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The Avar Siege of Constantinople in 626

Part of the book series: New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture ((NABHC))

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Abstract

This chapter describes the final moments of the Avar siege leading up to the Avars’ departure from the city along with their allies. There is some contemplation about the causes of the Avars’ failure in taking Constantinople with a primary focus on motifs derived from contemporary sources. The largest part of this chapter is dedicated to the fates of the Persian army led by Shahrbaraz and the motif of the falsified letter. Above all, there is a careful discussion of the story by the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes, who used pieces of information from two independent sources when writing his report on the siege. This version is then compared in detail with other reports of Eastern provenience that carry this motif. In the conclusion, there is some comment on the further development of the last Roman–Persian war and the significance of the Avar siege in the context of that broader conflict.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Theodore Synkellos 312.1–2.

  2. 2.

    Theodore Synkellos, 312.5–7; Chronicon Paschale, 724.20.

  3. 3.

    Theodore Synkellos, 312.31–39; Chronicon Paschale, 724.20–725.3.

  4. 4.

    Theodore Synkellos, 312.5–11.

  5. 5.

    Theodore Synkellos, 312.23–27.

  6. 6.

    Theodore Synkellos, 312.31–39; Chronicon Paschale, 725.3–5.

  7. 7.

    Theodore Synkellos, 312.36–40.

  8. 8.

    Theodore Synkellos, 312.39–313.4.

  9. 9.

    Chronicon Paschale, 725.9–11 (the English translation by Mich. Whitby and Mar. Whitby 1989, 180).

  10. 10.

    Chronicon Paschale, 725.11–15.

  11. 11.

    Barišić 1954, 392; Kaegi 2003, 140.

  12. 12.

    Pohl 1988, 256; cf. also Bóna 2000, 169.

  13. 13.

    Miracula Sancti Demetrii, 1.13.117, 134; cf. Petersen 2013, 375–376.

  14. 14.

    Miracula Sancti Demetrii, 1.13.117, 134.

  15. 15.

    Mich. Whitby 1998, 191–208.

  16. 16.

    Tsangadas 1980, 102–103.

  17. 17.

    Kaegi 2003, 140.

  18. 18.

    For these, cf. Lendle, 1983, 36–106.

  19. 19.

    Tsangadas 1980, 104.

  20. 20.

    Chronicon Paschale, 725.6–10 (the English translation by Mich. Whitby and Mar. Whitby 1989, 181).

  21. 21.

    Chronicon Paschale, 725.18–20.

  22. 22.

    Theodore Synkellos, 313.10–12.

  23. 23.

    Theodore Synkellos, 319.35–39.

  24. 24.

    Miracula Sancti Demetrii, 726.16–727.2.

  25. 25.

    Lilie 1985, 17–43; Pohl 1988, 255.

  26. 26.

    Chronicon Paschale, 726.14–15 and apparatus criticus; Nikephoros, 13, 60.40–41; Patria, 3.75, 176.

  27. 27.

    Theodore Synkellos, 313.14–27, in this connection also 314.5–11. Cf. Howard-Johnston 1999, 21.

  28. 28.

    Theophanes, 316.25–27.

  29. 29.

    Theophanes, 323.22–324.16 (the English translation by Mango and Scott 1997, 452–453).

  30. 30.

    Howard-Johnston (1994, 68, n. 27) supposed that Theophanes used an anonymous Constantinopolitan chronicle for his short account of the Avar siege, hence the same source as that by the patriarch Nikephoros.

  31. 31.

    George Kedrenos, 721.18–20 and 733.3–19. The abridged version of this story is preserved by John Zonaras (210.9–16).

  32. 32.

    Speck 1988, 144–152.

  33. 33.

    Brooks 1906, 587; Proudfoot 1974, 367–439; Speck 1988, 516–519; Mango and Scott 1997, lxxxii–lxxxiii; Hoyland 1997, 400–409 and 631–671 and 2011, 1–35. Palmer 1993, 95–104 and Brandes 2009, 321–322, 326–329. For the most recent discussion: Jankowiak 2013, 247–249 and 260; Debié 2015, 365–382; Conterno 2014, 4–20 and 2015, 383–400.

