Sack of Amorium
Encyclopedia
The Sack of Amorium by the Abbasid Caliphate in mid-August 838 was one of the major events in the long history of the Byzantine–Arab Wars. The Abbasid campaign was led personally by the Caliph al-Mu'tasim
(reigned 833–842), in retaliation to a virtually unopposed expedition launched by the Byzantine emperor Theophilos
(r. 829–842) into the Caliphate's borderlands
the previous year. Mu'tasim targeted Amorium
, a Byzantine
city in western Asia Minor
(modern Anatolia
), because it was the birthplace of the ruling Byzantine dynasty and, at the time, one of Byzantium's largest and most important cities. The Caliph gathered an exceptionally large army, which he divided in two parts. The Abbasids penetrated deep into Byzantine-held Asia Minor, while the northern army defeated the Byzantine forces under Theophilos at Anzen
. The Abbasid troops then converged upon Ancyra, which they found abandoned. After sacking the city, they turned south to Amorium, where they arrived on 1 August. Faced with intrigues at Constantinople and the rebellion of the large Khurramite contingent of his army, Theophilos was unable to aid the city.
Amorium was strongly fortified and garrisoned, but a traitor revealed a weak spot in the wall, where the Abbasids concentrated their attack, effecting a breach. Unable to break through the besieging army, the commander of the breached section privately attempted to negotiate with the Caliph. He left his post which allowed the Arabs to take advantage, enter the city and capture it. Amorium was systematically destroyed, never to recover its former prosperity. Many of its inhabitants were slaughtered, and the remainder driven off as slaves. Most of the survivors were released after a truce in 841, but prominent officials were taken to the Caliph's capital of Samarra
and executed years later after refusing to convert to Islam
, becoming known as the 42 Martyrs of Amorium.
The conquest of Amorium was not only a major military disaster and a heavy personal blow for Theophilos, but also a traumatic event for the Byzantines, its impact resonating in later literature. The sack did not ultimately alter the balance of power, which was slowly shifting in Byzantium's favour, but it thoroughly discredited the theological doctrine of Iconoclasm, ardently supported by Theophilos. As Iconoclasm relied heavily on military success for its legitimization, the fall of Amorium contributed decisively to its abandonment shortly after Theophilos's death in 842.
s. He sought to bolster his regime and support his religious policies by military success against the Abbasid Caliphate, the Empire's major antagonist. Arab attacks continued unabated both in the East, where Caliph al-Ma'mun
(r. 813–833) launched several large-scale raids, and in the West, in the progression of the Muslim conquest of Sicily.
Seeking divine favour, and responding to iconophile plots against him, Theophilos reinstated active suppression of the iconophiles and other perceived "heretics" in June 833, including mass arrests and exiles, beatings and confiscations of property. In Byzantine eyes, God seemed indeed to reward this decision: al-Ma'mun died during the first stages of a new invasion against Byzantium, and his brother and successor al-Mu'tasim
had trouble establishing his authority, especially against the ongoing rebellion of the Khurramite religious sect under Babak Khorramdin
. This allowed Theophilos to achieve a series of modest victories, as well as to bolster his forces with some 14,000 Khurramite refugees under their leader Nasr, who was baptized a Christian and took the name Theophobos
. The emperor's successes in these years were not spectacular; nevertheless, they came after two decades of defeats and civil war under iconophile emperors. Theophilos was thus able to claim them as vindication for his religious policy and to associate himself with the memory of the iconoclast emperor Constantine V
(r. 741–775) and his victories. In this spirit, he issued a new type of the copper follis
coin, minted in huge numbers, which portrayed him as the archetypical victorious Roman emperor.
In 837, Theophilos decided (at the urging of Babak) to take advantage of the Caliphate's preoccupation with the suppression of the Khurramite revolt and lead a major campaign against the frontier emirates
. He assembled a very large army, some 70,000 fighting men and 100,000 in total according to al-Tabari
, and invaded Arab territory around the upper Euphrates
almost unopposed. The Byzantines took the towns of Sozopetra and Arsamosata
, ravaged and plundered the countryside, extracted ransom from several cities in exchange for not attacking them, and defeated a number of smaller Arab forces. While Theophilos returned home to celebrate a triumph
, Mu'tasim, outraged by the perceived brazenness and brutality of the raids, began marshalling his forces for a reprisal. Not only had the Byzantines acted in open collusion with the Khurramite rebels; during the sack of Sozopetra—which some sources claim as Mu'tasim's own birthplace—all male prisoners were executed and the rest sold into slavery, and some captive women were raped by Theophilos's Khurramites.
