Battle of Dathin

Battle of Dathin was a minor battle during the Byzantine-Arab Wars between the Rashidun Caliphate army and the Christian allies of the Byzantine Empire in February of 634, but became very famous in the literature of the period. The battle was precipitated by Arab raids around Gaza. The Byzantine commander (dux and candidatus) Sergius assembled a small detachment of soldiers (due to shortness of troops), some 300 according to Walter E. Kaegi's Byzantium and the early Islamic conquests, and led that mounted army from his base at Caesarea to the vicinity of Gaza (some 125 kilometers) against the Arab force at least one thousand strong, commanded by Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan. The opposing forces met at the village of Dathin on February 4, 634 AD, not far from Gaza. The Byzantine were defeated and the candidatus Sergius himself was killed.

According to the near-contemporary Doctrina Jacobi nuper baptizati, the Muslim victory was celebrated by the local Jews, who had been a persecuted minority within the Roman Empire.