Siege of Martyropolis (531) 531
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
About the battle
The Siege of Martyropolis took place between July and November 531 AD between the defending forces of the Byzantine Empire and an invading army from the Sasanian Empire during the Iberian War.
The Iberian War stemmed from competition between the Byzantines and Persians for control of the Kingdom of Iberia in the Caucasus region. The war began when the Kingdom of Iberia sought the protection of the Byzantine Empire. Both Byzantine and Persian sides suffered from setbacks during the war. The Byzantine emperor Justinian I focused on strengthening the eastern frontier cities while attempting to negotiate with the Persians. The Persian king Kavadh I sought to gain an advantage by launching invading forces upon Byzantine territories. The city of Martyropolis was strategically located near the Persian border and the Byzantine commander Bessas used it as his base to launch raids into the Persian territory. In response, Kavadh sent an army to besiege Martyropolis. The Persians used siege machines and ladders to assault the city. The defenders, though at a disadvantage because of limited supplies, resisted the assaults.
The Persians became concerned upon hearing that their expected Sabir Hun allies had changed sides due to a Byzantine deception.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Martyropolis (531) (revision 1381250745), 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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