. As a result, Belisarius decided to institute a blockade by

investing Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

the fort, and in order to secure his besieging forces, he dispatched the Ghassanid Arabs under

Al-Harith ibn Jabalah Al-Ḥārith ibn Jabalah ( ar, الحارث بن جبلة; ''FlaviosArethas () in Greek sources; Khālid ibn Jabalah () in later Islamic sources), was a king of the Ghassanids, a pre- Islamic Arab Christian tribe who lived on the eastern frontie ...

to raid the region across the

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

river. Apparently, he did not trust the Arab king, and sent 1,200 Roman regulars, mostly his own ''

hypaspistai A hypaspist ( el, Ὑπασπιστής "shield bearer" or "shield covered") is a squire, man at arms, or "shield carrier". In Homer, Deiphobos advances "" () or under cover of his shield. By the time of Herodotus (426 BC), the word had come ...

'', to accompany the raiding part. The raiders received information from a captured Persian that Sisauranon has little or no supplies. With this information, Belisarius gained the upper hand in the subsequent negotiation with the Persian garrison. They reached a settlement as the Persians went over to the Byzantine side and were immediately shipped off to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

to fight alongside the Byzantine army in the ongoing Gothic War. The sweltering heat of Mesopotamia caused serious illness in the Roman camp, which forced Belisarius to halt the campaign. The sick were transported back home in carts. The raiding party failed to return or give any information on their movements. Procopius alleged that the Arabs wanted to keep all the booty.

Aftermath

The defected Persian garrison went on to take part in the Gothic War. They participated in the Siege of Verona and the

Battle of Faventia In the spring of 542, at the Battle of Faventia (modern Faenza), an Ostrogothic army under king Totila scattered the larger Roman forces of generals Constantian and Alexander, beginning the resurgence of Gothic resistance to the Roman reconques ...

. Among them was one

Artabazes Artavasdes is the Hellenized form of the Iranian name . Variant renderings in Greek include (), (), and (); in Armenian (); and in Latin or . People with this name include: Persian satraps * Artabazos I of Phrygia (flourished 5th century BC ...

, whose men took over the city gate in Verona and participated in single combat in Faventina.

Footnotes

Notes

References

* {{cite book , last1=Petersen , first1=Leif Inge Ree , title=Siege Warfare and Military Organization in the Successor States (400-800 AD): Byzantium, the West and Islam , date=15 September 2013 , publisher=Brill , isbn=978-90-04-25446-6 , language=en Sisauranon 541 Sisauranon 541 541

540s in the Byzantine Empire Sisauranon 541 Arbayistan Battles involving the Goths Byzantine–Sasanian War of 540–562