Battle of Callinicum 531
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 531 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Syria | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Iberian War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Byzantine Empire, Ghassanids, Huns, Lakhmids, Sasanian Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 35.9500, 39.0167 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Callinicum took place on Easter Saturday, 19 April 531, between the Byzantine Empire and Sasanian Empire during the Iberian War.
Following the Persian defeat at the Battle of Dara, the Persian army, under the command of Azarethes, invaded Syria and advanced toward Antioch by taking a different route in an attempt to regain the initiative in the war. The invasion caught the Byzantines off guard, but General Belisarius pursued the Persians with a smaller force, accompanied by allied Ghassanids, to block their advance. His army was subsequently strengthened by reinforcements. Belisarius was reluctant to engage the Persians due to the quality of his troops and instead aimed to drive the Persians off the Byzantine territories through demonstration of force. However, his troops insisted on giving battle, and the two armies met near Callinicum on Easter Sunday at the right bank of the Euphrates River. At the battle, the Byzantines were defeated after their allied Ghassanid cavalry was routed. The remaining infantry held off the Persian forces long enough to withdraw across the river.
Although the Persians won the battle, heavy casualties and their failure to capture Antioch made the victory costly. Upon his return to Persia, Azarethes was consequently disgraced by King Kavadh I.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Callinicum (revision 1381249701), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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