Battle of Azaz (1030)
Battle of Azaz | |||||||
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Part of the Arab–Byzantine Wars | |||||||
Miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes showing the Arabs driving the Byzantines to flight at Azaz | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Byzantine Empire |
Emirate of Aleppo | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Romanos III Argyros | Shibl al-Dawla Nasr | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
c. 20.000 (modern estimate) | 700–2.000 (medieval sources) | ||||||
The Battle of Azaz was an engagement fought in August 1030 near the
Aleppo had long been a flashpoint between Byzantium and its Arab neighbours, with the Byzantines claiming a protectorate over the city since 969. In the aftermath of a defeat inflicted on the Byzantine governor of Antioch by the Mirdasids, Romanos launched a campaign against Aleppo. Despite his own inexperience in military matters, Romanos decided to lead the army in person, leading contemporary Byzantine chroniclers to point to a quest for military glory as his primary motivation, rather than the preservation of the status quo. At the head of his army, estimated some 20,000 strong by modern historians, Romanos arrived in Antioch on 20 July 1030. The Mirdasids sent envoys with peace overtures including the payment of tribute, but Romanos, confident of success, rejected them and detained the ambassador. Although his generals urged him to avoid action in the hot and dry Syrian summer, Romanos led his forces forward. The Mirdasid army was considerably smaller, 700–2,000 men according to the sources, but comprised mostly Bedouin light cavalry, which enjoyed superior mobility against their heavily-armoured opponents.
The two armies clashed at Azaz, northwest of Aleppo, where the Byzantines set up camp. The Mirdasids ambushed and destroyed a Byzantine reconnaissance force, and started harassing the imperial camp. Unable to forage, the Byzantines began suffering from thirst and hunger, while an attack on the Mirdasid forces was defeated. Finally, on 10 August, the Byzantine army commenced its withdrawal to Antioch, but it soon collapsed into a chaotic affair. The Arabs used the opportunity to attack the disordered Byzantines, routing them; Emperor Romanos himself only escaped thanks to the intervention of his bodyguard. The scattered remnants of the imperial army gathered at Antioch. Romanos returned to Constantinople, but his generals managed to recover the situation afterwards, putting down Arab rebellions and forcing Aleppo to resume tributary status shortly after in 1031.
Background
The
There are varying accounts regarding Romanos III's motivation for attacking the Mirdasids.[5] According to the medieval Arabic chroniclers Yahya of Antioch (d. 1066) and Ibn al-Adim (d. 1262), Romanos resolved to avenge the defeat of Spondyles,[3] whom he dismissed.[5] On the other hand, the contemporary Byzantine historians John Skylitzes and Michael Psellos hold that the impending campaign was motivated by Romanos's quest for glory. Despite, or rather because of, his complete lack of military experience, Romanos was eager to imitate the deeds of Basil II and his predecessors; according to Psellos, he wanted to emulate the ancient Roman emperors such as Trajan and Augustus, or even Alexander the Great.[6][7] The modern historian Suhayl Zakkar suggests that all the above versions should be treated with caution, and asserts that Romanos most likely acted to ensure Aleppo's independence from Byzantium's main Arab enemy, the Fatimids, who he believed could conquer the city and its emirate in the wake of Salih's death.[8] This is indicated by the presence in Romanos's entourage of Mansur ibn Lu'lu', a former ruler of Aleppo and antagonist of the Mirdasids, whom Romanos probably sought to install in place of the latter.[8] Moreover, in a letter he sent to Nasr and Thimal, Romanos expressed concern that the Mirdasid emirs' "enemies ... might wrest the city from them" because of their "youthfulness" and requested they hand over Aleppo to him in exchange for a payment.[9]
Prelude
In March 1030, Romanos departed Constantinople, leading in person the campaign against Aleppo. According to Psellos, Romanos was so confident of his success that he prepared special crowns for his triumph to come, and staged a grandiose entry into Antioch,[10] which he reached on 20 July.[11] Nasr, learning of the Byzantines' approach, sent envoys, led by his cousin Muqallid ibn Kamil,[11] and offered to recognize Byzantine suzerainty and to restart the payment of tribute.[12] According to Psellos, Nasr's envoys "declared they had not wanted this war, nor had they given him [Romanos] any pretext for it", but "seeing that he was now adopting a policy of threats, and since he insisted in parading his strength" they would prepare for war should Romanos not change direction.[10]
Romanos was encouraged by the Jarrahid chieftain of the Banu Tayy tribe, Hassan ibn Mufarrij, to continue his march;[13] the Jarrahid hoped to use the Emperor's assistance in regaining the pasture territories in Palestine that the Tayy had been forced to give up after their defeat alongside the Mirdasids at al-Uqhuwanah.[14] According to Skylitzes, the Emperor's own generals counselled him to accept Nasr's offer so as to avoid the hazards of campaigning in the arid Syrian desert in the summer, especially as their troops were unaccustomed to such conditions and were encumbered by their heavy armour.[6] This is also reflected in the opinions of modern scholars, who point out that the Kilab, accustomed to the swift movement of the Bedouin nomads, had a distinct advantage over the heavier, slower-moving Byzantine armies.[15][16]
Persuaded that the expedition against Aleppo would be easily successful, the Emperor rejected his generals' advice: he detained Muqallid and led his army towards Azaz (Azazion in Greek) on 27 July.[13] At the same time, he sent Hassan a spear as a sign of his authority, and ordered him to stand by with his men and await his arrival.[14] Psellos commented on this decision that Romanos "thought war was decided by the big battalions, and it was on the big battalions that he relied".[17][18] The Byzantine army encamped on a barren plain in the vicinity of Azaz and dug a deep defensive trench around their position.[11] Meanwhile, Nasr and Thimal made their own preparations; they evacuated their families from Aleppo, mobilized the warriors of Kilab and other Bedouin tribes, particularly the Banu Numayr, and, under the call for jihad (holy war), the Muslim inhabitants of Aleppo and its countryside.[13] The majority of the mobilized forces were commanded by Thimal, who safeguarded Aleppo and its citadel. The remaining troops, composed entirely of lightly-armoured Kilabi and Numayri horsemen, were led by Nasr, who set out to confront the Byzantine force.[13][16]
Arabic accounts of Nasr's troops vary: the Aleppine chroniclers Ibn al-Adim and
Battle
The Byzantines set up a fortified camp at
The Byzantines became demoralized, and an imperial council on 9 August resolved to abandon the campaign and return to Byzantine territory.
