Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 610
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 610 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Turkey | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628 | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Byzantine Empire, Sasanian Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 37.1500, 38.8000 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, also called the Last Great War of Antiquity, was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire. It was the final and most devastating conflict of the Roman–Persian wars (54 BC – AD 628). The previous war between the two powers had ended in 591 after the emperor Maurice helped the Sasanian king Khosrow II regain his throne. In 602, Maurice was murdered by his political rival Phocas. Khosrow declared war, ostensibly to avenge the death of the deposed emperor Maurice. This became a decades-long conflict, the longest war in the series, and was fought throughout the Middle East, the Aegean Sea, and before the walls of Constantinople itself.
From 602 to 622, the Sassanians gradually conquered much of the Levant, parts of Anatolia, and—for the first time—Egypt and several islands in the Aegean Sea. The counter-attacks of the new Byzantine emperor Heraclius from 622 to 626 eventually forced the Persians onto the defensive. Allied with the Avars and Slavs, the Persians attempted to take Constantinople in 626, but were defeated. In 627, allied with Turks, Heraclius invaded the heartland of Persia. After the Battle of Nineveh (627), Iranian forces were finally broken, forcing civil war-torn Persia to seek peace.
By the end of the war, both sides had exhausted their human and material resources.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 (revision 1380240086), 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
- Battle of Edessa 260 · 0 km
- Battle of Urfa 1920 · 0 km
- Siege of Edessa (163) 163 · 0 km
- Siege of Edessa (1144) 1144 · 0 km
- Siege of Edessa (1146) 1146 · 0 km
- Urfa resistance 1915 · 1 km
Other battles of the Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628
- Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem 614
- Siege of Caesarea Maritima (614) 614
- Siege of Constantinople (626) 626
- Battle of Nineveh (627) 627
All 5 battles of the Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628 →
Browse more: battles in Turkey · Asia · Medieval battles