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Prelude

The Byzantine Emperor Maurice ended the Roman–Persian War of 572–591 by helping the exiled prince Khrosrau, the future Khosrau II, regain his throne from the usurper Bahrām Chobin. In return, the Sassanians gave the Byzantines parts of northeastern Mesopotamia, Armenia, and Iberia. More importantly for the Byzantine economy, the Byzantine no longer had to pay tribute to the Sassanids.

However, Maurice’s Balkan campaigns caused Maurice to be greatly unpopular with the army as he cut their pay. His command that the army stay on the northern bank of the Danube during the winter of 602 to 603 led to open revolt by the army. The army proclaimed Phocas, a Thracian centurion, as king. Maurice attempted to defend Constantinople by arming the Blues and the Greens, two factions of the Hippodrome, but they proved ineffective, forcing Maurice to flee. Maurice was soon after killed by the soldiers of Phocas.

Reign of Phocas

Khosrau II seized used the murder of Maurice, his "friend and father", along with the invitation for help from the Byzantine governor of Mesopotamia as a pretext to attack the Eastern Roman Empire, and reconquer the Roman province of Mesopotamia. The Persians were quite successful in the early years even with the Byzantines retreating from the Balkans and sending their troops to defend Mesopotamia. The capture of the important fortress Dara in Upper Mesopotomia in either 605 or 606 led to Phocas' military regime losing it's prestige.

This led to the revolt of the general Heraclius, who was the Exarch of Africa, in 608 or 609. Heraclius proclaimed himself and his son of the same name as consuls—implicitly claiming to be emperor—and minted coins with this image . Heraclius sent his nephew Nicetas to attack Egypt and he succeeded in 610. The main rebel force was a naval invasion of Constantinople. Organized resistance to Heraclius soon disappeared and Phocas was handed to Heraclius by Patrician Probos or Photius. Photius was executed. Heraclius, the exarch's son, was proclaimed emperor in 610.

The Sassanians took advantage of this civil war to conquer Syria and launch raids onto Asia Minor itself. In 609, they conquered Mardin and Amida; in 610, they conquered Edessa. In 608, they launched a raid that reached Chalcedon, where they could see Constantinople, and in 609, they conquered Caesarea in Asia Minor.

Early Reign of Heraclius

Although Heraclius ascended to the throne of Byzantium, the situation against the Persians did not improve. Heraclius did not personally lead his armies against the Persians perhaps because of it was against custom. His appointed generals, such as Priscus, were not effective in combating the Persians and disobeyed orders from Heraclius.

Khosrau II took advantage of the incompetence of Heraclius' generals to attack Byzantine Syria. Under the leadership of the Persian general Shahrbaraz, the Persians captured Damascus in 613. In 614, Jerusalem was captured by the Persians. This led to an outcry amongst Christians as not only 90,000 Christians were slaughtered in the city, but the Persians also carted away the True Cross. In 616, Shahrbaraz's forces invaded Egypt, a province that had been untouched by wars for three centuries. The Monophysites living in Egypt welcomed the Persian forces as saviors . The loss of Egypt was a severe blow the empire as Constantinople relied on grain shipments from the fertile Egypt to feed the multitude of people who lived there. Things looked even grimmer when Chalcedon fell in 617 and the Persians could see Constantinople.

Khosrau's letter to Heraclius

After such a string of victories, Khosrau sent Heraclius the following letter:

Khosrau, greatest of Gods, and master of the earth, to Heraclius, his vile and insensate slave. Why do you still refuse to submit to our rule, and call yourself a king? Have I not destroyed the Greeks? You say that you trust in your God. Why has he not delivered out of my hand Caesarea, Jerusalem, and Alexandria? And shall I not also destroy Constantinople? But I will pardon your faults if you submit to me, and come hither with your wife and children; and I will give you lands, vineyards, and olive groves, and look upon you with a kindly aspect. Do not deceive yourself with vain hope in that Christ, who was not able to save himself from the Jews, who killed him by nailing him to a cross. Even if you take refuge in the depths of the sea, I will stretch out my hand and take you, whether you will or no.

— Khosrau II

Byzantine Resurgence

Climax

By this time the Persians had conquered Mesopotamia and the Caucasus, and in 611 they overran Syria and entered Anatolia. A major counter-attack led by Heraclius two years later was decisively defeated outside Antioch by Shahrbaraz and Shahin and the Roman position collapsed; the Persians devastated parts of Asia Minor, and captured Chalcedon on the Bosporus. Over the following decade the Persians were able to conquer Palestine and Egypt (by mid-621 the whole province was in their hands) and to devastate Anatolia, while the Avars and Slavs took advantage of the situation to overrun the Balkans, bringing the Roman Empire to the brink of destruction.

During these years, Heraclius strove to rebuild his army, slashing non-military expenditure, devaluing the currency and melting down, with the backing of Patriarch Sergius, Church plate to raise the necessary funds to continue the war.

