Battle of Ad Decimum (Ten Mile Post)

6th Century Roman infantry officer.

The Roman Re-Conquest of North Africa (533 - 534 AD)



The Germanic tribe called the Vandals had conquered Roman North Africa in 439 AD.  They also controlled the islands of Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics.
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The Vandals were fearsome warriors having spread terror wherever they went.  In 455 they sacked Rome itself sending shock waves through the ancient world.
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In 468 AD the Eastern Roman Empire tried to take back Africa in the Battle of Carthage only to fail.
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The Romans called them barbarians even though they had become somewhat Romanized.  They had adopted Arian Christianity.  Very little is known about the Vandalic language itself, which was of the East Germanic linguistic branch. The Goths have left behind the only text corpus of the East Germanic language type: a 4th-century translation of the Gospels.  All Vandals that modern historians know about language is they were able to speak Latin, which also remained the official language of the Vandal administration.
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But Romanized or not, the Emperor Justinian wanted their lands for himself.

Roman Carthage in Tunisia.

Background to Invasion:   The Emperor Justinian was determined to drive out the barbarian invaders holding the western provinces of the Roman Empire. The obstacles were enormous and after the disastrous fiasco of 468, and he needed someone to successfully lead the army in this new invasion. A young general from Thrace named Belisarius had just made a name for himself on the Eastern Front by defeating a Persian army nearly twice his size. Justinian felt he had found his man.

Finding a general was only the fist step. Justinian was responsible for defending an incredibly long border against many enemies. The main enemy at the moment was the Persian Empire. For the first five years of his reign Justinian reluctantly waged a costly and unprofitable war against the Persians. The victory by Belisarius at Dara (and a truck load of gold) helped in negotiating (or at least buying) the "Endless Peace" with the Persians. Now eastern regiments were freed up for the invasion of Africa.


Video:   Roman - Byzantine North Africa
The Roman provinces of North Africa were very important to the Empire.  Africa provided tax revenue, trade and food exports to support the rest of the Empire.  Re-capturing these provinces was a high priority for Emperor Justinian.

The Emperor Justinian and his court.

Justinian's advisors were solid in their opposition to the campaign. From a military point of view they felt it was folly to send an invasion fleet of heavy transport ships over 1,000 miles from its' home base into enemy controlled waters, and then to land an outnumbered army (with no reinforcements available) to attack entrenched land forces. In addition the fleet could only sail in the summer calm of May to November. The autumn and winter storms would leave the army cut totally cut off. The finance ministers warned of the huge drain on the treasury and pointed out how the failed attack in 468 nearly bankrupted the nation.

John of Cappadocia warned the Emperor that their land forces were already spread very thin: "Have you dragon's teeth to sow? Well, then, summon up twenty thousand swordsmen . . . Can they win their way past the Vandalic battle fleets? Let a miracle destroy the Vandals! What follows? Caesar, can your army master and hold a continent? . . . You undertake to besiege Carthage: by land, the distance is not less than one hundred and forty days journey; on the sea, a whole year must elapse before you can receive any intelligence from your fleet. If Africa should be reduced, it cannot be preserved without the additional conquest of Sicily and Italy. Success will impose the obligations of new labors; a single misfortune will attract the Barbarians into the heart of your exhausted empire." Justinian's answer was that God was on their side.

The Gathering of the Fleet:   The Roman Empire was still the only world power. No other nation had the resources to assemble such a strike force. The logistics alone must have been a nightmare: 36,000 soldiers and sailors, some 6,000 horses, arms, engines, military stores, water and provisions to last for a three month voyage of over 1,000 miles.

A wider view of the political divisions in Europe and Africa at the time of Justinian.

Procopius said of the invasion fleet:   "And for the whole force five hundred ships were required, no one of which was able to carry more than fifty thousand medimni, nor any one less than three thousand. And in all the vessels together there were thirty thousand sailors, Egyptians and Ionians for the most part, and Cilicians, and one commander was appointed over all the ships, Calonymus of Alexandria. And they had also ships of war prepared as for sea-fighting, to the number of ninety-two, and they were single-banked ships covered by decks, in order that the men rowing them might if possible not be exposed to the bolts of the enemy. Such boats are called "dromones" by those of the present time; for they are able to attain a great speed. In these sailed two thousand men of  Byzantium, who were all rowers as well as fighting men; for there was not a single superfluous man among them."


At the harbor of Constantinople the navy brought together from Egypt, Cilicia and Ionia some 20,000 sailors and 500 transports ranging from 30 up to 500 tons. The proud galleys of old that had made the Mediterranean a Roman lake were long gone. Protecting the fleet were only 92 light brigantines.

Army regiments were withdrawn from the Eastern Front courtesy of the "Endless Peace" with Persia. About 10,000 infantry from Thrace and Isauria marched to Constantinople. Another 5,000 excellent cavalry were assigned. There were two additional bodies of Allied Troops: 600 Huns and 400 Heruls, all mounted horse archers.

A Byzantine dromone.

The strike force of the Eastern Romans was the cavalry. They had adopted the metal stirrups invented by the Huns. This made the cavalry an effective shock force that could charge pell-mell with no fear of falling off. They also adopted from the Persians the "Cataphract." This was a horse and rider in armor. The cataphracts were skilled archers. They made initial assaults from a distance with their armor making them almost invulnerable to enemy fire. When the enemy fell into disorder the horsemen could close in for the kill. The Vandals and Goths did not copy this method of warfare. The cataphract was much more than just a horse, a bow and some armor. It took long years of training for a man to be able to control his horse with his knees while aiming his bow in any direction at full gallop.

In supreme command of both the navy and the army was Belisarius. Justinian granted Belisarius the title of Autocrator with almost boundless power to act as if the Emperor himself were present. In June 533 the fleet was ready. The Emperor and the Patriarch went in procession down to the docks. Icons waved behind them while marching choirs sang "Rex gloriae, Domine virtutum . . . King of Glory, Lord of armed hosts . . . " The Patriarch offered prayers for the success of the expedition. Most of those who witnessed the sailing felt that they would never return.

Small as the forces looked on paper this was a major effort by the Empire. Failure could do serious damage to the defense of the nation. At the very best the Eastern Roman's army and navy numbered no more than 150,000. The hard core professional battlefield regiments was a much smaller number. The force of 36,000 committed to the invasion amounted to 24% of their armed strength. No more troops could be committed without leaving their huge borders defenseless.

Smoothing the Way:   Facing the Romans would be a Vandal land force of perhaps 30,000 plus a large fleet. The Emperor recognized that diplomacy was a vital ingredient to a successful invasion. Perhaps a revolution or two would draw Vandal attention and troops from the main attack. He encourage a rising of Pro-Roman factions in Tripolitana with a small military force and successfully drove out the Vandals.

Roman Amphitheatre of El Jem, Tunisia
The 3^rd biggest amphitheater known to man, so impressive that they filmed Russel Crowe’s Gladiator here.  It could hold up to 35,000 people.  Built in 300AD.

Justinian urged the Vandal governor of Sardinia to rebel, which he did. There was also a dynastic quarrel among Vandals. Gelimer had deposed Hilderic as king three years before and was keeping him and a few supporters as prisoners. Justinian also used a dispute between the Goths of Italy and the Vandals to his advantage. The Goths granted the Romans permission to dock their invasion fleet in Sicily on the way to Africa.

Vandal King Gelimer reacted to the revolutions just as Justinian had hoped. The King dispatched his brother Zano with 5,000 soldiers and 120 galleys to re-capture Sardinia. Now there would be no Vandal fleet nearby to attack the Roman troop transports when they were at their most vulnerable and a large part of the army would be wasted on a distant island. What's more, by making no attempt to recover Tripolitana, Gelimer ensured that if a Roman army made it to Africa they would be landing on a somewhat more friendly soil.

The Invasion:   It was vital to keep the large fleet together.  Procopius said, "The sails of the three ships in which he (Belisarius) and his following were carried he painted red from the upper corner for about one third of their length, and he erected upright poles on the prow of each, and hung lights from them, so that both by day and by night the general's ships might be distinguishable; then he commanded all the pilots to follow these ships. Thus with the three ships leading the whole fleet not a single ship was left behind."

