Битва при Каллиникуме 531 года

Battle of the Iberian War (531 AD)
the battle in 296

The Battle of Callinicum took place on Easter Saturday, 19 April 531 AD, between an army of the Byzantine Empire under Belisarius and a Sasanian cavalry force commanded by Azarethes. After being defeated at the Battle of Dara, the Sasanians moved to invade Roman Syria in an attempt to turn the tide of the war. Belisarius' rapid response foiled the plan, and his troops pushed the Persians to the Syrian border through maneuvering before forcing a battle in which the Sasanians won a Pyrrhic victory.

In April 531 AD, the Persian king Kavadh I sent an army under Azarethes, consisting of a cavalry force numbering about 15,000 Aswaran with an additional 5,000 Lakhmid Arab cavalry in order to capture Syrian cities such as Antioch. The Persian army crossed the frontier at Circesium on the Euphrates and marched north. As they neared Callinicum, Belisarius set out to follow them as they advanced westwards. Belisarius' forces consisted of about 5,000 men and another 3,000 Ghassanid Arab allies, for the remainder of his army had been left to secure Dara. The Byzantines blocked the Persian advance at Chalcis, where reinforcements under Hermogenes also arrived, bringing the Byzantine force to some 20,000 men. The Persians were forced to withdraw to the east, followed by the Byzantines. The battle would occur on Easter Sunday, and the convention at the time was to fast on the day and well into the night. Due to this, if Belisarius were to give battle he would have to fight using hungry troops. Azarethes sent a message to Belisarius asking him to honor the fast for the sake of the Christians and Jews in his army, as well as the Christian forces of Belisarius himself. Belisarius was willing to agree and originally intended to drive off the Persians without a risky battle. The Byzantine troops, however, were over confident after their recent victories at Dara and Satala and clamored for battle. After failing to convince his men, and realizing they would possibly mutiny unless he agreed, Belisarius prepared his force for battle.

The two armies met outside Callinicum on 19 April 531. Belisarius anchored his left flank on the Euphrates, composed of the Byzantine heavy infantry under the command of the emperor Justinian's bodyguard Petrus. The Byzantine cavalry was stationed in the center, many of which were cataphracts under the command of Ascan. Next were the Lycaonian and/or Isaurian infantry under Stephanacius and Longinus, positioned such that their right was anchored on a rising slope occupied by the army's right wing, which consisted of the 5,000 allied Ghassanid cavalry. Belisarius himself took up a position in the center of his army. Unlike his deployment at Dara, he concentrated his best cavalry in the center and the infantry and allied cavalry on the wings, possibly because he anticipated the infantry and Ghassanid cavalry could flee. It is possible that he also held an reserve of elite Aswaran behind his center.

The Byzantine defeat wiped out the benefits of the victory at Dara and gave the initiative once again to the Persians. The strategic outcome of the battle was something of a stalemate; the Byzantine army had lost many soldiers and would not be in fighting condition again for months, but the Persian army had also taken such heavy losses that it was useless for its original purpose of the invasion of Syria. Following the battle, an inquiry headed by Constantoilus was made against Belisarius due to the defeat at Callinicum and his earlier loss at Thannuris. Belisarius blamed the troops for their impetuous urge to engage in battle at Callinicum and was cleared by the inquiry; however he was relieved of his position as magister militum per Orientem and was recalled to Constantinople by Justinian. The Sasanian emperor Kavadh I removed Āzārethes from command and stripped him of his honors, due to the very high Persian casualties. The mutual disaster of Callinicum ended the first of Justinian's series of relatively unsuccessful wars against the Sassanids, leading Byzantium to pay heavy tributes in exchange for the Perpetual Peace treaty signed in the summer of 532.