- Siege of Constantinople (626)
:"See
Sieges of Constantinople for other sieges"Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Roman-Persian Wars
caption=partof=|date=626
place=Constantinople ,Byzantine Empire
result=Successful Byzantine defence, climax of Persian invasions.
strength1= 12,000 cavalry (dismounted)
strength2= 80,000 Avars
Persian Allies
combatant1=Byzantine Empire
combatant2=Sassanid Empire
Avar Khaganate
commander1=Patriarch Sergius
"Magister" Bonos|corcommander2=Shahrbaraz |The Siege of Constantinople in 626 AD by theSassanid Empire ended in a decisive victory for the Byzantines which, with other victories achieved byHeraclius the previous year and in 627 AD, enabled Byzantium to regain her territories and enforce a favorable treaty with borders "status quo" c.590 AD.Background
In 602 AD
Phocas overthrew Maurice, the incumbent Byzantine Emperor, and established a reign of terror and incompetence, leading the empire into anarchy.cite book|last=Norwich|first=John Julius|title=A Short History of Byzantium|location=New York|publisher= Vintage Books|year=1997|pages=p. 90] Laws were passed condemningJew s whilst religious and administrative mishandling left the Empire in a sorry state when the Sassanid KingKhosrau II attacked, using the coup as a pretext for war. Initially the war went well for the Persians, until onlyAnatolia remained in Roman hands. Later, Phocas was overthrown by the son of the thenExarch ofCarthage , Heraclius. A General of astounding energy yet limited experience, Heraclius immediately began undoing much of Phocas' damaging work that he had procured whilst Emperor. Yet despite his offensives intoMesopotamia (modern-dayIraq ) Heraclius was unable to stop his Persian enemies from laying siege to his capital where fromChalcedon they were able to launch their attack.Siege
Also assisting in the siege was a host of 80,000 Avars, bent on removing all Roman/Byzantine Imperial rule over Europe. [cite book|last=Norwich|first=John Julius|title=A Short History of Byzantium|location=New York|publisher= Vintage Books|year=1997|pages=p. 92] The Persians had arrived in Chalcedon before Phocas was overthrown. However it was only when the Avars began moving forward heavy siege equipment towards the
Theodosian Walls that a siege became clear.Fortunately for the defenders, the soldiers of the capital numbered some 12,000 and consisted of cavalry - normally a well-trained arm of the Greco-Roman army of the time. cite book|last=Norwich|first=John Julius|title=A Short History of Byzantium|location=New York|publisher= Vintage Books|year=1997|pages=p. 93] Adding no small bonus was the
Patriarch of Constantinople – whose cries for religious zeal among the peasantary of Constantinople was made ever more effective by the fact that they were facingheathens , at least in their eyes. Consequently, every assault became a doomed effort. When the Avar fleet and the Persian fleet were sunk in two different naval engagements, the attackers panicked and fled abandoning the city - apparently under the belief that Divine intervention had won the day for Byzantium.Aftermath
The loss came just after news had reached them of yet another Byzantine victory, where Theodore scored well against the Persian General
Shahin . Following this, Heraclius led an invasion into Mesopotamia once again, defeating another Persian army atNineveh . Afterwards, he marched on toCtesiphon where anarchy reigned – allowing Heraclius to extract ever more favorable terms as one Persian King was overthrown by another. Eventually the Persians were obliged to withdraw all armed forces and returnEgypt ,the Levant and whatever Imperial territories of Mesopotamia andArmenia were in Roman hands at the time of an earlier peace treaty in c. 595 AD. The war over, neither the Persians nor the Byzantines would cross swords again until the Islamic invasion broke the power of both Empires.See also
*
Byzantine-Sassanid Wars
*Byzantine-Arab Wars
*Siege of Constantinople (674) References
Further Reading
* Howard-Johnston, James, 'The siege of Constantinople in 626', in" Constantinople and its Hinterland. Papers from the Twenty-seventh Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Oxford, April 1993", ed. Cyril Mango and Gilbert Dagron, Ashgate Publishing (1995), pp. 131-42
* Harris, Jonathan, "Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium". Hambledon/Continuum (2007). ISBN: 978 1847251794
* "The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium", Oxford University Press (1991) ISBN: 0195046528
* Warren Treadgold, "A History of the Byzantine State and Society", Stanford University Press (1997) ISBN: 08047 26302
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.