Flavius Belisarius.
Belisarius was granted a Roman triumph
(the last ever given) when he returned to
Constantinople.   He was also made consul of
the Roman Empire in 535,  one of the last
individuals ever to hold this office.  

The fleet suffered thirst having been becalmed for 16 days. An additional 500 men died from disease. Finally after many weeks they were able to dock at Caucana on the southern shore of Sicily where Gothic officers had been ordered to help provision the Roman troops.

Belisarius was at a loss how to proceed.  He had no idea where the Vandal navy and army was deployed.  His own soldiers were openly afraid of the military legend of Vandal power.  Procopius reports that men in the Roman navy talked of turning their ships fleeing if Vandal ships approached.  While soldiers in the army said if they made it to dry land they would "try" to be brave against the enemy.

Belisarius sent Procopius, his adviser, to Syracuse to gather intelligence on the Vandal's movements.  In entering Syracuse, Procopius ran into a fellow Roman and childhood friend who was engaged in the shipping business.  He discovered that the Vandal King Gelimer had reacted to the two revolutions just as Justinian had hoped.

Tripolitana was too far away for the Vandals and the Romans in Egypt could easily support that revolt.  So the King had just dispatched his brother Zano with 5,000 soldiers and 120 galleys to re-capture Sardinia. Now there would be no Vandal fleet nearby to attack the Roman troop transports when they were at their most vulnerable and a large part of the army would be wasted on a distant island.

Video:   Carthage, North Africa
Today we see only the ruins of a great civilization.  At the time of the invasion by Belisarius, these Roman cities and buildings would have been alive with merchants, farmers, teachers, soldiers, churches and more.

Gelimer had no idea there was a Roman invasion force at sea.  After dispatching his brother the King was staying in Hermione, which is in Byzacium, four days' journey distant from the coast and Carthage.

Procopius rushed back to Belisarius with the news.  The general urged everyone to speed the operation. The fleet set sail again, passed Malta, and finally dropped anchor 5 days south of Carthage.

Before landing Belisarius had a council or war with some of his generals. They urged that they sail straight for Carthage and surprise it. Belisarius overruled this view. No one knew the exact location of the Vandal fleet. With the disaster of 467 A.D. in mind he felt is was better to get on dry land without delay.


Making Camp in Africa:  Some three months after their departure from Constantinople the army and its' supplies safely made it to shore. The fleet was formed into a semicircle with five bowmen stationed on each ship as a guard. The rest of the army built a camp on the sea shore "which they fortified, according to ancient discipline, with a ditch and rampart.," and a stockade was also completed and the pointed stakes were fixed in place all around.

Outline of a traditional Roman fort.  Being deep inside enemy territory, Belisarius made sure his men and their supplies were protected by building the standard Roman fortifications while on the march to Carthage.  

On the next morning Belisarius awoke to find neighboring gardens pillaged by his troops. He inflicted strong  corporal punishment on the men involved and then sharply rebuked the offenders saying:  "This using of violence and the eating of that which belongs to others seems at other times a wicked thing only on this account, the Libyans, being Romans from of old, are unfaithful and hostile to the Vandals, and for this reason I thought that no necessaries would fail us and, besides, that the enemy would not do us any injury by a sudden attack. But now this your lack of self-control has changed it all and made the opposite true. For you have doubtless reconciled the Libyans to the Vandals, bringing their hostility round upon your own selves."

Belisarius imposed s rigid discipline which soon resulted in the natives selling all supplies possible to the Romans.

The capture of Syllectus:   Procopius said, "The city of Syllectus was distant one day's journey from the camp, lying close to the sea on the road leading to Carthage, and that the wall of this city had been torn down for a long time, but the inhabitants of the place had made a barrier on all sides by means of the walls of their houses, on account of the attacks of the Moors, and guarded a kind of fortified enclosure; he, accordingly, sent one of his spearmen, Boriades, together with some of the guards, commanding them to make an attempt oh the city, and, if they captured it, to do no harm in it, but to promise a thousand good things and to say that they had come for the sake of the people's freedom, that so the army might be able to enter into it. And they came near the city about dusk and passed the night hidden in a ravine."

"But at early dawn, meeting country folk going into the city with waggons, they entered quietly with them and with no trouble took possession of the city. And when day came, no one having begun any disturbance, they called together the priest and all the other notables and announced the commands of the general, and receiving the keys of the entrances from willing hands, they sent them to the general."

Roman Cavalry from the 6th Century.

The March to Carthage:  Belisarius began the 10 to 12 day march to Carthage along a Roman road that followed the coast. He sent out 3 miles ahead of the main army 300 horse of his own guard under John the Armenian as advanced scouts.  If John should see anything of the enemy he was to report it with all speed, so that the main force would be ready for battle.

The Allied contingent of 600 Huns were ordered to march the same distance to the left of the road to protect against a flank attack. The entire Roman fleet was instructed to sail within sight of the land forces to cover the right flank aganist the Vandal navy.  The Roman infantry and remaining cavalry marched as a group shielded on three sides.

Belisarius had no worries about his rear.  Tripolitana was controled by the Romans and the locals had been made friendly with kind treatment.

Procopius writes "when Belisarius reached Syllectus, the soldiers behaved with moderation, and they neither began any unjust brawls nor did anything out of the way, and he himself, by displaying great gentleness and kindness, won the Libyans to his side so completely that thereafter he made the journey as if in his own land; for neither did the inhabitants of the land withdraw nor did they wish to conceal anything, but they both furnished a market and served the soldiers in whatever else they wished. And accomplishing eighty stades each day, we completed the whole journey to Carthage, passing the night either in a city, should it so happen, or in a camp made as thoroughly secure as the circumstances permitted.

"Thus we passed through the city of Leptis and Hadrumetum and reached the place called Grasse, three hundred and fifty stades distant from Carthage. In that place was a palace of the ruler of the Vandals and a park the most beautiful of all we know. For it is excellently watered by springs and has a great wealth of woods. And all the trees are full of fruit; so that each one of the soldiers pitched his tent among fruit-trees, and though all of them ate their fill of the fruit, which was then ripe, there was practically no diminution to be seen in the fruit."

The Vandals React:  News of the invasion reached King Gelimer and put the Vandals in a panic. A Roman army had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and was within a few miles of Carthage itself. It was the last thing he had expected. The King needed to prolong the war as long as possible until his brother could return from Sardinia with the army and fleet.

Gelimer sent word to kill the old king who was a prisoner and all the others connected with him either by birth or otherwise.  The Vandals quickly mobilized what troops were at hand for battle.

The Ad Decimum battlefield area.
General Belisarius marched up from the south along a coastal Roman road.  In the march to Tunis he sent an advanced guard of hand picked cavalry several miles ahead to act as scouts.  Some 6oo Hun warriors marched several miles to his left as a screen against a Vandal flank attack and the Roman fleet followed just off shore to his right in case the Vandal fleet appeared.
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The Vandal battle plan was to cut off the Roman Army from their fleet when Belisarius moved away from the ocean on the march to Tunis.  The Vandals would surround the Romans with three different Vandal forces and push them up against the Lake of Tunis.

The Battle of Ad Decimum (or Ten Mile Post)  

Unfortunately the Vandals had destroyed, or allowed to decay, many of the old fortifications of the Romans leaving the King only two options:  abandon Carthage or engage in battle on open ground.

King Gelimer chose to fight at the ten mile mark outside of the city called Decimum. At that point the coast road turns inland and the Romans would be separated from their fleet.

The Vandal Battle Plan:   Even though seriously pressed for time, Gelimer came up with an excellent battle plan.  The King knew that the Romans would have to leave their fleet behind them as Belisarius turned away from the coast at the Lake of Tunis.

So Gelimer divided his quickly thrown together army of perhaps 10,000 men into three forces.  A smaller  force under his brother Ammatas would march to the defile of Decimum some ten miles from Carthage just below Tunis.  There they would try to hold the position against the Roman advanced guard.   A second force under the King's nephew Gibamund with 2,000 men would march across a salt plain southwest of Tunis to strike the Roman left flank.

The main Vandal cavalry force under Gelimer with 7,000 men would make a wide sweep to the south around the entire  Roman army and hit them in the rear. The Romans would be out of reach of their fleet and pinned with their backs against the Lake of Tunis by three Vandal armies.