  34. 34.

    Cf. most recent: Debié 2015, 365–382.

  35. 35.

    Mango 1978, 9–17; Mango and Scott 1997, LXXXII. For a criticism of this view: Speck 1988, 499–501.

  36. 36.

    Conterno 2015, 393.

  37. 37.

    Hoyland 2011, 25, and 2015, 19; Conterno 2015, 386. Speck (1988, 516–519) concluded that the source of Theophanes was actually a Greek dossier by George Synkellos.

  38. 38.

    Hoyland 2015, 355.

  39. 39.

    Palmer 1993, 95–97.

  40. 40.

    Michael the Syrian, 11.3, 408.

  41. 41.

    Cf. Schreiner 1985, 251, n. 128. A certain indication of the existence of this person is given by Movses Dasxuranc’i. In the second book of his chronicle, he states that after Turkic invasion of Caucasian Albania in the summer months of 626, Khusro threatened to call his victorious armies from the West—besides Shahrbaraz and Shahen, a certain K’rtakarēn is mentioned. According to Dowsett (1961, 82, n. 2), this could have been a mangled form of the Armenian name Kartarihan (Kardarigas with Theophanes). Pourshariati is the only one who considers him to be the true Persian commander.

  42. 42.

    Agapios, 462; Michael the Syrian, 11.3, 409; Chronicon AD 1234, 98, 182.

  43. 43.

    Agapios, 462.

  44. 44.

    Theophanes, 324.9.

  45. 45.

    Chronicon Seert 2.2.87, 540–541; cf. Frendo 2000, 34–35.

  46. 46.

    Al-Tabari, 319; Al Zuhri, 108–110.

  47. 47.

    It is possible that these versions reflect the meeting of Shahrbaraz and Khusro in the Arabissos Pass in 629 in a mangled form. Cf. Howard-Johnston 2006, 12–14 and 2010a, 368–369.

  48. 48.

    Ferdowsi, 8, 63–64, 407–411.

  49. 49.

    Michael the Syrian, 11.3, 408.

  50. 50.

    Nikephoros, 12, 56.49–57.1–2 (the English translation on 57, 59). Cf. Speck 1988, 292–297.

  51. 51.

    Cf. Mango 1986, 543 and 1990, 14; Zuckerman 2013, 206–207; Howard-Johnston 2010a, 248.

  52. 52.

    Cf. Conterno 2014, 7.

  53. 53.

    Nikephoros, 12, 56.61–58.1-2.

  54. 54.

    Nikephoros, 12, 56.57; cf. Frendo 2000, 35.

  55. 55.

    Frendo 2000, 35.

  56. 56.

    Menander Protector, 6.1, 62.182–183.

  57. 57.

    Cf. Mango 1985, 107–109. Van Dieten (1972, 21), Kaegi (2003, 149–153), and Pourshariati (2008, 141–149) also thought this story was authentic.

  58. 58.

    Chronicon Paschale, 717.22–718.1–4; 721.4–21–722.1–14.

  59. 59.

    Chronicon Paschale, 722.15–21–723.1–15.

  60. 60.

    Shahrbaraz’s treason is dated by various authors from the second half of 626 to the beginning of 627 at the latest. Cf. Pourshariati 2008, 142; Stratos 1968, 231–234 and Kaegi 2003, 150–151, 180–181.

  61. 61.

    Acta Martyris Anastasii Persae, 27–29, 71–73.

  62. 62.

    Frendo 2000, 36.

  63. 63.

    According to D. Frendo (2000, 37), this appeal should be dated after the Battle of Nineveh (12 December 627).

  64. 64.

    Theophanes, 326.12–13. Cf. Howard-Johnston 2006, 12.

  65. 65.

    Chronicon AD 724, 114.

  66. 66.

    Chronicon Paschale, 723.11–15.

  67. 67.

    Theophanes, 315.1–5.

