Topic summary
Battle of Callinicum
Ghassanids
Lakhmids
Hermogenes
Sunicas & Simmas
Ascan†
Longinus †
Stephanacius †
Al-Harith ibn Jabalah
Domnentiolus(POW)
Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man
20,000 or 25,000
- 13,000 Byzantine infantry & cavalry
- 5,000 Ghassanid cavalry
- 2,000 Lycaonian infantry
15,000 or 20,000
- 10,000 or 15,000 Persian cavalry
- 5,000 Lakhmid cavalry
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.