Artabanes (general)
| Artabanes | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance |
Byzantine Empire Sassanian Empire (briefly) |
| Rank | magister militum |
| Battles/wars | Africa, Italy: Casilinum |
| Relations | Arsaces |
Artabanes (Greek: Ἀρταβάνης, Armenian: Artawan, from Parthian Artawân, fl. 538–554) was an East Roman (Byzantine) general of Armenian origin who served under Justinian I (r. 527–565). Initially a rebel against Byzantine authority, he fled to the Sassanid Persians but soon returned to Byzantine allegiance. He served in Africa, where he won great fame by killing the rebel general Guntharic and restoring the province to imperial allegiance. He became engaged to Justinian's niece Praejecta, but did not eventually marry her due to the opposition of the Empress Theodora. Recalled to Constantinople, he became involved in a failed conspiracy against Justinian in 548/549, but was not severely punished after its revelation. He was soon pardoned and sent to Italy to fight in the Gothic War, where he participated in the decisive Byzantine victory at Casilinum.
Artabanes was a descendant of the royal Armenian Arsacid line, a branch of which at the time was recognized as autonomous local princes in the eastern fringes of the Eastern Roman Empire. His father was named John, and he had a brother also named John.
In 538/539, Artabanes, at the time apparently still a young man, took part in the Armenian conspiracy against Acacius, the proconsul of First Armenia, whose heavy taxes and cruel behaviour was greatly resented. Artabanes himself killed Acacius. Shortly after, in a skirmish between the rebels and the Byzantine army at Oenochalacon, Artabanes may have killed the Byzantine general Sittas, sent by Justinian to quell the rebellion (Procopius supplies two accounts, one attributing Sittas's death to Artabanes and another to an otherwise unknown Armenian named Solomon). Artabanes's father tried to negotiate a settlement with Sittas' successor, Bouzes, but was murdered by the latter. This act forced Artabanes and his followers to seek the aid of the Sassanid Persian ruler, Khosrau I (r. 531–579). Crossing over to Persian territory, over the next few years Artabanes and those who followed him took part in Khosrau's campaigns against the Byzantines.
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