It was a bold plan.  But plans never survive first contact with the enemy.

First phase, the Roman advance parties defeat
the Vandal flanking detachments.

Vandal and Alan warriors.

The Vandal Holding Force:   When the Romans bivouacked in Grasse, scouts coming from both armies met each other, and after an exchange of blows they each retired to their own camp. Both sides were now aware the enemy was not far away. As the Romans marched from there it became impossible to discern their ships at sea.

The Vandal holding force under Ammatas never came together properly.  Ammatas made a serious error by showing up at the Decimum defile hours ahead of time with only a few men. The rest of his troops were strung out in small groups of 20 to 30 men each on the road from Carthage. While surveying the ground Ammatas ran into John the Armenian's troop.

Ammatas was a brave warrior and killed by his own hand 12 of John's best men before he himself was slain. After Ammatas fell  the Vandals, fleeing at top speed, swept back all those who were coming from Carthage to Decimum.

John's men gave chase right up to the city gates leaving a 10 mile trail of large numbers of dead Vandals.

March on the Roman Left Flank:   Gelimer had commanded his nephew Gibamund to take 2,000 Vandals and march through a salt plain south of Tunis and attack the Roman left flank.
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If Belisarius had not arranged his forces with John to take the lead, and the 600 Huns to march on the left of the army, the Romans would never have been able to escape the Vandals.
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Gibamund and his two thousand Vandals came to Pedion Halon, which is forty stades distant from Decimum on the left as one goes to Carthage.  It is destitute of human habitation or trees or anything else, since the salt in the water permits nothing except salt to be produced there.  In that place they encountered the Huns and were all destroyed.
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The Vandals had no experience of battle with the Hun, but heard that the nation was very warlike. They were  terrified at the danger.  Though outnumbered 3 to 1, when the Hun cavalry charged the Vandals could  not withstand them. They broke ranks and ran and never thinking of resistance. The Vandals were all disgracefully destroyed and Gibamund killed.

Video:  Byzantine Cavalry

Second phase, King Gelimer routs the Roman foederati.  

King Gelimer's Attack from the South:   Belisarius knew nothing at all of what had happened with John's advanced guard.  But seeing a place well adapted for a camp some thirty-five stades distant from Decimum, he surrounded it with a stockade which was very well made, and placing all the infantry there.
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Belisarius made a speech to his troops.  He was fearful of going directly to the enemy stronghold of  Carthage.  But he pointed out the advantages the Romans had.  The Romans had fought many wars with Persians and Scythians.   
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The general said, ". . . but the Vandals, since the time they conquered Libya, have seen not a single enemy except naked Moors. And who does not know that in every work practice leads to skill, while idleness leads to inefficiency?  Now the stockade, from which we shall have to carry on the war, has been made by us in the best possible manner. And we are able to deposit here our weapons and everything else which we are not able to carry when we go forth; and when we return here again, no kind of provisions can fail us." 

Belisarius did not want to risk the entire army at this point in the campaign.  He left the infantry and supplies in the stockade and took the cavalry on the road.

Byzantine infantry

The Foederati cavalry reached Decimum, they saw the corpses of their fallen comrades from the forces of John and near them Ammatas and some of the Vandals. Hearing from the inhabitants of the place the whole story of the fight, they were at a loss as to where they ought to go.  In climbing the hills to reconnoiter they saw a cloud of dust coming from the south and then a large force of Vandal cavalry. Gelimer's army was coming. An urgent message was sent to Belisarius for help. 

Gelimer had followed Belisarius at a safe distance, but the hilly nature of the terrain did not allow him to see the movements of the Romans nor the disaster to the Vandals on his left.

There was a brief skirmish between the Roman Foederati and the vanguard of the Vandals. The Foederati  fled for about a mile down the road where they met up with another 800 Romans. Seeing the Foederati galloping toward them in disorder they joined the panic and rode back to the main force.

Third phase, the final clash between Belisarius and Gelimer.

Victory was now within reach of Gelimer. The historian Procopius personally witnessed the terror of the fleeing Roman cavalry. "Had Gelimer pursued immediately," said Procopius, "I do not think that even Belisarius would have withstood him, but our cause would have been utterly ruined, so large appeared the multitude of the Vandals and so great the fear they inspired; or if he had made straight for Carthage he would have slain easily all the men with John, and would have preserved the city and its treasurers, and would have taken our ships which had approached near, and deprived us not only of victory but of the means of escape."

Instead Gelimer descended from the hill at a walk, and when he reached the level ground and saw the corpse of his brother.  He became completely unmanned and expressed loud lamentations. Rather than pursue the fleeing Romans, he could only think of burying the corpse of his family member.

Meantime Belisarius, meeting the fugitives stopped their flight, and arrayed them all in order and rebuked them at length; then.  After hearing of the death of Ammatas and the pursuit of John, and learning what he wished concerning the place and the enemy, he proceeded at full speed against Gelimer and the Vandals.

The Vandals believing the fighting was at an end had dismounted and were inspecting the battlefield while Gelmer arranged funeral rites. Belisarius charged the barbarians bringing with him a large cloud of drifting dust that gave the impression of a much larger Roman force.  The Vandals could not withstand the onset of the Romans, but fled with all their might, losing many men.  The battle only ended at nightfall.
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Procopius reported, "Now the Vandals were in flight, not to Carthage nor to Byzacium, whence they had come, but to the plain of Boulla and the road leading into Numidia. So the men with John (the Armenian) and the Massagetae (Huns) returned to us about dusk, and after learning all that had happened and reporting what they had done, they passed the night with us in Decimum.

An older view of Carthage.

The Capture of Carthage:   Procopius says, "But on the following day the infantry with the wife of Belisarius came up and we all proceeded together on the road toward Carthage, which we reached in the late evening; and we passed the night in the open, although no one hindered us from marching into the city at once.  For the Carthaginians opened the gates and burned lights everywhere and the city was brilliant with the illumination that whole night, and those of the Vandals who had been left behind were sitting as suppliants in the sanctuaries." 
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"But Belisarius prevented the entrance in order to guard against any ambuscade being set for his men by the enemy, and also to prevent the soldiers from having freedom to turn to plundering, as they might under the concealment of night. On that day, since an east wind arose for them, the ships reached the headland, and the Carthaginians, for they already sighted them, removed the iron chains of the harbour which they call Mandracium, and made it possible for the fleet to enter. . . . . There they arrived about dusk and all anchored, except, indeed, that Calonymus with some of the sailors, disregarding the general and all the others, went off secretly to Mandracium, no one daring to hinder him, and plundered the property of the merchants dwelling on the sea, both foreigners and Carthaginians."

"On the following day Belisarius commanded those on the ships to disembark, and after marshalling the whole army and drawing it up in battle formation, he marched into Carthage; for he feared lest he should encounter some snare set by the enemy. There he reminded the soldiers at length of how much good fortune had come to them because they had displayed moderation toward the Libyans, and he exhorted them earnestly to preserve good order with the greatest care in Carthage. For all the Libyans had been Romans in earlier times and had come under the Vandals by no will of their own and had suffered many outrages at the hands of these barbarians."

Dougga / Thugga
This northern Tunisan town is known
as one of the best reserved
Roman towns in all of Africa.

"After such words of exhortation he entered Carthage, and, since no enemy was seen by them, he went up to the palace and seated himself on Gelimer's throne. There a crowd of merchants and other Carthaginians came before Belisarius with much shouting, persons whose homes were on the sea, and they made the charge that there had been a robbery of their property on the preceding night by the sailors. And Belisarius bound Calonymus by oaths to bring without fail all his thefts to the light. And Calonymus, taking the oath and disregarding what he had sworn, for the moment made the money his plunder, but not long afterwards he paid his just penalty in Byzantium. For being taken with the disease called apoplexy, he became insane and bit off his own tongue and then died. But this happened at a later time."

"But then, since the hour was appropriate, Belisarius commanded that lunch be prepared for them, in the very place where Gelimer was accustomed to entertain the leaders of the Vandals. This place the Romans call "Delphix," not in their own tongue, but using the Greek word according to the ancient custom. For in the palace at Rome, where the dining couches of the emperor were placed, a tripod had stood from olden times, on which the emperor's cupbearers used to place the cups."