A huge Arab army gathered at Tarsus
; according to the most reliable account, that of Michael the Syrian
, it numbered some 80,000 men with 30,000 servants and camp followers and 70,000 pack animals. Other writers give far larger numbers, ranging from 200,000 to 500,000 according to Al-Masudi
. Unlike earlier campaigns, which did not go far beyond attacking the forts of the frontier zone, this expedition was intended to penetrate deep into Asia Minor
, with the cities of Ancyra and Amorium
as its targets. Amorium in particular was the intended prize, and the Caliph reportedly had the city's name written on the shields and banners of his soldiers. The capital of the powerful Anatolic Theme
, the city was strategically located at the western edge of the Anatolian plateau and controlled the main southern route followed by the Arab invasions. At the time, Amorium was one of the largest cities in the Byzantine Empire, ranking in importance immediately after Constantinople. It was also the birthplace of Theophilos's father, Michael II the Amorian (r. 820–829), and perhaps of Theophilos himself. Due to its strategic importance, the city had been a frequent target of Arab attacks in the 7th and 8th centuries, and Mu'tasim's predecessor Ma'mun was said to be planning to attack the city when he died in 833.
were sent to join forces with the Emir Omar al-Aqta and invade the Armeniac Theme
, while the main army under the Caliph himself would invade Cappadocia
through the Cilician Gates
. A part of the Caliph's army was also detached as an advance guard, under the general Ashinas
. The two forces would link up at Ancyra, before marching jointly on Amorium. On the Byzantine side, Theophilos was soon made aware of the Caliph's intentions, and set out from Constantinople in early June. His army included men from the Anatolian and possibly also the European themes, the elite tagma
ta regiments, as well as the Khurramites. The Byzantines expected the Arab army to advance north to Ancyra after passing through the Cilician Gates and then to turn south toward Amorium, but it was also possible that the Arabs would march directly over the Cappadocian plain onto Amorium. Although his generals advised evacuation of the city, with the intention of rendering the Arabs' campaign objective void and keeping the Byzantine army undivided, Theophilos decided to reinforce the city's garrison, with Aetios the strategos
of the Anatolics, and men from the tagmata of the Excubitors
and the Vigla
.
With the rest of his army, Theophilos then marched to interpose himself between the Cilician Gates and Ancyra, camping on the south side of the river Halys
. The two Arab armies crossed the border in late June, but Theophilos did not learn of Afshin's northern thrust until mid-July. He immediately left with most of his army, some 30,000 men according to Michael the Syrian, to confront the smaller Arab force. The emperor met Afshin's army in the Battle of Anzen
on the plain of Dazimon on 22 July. Despite initial success, the Byzantine army broke and scattered, while Theophilos with his guard were encircled and barely managed to break through and escape. Theophilos quickly began regrouping his forces and sent the general Theodore Krateros to Ancyra. Krateros found the city completely deserted, and was ordered to reinforce the garrison of Amorium instead. Theophilos himself was soon forced to return to Constantinople, where rumours of his death at Anzen had led to plots to declare a new emperor. At the same time, the Khurramites, gathered around Sinope
, revolted and declared their reluctant commander Theophobos emperor. Luckily for the Empire, Theophobos maintained a passive stance and made no move to confront Theophilos or join Mu'tasim. The Caliph's vanguard under Ashinas reached Ancyra on 26 July, followed by the other two forces over the next days. The inhabitants, who had sought refuge in some mines nearby, were discovered and taken captive by the Arabs. After plundering the deserted city, the united Arab army turned south towards Amorium.
, but detained the envoys in his camp, so that they could observe the siege.
