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Daras [?], 530
Strategic Context
After a long period of peace, the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires fight a war , followed by a twenty-year truce. In 526, tensions rise between the two Empires and fighting begins to escalate. After a successful Byzantine raid into Sassanid Armenia in 529, Firuz leads a Sassanid army into Mesopotamia to capture the Byzantine fortress of Daras. Belisarius constructs a wide ditch and leads the Byzantine defenders outside Daras’ walls to do battle. He then sends a message to Firuz suggesting a short armistice to hold negotiations. Firuz interprets these two actions as a sign of weakness and resolves to attack.
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Stakes
+ A Byzantine victory would frustrate Sassanid efforts to reduce Byzantine frontier fortresses.
+ A Sassanid victory would trap Byzantium’s most talented commander in a fortress, paving the way for further invasion.
By Jonathan Webb, 2009

2. Daras, 530 Strength Byzantines Well Sassanids Well Belisarius Firuz
25,000
40,000
By Jonathan Webb, 2009

3. Eurasia c. 500
BYZANTINE EMPIRE

4. The narrow battlefield consists of the terrain in front of the fortress of Daras with rough hills on both sides. Just in front of the high walls of Daras is the Byzantine trench, dug out to be wider than a horse can leap.
Sassanids
(Firuz)
Byzantines
(Belisarius)

5. Light cavalry Infantry Infantry Levy infantry
Firuz now stands alone with his infantry on the battlefield, unsupported by cavalry. Belisarius quickly smashes the Sassanid left flank with his cavalry, forcing the Sassanids to flee. Belisarius allows only a brief pursuit.
Belisarius commits his reserve and center-right cavalry, and recalls his center-left cavalry forces all to aid his right wing. The Sassanid left wing cavalry is attacked in front, flank and rear, and must flee the battlefield.
The Sassanid cavalry continue their attack. On the Byzantine left wing, Belisarius calls upon his hidden and left-center cavalry to hit the Sassanid cavalry on both flanks; the Byzantine counter-attack routs and then pursues the Sassanid right wing cavalry. On the Byzantine right wing, the Immortals push the Byzantine cavalry all the way back to the gates of Daras.
Firuz opens the battle by ordering both cavalry wings forward to envelop the Byzantine position. The outnumbered Byzantine cavalry are pushed back and it appears this maneuver will succeed. Meanwhile the Sassanid infantry advance but cannot properly engage Belisarius’ refused center.
Belisarius places his infantry at the center behind the safety of the ditch, refused from battle; these infantry are also defended by Hunnic light cavalry in front of the ditch. Belisarius places large cavalry forces on the wings with the small but elite Buccellarii cavalry in reserve and Herul cavalry lurking on the left wing behind a hill. Firuz deploys his infantry at the center, backed by his peasant levy infantry, with his cavalry on the wings. The elite Immortal cavalry fall in at the head of his left wing.
Sassanids
(Firuz)
Pityaxes
Firuz
Baresmanes
Byzantines Sassanids
Cavalry Cavalry
Light cavalry Infantry
Infantry Levy infantry
Byzantines
(Belisarius)
25,000
Sassanids
(Firuz)
40,000
Symbol guide
Byzantines
(Belisarius)

6. Daras, 530 Casualties & Aftermath
Byzantines:
Sassanids:
≈1,000 or 4%
8,000 or
20%
Belisarius initially repulsed a Sassanid invasion of Syria the next year but was overwhelmed and defeated at the Battle of Callinicum in 531. He withdrew to the islands of the Euphrates, saving his defeated army from complete destruction against persistent Sassanid attacks. Despite this mixed military success, Byzantium was forced to pay regular tribute to the Sassanids thereafter in the Treaty of Eternal Peace, which lasted only eight years before another war broke out.
By Jonathan Webb, 2009

7. The Art of Battle: Animated Battle Maps
By Jonathan Webb, 2009