"So Belisarius dined in the Delphix and with him all the notables of the army. And it happened that the lunch made for Gelimer on the preceding day was in readiness. And we feasted on that very food and the domestics of Gelimer served it and poured the wine and waited upon us in every way. And it was possible to see Fortune in her glory and making a display of the fact that all things are hers and that nothing is the private possession of any man. And it fell to the lot of Belisarius on that day to win such fame as no one of the men of his time ever won nor indeed any of the men of olden times." 

" . . . . all the soldiers under the command of this general showed themselves so orderly that there was not a single act of insolence nor a threat, and indeed nothing happened to hinder the business of the city; but in a captured city, one which had changed its government and shifted its allegiance, it came about that no man's household was excluded from the privileges of the market-place; on the contrary, the clerks drew up their lists of the men and conducted the soldiers to their lodgings, just as usual, and the soldiers themselves, getting their lunch by purchase from the market, rested as each one wished."

 The Vandal Zano with 5,000 soldiers and
120 galleys was sent to re-capture Sardinia. 

"Afterwards Belisarius gave pledges to those Vandals who had fled into the sanctuaries, and began to take thought for the fortifications. For the circuit-wall of Carthage had been so neglected that in many places it had become accessible to anyone who wished and easy to attack. For no small part of it had fallen down, and it was for this reason, the Carthaginians said, that Gelimer had not made his stand in the city."

To This Point:   So far it had been a brilliant, almost textbook, military campaign.  
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The coast of Libya was in Roman hands.  What is southern Tunisia up to and including the city of Carthage was now under Roman control.  Belisarius had a solid base to work from, but the destruction of the Vandal Kingdom was far from over.
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On the negative side, Belisarius was still very isolated from the Empire and any possible help.  There were potential hostile Gothic kingdoms in Italy and Spain to consider.
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The Vandals were damaged but undefeated.  King Gelimer still had a large army under his command.  The 5,000 Vandal troops in Sardinia had put down the pro-Roman revolt.  Soon they would be joining Gelimer.  With the two armies united and working on their home soil they could take on the victorious Roman army hold up inside Carthage.
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But that is another story.

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History of the Wars, Books III and IV, Procopius of Caesarea

6th Century Eastern Roman Cavalry

The Forum of Constantine

The Column of Çemberlitaş today in what was the Forum of Constantine.

The Column called Çemberlitaş (”the stone with hoops”) was commissioned on May 11, 330 AD by Constantine the Great to celebrate the designation of Constantinople as the new capital of the Roman Empire. The column was the centerpiece in the Forum of Constantine, a grand colonnaded plaza decorated with statues of pagan gods and Christian saints. Atop the column was a gigantic statue of the Emperor Constantine dressed and adorned as Apollo. The statue toppled in a hurricane in 1106 and was later replaced by a huge cross.

After the Ottoman conquest în 1453 the cross was removed. In 1779 a conflagration destroyed this whole neighborhood and left the column with black scorch marks, earning it the nickname "Burnt Column”. Sultan Abdülhamit I had the column restored after the fire, and added the present masonry base. Its iron hoops were replaced in the 1970s, and extensive stabilization was carried out from 2004 through 2009 to keep it upright for a few more centuries.



One vision of the Forum of Constantine with the city building up around it.
Image Forum of Constantine

The Byzantium 1200 project created computer reconstructions of the Byzantine Monuments located in Istanbul, Turkey as of year 1200 AD.

The Forum of Constantine was built at the foundation of Byzantium immediately outside of the old walls. It was circular in shape and had two monumental gates to the east and west. The column of Constantine which still stands upright and is known as Çemberlitaş was erected in the center of the square. It was originally crowned with a statue of Constantine, but this fell down in 1106 and was replaced under Manuel Komnenos (1143-1180) by a cross. Otherwise the forum remained nearly intact until 1204.

The Senat House lay on the north side of it. We know from the sources that the square was decorated with a number of antique statues. Some of them that we know of are: a dolphin, an elephant, a group of hippocamps, judgement of Paris, Palladion, Athena and Thetis, Artemis. Possible ones are Poseidon, Askleipios and Dionysios.  

 

 

Forum of Constantine

Forum of Constantine before Constantine's bronze statue fell down during the windstorm in 1106.

 

 

 

 

 

 

AUGUSTEUM AND FORUM OF CONSTANTINE

The chief thoroughfare in the new city of Constantine led from the Golden Gate (in the wall of Constantine, not to be confused with the later Golden Gate in the wall of Theodosius ii.) eastward (passing through the Forum Bovis, the Forum Amastrianorum, and the Forum Tauri) to the Golden Milestone in the Augusteum. Before it reached the Augusteum it passed through the Forum of Constantine in which stood the Pillar of Constantine (and the Churches of S. Constantine and S. Mary of the Forum).

In the Augusteum (which we might translate Place Impériale) it came to an end, in front of the Senate house (Σενάτον) and west wall of the Palace. The Augusteum was bounded on the north by St. Sophia; on the east, by Senate house and palace buildings; on the south, by the Palace (the great entrance gate, known as the Chalkê, was here) and the north side of the Hippodrome, beside which were the Baths of Zeuxippus.

There was no public way between the east side of the Hippodrome and the Palace. According to Labarte, the Augusteum was enclosed by a wall, with gates, on the west side, running from south-west of St. Sophia to a point between the Palace and the Hippodrome; so that the entrance to the Hippodrome and the Zeuxippus would have been outside the Augusteum.


AUGUSTEUM AND FORUM OF CONSTANTINE — ( P. 104-106 ) 1 - Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 3 [1776]

Computer recreation of the Forum of Constantine
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This image and those below used under Fair Use from Byzantium1200.
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Review for comment, criticism and scholarship as allowed under FAIR USE section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C.
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The Byzantium 1200 website published an article with computer recreations of what the Forum of Constantine might have looked like.  Considering we know so very little about the forum this article went above and beyond. 
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Those who have not done so should visit the article and images published by the website and view their article on the Forum.  The artists have done an exceptional and stunningly beautiful job as these two sample images can attest.
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Putting together this article was a major project that involved a great deal of thought and historical research.  The artists at Byzantium 1200 hit a home run with this one.  Well done.

(Forum of Constantine)

The Battle of Anchialus

The Bulgarian conquest of the Roman Balkans.

Battle of Anchialus  (708AD)


Background

With the decisive Bulgarian victory Battle of Ongal in 680AD around the Danube delta area, the Eastern Roman Empire agreed to the creation of the First Bulgarian Empire on soil long controlled by Rome.

Justinian II came to the throne in 685 shortly after the defeat by the Bulgarians.  Justinian was keen to restore the greatness of the Empire.

After a preliminary strike against the Arabs in Armenia, Justinian managed to augment the sum paid by the Umayyad Caliphs as an annual tribute, and to regain control of part of Cyprus.

Justinian took advantage of the peace in the East to regain possession of the Balkans, which were before then almost totally under the heel of Slavic tribes.  In 687 Justinian transferred cavalry troops from Anatolia to Thrace. With a great military campaign in 688–689, Justinian defeated the Bulgars of Macedonia and was finally able to enter Thessalonica, the second most important Byzantine city in Europe.

Justinian II

Justinian strengthened the thematic military organization of the Empire.  As part of that plan the Emperor sought to protect the rights of peasant freeholders who served as the main recruitment pool for the armed forces of the Empire. There had been steady attempts by the aristocracy to acquire their land.  This action to improve the military also put him in direct conflict with some of the largest landholders in the Empire.

Justinian was deposed in 695.  His tongue was slit and his nose cut off.  He was exiled to Cherson in Byzantine Crimea.

Years later Justinian approached Kahn Tervel of Bulgaria. Trevel agreed to provide all the military assistance necessary for Justinian to regain his throne in exchange for financial considerations, lands located between Stara Zagora, Sliven and the Black Sea, the award of a Caesar's crown, and the hand of Justinian's daughter, Anastasia, in marriage.

In 705, with an army of 15,000 Bulgar and Slav horsemen Justinian appeared before the walls of Constantinople.  Unable to take the city by force, he and some companions entered through an unused water conduit under the walls of the city, roused their supporters, and seized control of the city in a midnight coup d'état.

