Siege of Nicaea (727)

Coordinates: 40°25.74′N 29°43.17′E / 40.42900°N 29.71950°E / 40.42900; 29.71950
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Siege of Nicaea
Part of the
Arab–Byzantine Wars

Map of Anatolia (Asia Minor) in 740 AD. Nicaea is located at the northwestern corner of the Anatolian peninsula
DateJuly–August 727 AD
Location
Nicaea, Bithynia
(modern-day İznik, Bursa, Turkey
)
Result Byzantine victory
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire Umayyad Caliphate
Commanders and leaders
Artabasdos Mu'awiya ibn Hisham
Abdallah al-Battal

The siege of Nicaea of 727 was an unsuccessful attempt by the

Asia Minor. In 727, the Arab army, led by one of the Caliph's sons, penetrated deep into Asia Minor, sacked two Byzantine fortresses and in late July arrived before Nicaea. Despite constant attacks for 40 days, the city held firm and the Arabs withdrew and returned to the Caliphate. The successful repulsion of the attack was a major boost for Byzantine emperor Leo III the Isaurian's recently initiated campaign to abolish the veneration of icons
in the Empire; Leo claimed it as evidence of divine favour for his policy. The siege of Nicaea marks also the high point of the Umayyad raids, as new threats and defeats on their far-flung frontiers decreased Umayyad strength elsewhere, while Byzantine power strengthened afterwards.

Background

Following the failure of the

Asia Minor still occurred regularly every spring and summer, sometimes accompanied by naval raids and followed by a winter expedition; they devastated large tracts of Asia Minor, and destroyed several fortresses; but the Arabs did not attempt to hold on to captured strongholds on the west side of the Taurus Mountains.[4] Byzantine reaction during these years was passive, as the Empire still nursed its strength against the vastly superior resources of the Caliphate. The Byzantines did not obstruct or confront the raiding Arab armies, but rather retreated to well-fortified positions scattered throughout Asia Minor.[5]

After the accession of Caliph

Dorylaion.[6][7]

Invasion of 727 and the siege of Nicaea

In summer 727,

Gangra in Paphlagonia and a place called in Arab sources Tabya, possibly the fort of Ateous in Phrygia. Gangra was razed to the ground, but during the attack on Tabya the Arabs, especially the Antiochene contingent, are said to have suffered heavy losses.[9][10]

From there, the Arabs turned west towards

Lake Ascania, whereupon the Arabs destroyed Nicaea, but this is clearly an error.[17]

Aftermath

The repulsion of the Arab assault on Nicaea was an important success for the Byzantines. Emperor

Virgin Mary and then trampled on it. The soldier was killed the next day by a catapult, a fact which Theophanes reports as evidence of divine vengeance. However, this passage shows strong signs of tampering by the fervently anti-iconoclast Theophanes, from what was probably originally a pro-iconoclast story.[19]

Militarily, the siege of Nicaea was the high-water-mark of the post-718 Umayyad raids; never again would Umayyad armies penetrate as deeply into Asia Minor.

Irene shortly after.[21][22] Over the next few years, while Byzantine strength revived, the Muslim military situation on all fronts of the over-extended Caliphate deteriorated. Consequently, in the 730s, Arab raids were mostly limited to the immediate frontier regions and their successes became fewer. By 740, when the Umayyads assembled the largest invasion force fielded after 718, the Byzantines had recovered enough to inflict a heavy defeat against them at the Battle of Akroinon.[23][24]

References

  1. ^ Blankinship (1994), p. 117
  2. ^ Lilie (1976), p. 143
  3. ^ a b Makrypoulias (2003), Chapter 1
  4. ^ Blankinship (1994), pp. 117–118
  5. ^ Blankinship (1994), pp. 118–119
  6. ^ Blankinship (1994), pp. 119–120
  7. ^ Lilie (1976), p. 146
  8. ^ Some authors, notably Julius Wellhausen, date this expedition to 726, but the dating to 727 is confirmed by Theophanes' reference that it occurred "in the tenth indiction". Lilie (1976), p. 147 (Note 16)
  9. ^ a b c Blankinship (1994), p. 120
  10. ^ a b c d Lilie (1976), p. 147
  11. ^ Mango & Scott (1997), p. 560
  12. ^ Makrypoulias (2003), Note 3
  13. ^ Lilie (1976), p. 147 (Note 15)
  14. ^ Mango & Scott (1997), pp. 561–562 (Note 9)
  15. ^ Mango & Scott (1997), pp. 560–561
  16. ^ Makrypoulias (2003), Chapter 2
  17. ^ Lilie (1976), p. 147 (Note 16)
  18. ^ Makrypoulias (2003), Chapter 3
  19. ^ Mango & Scott (1997), pp. 560–562, incl. notes
  20. ^ Blankinship (1994), pp. 120–121
  21. ^ Blankinship (1994), pp. 121–125, 149–154
  22. ^ Lilie (1976), pp. 155–160
  23. ^ Blankinship (1994), pp. 167–170
  24. ^ Lilie (1976), pp. 148–153

Sources

  • ISBN 978-0-7914-1827-7
    .
  • Lilie, Ralph-Johannes (1976). Die byzantinische Reaktion auf die Ausbreitung der Araber. Studien zur Strukturwandlung des byzantinischen Staates im 7. und 8. Jhd (in German). Munich: Institut für Byzantinistik und Neugriechische Philologie der Universität München.
    OCLC 797598069
    .
  • Makrypoulias, Christos (2003). Πολιορκία Νικαίας, 726-727. Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor (in Greek). Foundation of the Hellenic World. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
  • ISBN 0-19-822568-7
    .

40°25.74′N 29°43.17′E / 40.42900°N 29.71950°E / 40.42900; 29.71950

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