Siege of Petra (550–551)

A siege of Petra was conducted in 550 by the Byzantines under general Bessas against the Sasanian garrison at Petra, Lazica, during the Lazic War. Sasanian reinforcements failed to arrive in time and Petra fell and was dismantled in the spring of 551 after a lengthy siege and fierce fighting.

Siege of Petra
Part of the Lazic War
Date550 – spring of 551
Location
Petra, Lazica
41°46′06″N 41°45′12″E
Result Byzantine victory
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire
Sabirs		 Sasanian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Bessas (WIA)
 Mirranes
Strength
6,000 2,600
Casualties and losses
Most of the force killed or wounded

Entire force

  • 730 prisoners of war, 712 of whom were wounded

Background
See also: Siege of Petra (549)

After the failure of Dagisthaeus in his siege of Petra in 549, Justinian I replaced him by Bessas as the magister militum per Armeniam, a decision that was criticized by the Byzantines due to the latter's old age and "inglorious" record during the sack of Rome in 546.[1][2][3]

Siege
The ruins of Petra

First phase

The Sasanians had garrisoned Petra with a fresh force and filled the breaches in the foundation of the walls with sandbags covered with thick planed beams to function as the foundation of a new wall.[4] The height of the wall was also increased.[5] The Sasanian garrison, numbering 3,000 or 2,600, was reportedly "brave and resolute".[1][2][3][6]

The Byzantines under Bessas, allied with Sabirs, numbering 6,000 in total, laid siege to Petra in 550. Similar to the previous siege by Dagisthaeus, Bessas began mining operations against the wall. The wall was shaken, but instead of collapsing, the whole wall supported by the smooth beams sank regularly "as if it were purposely lowered by a machine", and the only effect was that the height was reduced. The mine was overwhelmed. Using a regular battering-ram was not feasible, since the only way to the fortification was through a sloped plane.[7]

At this time a group of Sabir nobles visited the Byzantine camp in order to receive a sum of money from an envoy of Justinian I. Seeing the situation, the Sabirs devised a simple but ingenious way to batter the walls in sloped places: instead of using beams which made the frame heavy, they used woven osier twigs covered with hide, making the battering ram light enough to be carried by forty men on a sloped place. Three such rams were constructed.[8]

The Sasanians placed a pre-made wooden tower on the wall and from there fully-armored men hurled fire pots containing sulfur, pitch, and naptha ("oil of Medea") upon the roof of the battering ram; while the besiegers quickly removed the flaming missiles from the roof of their machine.[9][10]

A breach was made in the wall. After a short speech, Bessas led the Byzantines to scale the wall by ladder. Bessas himself was reportedly the first to scale.[11]

There a battle took place and a display of valor by both Romans and Persians such as I at least believe has never once been seen in these times. For while the number of the barbarians amounted to two thousand three hundred, the Romans counted as many as six thousand. And practically all those on both sides who were not killed received wounds, and it proved true that exceedingly few survived with their bodies intact.

— Procopius,

Many attackers fell to the ground. Bessas himself too was found to be lying on the ground, but before the Sasanians could shoot him by arrows, his guards formed a testudo around him, and as he ordered, dragged him to a safe place (he was obese and aged). At length, the Sasanians declared themselves ready to capitulate and asked for some time, but since both sides were still fighting, Bessas did not trust them and refused to stop the assault.[12]

The situation changed when a second part of the wall collapsed due to previous mining. Both sides had to divide their forces. The Byzantines gradually gained upper hand in the ensuing conflict due to numerical superiority. A certain John the Armenian, together with a few other Armenians managed to climb up the rock to the battlements and enter the fort. Meanwhile, as the battering ram was still operating and the Sasanians in their wooden tower hurling fire pots on its roof, a violent south wind suddenly blew and caused part of the wooden tower to catch fire. The fire gradually spread by naphtha leakage and finally the whole tower burned with the defenders inside it. Here the Sasanians gave way and the Byzantines finally managed to breach into the fortress. 500 of the garrison fled to the citadel and the remaining 730 were taken as prisoners, all of whom except 18 were wounded. Many of "the best of the Romans" were killed too, including John the Armenian who was killed in the final assault in melee as he tried to attack the Sasanians in the rear after scaling the walls.[13][14]

Second phase

The 500 Sasanian forces who had shut themselves in the citadel refused an offer of capitulation and preferred a heroic death. Bessas pressed on negotiation by sending a soldier to the wall to persuade the defenders by an exhortation, but this failed too. Bessas set the citadel on fire, hoping that the Sasanians would surrender, but the defenders decided to die. The attackers "marvelled" at the event.[15][16]

At the beginning of the siege, the Byzantines destroyed the aqueduct. During the siege, a prisoner revealed that there is another pipe beneath the visible one, concealed by the earth, which the attackers destroyed. After the siege was complete, the Byzantines surprisingly found out that the defenders had access to water, and it was found that still a third pipe was concealed deep below the second pipe.[17]

A large amount of Sasanian supplies and equipment were captured, showing that the Sasanians had intended to maintain the city in their hands. Bessas then dismantled the fort, which was commended by Emperor Justinian I.[1][2][3]

Aftermath

Mihr-Mihroe and his army of cavalry and eight elephants were on their way to yet again relieve the siege on Petra. As he received the news of its fall in spring of 551, he directed his force against the Byzantine forts in the area, capturing Sarapanis and Scanda. Allied with 4,000 Sabir Huns, he tried to capture the main Byzantine stronghold of Archaeopolis, but, although the Dailamite foot-soldiers and the war elephants were tactically effective, the assault was eventually unsuccessful, as many of his forces died due to lack of supplies.[3][2][18]

References
  1. Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin; Martindale, J. R.; Morris, J. (1980). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume 2, AD 395-527. Cambridge University Press. p. 228. ISBN 9780521201599.
  2. Greatrex, Geoffrey (2002). The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars Ad 363-628. Psychology Press. p. 118-119. ISBN 9780415465304.
  3. Evans, J. A. S. (1996). The Age of Justinian: The Circumstances of Imperial Power. Routledge. p. 167. ISBN 9781134559763.
  4. Bury, p. 446
  5. }
  6. Bury, p. 446
  7. Bury, p. 446-447
  8. Bury, p. 446-447
  9. Bury, p. 447-448
  10. Elton, Hugh (2018). The Roman Empire in Late Antiquity: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press. p. 326. ISBN 9780521899314.
  11. Bury, p. 448
  12. Bury, p. 448
  13. Bury, p. 448-449
  14. Lillington-Martin, Christopher (6 July 2017). Procopius of Caesarea: Literary and Historical Interpretations. Taylor & Francis. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-317-07549-3.
  15. Bury, p. 449
  16. Lillington-Martin, Christopher (6 July 2017). Procopius of Caesarea: Literary and Historical Interpretations. Taylor & Francis. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-317-07549-3.
  17. Bury, p. 449
  18. Bury, p. 449
  • Bury, John Bagnell (1889). A History of the Later Roman Empire: From Arcadius to Irene (395 A.D. to 800 A.D.). Macmillan and Company.
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