The Bulgarian army returned home with their payment leaving Justinian to take a bloody revenge on his enemies.

The modern day town of Pomorie, Bulgaria sits on the old Roman city of Anchialus.

The Battle

It is a rule that no good deed goes unpunished.  After disagreements with the Bulgarian Kahn, Justinian attacked his ally.  Now that he was in a stronger position the Emperor wanted to re-take the lands lost by in his deal with Tervel.

There are no real numbers or even much detailed information on the campaign.  But this must have been a major effort because the Emperor himself led the troops into enemy controlled territory.  Tervel had shown up at Constantinople with 15,000 men to support Justinian's claim to the throne. We must assume that Justinian would invade Bulgaria with at least an army of that size and perhaps one even larger.

J.B. Bury says the Roman force moved to the fortress of Anchialus by both land and sea.  Most of the troops appear to have been cavalry.  There is no mention of a battle or enemy contact on the march to the Roman held fortress.

The Romans appear to have been lulled into a sense of safety.  Perhaps locals told them that there were no enemy troops in the area.  In any case, Justinian has to get full blame for a lack of proper scouting and for not building a proper fortified base camp.

While Justinian's soldiers were meandering about in disorder gathering food, Tervel and his cavalry charged the outermost Roman troops. At the same time the Bulgarian infantry attacked the camp. The Romans were surprised and confused; most of them perished in the battle or were captured as well as many horses and arms.

The Emperor fled to the fortress with what troops that were left.  He held out in the fortress for three days with his men.  Seeing no other solution, he had the horses disabled so they would be of no use to the Bulgarians and then boarded the Roman ships waiting offshore and returned to Constantinople.

It was a total Bulgarian victory.

Afterwards

Three years later in 711 the rebel Emperor Philippicus captured and executed Justinian.

The Bulgarian victory secured the new territorial gains for centuries.  In 717 Emperor Leo III made a plea to Tervel for help in the second Siege of Constantinople by the Arabs.  Relying on the treaty of 716 and Tervel agreed. The first clash between the Bulgarians and the Arabs ended with a Bulgarian victory.  The Bulgarians slaughtered some 22,000 Arabs in the battle and stopped the Muslim invasion of Europe. Khan Tervel was called the Savior of Europe by his contemporaries.

J.B Bury - History of the Later Roman Empire (1889)

(Battle of Anchialus)

The Roman Fortress of Zenobia

The southern wall and citadel of the Roman fortress of Zenobia near Halabiye, Syria.

Roman Mesopotamia  -  Battle ground between Persia and Rome.

The river Euphrates was the shortest road from the Persian Empire to the Roman Empire. It was also one of the most accessible roads, because there was sufficient water for a big army.

For endless centuries both empires fought over the same ground of what is today Iraq, Turkey and Syria.  Halabiye was fortified in the 3rd century AD by Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, after whom the site was named in antiquity. After her revolt against the Roman Empire in 273, Halabiye was captured by the Romans and subsequently refortified as part of the Limes Arabicus.

It is likely that Fort Zenobia was rebuilt by the emperor Diocletian (284-305); a second building phase took place when Anastasius I was ruler of the Byzantine Empire (491-518); the next rebuilding can be dated to the reign of Justinian (527-565), who sent his general Belisarius to the east to fight against the Persians. This building phase is described at some length by Procopius.

The site must have been taken over by the Persians during their epic fight against the Byzantines in the first third of the sixth century, and may have remained abandoned when the Emperor Heraclius reconquered Syria. The Arabs took over the area in 637, reused Zenobia, and modified the citadel. However, because both Syria and Iraq were part of the Caliphate of Damascus, the site had lost much its strategic importance, and the Muslim occupation did not last very long.

The site occupies an area of 12 hectares (30 acres), protected by massive city walls and a citadel on top of a hill. Remains of two churches, a public bath complex and two streets have been excavated. These all date to the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, who refortified the city in the 6th century AD.

The proposed construction of the Halabiye Dam on the Euphrates south of Halabiye will lead to the partial flooding of the site by the dam’s reservoir.

Outer façade of the northern city wall, looking west toward the Praetorium and the citadel.

By Procopius  (Buildings - Published in the 550s AD)

So these structures were erected by the Emperor Justinian in the manner which I have described in Mesopotamia and in Osroenê, as it is called.  And I shall describe the fashion in which his work was carried out on the right of the Euphrates River.  The other boundaries between the Romans and the Persians are in general of such a sort that the territories of the two peoples are adjacent to each other, and both peoples push out from their own territory and either fight with each other or compose their differences, as people will whenever nations differing in customs and in government hold any land on a common boundary.

For a land which is altogether bare and unproductive separates the Roman and the Persian territory for a great distance, and this contains nothing worth fighting for.  Both of them, however, have built forts carelessly of unbaked brick in the desert which chances to lie nearest to the land which they inhabit;  these forts never suffered attack from their neighbours, for both peoples lived there without enmity, since they possessed nothing which their adversaries might desire.  The Emperor Diocletian had built three forts, such as I have described, in this desert, one of which, Mambri by name, had fallen into decay in the long course of time and was restored by the Emperor Justinian.

The southern wall looking down to the Euphrates River.

At a distance of about five miles from this fort on the road to Roman territory, Zenobia, wife of Odonathus, who was ruler of the Saracens in that district, once founded a small city in earlier times and gave her name to it;  for the name she gave it was Zenobia, as was fitting.  But the long period of time that had elapsed since those events had reduced its circuit-wall to a ruin, since the Romans were quite unwilling to take care of it, and thus it had come to be altogether destitute of inhabitants.  So it was possible for the Persians freely, whenever they wished, to get into the middle of Roman territory before the Romans had word of the hostile inroad.

But the Emperor Justinian rebuilt Zenobia completely and he filled it quite full of inhabitants, and he stationed there a commander of select troops and a thoroughly adequate garrison, and made it a bulwark of the Roman Empire and a frontier barrier against the Persians;  indeed he did not simply restore its previous form, but he actually made it very much stronger than it was before.

The Praetorium, interior.

It is surrounded by cliffs which stand very close to the city, and for this reason it was possible for the enemy to shoot down from their summits upon the heads of the defenders of the circuit-wall.  This he was anxious to prevent, and so he built a certain additional structure on the top of the circuit-wall, at precisely the place where the cliffs are nearest, designed to serve permanently as a shelter for the men fighting there. Such a structure they call "wings" (ptera), because it appears to droop, as it were, from the wall.

However, it is impossible to describe all that the Emperor accomplished at Zenobia, since, seeing that it occupies a site far removed from any neighbour and on this account is sure to be always in danger, and that it is unable to secure succour because there are no Romans who live near at hand, the Emperor considered the city worthy, as well he might, of his unceasing attention above all other places. Nevertheless I shall describe a few of the things that were done there.

Video  -  The Roman Fortress of Zenobia (Halabiye, Syria)

By the side of Zenobia flows the Euphrates River, passing to the east of it and coming very close to the circuit-wall on that side; but since high mountains rise beside the river at this point, the stream cannot spread out at all, but by reason of the proximity of these mountains and because it is constrained by its banks, which are hard, it would gather its stream into an extraordinarily narrow space whenever it chanced that rains caused it to rise in flood, and would pour out against the wall and immediately rise, not only about the foundations but even as far as the battlements.

And when the wall had once been soaked through by the water, the result was that the river loosened the courses of stones and thereafter the wall stood upon a dangerous conglomeration of stones.  But he constructed a huge protective wall (probolos) of hard stone of equal length with the circuit-wall, and caused this to check at that point the turbulence of the river when it rose, and so freed the wall entirely from harm from this source, even should the river rise to a great height in its most violent state.

He also found that portion of the city's circuit-wall which faces the north dangerously weakened by the passage of time; so he first took it down, along with the outworks, clear to the ground, and then rebuilt it, yet not as it had been before, for at that point the buildings of the city had been especially crowded, causing trouble to those who lived there.  But he went beyond the place where the foundations of the circuit-wall and the outworks had formerly stood, even beyond the moat itself, and there he built the wall, which is a remarkable sight in itself and exceptionally beautiful, thus materially increasing the area of Zenobia.

