Beate Dignas & Engelbert Winter - Kaveh Farrokh

116 3 Military confrontations
‘ ˇ Sahrbarāz’. 208 Heading for Constantinople he halted at the shore of the Gulf close
by, where he set up his camp. At the order of Xusrō he destroyed the land of the
Romans out of anger at the insult done to Maurice and to avenge him upon them.
In this brief account the Arab historian summarises the successful Sasanian
advances from 603 onwards. 209 During a first phase of the war, which
Xusrō II Parvēz declared as an act of revenge for the assassination of his
former benefactor Maurice, 210 the Sasanians gained control of Armenia
and from there marched on into Cappadocia. Further south their advances
were equally successful. Among other conquests were the fortified border
cities Amida, Rhesaina, Kallinikos and Kirkesion. All of Mesopotamia fell
into Sasanian hands so that the Euphrates became the new border-line
between the two empires. Between 608 and 610 Persian troops also pushed
their way through Asia Minor and eventually reached Chalcedon. Another
contingent marched as far as Caesarea, which remained in Sasanian hands
for a year. 211 However, by the beginning of the year 610 the Persians withdrew
from Asia Minor. 212
Political unrest within the Byzantine Empire favoured the Sasanian successes
considerably and eventually led to Phocas’ downfall. Heraclius, the
son of the exarchos of Carthage of the same name, became the new ruler of
the Byzantine Empire. By now it had also become clear that the Romans
were in a weak position in the Eastern provinces because they had exploited
these economically and because they were enforcing an orthodox religious
policy. The inhabitants of these provinces did not identify with Byzantium
any more but accepted the Persians, who adhered to a tolerant religious
policy, as their new rulers. In addition, the Roman troops were in a desolate
state and no longer in the position to resist any serious attacks. It is thus
not surprising that at the beginning of his reign Heraclius sought to come
to an agreement with Xusrō II Parvēz (590–628) in order to consolidate his
own position as well as that of his empire.
Xusrō II’s activities during the following years, however, indicate that
the Sasanian ruler was not interested in a settlement. Although his initial
aim in the war, namely to avenge his former benefactor Maurice, had been
realised when Phocas fell, the weakness of the Byzantine Empire at the time
and the successes of his own army raised ambitions way beyond his original
goals. He now wanted to beat his great Western opponent into complete
submission. 213
208 Apparently this is a name, not a title; cf. Tabarī, tr. Nöldeke 290 n. 3 and 292 n. 2.
209 For a chronology of the events to the peace of 628 see Stratos 1968: 103–17 and 135–234.
210 Cf. pp. 237–41. 211 Holum 1992: 73–85. 212 Foss 1975: 721–47 (= 1990: I).
213 Frendo 1985: 30–6.