  68. 68.

    Ps.-Sebeos, 38, 79.

  69. 69.

    In the eleventh chapter of his History of Albania (2.11, 81–83), Movses Dasxuranci gives an undated account on the penetration of the Khazars (Turks) into Albania. Then he mentions the general offensive of the Turks and Emperor Herakleios, which he correctly dated to the thirty-eighth year of Khusro’s reign (June 627–June 628). In the following chapter (2.12, 87) Dasxuranci mentioned the embassy of Herakleios to the Turks (the thirty-sixth year of Khusro’s reign, June 625–June 626). This is followed by information about the arrival of the Turkic envoys (1000 men) to the emperor. Subsequently, Dasxuranci referred to the Turkic invasion dated to the early thirty-seventh year of Khusro’s reign (June 626). Cf. also Baynes 1912, 120–122 and Dowsett 1961, 87, n. 4. However, Dasxuranci only gives vague information on this attack, limiting it only to the exchange of letters between a nephew (shad) of the king of the north and Khusro; then he abruptly goes over to the well-known Roman invasion to the heartlands of Persia dated to 627/628. Zuckerman (2007, 405) has pointed out that Dasxuranc’i drew information on these events from two independent sources which he simply pasted together. It is thus very likely that the accounts of the penetration of the Khazars into Albania (11) and that of the embassy of the Turks to Herakleios (12) in fact represent two different versions of the same story. The Turkic envoys were strong enough to pass through the heavily fortified Derbent Pass and proceed to the area of Pontos, where the concentration of the Roman troops under Herakleios was taking place. This breakthrough might evoke a kind of raid through the regions of Albania, as Movses Dasxuranci (12, 87) aptly noted in the context of “sparing none who came to meet them”. As Baynes (1912) has already observed, the mention of the returning of the Khazars “through the same pass” and Khusro’s threats to call back his victorious commanders from the west should only relate to the beginning of the summer of 626. The finalization of the treaty with the Turks in the summer of 626 was therefore the main reason why Herakleios preferred to remain in Pontos instead of coming to help endangered Constantinople.

  70. 70.

    Movses Dasxuranci, 2.11, 82.

  71. 71.

    For the siege of Tiflis: Shapira 2015, 45–62; Howard-Johnston 1999, 22–26. Khusro was only able to send a corps of 1000 men from Ktesiphon. Movses Dasxuranci, 2.11, 85. Cf. Howard-Johnston 2006, 14–16. On the possible routes used in this campaign, cf. Gerland 1894, 362–373; Manandyan 1950, 146–151.

  72. 72.

    Cf. Nikephoros, 12, 56.49–51.

  73. 73.

    For the departure of Turks (Theophanes, 317.11–16). Cf. Stratos 1968, 207–208; Howard-Johnston 1999, 25. For a contrasting point of view, cf. Zuckerman 2007, 414–415. For the Persian reinforcements: Theophanes, 318.8–11. The best reconstruction of the Battle of Nineveh is given by Kaegi 2003, 160–169.

  74. 74.

    Theophanes, 320–323.

  75. 75.

    Howard-Johnston 1999, 5–7; 2004 96–99 and 2006, 16–19, Kaegi 2003, 170–180.

  76. 76.

    Chronicon Paschale, 731.21–732.6; Ps.-Sebeos, 39, 84.

  77. 77.

    Howard-Johnston 2008, 83; Payne 2013, 30–32.

  78. 78.

    Cf. the subsequent discussion concerning the new Roman–Persian frontier at Euphrates. This information was accepted by J. Howard-Johnston (1999, 27–29; 2004, 28). For a contrasting point of view, cf. Stratos 1968, 247; cf. also Greatrex and Lieu 2002, 227 and 314, n. 148,

  79. 79.

    Howard-Johnston 2010b, 65.

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  1. Department of History, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Martin Hurbanič

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Hurbanič, M. (2019). Winners and Losers. In: The Avar Siege of Constantinople in 626. New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16684-7_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16684-7_10

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

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