On April 5 622, Heraclius left Constantinople, entrusting the city to Sergius and general Bonus as regents of his son. He assembled his forces in Asia Minor, probably in Bithynia, and, after he revived their broken morale, he launched a new counter-offensive, which took on the character of a holy war; an acheiropoietos image of Christ was carried as a military standard. The Roman army proceeded to Armenia, inflicted a defeat on an army led by a Persian-allied Arab chief, and then won a victory over the Persians under Shahrbaraz. On March 25 624 Heraclius left again Constantinople with his wife, Martina, and his two children; after he celebrated Easter in Nicomedia on April 15, he campaigned in the Caucasus, winning a series of victories in Azerbaijan and Armenia against Khosrau and his generals Shahrbaraz, Shahin and Shahraplakan. In 626 the Avars and Slavs besieged Constantinople, supported by a Persian army commanded by Shahrbaraz, but the siege ended in failure (the victory was attributed to the icons of the Virgin which were led in procession by Sergius about the walls of the city), while a second Persian army under Shahin suffered another crushing defeat at the hands of Heraclius' brother Theodore.

With the Persian war effort disintegrating, Heraclius was able to bring the Gokturks of the Western Turkic Khaganate into the war against the Sassanids in the Caucasus (see Third Perso-Turkic War). Late in 627 he launched a winter offensive into Mesopotamia, where, despite the desertion of his Turkish allies, he defeated the Persians under Rhahzadh at the Battle of Nineveh. Continuing south along the Tigris he sacked Khosrau's great palace at Dastagird and was only prevented from attacking Ctesiphon by the destruction of the bridges on the Nahrawan Canal. Discredited by this series of disasters, Khosrau was overthrown and killed in a coup led by his son Kavadh II, who at once sued for peace, agreeing to withdraw from all occupied territories. In 629 Heraclius restored the True Cross to Jerusalem in a majestic ceremony.

Notes and Citations

1. "An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present" (David Eggenberger)
2. Oman 1893, pp. 151
3. Oman 1893, pp. 153
4. Oman 1893, pp. 154
5. ^ Oman 1893, pp. 155
6. Foss 1975, pp. 722
7. ^ Kaegi 2003, pp. 39
8. ^ Oman 1893, pp. 156
9. Kaegi 2003, pp. 41
10. Kaegi 2003, pp. 53
11. Kaegi 2003, pp. 49
12. Oman 1893, pp. 156
13. Since the time of Theodosius I, no Roman emperor had personally led troops. Oman 1893, pp. 204
14. ^ Oman 1893, pp. 204
15. ^ Oman 1893, pp. 205
16. Omar 1897, pp. 206-207 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFOmar1897 (help)
17. Davies 1998, pp. 245 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFDavies1998 (help)
18. Chronicon Paschale, 706-709
    * Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 194-195
19. Greatrex-Lieu(2002), II, 196
20. The mint of Nicomedia ceased operating in 613, and Rhodes fell to the invaders in 622/623 (Greatrex-Lieu(2002), II, 197).
21. Greatrex-Lieu(2002), II, 198
22. Theophanes, Chronicle, 303.12-304.13
    * Cameron (1979), 23; Grabar (1984), 37; Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 198
23. Theophanes, Chronicle, 304.25-306.7
    * Greatrex-Lieu(2002), II, 199
24. Theophanes, Chronicle, 307.19-308.25
    * Greatrex-Lieu (2002), II, 202-205
25. Cameron (1979), 5-6, 20-22
26. Haldon (1997), 46; Baynes (1912), passim; Speck (1984), 178

References

• Baynes, Norman H. (1912). "The restoration of the Cross at Jerusalem". The English Historical Review. 27 (106): 287–299. doi:10.1093/ehr/XXVII.CVI.287. ISSN 0013-8266.
• Cameron, Averil (1979). "Images of Authority: Elites and Icons in Late Sixth-century Byzantium". Past and Present. 84: 3. doi:10.1093/past/84.1.3.
• Foss, Clive (1975). "The Persians in Asia Minor and the End of Antiquity". The English Historical Review. 90: 721–47. doi:10.1093/ehr/XC.CCCLVII.721.
• Grabar, André (1984). L'Iconoclasme Byzantin: le Dossier Archéologique. Flammarion. ISBN 2-08-081634-9.
• Dodgeon, Michael H.; Greatrex, Geoffrey; Lieu, Samuel N. C. (2002). The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (Part II, 363-630 AD). Routledge. ISBN 0-415-003423.
• Haldon, John (1997). Byzantium in the Seventh Century: the Transformation of a Culture. Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-31917-X.
• Kaegi, Walter Emil (2003), Heraclius: emperor of Byzantium, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521814-59-6 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |city= ignored (|location= suggested) (help)
• Oman, Charles (1893), Europe, 476-918, Volume 1, Macmillan
• Speck, Paul (1984). "Ikonoklasmus und die Anfänge der Makedonischen Renaissance". Varia 1 (Poikila Byzantina 4). Rudolf Halbelt. pp. 175–210.

• 7th-century conflicts
• Wars involving the Byzantine Empire
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