The city's fortifications were strong, with a thick wall protected by 44 towers and a wide moat. Both besiegers and besieged had many siege engine
s, and for several days both sides exchanged missile fire. According to Byzantine accounts, however, an Arab prisoner who had converted to Christianity defected back to the Caliph, and informed him about a place in the wall which had been badly damaged by heavy rainfall and only hastily and superficially repaired. As a result, the Arabs concentrated most of their engines on this section, and after two days managed to breach the wall. The Byzantines defended the breach, but their position became hopeless, and Aetios decided to try and break through the besieging army during the night and link up with Theophilos. The plan had to be abandoned, however, after his messages to the emperor were intercepted, while the Arabs stepped up their vigilance to prevent any sortie and intensified their attacks.
After about two weeks of siege (the date is variously interpreted as 12, 13 or 15 August by modern writers), Aetios sent an embassy under the city's bishop, offering to surrender Amorium in exchange for safe passage of the inhabitants and garrison, but Mu'tasim refused. The Byzantine commander Boiditzes, however, who was in charge of the breach section, decided to conduct direct negotiations with the Caliph on his own, probably intending to betray his own post. He went to the Abbasid camp, leaving orders for his men in the breach to stand down until his return. While Boiditzes parlayed with the Caliph, the Arabs came closer to the breach, and at a signal charged and broke into the city. Taken by surprise, the Byzantines' resistance was sporadic: some soldiers barricaded themselves in a monastery and were burned to death, while Aetios with his officers sought refuge in a tower before being forced to surrender.
The city was thoroughly sacked and plundered. The Byzantine chronicler Theophanes Continuatus
mentions 70,000 dead, while the Arab al-Mas'udi records 30,000. The spoils from the sack as well as the surviving population were divided as slaves among the army, except for the city's military and civic leaders, who were reserved for the Caliph's disposal. After allowing Theophilos's envoys to return to him with the news of Amorium's fall, Mu'tasim burned the city to the ground, with only the city walls surviving relatively intact.
. Mu'tasim was forced to cut short his campaign and return quickly to his realm, leaving intact the fortresses around Amorium as well as Theophilos and his army in Dorylaion. Taking the direct route from Amorium to the Cilician Gates, both the Caliph's army and its prisoners suffered many casualties in their forced march through the arid regions of central Anatolia. Many of the captives found the opportunity to escape, while some 6,000 were executed on Mu'tasim's orders.
Theophilos sent a second embassy to the Caliph, headed by the tourmarches Basil, bearing gifts and an apologetic letter, and offering to ransom the high-ranking prisoners for 20,000 Byzantine pounds
(about 6,500 kg) of gold and to release all Arabs held captive by the Byzantines. In reply, Mu'tasim demanded the surrender of Theophobos and the Domestic of the Schools
, Manuel the Armenian
, who had some years ago deserted from Arab service. The Byzantine ambassador refused to comply to this and indeed could not, as Theophobos was in revolt and Manuel may have been dead. Instead, Basil handed over a second, much more threatening letter by Theophilos. Mu'tasim, angered by this, returned the emperor's gifts.
The strategos Aetios was executed at about this time, perhaps, as the historian Warren Treadgold suggests, in retaliation to Theophilos's second letter. Most of the captives were exchanged with Arab prisoners in a truce agreed in 841, but the other magnates and officers were exempt from this. After years of captivity and no hope of ransom, they were urged to convert to Islam. When they refused, they were executed at Samarra on 6 March 845, and are celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church
as the 42 Martyrs of Amorium. Several tales also sprung up around Boiditzes and his betrayal. According to the legend of the 42 Martyrs, he converted to Islam, but was nevertheless executed by the Caliph alongside the other captives; unlike the others, however, whose bodies "miraculously" floated in the water of the river Tigris
, his sank to the bottom.
or the ballad Kastro tis Orias ("Castle of the Fair Maiden"). Arabs on the other hand celebrated the capture of Amorium, which became the subject of Abu Tammam
's famous Ode on the Conquest of Amorium.
In reality, the military impact on Byzantium was limited: outside the garrison and population of Amorium itself, the Byzantine field army at Anzen seems to have suffered few casualties, and the revolt of the Khurramite corps was suppressed without bloodshed the next year and its soldiers reintegrated into the Byzantine army. Ancyra was quickly rebuilt and reoccupied, as was Amorium itself, although it never recovered its former glory after the seat of the Anatolic theme was transferred to Polybotus
. The Abbasids too failed to follow up on their success, and after Mu'tasim's death in 842, their state entered a prolonged period of decline.
