Table Of Content

Military History of Late Rome 602–641 ad MMiilliittaarryy HHiissttoorryy ooff LLaattee RRoommee 660022––664411..iinndddd 11 1188//1100//22002222 1122::3300 For my wife Sini, and children Ari and Nanna for their patience. I dedicate this volume in particular to Ari. His enthusiasm for military history and wargaming has made his father proud. ‘ Men worry less about doing an injury to one who makes himself loved than to one who makes himself feared. The bond of love is one which men, wretched creatures that they are, break when it is to their advantage to do so; but fear is strengthened by a dread of punishment which is always effective. The prince must nonetheless make himself feared in such a way that, if he is not loved, at least he escapes being hated… and the prince can always avoid hatred if he abstains from the property of his subjects and citizens and from their women… But above all a prince must abstain from the property of others; because men sooner forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony.’ Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, tr. by George Bull, 96–7 The Prophet Muhammad said: ‘War is deception.’ Umar ibn Ibrahim 4.1, 4.3 in A Muslim Manual of War, tr. by Scanlon 59, 61 MMiilliittaarryy HHiissttoorryy ooff LLaattee RRoommee 660022––664411..iinndddd 22 1188//1100//22002222 1122::3300 The Military History of Late Rome 602–641 ad Dr. Ilkka Syvänne MMiilliittaarryy HHiissttoorryy ooff LLaattee RRoommee 660022––664411..iinndddd 33 1188//1100//22002222 1122::3311 First published in Great Britain in 2022 by Pen & Sword Military An imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd Yorkshire – Philadelphia Copyright © Dr. Ilkka Syvänne 2022 ISBN 978 1 39907 567 1 The right of Dr. Ilkka Syvänne to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing. Printed in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY. Pen & Sword Books Limited incorporates the imprints of Atlas, Archaeology, Aviation, Discovery, Family History, Fiction, History, Maritime, Military, Military Classics, Politics, Select, Transport, True Crime, Air World, Frontline Publishing, Leo Cooper, Remember When, Seaforth Publishing, The Praetorian Press, Wharncliffe Local History, Wharncliffe Transport, Wharncliffe True Crime and White Owl. For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED 47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk Or PEN AND SWORD BOOKS 1950 Lawrence Rd, Havertown, PA 19083, USA E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.penandswordbooks.com MMiilliittaarryy HHiissttoorryy ooff LLaattee RRoommee 660022––664411..iinndddd 44 1188//1100//22002222 1122::3311 Contents Acknowledgements vi List of Plates vii List of Maps ix Preface xi Abbreviations xii Chapter 1 Introduction: The Roman Empire in 602 1 Chapter 2 Enemies and Allies 20 Chapter 3 Phocas the Tyrant (602–10) 41 Chapter 4 Heraclius (610–41) 103 Appendix I: The Battle of Dhu Qar in ca. 604 316 Appendix II: Untangling the Information in Movses Dasxuranci/Dasxurantsi 319 Appendix III: The Battle of Filh/Pella According to Azdi (pp.144–68) 328 Notes 332 Bibliography 374 Index 380 MMiilliittaarryy HHiissttoorryy ooff LLaattee RRoommee 660022––664411..iinndddd 55 1188//1100//22002222 1122::3311 Acknowledgements F irst of all I would like to thank commissioning editor Philip Sidnell for accepting the proposal for this book, and Professor Geoffrey Greatrex for recommending me. Special thanks are also due to copy editor Matt Jones, Barnaby Blacker, Tara Moran, and other staff at Pen & Sword for their stellar work and the outstanding support they have given this author. I would also like to thank many of my friends and family for their support and patience. I owe special thanks to Perry Gray whose perceptive comments have improved the argumentation significantly. I also owe big thanks to Jyrki Halme for the re-enacting photos. None, however, are responsible for the possible mistakes that remain. Those are the sole responsibility of the author. MMiilliittaarryy HHiissttoorryy ooff LLaattee RRoommee 660022––664411..iinndddd 66 1188//1100//22002222 1122::3311 List of Plates Roman multipurpose trooper from Thrace. (Author's drawing) Roman footman using darts. The Strategikon (12.2.16.39–46) instructed those of the skoutatoi (shield-bearers) footmen who had lead-pointed darts (mattiobarbuli, martiobarbuli, martzobarboula, plumbatae) to throw them at the right distance (ca. 40–60 metres) from the enemy line. The darts were usually placed inside the shield five apiece. In this example I have assumed that the footman was not among the front ranks but was one of the rear-rankers who used a javelin instead of a kontarion-spear. He has thrust the javelin into the ground so that he can grasp it immediately after he has thrown the darts, but he could equally well have held it in his left hand or placed it on the ground. He uses the above-head javelin/dart technique, which was safer to use in a phalanx than the softball/cricket throwing style. The skoutatoi equipped with the kontarion probably placed their spears on the ground. The plumbata tribolata was designed to act as a sort of caltrop so that when large numbers of them were thrown the darts formed a defensive field of caltrops. (Author's drawing) Avar horseman. (Author’s drawing) A bust of Phocas. (British Museum, author's photo) David Plates, David confronting Goliath. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain) A coin of Phocas. (British Museum, author's photo) Two skoutatoi equipped lightly for difficult terrain and an infantry archer. (Author's drawing) Three Slavic footmen. (Author's drawing) A foot archer using a solenarion (arrow-guide). (Author's drawing) A front-rank horseman charging as instructed by the Strategikon. (Author's drawing) A textile roundel depicting two horsemen in combat. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 6th or 7th century. Public domain) Two Lombard lancers. (Author's drawing) Emperor Heraclius at the Battle of Sarus River in 625. (Author's drawing) Chosroes II Parwez on horseback in the Taq-i-Bostan relief. (Author's drawing) Three Roman heavy infantry skoutatoi ready to fight in regular terrain. (Author's drawing) Visigothic soldiers. (Author's drawing) A medallion of Heraclius ca. 1403. (Source: Goltz, 1645) A Roman officer in light gear. (Photo © Jyrki Halme) Chosroes II Parwez (590-628). (Author’s painting, a combination from two different sources: the Louvre bronze bust, and Hottenroth’s reconstruction of a Sasanian/Sassanid ruler) Chosroes II Parwez. (Author’s painting after Taq-i-Bustan relief) A coin of Heraclius (ca. 610–13). (Classical Numismatic Group, Inc) MMiilliittaarryy HHiissttoorryy ooff LLaattee RRoommee 660022––664411..iinndddd 77 1188//1100//22002222 1122::3311 viii Military History of Late Rome ad 602–641 Chosroes II Parwez at the battle of Arzamoun/Arzamun River in 604/5. (Author's drawing) On the first day of the battle Chosroes II Parwez was leading his men on horseback. This is proved by the fact that a Roman soldier lassoed him. It was only the quick reaction of Chosroes’s bodyguard Mushkan that saved him from being captured. Mushkan cut the cord and freed the shahanshah. On the basis of this it is probable that the first day of the battle was a cavalry battle fought between the two cavalry forces, the Roman under the eunuch Leontius and the Persian under Chosroes. It was therefore presumably on the second day that Chosroes ordered his elephants into a fortress formation (frourion), which either means hollow square/oblong array or the deployment of the elephants in close-order phalanx. It was this elephant fortress that then crushed the opposing Roman force. I have here taken the artistic liberty of placing Chosroes on an elephant for the second day of the battle. He probably would have stayed behind to lead the men from a safe distance, to avoid being lassoed again. The elephant is the famous gigantic white elephant that Chosroes used as his personal mount. The reserves are shown behind Chosroes with their spearheads pointing skywards. I have also taken the artistic liberty of placing some of the Christian concubines from Chosroes’s harem into the howdah with him, both entertaining him and offering wine made from Shiraz grapes whenever the ruler felt thirsty. To quote the comedian Mel Brooks: ‘It is good to be the king.’ Chosroes II was a man who took full advantage of his position as a King of Kings. According to Hamza al-Isfahani (tr. p.74), Chosroes had in his palace 3,000 free women and 12,000 female slaves for music, amusement and various other kinds of service. His stable had 8,500 horses for his own personal use plus the horses for his retinue. His bodyguards consisted of 6,000 men. In addition, he had 960 elephants, 12,000 mules and 20,000 Bactrian camels. It is a wonder that he managed to achieve so much when he had 15,000 females to entertain him. The equipment of the guards is taken from a Transoxanian silver dish dated seventh-eighth century. The equipment of the elephant is a free interpretation of the evidence from the narrative sources (Sassanian elephants with armour and towers) and later twelfth-thirteenth century Persian works of art that depict shields used by the Persians to protect the vulnerable elephant ears. The reconstruction of the howdah takes artistic liberties because we do not possess period evidence for its construction. Shahrbaraz preparing his army for combat in 622. (Author's drawing) Heraclius preparing his army for combat in 622. (Author's drawing) Heraclius spearing the unhorsed Razates at the battle of Niniveh on 12 December 627. (Author's drawing) Arab/Muslim soldiers. (Author's drawing) Two coins of Heraclius (ca. 613–16, 629–32). (Classical Numismatic Group, Inc) Khalid ibn al-Walid, the Sword of Allah. (Author's drawing) MMiilliittaarryy HHiissttoorryy ooff LLaattee RRoommee 660022––664411..iinndddd 88 1188//1100//22002222 1122::3311 List of Maps Provinces in the Notitia Dignitatum xiii Arabia xiv Takt-e Solayman xiv The neighbourhood of Ctesiphon xvi Persian Front xvii Upper Mesopotamia xviii Persian Front Eastern Section xix Roman Syria xx Muslim Conquest of Syria in 634–6 (principal locations) xxi Roman Territory facing the Muslims in 633 xxii Caesarea Maritima (ancient and medieval) xxiii The Nile Delta xxiv Environs of Alexandria in the Barrington Map xxv North Africa xxvi The Sea of Marmara with its surrounding regions xxvii Bilad al-Sham xxvii Approaches to Constantinople xxviii City of Constantinople xxix Imperial Palace of Constantinople xxx The Avar-Roman Wars on the Balkan Peninsula (left side) xxxi Thessalonica xxxii Singidunum (Belgrade) xxxii Balkans xxxiii City of Dvin xxxiv Modern Reconstructions of Ravenna xxxiv Lombard Italy xxxv Italian places xxxvi Neighbourhood of Rome xxxvii City of Rome xxxviii Spain xxxix Jerusalem xl Ascalon xl Salona xl Roman administration in 602 2 The Military and Palatine Administration in ca. 602 3 Military deployment c. 602 5 Standard infantry formations 11 MMiilliittaarryy HHiissttoorryy ooff LLaattee RRoommee 660022––664411..iinndddd 99 1188//1100//22002222 1122::3311