Battle of Nisibis (541) 541
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 541 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Turkey | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Belisarius' invasion of Mesopotamia | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Byzantine Empire, Ghassanids, Goths, Sasanian Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 37.0753, 41.2157 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Nisibis was fought between Byzantine forces under Belisarius and Peter and the Sassanian garrison of the frontier fortress of Nisibis that was under Nabedes. It took place while the Sassanian king Khosrow I was invading the Roman base in Lazica. It was part of a Byzantine offensive led by Belisarius into Persian land.
Upon arriving in the area, Belisarius stationed his troops a significant distance away from the fortified city. He hoped to drag the Sasanian garrison into a battle far from the city walls, and after defeating them, capture the undefended city, which seemed impregnable otherwise. The Byzantine commander Peter stationed his forces, together with those of John Troglita who was associated with him, closer to the city. Belisarius warned Peter that since the Byzantines did not normally eat until midday the garrison would sally out then so the Byzantines would have to fight while hungry. Peter ignored this and at midday, his man dispersed to eat. When the Sassanians sallied out his disorganized unit was routed losing 50 men as well as Peter's standard. The latter immediately called on Belisarius for assistance. When the message reached Belisarius, he had already seen the dust clouds produced by the Sassanian sally and was well on his way.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Nisibis (541) (revision 1370270831), 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.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Nisibis (237) 235 · 1 km
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- Siege of Nisibis (573) 573 · 1 km
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- Battle of Nisibis (217) 217 · 1 km
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Browse more: battles in Turkey · Asia · Medieval battles