Thus the most long-term result of the fall of Amorium was in the religious rather than in the military sphere. According to Warren Treadgold, the imperial army's defeats at Anzen and Amorium were to a large degree the result of circumstance rather than actual incapability or inadequacy. In addition, the Byzantine campaign had suffered from Theophilos's overconfidence, both in his willingness to divide his forces in the face of greater Arab numbers and in his over-reliance on the Khurramites. Neither this nor the reported treachery of Boiditzes could however disguise that this was "a humiliating disaster to match the worst defeats of any iconophile emperor" (Whittow), comparable in recent memory only to the crushing defeat suffered by Nikephoros I
(r. 802–811) at Pliska
. The loss of Amorium therefore thoroughly undermined the notion that iconoclasm brought divine favour and assured military victory. As Warren Treadgold writes, "the outcome did not exactly prove that Iconoclasm was wrong ... but it did rob the iconoclasts for all time of their most persuasive argument to the undecided, that Iconoclasm won battles". A little over a year after Theophilos's death, on 11 March 843, a synod restored
the veneration of icons, and iconoclasm was declared heretical.
Al-Mu'tasim
Abu Ishaq 'Abbas al-Mu'tasim ibn Harun was an Abbasid caliph . He succeeded his half-brother al-Ma'mun...
(reigned 833–842), in retaliation to a virtually unopposed expedition launched by the Byzantine emperor Theophilos
Theophilos (emperor)
Theophilos was the Byzantine emperor from 829 until his death in 842. He was the second emperor of the Phrygian dynasty, and the last emperor supporting iconoclasm...
(r. 829–842) into the Caliphate's borderlands
Al-'Awasim
The al-'awāṣim was the Arabic term used to refer to the Muslim side of the frontier zone between the Byzantine Empire and the Ummayyad and Abbasid Caliphates in Cilicia, northern Syria and northern Mesopotamia...
the previous year. Mu'tasim targeted Amorium
Amorium
Amorium was a city in Phrygia, Asia Minor which was founded in the Hellenistic period, flourished under the Byzantine Empire, and declined after the Arab sack of 838. Its ruins are located near the village of Hisarköy, Turkey....
, a Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
city in western Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
(modern Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
), because it was the birthplace of the ruling Byzantine dynasty and, at the time, one of Byzantium's largest and most important cities. The Caliph gathered an exceptionally large army, which he divided in two parts. The Abbasids penetrated deep into Byzantine-held Asia Minor, while the northern army defeated the Byzantine forces under Theophilos at Anzen
Battle of Anzen
The Battle of Anzen or Dazimon was fought on July 22, 838 at Anzen or Dazimon between the Byzantine Empire and the forces of the Abbasid Caliphate...
. The Abbasid troops then converged upon Ancyra, which they found abandoned. After sacking the city, they turned south to Amorium, where they arrived on 1 August. Faced with intrigues at Constantinople and the rebellion of the large Khurramite contingent of his army, Theophilos was unable to aid the city.
Amorium was strongly fortified and garrisoned, but a traitor revealed a weak spot in the wall, where the Abbasids concentrated their attack, effecting a breach. Unable to break through the besieging army, the commander of the breached section privately attempted to negotiate with the Caliph. He left his post which allowed the Arabs to take advantage, enter the city and capture it. Amorium was systematically destroyed, never to recover its former prosperity. Many of its inhabitants were slaughtered, and the remainder driven off as slaves. Most of the survivors were released after a truce in 841, but prominent officials were taken to the Caliph's capital of Samarra
Samarra
Sāmarrā is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Salah ad-Din Governorate, north of Baghdad and, in 2003, had an estimated population of 348,700....
and executed years later after refusing to convert to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, becoming known as the 42 Martyrs of Amorium.
The conquest of Amorium was not only a major military disaster and a heavy personal blow for Theophilos, but also a traumatic event for the Byzantines, its impact resonating in later literature. The sack did not ultimately alter the balance of power, which was slowly shifting in Byzantium's favour, but it thoroughly discredited the theological doctrine of Iconoclasm, ardently supported by Theophilos. As Iconoclasm relied heavily on military success for its legitimization, the fall of Amorium contributed decisively to its abandonment shortly after Theophilos's death in 842.
