The conquest of Antioch by the Persians and the beginning of the geopolitical catastrophe of Byzantium in the East

Author(s):  Yu.V. Buzanakov, no, no, Belgorod National Research University, Belgorod, Russia

Issue:  Volume 46, № 4

Rubric:  Topical issues of world history

Annotation:  The article discusses the military history of Antioch, one of the regional centers of the Byzantine state from the 4th to 7th centuries. The author analyse the role of the city in the Byzantine-Persian wars. The characteristic of the history of the conquest of the Byzantine East is given. Being the capital of the province of Syria, Antioch was a major economic, political and religious center. In addition, Antioch has a rich military history. From the 4th century until the beginning of the Arab conquests, the Syrian Province was one of the centers of the Byzantine-Persian wars. As a rule, the city, in this war, played the role of a supply and coordination center for troops, but history knows examples when Antioch went on to experience direct enemy attacks. With the beginning of the era of Arab conquest, neither Byzantium nor Persia, exhausted by the war with each other, were unable to withstand the new threat. As a result of this, the Persian power ceased to exist, and Byzantium lost its vast territories in the East, including Antioch. It is worth noting that Antoch did not suffer a single major siege, neither in the period of Late Antiquity nor in the Middle Ages.

Keywords:  Syria, Antioch, Byzantine-Persian Wars, Sassanid Empire, Byzantine Empire.

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DOI:  10.18413/2075-4458-2019-46-4-627-633

Reference to article:  Buzanakov Yu.V. 2019. The conquest of Antioch by the Persians and the beginning of the geopolitical catastrophe of Byzantium in the East. Belgorod State University Scientific Bulletin. History. Political Science, 46(4): 627–633 (in Russian). DOI 10.18413/2075-4458-2019-46-4-627-633