A view from the citadel.

Furthermore, a certain hill stood very close to the city on the side toward the west, from which it was possible for the barbarians, whenever they attacked the city, to shoot down with impunity upon the heads of the defenders, and even upon the heads of those who stood in the middle of the city.  So the Emperor Justinian connected the fortifications with this hill on both sides, and thus brought it inside Zenobia; and he escarped the whole hill throughout, so that no one might climb it to work harm from there, and placed another fortification on its summit and thus made the city altogether inaccessible to those who wished to assault it.  For beyond the hill it chances that the ground is very low and for this reason it is impossible for the enemy to approach it at all closely.  And immediately above the depression rise the mountains which face toward the west.

Yet this Emperor did not provide only for the safety of this city, but he erected churches there and barracks for the military forces;  nay more, he added to it public baths and stoas. For all these operations the master-builders Isidorus and John gave their assistance — John a Byzantine and Isidorus a Milesian by birth, nephew of the Isidorus whom I have mentioned before.  Both of them were young men, but they displayed a natural ability beyond their years, and they had come to their full maturity with their experience in the Emperor's undertakings.

The Euphrates and, beyond it, the towers of Zalebiye.

The southern wall.

Inside the Praetorium.

(Byzantine Mesopotamia)

(Procopius Buildings)

(Zenobia - Halabiye. Wikipedia)

Byzantine Spain

Spania at its greatest extent, with cities indicated and lost territory.
Click for enlarged map of Byzantine Spain.

Byzantine Province of Spania (552 to 624 AD)

Roman rule over Spain ended in 400 AD with the endless barbarian invasions.  The re-conquest of Spain by the Eastern Empire was almost an accident.

The Emperor Justinian had re-conquered North Africa in 534 and was still fighting the long re-conquest of Italy 535 to 554.

It is impossible to say whether Justinian in the early years of his reign had formed any definite plan for re-conquering Spain, but we may be sure that it was one of his ambitions.  But before he had completed the subjugation of the Ostrogoths he was invited to intervene in Spain, and, although the issue of the Italian war was still far from certain, he did not hesitate to take advantage of the occasion.

Emperor Justinian

In a nasty dynastic civil war the Visigoth King Athanagild sought the support of the Emperor Justinian, and the Emperor sent a fleet to the southern coasts of Spain. The commander of this expedition was the octogenarian patrician Liberius.

Liberius was campaigning in Sicily.  He appears not to have returned to Constantinople till late in A.D. 551, it is probable that he received commands to sail directly to Spain with the troops who had accompanied him to Sicily, in A.D. 550, for the date of his expedition cannot have been later than in this year. As the armament must have been small, it achieved a remarkable success. Many maritime cities and forts were captured.

The cities were captured professedly in the interests of Athanagild, but when Athanagild's cause had triumphed, the Imperialists refused to hand them over and the Visigoths were unable to expel them. Athanagild recovered a few places, but Liberius had established an Imperial province in Baetica which was to remain under the rule of Constantinople for about seventy years. There can be no doubt that this change of government was welcomed by the Spanish-Roman population.

Byzantine government in Spania

We have very few details as to the extent of this Spanish province. It comprised districts and towns to the west as well as to the east of the Straits of Gades; it included the cities of New Carthage, Corduba, and Assionia; we do not know whether at any time it included Hispalis.

It was placed under a military governor who had the rank of Master of Soldiers (Magister militum), but we do not know whether he was independent or subordinate to the governor of Africa.

Byzantine settlement of Son Pereto (Mallorca, Spain)

Typically the magister was a member of the highest aristocratic class and bore the rank of patrician. The office, though it only appears in records for the first time in 589, was probably a creation of Justinian, as was the mint, which issued provincial currency until the end of the province.

Enough Roman troops, backed by the Roman fleet, would have been stationed in the province to prevent any re-conquest by the Visigoths.  But there are no records remaining about the local fortifications or the size and make up of the force.

The province of Spania was predominantly Latin Christian.  Some of the Byzantine governors were the same, though some were Eastern Christians.  Despite this, the relationship between subject and ruler and between church and state seems to have been no better than in Arian Visigothic Spain.

The Byzantine Balearic Islands of Spania

The Early Christian and Byzantine settlement of Son Peretó, located in the eastern part of Mallorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands.

Son Peretó is one of the most important sites for the period on the islands and a notable example of Early Christian architecture. Archaeologists have already uncovered a basilica, a baptistery with two baptismal basins and two sectors of adjacent rooms used for housing and funeral rites.

The current project, managed by the Manacor Historical Museum and the University of Barcelona, began in 2005, and since then they have aimed to preserve and restore the remains uncovered during the 20th-century excavations, especially standing structures such as the foundations of several walls and untouched graves. So far the graves uncovered have been found in excellent condition.

Byzantine settlement of Son Peretó, one of the most western outposts of the Byzantine Empire and dating to the 6th century.

Several of the existing archaeological sites on the Balearic Islands dating from the Byzantine era suggest a military use. In the forum of Pollentia, archaeologists discovered that the Byzantines used pre-existing structures such as the Capitoline Temple to build a fortification at the highest point of the city. Likewise, at Can Pins on the nearby island of Formentera, archaeologists uncovered a square fort with towers at each corner, a characteristic that has led scholars to compare it to the Byzantine strongholds in North Africa. But while the architecture suggests proximity to Northern Africa, the mosaics found at Son Peretó display artistic styles closer to the traditional schools in Constantinople.

Religion played an important role as well. The Byzantine churches on the islands thus far studied and excavated include Son Bou (Alaior), Cap des Port (Fornells), Fornàs de Torelló (Maó), and Illa del Rei (Maó) in Menorca; and Cas Frares (Santa Maria des Camí), Son Fradinet (Campos), and Son Peretó in Mallorca. The study of these basilicas and excavation work has led archaeologists to two arguments: that these rural parishes acted as gathering points for dispersed communities, or that they were established to stamp out the remaining pockets of Paganism and replace it with Christianity.

Spania in 586 after the conquests of Leovigild (with dates of conquest on map).

The re-conquest by the Visigoths

The Byzantines were unable to push their offensive forward deeper into Spain and the Visigoths made some successful pushes back.  Around 570, the Visigoth King Leovigild ravaged Bastetania (Bastitania or Bastania, the region of Baza) and took Medina Sidonia through the treachery of an insider named Framidaneus (possibly a Goth).  He may have taken Baza and he certainly raided into the environs of Málaga, defeating a relief army sent from there.

He took many cities and fortresses in the Guadalquivir valley and defeated a large army of rustici (rustics), according to John of Biclarum, who may have been referring to an army of bandits called Bagaudae who had established themselves in the disputed buffer zone between Gothic and Roman control.  In 577 in Orospeda, a region under Byzantine control, Leovigild defeated more rustici rebellantes, probably Bagaudae.

After two seasons of campaigning against the Romans, however, Leovigild concentrated his military efforts elsewhere.  If he was meeting with military success he would have continued.  We might assume that he met stronger Byzantine resistence.

During the rule of Recared I (reigned 586–601) the Byzantines again took the offensive and probably even regained or gained ground.  Recared recognized the legitimacy of the Byzantine frontier and wrote to Pope Gregory requesting a copy be sent from the Emperor Maurice.  Gregory simply replied that the text of the treaty had been lost in a fire during Justinian's reign and warned Recared that he would not want it found because it would have probably granted the Byzantines more territory than they actually then possessed (August 599).  Leovigild's gains against the Roman government were greater than the Roman re-conquests of Recared's reign.

Beginning of the End 

In 602 AD events taking place far in the eastern part of the Empire sealed the fate of  the province of Spania.

The Roman army on the Danube under Phocas revolted against Emperor Maurice and marched on Constantinople.  The Emperor abdicated and fled the city.  The "Green" faction in Constantinople acclaimed Phocas as Emperor.  He was crowned in the Church of St. John the Baptist and his wife Leontia was invested with the rank of Augusta.

Phocas headed a military coup
that made himself Emperor but
thrust the Empire into anarchy.

Maurice was dragged from his monastic sanctuary at Chalcedon, and killed along with his five sons. It is said that he had to watch as his sons were executed in front of his eyes. The bodies were thrown in the sea and the heads of all were exhibited in Constantinople.