Background
By 829, when the young emperor Theophilos ascended the Byzantine throne, the Byzantines and Arabs had been fighting sporadically for almost two centuries. Theophilos was an ambitious man and a convinced adherent of Byzantine Iconoclasm, which prohibited the depiction of divine figures and the veneration of iconIcon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
s. He sought to bolster his regime and support his religious policies by military success against the Abbasid Caliphate, the Empire's major antagonist. Arab attacks continued unabated both in the East, where Caliph al-Ma'mun
Al-Ma'mun
Abū Jaʿfar Abdullāh al-Māʾmūn ibn Harūn was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 813 until his death in 833...
(r. 813–833) launched several large-scale raids, and in the West, in the progression of the Muslim conquest of Sicily.
Seeking divine favour, and responding to iconophile plots against him, Theophilos reinstated active suppression of the iconophiles and other perceived "heretics" in June 833, including mass arrests and exiles, beatings and confiscations of property. In Byzantine eyes, God seemed indeed to reward this decision: al-Ma'mun died during the first stages of a new invasion against Byzantium, and his brother and successor al-Mu'tasim
Al-Mu'tasim
Abu Ishaq 'Abbas al-Mu'tasim ibn Harun was an Abbasid caliph . He succeeded his half-brother al-Ma'mun...
had trouble establishing his authority, especially against the ongoing rebellion of the Khurramite religious sect under Babak Khorramdin
Babak Khorramdin
Bābak Khorram-Din was one of the main Persian revolutionary leaders of the Iranian Khorram-Dinān , which was a local freedom movement fighting the Abbasid Caliphate. Khorramdin appears to be a compound analogous to dorustdin and Behdin "Good Religion" , and are considered an offshoot of...
. This allowed Theophilos to achieve a series of modest victories, as well as to bolster his forces with some 14,000 Khurramite refugees under their leader Nasr, who was baptized a Christian and took the name Theophobos
Theophobos
Theophobos or Theophobus , originally Nasr, was a Persian or Kurdish commander in Byzantine service under Emperor Theophilos ....
. The emperor's successes in these years were not spectacular; nevertheless, they came after two decades of defeats and civil war under iconophile emperors. Theophilos was thus able to claim them as vindication for his religious policy and to associate himself with the memory of the iconoclast emperor Constantine V
Constantine V
Constantine V was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775; ); .-Early life:...
(r. 741–775) and his victories. In this spirit, he issued a new type of the copper follis
Follis
The follis was a type of coin in the Roman and Byzantine traditions.-Roman coin:The Roman follis was a large bronze coin introduced in about 294...
coin, minted in huge numbers, which portrayed him as the archetypical victorious Roman emperor.
In 837, Theophilos decided (at the urging of Babak) to take advantage of the Caliphate's preoccupation with the suppression of the Khurramite revolt and lead a major campaign against the frontier emirates
Al-'Awasim
The al-'awāṣim was the Arabic term used to refer to the Muslim side of the frontier zone between the Byzantine Empire and the Ummayyad and Abbasid Caliphates in Cilicia, northern Syria and northern Mesopotamia...
. He assembled a very large army, some 70,000 fighting men and 100,000 in total according to al-Tabari
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari
Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari was a prominent and influential Sunni scholar and exegete of the Qur'an from Persia...
, and invaded Arab territory around the upper Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
almost unopposed. The Byzantines took the towns of Sozopetra and Arsamosata
Arsamosata
Arsamosata was a city in Armenian Sophene near the Euphrates. It was founded by King Arsames I of the Orontid Dynasty in 3rd century BC. It was left and destroyed in I century BC. In Middle Ages it was called Ashmushat....
, ravaged and plundered the countryside, extracted ransom from several cities in exchange for not attacking them, and defeated a number of smaller Arab forces. While Theophilos returned home to celebrate a triumph
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
, Mu'tasim, outraged by the perceived brazenness and brutality of the raids, began marshalling his forces for a reprisal. Not only had the Byzantines acted in open collusion with the Khurramite rebels; during the sack of Sozopetra—which some sources claim as Mu'tasim's own birthplace—all male prisoners were executed and the rest sold into slavery, and some captive women were raped by Theophilos's Khurramites.
