Siege of Dara (573)


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The siege of Dara was raised by the Sasanian king Khosrow I in 573 during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591. The fortified city fell after 4 months.[3]

The Sasanians cut through a hill to divert the city's water supply,[4] and used captured Roman ballistae from the abandoned Roman Siege of Nisibis (573).[5]

The news of the fall of Dara, long a major Byzantine stronghold in Upper Mesopotamia, drove Emperor Justin II insane.[3] Bahram Chobin was commander of the cavalry force in the siege, and was promoted to the spahbed of the North after this victory.[6]