Siege of Dara (573)

Siege of Dara (573)
	Part of Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591
	; Ruins of the fortifications of Dara
Date	573
Location	Dara; (modern-day Oğuz, Mardin, Turkey)
Result	Sasanian victory
Belligerents
Sasanian Empire	Byzantine Empire
Commanders and leaders
Khosrow I; Izadgushasp; Fariburz; Bahram Chobin	Sergius †; Ioannes (POW)[1]
Strength
	23,000 cavalry; 40,000 infantry; [2]

The siege of Dara was raised by the Sasanian king Khosrow I in 573 during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591. The fortified city fell after 4 months.[3]

The Sasanians cut through a hill to divert the city's water supply,[4] and used captured Roman ballistae from the abandoned Roman Siege of Nisibis (573).[5]

The news of the fall of Dara, long a major Byzantine stronghold in Upper Mesopotamia, drove Emperor Justin II insane.[3] Bahram Chobin was commander of the cavalry force in the siege, and was promoted to the spahbed of the North after this victory.[6]

References

Martindale 1992, p. 675.
Greatrex & Lieu 2002, p. 147.
Nicholson, Canepa & Daryaee 2018.
Whitby, Michael (1 January 2013). Siege Warfare and Counter-Siege Tactics in Late Antiquity (ca. 250–640). Brill. p. 446. ISBN 978-90-04-25258-5.
War and Warfare in Late Antiquity (2 vols.): Current Perspectives. BRILL. 2013-08-23. ISBN 9789004252585.
Shahbazi 1988, pp. 514–522.

Sources

http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dara-the-name-of-a-parthian-city-and-of-a-byzantine-garrison-town-of-the-sasanian-period
Greatrex, Geoffrey; Lieu, Samuel N. C. (2002). The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (Part II, 363–630 AD). New York and London: Routledge (Taylor & Francis). pp. 142–153. ISBN 0-415-14687-9.
Martindale, John R., ed. (1992). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume III, AD 527–641. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-20160-8.
Nicholson, Oliver; Canepa, Matthew; Daryaee, Touraj (2018). "Khosrow I Anoshirvan". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8.
Shahbazi, A. Sh. (1988). "Bahrām VI Čōbīn". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. III, Fasc. 5. London et al. pp. 514–522.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Whitby, Michael; Whitby, Mary (1986). The History of Theophylact Simocatta. Oxford, United Kingdom: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-822799-1.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[FOOTNOTEMartindale1992675-1] Martindale 1992, p. 675.

[FOOTNOTEGreatrexLieu2002147-2] Greatrex & Lieu 2002, p. 147.

[FOOTNOTENicholsonCanepaDaryaee2018-3] Nicholson, Canepa & Daryaee 2018.

[4] Whitby, Michael (1 January 2013). Siege Warfare and Counter-Siege Tactics in Late Antiquity (ca. 250–640). Brill. p. 446. ISBN 978-90-04-25258-5.

[5] War and Warfare in Late Antiquity (2 vols.): Current Perspectives. BRILL. 2013-08-23. ISBN 9789004252585.

[FOOTNOTEShahbazi1988514–522-6] Shahbazi 1988, pp. 514–522.