A huge Arab army gathered at Tarsus
Tarsus (city)
Tarsus is a historic city in south-central Turkey, 20 km inland from the Mediterranean Sea. It is part of the Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Turkey with a population of 2.75 million...
; according to the most reliable account, that of Michael the Syrian
Michael the Syrian
Michael the Syrian , also known as Michael the Great or Michael Syrus or Michael the Elder, to distinguish him from his nephew, was a patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1166 to 1199. He is best known today as the author of the largest medieval Chronicle, which he composed in Syriac...
, it numbered some 80,000 men with 30,000 servants and camp followers and 70,000 pack animals. Other writers give far larger numbers, ranging from 200,000 to 500,000 according to Al-Masudi
Al-Masudi
Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Mas'udi , was an Arab historian and geographer, known as the "Herodotus of the Arabs." Al-Masudi was one of the first to combine history and scientific geography in a large-scale work, Muruj adh-dhahab...
. Unlike earlier campaigns, which did not go far beyond attacking the forts of the frontier zone, this expedition was intended to penetrate deep into Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
, with the cities of Ancyra and Amorium
Amorium
Amorium was a city in Phrygia, Asia Minor which was founded in the Hellenistic period, flourished under the Byzantine Empire, and declined after the Arab sack of 838. Its ruins are located near the village of Hisarköy, Turkey....
as its targets. Amorium in particular was the intended prize, and the Caliph reportedly had the city's name written on the shields and banners of his soldiers. The capital of the powerful Anatolic Theme
Anatolic Theme
The Anatolic Theme , more properly known as the Theme of the Anatolics was a Byzantine theme in central Asia Minor...
, the city was strategically located at the western edge of the Anatolian plateau and controlled the main southern route followed by the Arab invasions. At the time, Amorium was one of the largest cities in the Byzantine Empire, ranking in importance immediately after Constantinople. It was also the birthplace of Theophilos's father, Michael II the Amorian (r. 820–829), and perhaps of Theophilos himself. Due to its strategic importance, the city had been a frequent target of Arab attacks in the 7th and 8th centuries, and Mu'tasim's predecessor Ma'mun was said to be planning to attack the city when he died in 833.
Opening stages of the campaign: Anzen and Ancyra
The Caliph divided his force in two: 30,000 men under the capable general AfshinAfshin (Caliphate General)
Khaydār b. Kāvūs Afshīn known by his hereditary title as Afshin was a senior general at the court of Abbasid caliphs and a son of the vassal prince of Oshrūsana.-Name and family background:...
were sent to join forces with the Emir Omar al-Aqta and invade the Armeniac Theme
Armeniac Theme
The Armeniac Theme , more properly the Theme of the Armeniacs was a Byzantine theme located in northeastern Asia Minor .-History:...
, while the main army under the Caliph himself would invade Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
through the Cilician Gates
Cilician Gates
The Cilician Gates or Gülek Pass is a pass through the Taurus Mountains connecting the low plains of Cilicia to the Anatolian Plateau, by way of the narrow gorge of the Gökoluk River. Its highest elevation is about 1000m....
. A part of the Caliph's army was also detached as an advance guard, under the general Ashinas
Ashinas
Abu Ja'far Ashinas was a general of the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim, possibly of the sacred clan of the First Turkic empire, transcribed in Chinese as Ashina 阿史那. While a folk etymology of his name is given in al-Tabari, al-Mu'tasim gave him the first rank among his Turkish generals and a text of...
