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The Battle of Solachon was fought in 586 CE in northern Mesopotamia between the East Roman (Byzantine) forces, led by General Philippicus, the brother-in-law of Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602), and the Sassanid Persians under Kardarigan.
The Roman–Persian War of 572–591 had been going on inconclusively for several years by 586, with both sides roughly evenly balanced, and periods of truce and negotiations succeeding periods of active warfare. In 586, hostilities resumed, and Philippicus moved to intercept the anticipated Persian invasion. He strategically located his army at Solachon, controlling the various routes of the Mesopotamian plain, and especially access to the main local watering source, the Arzamon river. Kardarigan advanced against him and met the Byzantine force already deployed in battle order. The Persians attacked and prevailed in the centre, but the Byzantines held and their wings broke through the Persians in the flanks. The Persian army collapsed and fled, with many dying in the desert of thirst or from water poisoning. Kardarigan himself survived and held out with a part of his army on a hillock for several days against Byzantine attacks.
The battle, although a major Byzantine victory which improved the Byzantine position in Mesopotamia, was not in the end decisive. The war dragged on until 591, when it ended with a negotiated settlement between Maurice and shah Khosrau II (r. 590–628).
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In 572, the then Byzantine ruler Justin II (r. 565–578) refused to renew the annual payments to Persia that had been part of the peace agreement concluded by his uncle, Justinian I (r. 527–565) and the Persian shah Khosrau I (r. 531–579) in 562. This marked the culmination of the progressive deterioration between the two powers' relations over the previous years, following Byzantine contacts with the Göktürks for a joint effort against Persia, the Persian intervention in Yemen against Axumite rule there, and the outbreak of a major revolt in Persian Armenia.[1]
Justin's refusal was tantamount to a declaration of war, the fourth fought between the two great powers of Late Antiquity in the 6th century. The conflict proved inconclusive, and became a drawn-out affair, with Byzantine victories followed by Persian successes, intermittent negotiations and temporary truces.[2] In 582, Maurice, who had served as a general in the war, ascended the throne at Constantinople; by that time, the Persians had gained the upper hand in Mesopotamia, where they had captured the major fortress of Dara in 574, while the Byzantines prevailed in Arzanene. For the next few years, both states refrained from major operations.[3]
In 584, Maurice appointed his brother-in-law, Philippicus, as magister militum per Orientem, i.e. the commander-in-chief for the Mesopotamian front.[3] In 586, after Maurice rejected new Persian peace proposals, Philippicus advanced south from his base at Amida, crossed the Arzamon river (modern Zergan) to its eastern bank and advanced some 15 km east to the plain of Solachon, where he pitched his camp. This position, south of the fortresses of Mardes (modern Mardin) and Dara, allowed his army to control the passage of the Arzamon river, and meant that the Persian army under Kardarigan ("black hawk", a honorific title rather than a proper name) would have to advance across the waterless plain away from their supply routes before meeting his force.[4]
On the Persian side, Kardarigan was confident in his army. He arranged to be escorted by many camels carrying water for his troops in case the Byzantines refused to engage but continued to block access to the Arzamon, and had allegedly prepared iron bars and chains for the prisoners he would take. His movements, however, were detected when the Byzantines' Arab foederati captured a few of his men, allowing Philippicus to prepare his forces. This was of particular importance since Kardarigan intended to attack on Sunday, a day of rest for the Christian Byzantines.[5]
Both armies appear to have been composed exclusively of cavalry, composed of a mix of lancers and horse-archers, possibly with a few cataphract units included. When Philippicus' scouts reported the Persians' approach, he positioned his men on elevated ground facing the direction from which the Persian army approached, with his left flank protected by the foothills of Mount Izalas. The Byzantines appear to have been arranged in a single battle line with three divisions. The left division was commanded by Eiliphredas, the dux of Phoenice Libanensis, and included a Hunnic contingent of horse-archers under Apsich. The center was commanded by the general Heraclius the Elder, later Exarch of Africa and father of Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641), while the right wing was commanded by the taxiarchos Vitalius.[6] This arrangement was also adopted by the Persians as soon as they came into view of the Byzantine army. On the Persian side, the right division was under Mebodes, the center under Kardarigan himself, and the left wing under Kardarigan's nephew, Aphraates. Unlike the Persian general, Philippicus remained with a small force at some distance behind the main battle line, from where he could direct the battle.[6]
After a short halt to leave their baggage train behind and form a battle line, the Persian army quickly advanced on the Byzantines, shooting arrows as they approached. The Byzantines responded in kind, and then sallied forth to meet the oncoming enemy. On the Byzantine right, Vitalius was quickly victorious, his heavy cavalry breaking through the Persian flank and pushing his opponents to the left behind their own main line. At this point, however, disaster threatened as many of Vitalius' troopers broke formation and headed towards the enemy camp, intending to loot it.[7] Philippicus, however, saw what had happened and reacted quickly. He gave his distinctive helmet to one of his bodyguards, and sent him to rally the cavalry on pain of punishment by the army commander himself. The ruse worked: the men recognized the helmet and returned to order, just in time, for in the center, the Persians had regrouped and were pushing the numerically inferior Byzantines back.[8]
To counter this, Philippicus ordered the men of the central division to dismount and form a shield-wall with their lances projecting from it (the fulcum tactic). It is not clear what happened next, but apparently the Byzantine archers shot at the Persians' horses, breaking their momentum. At the same time, the Byzantine left managed to launch a successful counter-thrust which drove back the opposing Persian right in disarray. Soon, the Persian right broke and fled, pursued by the Byzantines.[9] With both wings having disintegrated, the Persian center was now subject to an attack from the reformed Byzantine right, which drove them towards the area once occupied by the Persian right. Outnumbered and attacked from several sides, the Persians soon began to break and flee.[9]
The defeated army suffered greatly, not only from the Byzantine pursuit, but also due to lack of water: before the battle, Kardarigan had ordered the water supplies shed to the ground, trying to make his men fight harder to break through the Byzantine army and reach the Arzamon. In addition, the surviving Persians were refused entry into Dara. As Theophylact Simocatta narrates, many Persians died of thirst or from water poisoning when they drank too much water after their ordeal.[10] Kardarigan himself had managed to find refuge on a nearby hilltop with a small detachment, and withstood several Byzantine attacks. Finally, after three or four days, the Byzantines, not aware that the enemy commander was there, abandoned the effort. Kardarigan thus escaped, although his men suffered further casualties, up to a thousand according to Theophylact, in the process from Byzantine patrols.[11]
Following the battle, Philippicus rewarded the soldiers who had distinguished themselves, and then proceeded to invade Arzanene again. His attempt to capture the fortress of Chlomaron was foiled, however, by Kardarigan who arrived with reinforcements.[12] The victory of Solachon allowed the Byzantines to regain the upper hand in the region of the Tur Abdin, and in its aftermath they began to re-establish their control over the region around Dara.[13] War, however, continued for a few years without a decision, until the revolt of Bahram Chobin caused the rightful Persian shah, Khosrau II (r. 590–628), to find refuge in Byzantine territory. A joint expedition restored him to his throne, and a peace treaty was concluded in 591 which left most of Armenia in Byzantine hands.[14]