Battle of Antioch

The Battle of Antioch took place in 613 outside of Antioch, Syria between a Byzantine army led by Heraclius and a Persian army. The victorious Persians were able to maintain a hold on their recently taken Byzantine territory.

History

Beginning in 610, under the generalship of Shahrbaraz and Shahin, the Persian army had conquered Byzantine-controlled territories in Mesopotamia and the Caucasus. In the next year, continuing their success, the Persian force overran Syria and Eastern Anatolia, capturing Christian cities such as Antioch and Damascus. Ostensibly, the Persian army could not travel much further into Byzantine territory without confronting a centrally-assembled Eastern-Roman army. In response to the sudden loss of territory in the Eastern frontier, Heraclius organized a capable-sized army and marched to Antioch. His counter-attack however was decisively defeated in 613 outside the city of Antioch in Syria. In the set battle, the Roman positions completely collapsed and a general rout of the Byzantine army led to an easy victory for Sharbaraz and Shahin. The victory ensured the Persians would maintain the recently overran Byzantine territory.

Aftermath

Proceeding the battle, the Byzantine Empire could not offer much resistance to the invading Persians. Heraclius himself needed time to implement a number of internal initiatives to ensure he could raise the necessary funds and troops for a renewed war with the anxious Sassanid king. In the coming decade, Sassanid forces penetrated deep into enemy territory. Jerusalem and all of Palestine fell in 614 to Shahrbaraz. General Shahin made further inroads into Central and Western Anatolia^[1], and the Persian expansion reached its pinnacle with the successful siege of Alexandria in the spring of 619, which led to an annexation of Egypt.^[2]

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