Accounts of the events differ in the Byzantine sources. According to John Skylitzes, only the imperial bodyguard, the Hetaireia, held firm, and their stand allowed Romanos, who was nearly captured, to escape.[22] On the other hand, Psellos reports that the imperial bodyguard fled and "without so much as a backward glance, they deserted their emperor".[17][23] While Skylitzes wrote that the Byzantines suffered a "terrible rout" and that some troops were killed by their fellow soldiers in a chaotic stampede,[22] the contemporary Yahya of Antioch reported that the Byzantines suffered remarkably few casualties. According to Yahya, among the higher ranking Byzantine fatalities were two officers, while another officer was captured by the Arabs.[24]
The Arabs took great booty, including the imperial army's entire baggage train,[18] which the Byzantines abandoned in their hasty flight.[17] Among the spoils was the sumptuous imperial tent with its treasures, which allegedly had to be carried off on seventy camels.[14][18] According to historian Thierry Bianquis, Nasr's Numayri allies alone captured 300 mules carrying gold coins.[3] Only the holy icon of the Theotokos, which traditionally accompanied the Byzantine emperors on campaigns, was saved.[25][26]
Aftermath
In the event, the Byzantine defeat did not lead to any long-term reversals for Byzantium; neither the Mirdasids, the Fatimids nor the Baghdad-based Abbasid Caliphate were capable of capitalizing on the Arab victory.[27] While Romanos returned to Constantinople, he left behind Niketas of Mistheia and Symeon the protovestiarios as the katepano of Antioch and as Domestic of the Schools respectively, with orders to repeat the expedition later in the year, when the weather was cooler and water more easy to come by.[26][28] The Fatimids under Anushtakin al-Dizbari tried to exploit the Byzantine reversal by attacking the Jarrahids and their Banu Kalb allies, only to be defeated in battle at Bosra in October.[26]
The Emperor's failure was partly offset by the victory of
Meanwhile, Nasr took sole control of Aleppo after ousting Thimal during the latter's absence.
References
- ^ Wortley 2010, pp. 357–358.
- ^ Stevenson 1926, pp. 242, 255–256.
- ^ a b c d e f Bianquis 1993, p. 117.
- ^ Bianquis 1993, pp. 115, 117.
- ^ a b Zakkar 1971, p. 109.
- ^ a b c d e f Wortley 2010, p. 359.
- ^ Sewter 1953, pp. 42–43.
- ^ a b Zakkar 1971, p. 111.
- ^ Zakkar 1971, pp. 111–112.
- ^ a b Sewter 1953, p. 42.
- ^ a b c Zakkar 1971, p. 112.
- ^ Wortley 2010, pp. 358–359.
- ^ a b c d Zakkar 1971, p. 113.
- ^ a b c d e f g Halm 2003, p. 341.
- ^ Zakkar 1971, pp. 117–118.
- ^ a b Bianquis 1993, p. 122.
- ^ a b c d Sewter 1953, p. 43.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shepard 2010, p. 102.
- ^ a b Zakkar 1971, p. 114.
- ^ a b c d e Zakkar 1971, p. 116.
- ^ a b c Wortley 2010, pp. 359–360.
- ^ a b Wortley 2010, p. 360.
- ^ Zakkar 1971, p. 117.
- ^ Wortley 2010, p. 360 (note 36).
- ^ Sewter 1953, p. 44.
- ^ a b c d Halm 2003, p. 342.
- ^ Zakkar 1971, p. 118.
- ^ Wortley 2010, pp. 361–362.
- ^ Wortley 2010, pp. 360–361.
- ^ a b Wortley 2010, pp. 361–362, 363.
- ^ a b Stevenson 1926, pp. 256–257.
- ^ Wortley 2010, p. 365.
- ^ a b Halm 2003, p. 343.
- ^ a b c Zakkar 1971, pp. 107–108.
- ^ Zakkar 1971, p. 119.
- ^ Canard 1965, p. 484.
- ^ Halm 2003, pp. 342–343.
- ^ Zakkar 1971, pp. 107–108, 119.
- ^ Halm 2003, pp. 328, 343.
Sources
- ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.
- OCLC 495469475.
- ISBN 3-406-48654-1.
- Sewter, Edgar Robert Ashton, ed. (1953). The Chronographia of Michael Psellus. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. OCLC 422765673.
- ISBN 978-0-19-533403-6.
- Stevenson, William B. (1926). "Chapter VI. Islam in Syria and Egypt (750–1100)". In OCLC 490210837.
- Wortley, John, ed. (2010). John Skylitzes: A Synopsis of Byzantine History, 811–1057. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-76705-7.
- Zakkar, Suhayl (1971). The Emirate of Aleppo: 1004–1094. Beirut: Dar al-Amanah. OCLC 977126570.