Almost at once the Empire was invaded by Persia from the east and the Slavs in the Balkans.  The nation fell into anarchy with Persia conquering Syria, Anatolia, Egypt and the Slavs roaming the Balkans.

The Persian War lasted from 602 until 628.  The Empire was nearly destroyed.  The outer provinces were pretty much on their own.  Though there is no information about troop redeployments it is very possible that the Emperor recalled some troops from Spania to help in other provinces.

It was at this point that the Visigoths renewed their attacks on the Roman cities.

They captured the small town of Gisgonza.  King Gundemar campaigned against Spania in 611, but to no effect. The next king, Sisebut, more than any king before him became the scourge of the Byzantines in Spain. In 614 and 615, he carried out two massive expeditions against them and conquered Málaga before 619.   He conquered as far as the Mediterranean coast and razed many cities to the ground, enough even to catch the attention of the Frankish chronicler Fredegar:
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"King Sisbodus took many cities from the Roman Empire along the coast, destroying them and reducing them to rubble."

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Sisebut probably also razed Cartagena, which was so completely desolated that it never reappeared in Visigothic Spain. Because the Goths were unable to undertake decent sieges, they were forced to reduce the defenses of all fortified places they took in order to prevent later armies from using them against them. Because Cartagena was destroyed but Málaga was spared, it has been inferred that the former fell first while the Byzantine presence was still large enough to constitute a threat. Málaga fell some time after when the Byzantines were so reduced as to no longer form a danger to Visigothic hegemony over the whole peninsula.

In 621, the Byzantines still held a few towns, but Suinthila recovered them shortly.  By 624 the entire province of Spania was in Visigothic hands save the Balearic Islands which remained part of the Byzantine Empire until the Arab invasions.

(Byzantine Son Pereto)

J. B. Bury: History of the Later Roman Empire (1889)

(Byzantine Spain)

The Roman Empire at its' peak under Justinian including the conquest of southern Spain.

Byzantine–Genoese War

Genoese Dromone 11th Century

Byzantine–Genoese War (1348–1349)


Background

The Byzantines were desperately trying to rebuild the Empire after having been gang raped by their fellow Christians in the Fourth Crusade.  They were still being pressed on all sides by Bulgaria, Serbia, Venice, Genoa and the Muslim Ottoman Turks.

The devastation of the Byzantine 1341–1347 civil war so greatly weakened the Empire that its financial reserves were irrevocably depleted.

To regain control over their finances and their fate the Byzantine's only recourse was to break their dependence for food and maritime commerce on the Genoese merchants of Galata.  The Byzantines made an attempt to take control of the custom duties and tariffs of the trade route through the Bosphorus and rebuild their naval power.

Galata Tower in the Genoese colony.

Constantinople was the Imperial seat of power and was the cultural and military center of the state. But only thirteen percent of custom dues passing through the strait were going to the Empire. The remaining 87 percent was collected by the Genoese from their colony of Galata.  Genoa collected 200,000 hyperpyra from annual custom revenues from Galata, while Constantinople collected a mere 30,000.

The 1348-49 war was the last attempt for the Byzantines to retake control single-handedly.

The Battle

The Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos lowered Constantinople's duties and most tariffs to undercut the Genoese in Galata.  With the treasury empty, the Emperor had raised 50,000 hyperpyra from private sources for a shipbuilding program. When the tariffs and custom duties were finally lowered, merchant shipping coming through the strait bypassed Genoese Galata and diverted their ships across the Golden Horn to Byzantine Constantinople.

This was a direct attack on the income of the Genoese merchant colony of Galata and war was declared in 1348.  The Genoese sailed their navy to Constantinople in 1349 and destroyed the Byzantine fleet.  The Byzantines retaliated by burning wharfs and warehouses along the shore and catapulted stones and burning bales of hay into Galata, setting major parts of the city on fire.

Peace Treaty

After weeks of fighting the representatives of Genoa negotiated a peace agreement.

The Genoese agreed to pay a war indemnity of 100,000 hyperpyra and evacuated the land behind Galata which they illegally occupied; finally they promised never to attack Constantinople. In return the Byzantine surrendered nothing, however the Genoese custom duties remain in effect.

The war was a total loss for the Byzantines.  A one-time peace payment to the Emperor by Genoa was meaningless.  The permanent yearly income from tariffs and custom duties remained in the hands of Genoa.

With almost no financial resources available to them to support a military, Byzantium began its' death spiral ending with the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

The Battle of Solachon - Romans vs. Persians

Heavy Armored Persian Sassanian Cavalry.  The Battle of Solachon appears to
have been mostly a cavalry fight.

Battle of Solachon 586 AD


Roman – Persian War of 572–591

The wars between the Roman Empire and Sassanid Persia had gone on and on for centuries.  Each side looking to gain territory or military advantage over the other.  The latest war was triggered by pro-Roman revolts in areas of the Caucasus under Persian hegemony, although other events contributed to its outbreak.

The fighting was largely confined to the southern Caucasus and Mesopotamia, although it also extended into eastern Anatolia, Syria and northern Iran.

This was also the last of the many wars between the Romans and Persians to follow a pattern in which fighting was largely confined to frontier provinces where neither side achieved any lasting occupation of enemy territory beyond this border zone.  It preceded the much more wide-ranging and dramatic final Persian-Roman War in the early 7th century.

Video  -  Sassanian Persian Cavalry

The Opposing Forces

The backbone of the Persian spah was its heavy cavalry "in which all the nobles and men of rank" underwent "hard service" and became professional soldiers "through military training and discipline, through constant exercise in warfare and military maneuvers".  From the third century the Romans also formed units of heavy cavalry of the Oriental type; they called such horsemen clibanarii "mailclad [riders]", a term thought to have derived from an Iranian *griwbanar < *griwbanwar < *griva-pana-bara "neck-guard wearer". The heavy cavalry of Shapur II is described by an eye-witness historian as follows:

"all the companies were clad in iron, and all parts of their bodies were covered with thick plates, so fitted that the stiff-joints conformed with those of their limbs; and the forms of human faces were so skillfully fitted to their heads, that since their entire body was covered with metal, arrows that fell upon them could lodge only where they could see a little through tiny openings opposite the pupil of the eye, or where through the tip of their nose they were able to get a little breath. Of these some who were armed with pikes, stood so motionless that you would have thought them held fast by clamps of bronze".

According to the Iranian sources, the martial equipments of a heavily-armed Sassanian horseman were as follows: helmet, hauberk (Pahlavi griwban), breastplate, mail, gauntlet (Pahlavi abdast), girdle, thigh-guards (Pahlavi ran-ban), lance, sword, battle-axe, mace, bowcase with two bows and two bowstrings, quiver with 30 arrows, two extra bowstrings, spear, and horse armor (zen-abzar); to these some have added a lasso (kamand), or a sling with slingstones.

The most important Byzantine treatise on the art of war, the Strategicon, also written at this period, requires the same equipments from a heavily-armed horseman. This was due to the gradual orientalisation of the Roman army to the extent that in the sixth century "the military usages of the Romans and the Persians become more and more assimilated, so that the armies of Justinian and Khosrow are already very much like each other;" and, indeed, the military literatures of the two sides show strong affinities and interrelations.

The Byzantine cavalrymen and their horses were superbly trained and capable of performing complex maneuvers. While a proportion of the Cataphracts (Kataphractos or Clibanophori) appear to have been lancers or archers only, most had bows and lances. Their main tactical units were the Numerus (Also called at times Arithmos or Banda) of 300-400 men. The equivalent to the old Roman Cohort or the modern Battalion, the Numeri were usually formed in lines 8 to 10 ranks deep, making them almost a mounted Phalanx. The Byzantines recognized that this formation was less flexible for cavalry than infantry but found the trade off to be acceptable in exchange for the greater physical and psychological advantages offered by depth.

Eastern Roman Armored Cavalry.

The Battle

The Roman-Persian War had already been going on for some fourteen years by the time of this battle.

The Roman forces were commanded by Philippicus the  comes excubitorum (Commander of the Excubitors, the imperial bodyguard).  In 584, he replaced John Mystacon as magister militum for the East, becoming  responsible for the conduct of the ongoing war against the Persians

He was also the son-in-law of Paul, the head of the Byzantine Senate who in turn was father of the Emperor Maurice.

