Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628

Quick Facts: Who was Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628?

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Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628

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The final and most devastating conflict between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires.

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Origins & Early Life

The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, also called the Last Great War of Antiquity, was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire. It was the final and most devastating conflict of the Roman–Persian wars (54 BC – AD 628). The previous war between the two powers had ended in 591 after the emperor Maurice helped the Sasanian king Khosrow II regain his throne. In 602, Maurice was murdered by his political rival Phocas. Khosrow declared war, ostensibly to avenge the death of the deposed emperor Maurice.

Career & Major Achievements

This became a decades-long conflict, the longest war in the series, and was fought throughout the Middle East, the Aegean Sea, and before the walls of Constantinople itself. From 602 to 622, the Sassanians gradually conquered much of the Levant, parts of Anatolia, and—for the first time—Egypt and several islands in the Aegean Sea. The counter-attacks of the new Byzantine emperor Heraclius from 622 to 626 eventually forced the Persians onto the defensive. Allied with the Avars and Slavs, the Persians attempted to take Constantinople in 626, but were defeated. In 627, allied with Turks, Heraclius invaded the heartland of Persia.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

After the Battle of Nineveh (627), Iranian forces were finally broken, forcing civil war-torn Persia to seek peace. By the end of the war, both sides had exhausted their human and material resources. They were thus vulnerable to the emergence of the Islamic Rashidun Caliphate in the 630s, whose forces invaded both empires. Over the course of the rest of the 7th century, Muslim armies swiftly conquered the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, the Caucasus, Egypt, North Africa, and the Iberian Peninsula alongside southern parts of France after 711 AD. These conquests led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire and a significant reduction in the size and power of the Byzantine Empire, which over the following centuries would fight several wars with the Muslim powers for control of the Near East.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628

True or False: “Did the Byzantines immediately regain all lost territories after defeating the Sasanians in 628?”

Answer (FALSE ❌): No, while they defeated the Persians, both empires were severely exhausted and subsequently vulnerable to the invading Islamic Rashidun Caliphate in the 630s.

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