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Battle of Melitene(Battle of Malatya) |
year: 576 |
| A Byzantine victory and a narrow escape of the Persian king | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
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enemy: Sassanid Persians
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location: Malatya, Southeastern Turkey
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accuracy:
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battle type: Pitched Battle |
war: Byzantine-Persian Wars |
modern country:
Turkey |
| ▼ The Byzantines(emperor: Justin II) | ▼ The Enemies | |
| Commander: | General Justinian | Shah Khosrau I |
| Forces: | Unknown | Unknown |
| Losses: |
| Background story: |
| Less than a decade after the “fifty-year” peace treaty of 562, tensions between Byzantium and Persia amounted at all points of intersection between the two empires' spheres of influence. The war was triggered in 572 by pro-Byzantine revolts in areas of the Caucasus under Persian hegemony and also by the denial of the Byzantines to pay the annual tribute. |
The Battle: |
 Sassanid wariors Facing encirclement on the Upper Euphrates at Melitene, Khosrau and his army abandoned their baggage in panic and fled across the Euphrates river with heavy losses. |
Noteworthy: |
| Khosrau was reportedly so shaken by this fiasco and his own narrow escape that he established a law forbidding any of his successors from leading an army in person. |
Aftermath: |
| The Byzantines exploited the Persian disarray by raiding deep into Caucasian Albania, Azerbaijan, and northern Iran. The hostilities continued in the following years. |
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