Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628

Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628
Part of the Byzantine–Sasanian wars
Battle between Heraclius' army and Persians under Khosrau II. Fresco by Piero della Francesca, c. 1452
Date c. 602 to c. 628 Location The Caucasus, Anatolia, Egypt, Levant, Balkans, Aegean Sea, Mesopotamia Result Marginal Byzantine Empire victory Exhaustion of both empires Territorial changes Status quo ante bellum
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire Western Turkic Khaganate Arab tribes loyal to Heraclius	Sasanian Empire Avars (and Slavic allies) Sasanian Iberia Jewish and Samaritan rebels (c. 614) Arab tribes loyal to Khosrau
Commanders and leaders
Phocas Philippicus Germanus † Leontius Domentziolus Priscus Heraclius Nicetas Theodore Bonus Ziebel Shahrbaraz (after 626) Kardarigan (after 626)	Khosrau II Shahrbaraz (602-626) Shahin Kardarigan (602-626) Shahraplakan Stephen I of Iberia † Rhahzadh † Unnamed Avar khagan Datoyean Dzuan Veh † Ashtat Yeztayar Senitam Khusro Vahram-Arshusha V  (POW) Benjamin of Tiberias

The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 was the final and most devastating of the series of wars fought between the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire and the Sasanian Empire of Persia. The previous war between the two powers had ended in 591 after Emperor Maurice helped the Sasanian king Khosrau II regain his throne. In 602 Maurice was murdered by his political rival Phocas. Khosrau proceeded to declare war, ostensibly to avenge the death of Maurice. This became a decades-long conflict, the longest war in the series, and was fought throughout the Middle East and eastern Europe: in Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, the Caucasus, Anatolia, Armenia, the Aegean Sea and even before the walls of Constantinople itself.

While the Persians proved largely successful during the first stage of the war from 602 to 622, conquering much of the Levant, Egypt, several islands in the Aegean Sea and parts of Anatolia, the ascendancy of emperor Heraclius in 610 led, despite initial setbacks, to the Persians' defeat. Heraclius' campaigns in Persian lands from 622 to 626 forced the Persians onto the defensive, allowing his forces to regain momentum. Allied with the Avars and Slavs, the Persians made a final attempt to take Constantinople in 626, but were defeated there. In 627 Heraclius invaded the heartland of the Persians and forced them to sue for peace.

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