DARAS - v1.0 
July 530

by Chris Jackson
Symbol set required - master 1
approximate man-to-man scale: 1:14

Also comes with belisarius.bmp, a Byzantine victory medallion -
     drop it into your Icons folder.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

When Anastasius died on July 8, 518, he had named no heir to the Byzantine throne,
although he had probably intended one of his three nephews. In the confusion after
his death, a captain of a troop of palace guards was given a large sum of money by
a scheming nobleman Amantius (head of the palace eunuchs) and told to distribute it
among his men to gain support for a certain Theocritus. The captain did so, but did
not reveal the source of the money - and his troops immediately proclaimed him emperor.
So concludes Justin's unlikely rise to the Byzantine throne, and ultimately the rise
of Justinian.

Born a peasant in Bederiana, Thrace in 450, Justin was a shepherd or perhaps even a 
swineherd before journeying on foot with two other peasants to Thessalonica in the days
of Leo's reign to become a soldier. Justin served under John the Hunchback in the Isaurian
War and with Celer in the Persian War, and was already Captain of the Guard by 515 when he
was instrumental in putting down the revolt of the orthodox soldier Vitalian. 

As his wife Lupicina was childless, he invited his nephew, said to have been named Uprauda,
to join him in the capital. Born in Taurisium, Dardania (near Scupi, present-day Skopje, 
Macedonia) on May 11, 482, Uprauda's mother Biglenzia (Vigilantia) was Justin's sister. 
Unlike his illiterate uncle, Upruada was to have a formal Roman education. He assumed a 
Romanized name, taken from his uncle's: Justinian.

In 518 the Army and Senate elevated Justin to the imperial purple. Tall and well-built with 
curly grey hair and a rosy face, his distinguished military service also reduced any
concern about his lack of education and advanced age. Most important of all, he was openly
orthodox - it was hoped he could end the ongoing schism with Rome.

In fact, Justin took just eight months to settle the schism that had raged for almost 40 years. 
On March 27, 519, a papal embassy formally reunited the churches of Rome and Constantinople 
and struck the name of Acacius as well as emperors Zeno and Anastasius from the record books.
Justinian is said to have had a key role in the policies of his illiterate uncle (who, like
Theodoric, is said to have traced his name with a stencil), and governed in actual fact on
his behalf. He is also suspected of sanctioning if not directly ordering the murder of 
Vitalian, to remove any threat to the throne.

On April 1, 527 an ailing Justin appointed his nephew co-emperor. An old arrow wound in his 
foot had given him an ulcer, and he died on August 1 of that year. Justinian eased into sole
occupation of the throne.   

The Persian king Kobad had grievances against the Byzantines who were not paying their promised
quota towards defending the Caucausus mountain passes from northern barbarians. Angering them
further, the Byzantines had built a fortress city named Daras near the Persian frontier. Justin
also refused to adopt Kobad's favourite son Chosroes as his own son, as an act of cortesy to ensure
Chosroes' succession to the Persian throne. In 526, Kobad declared war. One of the generals entrusted
command of the Byzantine forces in Persia was a young man named Belisarius.

Born circa 505 in the same area as Justinian, Belisarius was a promising young general given co-command
of the army sent to invade Persian Armenia at the beginning of the war. Although his time in Armenia
consisted of little more than burning some fields and taking captives, he was made commadant of the
important fortress of Daras in 527. 

For the next three years the war still consisted of nothing but indecisive skirmishing. Amid peace 
negotiations the Persian commander-in-chief Perozes decided to strike a definitive blow by launching an 
offensive on the much-hated Daras. The night before, he forwarded an arrogant message to the city telling
them to prepare him a bath in advance of his arrival. It would seem he had reason to be confident. He had 
40,000 men ready for the attack, and was going up against a motley crew of just 25,000 irregulars (the 
Byzantines were really in name-only, mostly consisting of Huns, Herulians and other barbarians) led by a
young general still untested in a true battle. 

In front of the city walls Belisarius had his men dig a 12-foot wide trench, refused on either side. On 
the first day of battle the Persians advanced, but pulled back at the sight of the trench. As was tradition
before a battle, both sides staged individual battles in front of each other - the Persians lost two to 
Andreas. The following morning, as Perozes was marching up 10,000 reinforcements from Nisibis, speeches were 
made and the battle began at noon when the Persians believed the Byzantines would be hungry. A cloud of 
arrows volleyed from both sides. Perozes had drawn up his army in two divisions, intending to continually
replace his front line with fresh troops behind. Both sides put their cavalry on the flanks.
On the Byzantine side, Pharas the Herulian made a long flank march to threaten the Persian right.

The battle opened with a cloud of arrows from both sides, but the Byzantines were aided by the wind at their
backs. At first the Persian attack led by Pituazes went well, but the Byzantines charged them and the attack
in their rear by Pharas (from behind a hill) turned the tide. Belisarius withdrew Sunica and had him lead his
600 Hun cavalry on the left swing around to the right which was under pressure. In fact the Byzantines here 
were in full flight. But the Huns on the flanking trench under Simas and Ascan, joined by Sunica and Aegan,
now swept down upon the Persians. Sunica himself struck down Baresmanas, leading the elite Immortals cavalry
who were usually only engaged at the end of a battle. The Persians here became isolated from the main body, 
and 5000 surrounded soldiers were cut down. When the Persians fled the field, Belisarius forbade pursuit, owing
to inferior numbers and fear of an ambush.
Using a classic defense-offense strategy, Belisarius had won a brilliant victory. Perozes would lose both his 
command post and pride as the price for losing at Daras. Still, the Persians were determined to continue the war. 


SOURCES

Hodgkin, Thomas. "Italy and Her Invaders, Volume 3". London: Russell and Russell, (1880-89), 1967.

Norwich, John Julius. "Byzantium: The Early Centuries". New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989.

Oman, Charles. "A History of the Art of War In the Middle Ages". 2nd Edition. New York: Burt Franklin, 1924.

Vasiliev, Alexander A. "History of the Byzantine Empire". Madison: University
     of Wisconsin Press, 1952.

BATTLE NOTES

As the Byzantine player against the Persian computer, you will find that the Persian opponent uses the
archers as the main thrust of the attack, and whenever possible will train their arrows on the Byzantine
cavalry. This gives your own archers a chance to chew the enemy archers up a bit before they reach the 
trenches and attack hand-to-hand. The Persian cavalry tends to hold back so on the left (upper) flank, 
you can send them out and flank either the enemy's right cavalry flank or the right side of the archers. 
On your own right (bottom) flank, you will want to play defensively and hold the powerful Immortals at 
bay for as long as you possibly can.

As the Persian player you hold a significant advantage in numbers and firepower, although not morale.
Try experimenting with different concentrations of attacks over the lines and see if you can do any better 
than your historical counterparts.....
 
Belisarius is perhaps best known for introducing the cataphract, or cavalry combining heavy arms with archery,
to the Byzantine army. In this early Belisarius scenario you will only find that the Huns and Belisarius' own
unit are mounted with both bow and spear. According to Charles Oman's book, the trench wasn't all that 
effective in the battle so the penalties for entering it aren't TOO severe defense-wise. To simulate the wind
advantage I gave the Byzantines long bows, and Persians short bows.

Belisarius' strategy at Daras makes it the first battle of the medieval age worth studying by students of
military history. For this reason I took special time and care trying to make this battle as accurate as
possible. Any comments and suggestions are especially welcome.


- Chris Jackson
March 21, 2000