To intercept the anticipated Persian invasion Philippicus positioned the Roman Army in Byzantine Mesopotamia south of the city of Dara in what is now Northern Syria and Turkey.

Philippicus placed his forces at Solachon, a central point that controlled different roads on the plains of Mesopotamia.  But even more important in desert fighting, the Romans controlled the available water supply of the Arzamon River.

The Persian general Kardarigan brought his troops over the desert and away from his supply lines.  Because the Romans controled the water supply he was forced to pack in water on a caravan of camels.

Kardarigan tried to sneak up on the Romans and attack them on their Sunday day of rest.  But Byzantine Arab foederati detected the movements of the Persians and captured a few of Kardarigan's men.  With this advance warning Philippicus had his troops in battle order waiting for the Persians.

The Roman troops were on elevated ground facing the Persians with their left flank anchored on the foothills of  Mount Izalas.  The Romans were in three divisions.

LEFT  -  Commanded by Eiliphredas, the dux of Phoenice Libanensis, and included a Hunnic contingent of horse-archers under Apsich.

CENTER  -  Commanded by the general Heraclius the Elder, later Exarch of Africa and father of Emperor Heraclius.

RIGHT  -  Commanded by the taxiarchos Vitalius.

The Persian right division was under Mebodes, the center under Kardarigan himself, and the left wing under Kardarigan's nephew, Aphraates. Unlike the Persian general, Philippicus remained with a small force at some distance behind the main battle line, from where he could direct the battle.

Both armies appear to have been composed exclusively of cavalry, composed of a mix of lancers and horse-archers.  Though considered a major battle troop numbers are not available.

Persian Cavalry.

To encourage their forces the Romans raised a holy flag with a picture of Christ while the Persian commander destroyed his water supplies to create a "win or die" attitude.

Both armies advanced toward each other shooting arrows as they came.  On the right flank the Roman cavalry under Vitalius smashed through the line forcing the Persians to the left and behind their own troops in the center.  At this point many of the Romans broke formation and headed towards the Persian camp in the rear area intending on looting the baggage.

Philippicus reacted quickly to this potential for disorganization and disaster.  He gave his distinctive helmet to Theodore Ilibinus, his spear-bearer, ordering him to ride among the troops and threaten punishment if they did not come to order.  It worked.  The men thought their commander was at their side and formed back up into the units.  They had reformed not a moment too soon.  The Persian center had regrouped and was pushing back at the Roman right.

Philippicus was facing a very large mass of Persians from their center and left wing.  He ordered his Roman cavalry in the center to dismount and form a shield-wall with their lances projecting from it (the fulcum tactic).  It is not clear what happened next, but apparently the Roman archers shot at the Persians' horses, breaking their momentum.

At this point the Roman left wing cavalry charged and broke the Persians forcing them to the rear in disarray.  Soon the Persian right broke completely and fled the battlefield toward the city of Dara.

The wings of the Persian army had by now disintegrated. The Roman right and center concentrated their efforts on the still standing Persian center.  The battle in the center raged hotly for a long time.  But outnumbered and attacked from several sides the Persians finally broke and fled.

The Persians suffered horribly.  First from the Byzantine pursuit and then from thirst.  Before the battle Kardarigan had destroyed the Persian water supply.  Now his men were trying to escape over the deserts of Mesopotamia with no water.  Persian survivors from the desert were refused entry into Dara.  Many died of thirst while others died from drinking too much water once they found it.

General Kardarigan with some of his troops found refuge on a nearby hilltop.  Cut off from food and water Kardarigan stood off Byzantine attacks for three or four days.  Finally the Byzantines abandoned the attacks not knowing it was the enemy commander.  He escaped but the 7th century historian Theophylact Simocatta says he suffered another one thousand casualties from the attacks on the hill and Byzantine patrols.

Aftermath

Solachon was an important victory for the Romans and strengthened and stabilized the front.  But it was not a decisive victory.  Both empires were too vast in size and their military power too great for one battle to end the war.

The war continued on for another five years.  It would only end in 591 after a long Persian civil war and a Roman invasion into what is now modern Iran.

Final phase of the Battle of Solachon.  The Roman cavalry in the center (B) dismounts and forms a shield-wall to break the charge of the Persian cavalry.  The Roman left then charges and breaks the Persian right which flees the battlefield.
Click link for enlarged map.

The Roman - Persian Frontier about 565 AD with Byzantine military themes.
Click link for enlarged map.

Source - History of the Later Roman Empire. J.B. Bury (1889)

The Sack of Damietta, Egypt

A Byzantine Dromon. 
The Arab and Byzantine navies battled for centuries across the entire Mediterranean Sea. 

The Sack of Damietta, Egypt  -  853 AD


The Arab and Byzantine navies battled for centuries across the entire Mediterranean Sea.  There were an endless series of naval battles, invasions, raids and counter raids from the Balearic Islands to Carthage to Sicily to Egypt and Syria. 

To a large degree the battles saw a slow advance of Islam and Arab forces.  Muslim states were established in Italy, Crete and Cypress.  On the other hand, the Roman navy and army often not only held their ground but administered sound defeats on the Muslims both at sea and on land. 

Even after many losses to the Arabs, for hundreds of years the Romans kept bouncing back, holding their ground and acted as the shield of Europe against Islamic invasion.

BACKGROUND

In the early 800s the Byzantines has suffered two major defeats.  By 827 the island of Crete had fallen to Islamic invaders and was now acting as a base for Arab raids into the Empire.  There were multiple unsuccessful attempts by the Byzantines to re-take the island.

From 827 and for more than 70 years the Byzantines were fighting tooth an nail against the Islamic invasion of Sicily.  That campaign went on and on for decades in an endless tug of war between Roman and Spanish Muslim and African Muslim troops.  

The Empress Theodora organized
the Roman navy and army in multi-front
wars against the Arabs, including the
sack of Damietta.

These losses ushered an era where Muslim naval forces raided the Christian northern shores of the Mediterranean almost at will.

THE BYZANTINE EXPEDITION

The Roman Empress Theodora was ruling the Empire as regent for her minor son Michael III.  She ran the government with a firm and judicious hand.  She replenished the treasury, deterred the Bulgarians from an attempt at invasion and directed military operations against the Arabs on multiple fronts.

In the continuing war with the Arabs, Theodora ordered the building of a new Roman fleet numbering 300 ships.  The new naval force was divided into three individual fleets.  Two of the fleets may have operated off the coast of Syria or in the Aegean against the Arabs.

A third fleet of 85 vessels and 5,000 troops was sent on a raid to the port of Damietta on the Egyptian coast.

One must assume that the Romans had good intelligence services available to them.  Damietta was a major arms supplier to the Muslim forces on Crete which the Romans had been fighting hard to re-capture.  Also the Arab governor Anbas had invited the city garrison of Damietta to attend a festival in the far away inland city of Fustat at the exact moment the Roman fleet arrived. 

I doubt it was an accident that the Romans attacked at the very moment that the garrison was gone.  It would be common knowledge that a festival would be held.

On May 22, 853 the Roman invasion fleet arrived.  The people fled the undefended city.  For two days the Romans sacked, plundered and finally torched the city.  A large quantity of arms and supplies were captured that the Arabs were sending to Crete and 600 Coptic Christian and Arab women were taken back to the ships.

The fleet then sailed eastward down the coast to the island of Tinnis.  Fearing sandbanks the fleet moved on to the fortress of Ushtum.  The fortress was strongly walled with iron gates.  The Romans did not want to engage in a major siege operation so far into enemy territory.  So they destroyed what war engines they found outside the city walls and then sailed for home.

The raid was a major victory for the Romans.  They had taken the fight deep into enemy territory and had captured or destroyed military supplies that would have been used against them.  The Arabs would now have to consider protecting their coastal cities in any future operations against Byzantium.

The Arab Abbasid Caliphate

Map of Eastern Roman and Arab naval battles, raids and invasions.
 Click on this link for full sized map. 

Source - Bury, John Bagnell (1912). A History of the Eastern Roman Empire from the Fall of Irene to the Accession of Basil I (A.D. 802–867).