. The two forces would link up at Ancyra, before marching jointly on Amorium. On the Byzantine side, Theophilos was soon made aware of the Caliph's intentions, and set out from Constantinople in early June. His army included men from the Anatolian and possibly also the European themes, the elite tagma
Tagma (military)
The tagma is a term for a military unit of battalion or regiment size. The best-known and most technical use of the term however refers to the elite regiments formed by Byzantine emperor Constantine V and comprising the central army of the Byzantine Empire in the 8th–11th centuries.-History and...
ta regiments, as well as the Khurramites. The Byzantines expected the Arab army to advance north to Ancyra after passing through the Cilician Gates and then to turn south toward Amorium, but it was also possible that the Arabs would march directly over the Cappadocian plain onto Amorium. Although his generals advised evacuation of the city, with the intention of rendering the Arabs' campaign objective void and keeping the Byzantine army undivided, Theophilos decided to reinforce the city's garrison, with Aetios the strategos
Strategos
Strategos, plural strategoi, is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
of the Anatolics, and men from the tagmata of the Excubitors
Excubitors
The Excubitors were founded in circa 460 AD as the imperial guards of the early Byzantine emperors. Their commanders soon acquired great influence and provided a series of emperors in the 6th century...
and the Vigla
Vigla (tagma)
The Vigla , also known as the Arithmos and in English as the Watch, was one of the elite tagmata of the Byzantine army. It was established in the latter half of the 8th century, and survived until the late 11th century...
.
With the rest of his army, Theophilos then marched to interpose himself between the Cilician Gates and Ancyra, camping on the south side of the river Halys
Halys River
The Kızılırmak , also known as the Halys River , is the longest river in Turkey. It is a source of hydroelectric power and is not used for navigation.- Geography :...
. The two Arab armies crossed the border in late June, but Theophilos did not learn of Afshin's northern thrust until mid-July. He immediately left with most of his army, some 30,000 men according to Michael the Syrian, to confront the smaller Arab force. The emperor met Afshin's army in the Battle of Anzen
Battle of Anzen
The Battle of Anzen or Dazimon was fought on July 22, 838 at Anzen or Dazimon between the Byzantine Empire and the forces of the Abbasid Caliphate...
on the plain of Dazimon on 22 July. Despite initial success, the Byzantine army broke and scattered, while Theophilos with his guard were encircled and barely managed to break through and escape. Theophilos quickly began regrouping his forces and sent the general Theodore Krateros to Ancyra. Krateros found the city completely deserted, and was ordered to reinforce the garrison of Amorium instead. Theophilos himself was soon forced to return to Constantinople, where rumours of his death at Anzen had led to plots to declare a new emperor. At the same time, the Khurramites, gathered around Sinope
Sinop, Turkey
Sinop is a city with a population of 36,734 on İnce Burun , by its Cape Sinop which is situated on the most northern edge of the Turkish side of Black Sea coast, in the ancient region of Paphlagonia, in modern-day northern Turkey, historically known as Sinope...
, revolted and declared their reluctant commander Theophobos emperor. Luckily for the Empire, Theophobos maintained a passive stance and made no move to confront Theophilos or join Mu'tasim. The Caliph's vanguard under Ashinas reached Ancyra on 26 July, followed by the other two forces over the next days. The inhabitants, who had sought refuge in some mines nearby, were discovered and taken captive by the Arabs. After plundering the deserted city, the united Arab army turned south towards Amorium.
Siege and fall of Amorium
The Arabs marched in the three separate corps, with Ashinas in front, the Caliph in the middle, and Afshin bringing up the rear. Looting the countryside as they advanced, they arrived before Amorium seven days after their departure from Ancyra, and began their siege of the city on 1 August. Theophilos, anxious to prevent the city's fall, left Constantinople for Dorylaion, and from there sent an embassy to Mu'tasim. His envoys, who arrived shortly before or during the first days of the siege, offered assurances that the atrocities at Sozopetra had been against the emperor's orders, and further promised to help rebuild the city, to return all Muslim prisoners, and to pay a tribute. The Caliph, however, not only refused to parleyParley
Parley is a discussion or conference, especially one between enemies over terms of a truce or other matters. The root of the word parley is parler, which is the French verb "to speak"; specifically the conjugation parlez "you speak", whether as imperative or indicative.Beginning in the High Middle...
, but detained the envoys in his camp, so that they could observe the siege.
The city's fortifications were strong, with a thick wall protected by 44 towers and a wide moat. Both besiegers and besieged had many siege engine
Siege engine
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some have been operated close to the fortifications, while others have been used to attack from a distance. From antiquity, siege engines were constructed largely of wood and...
s, and for several days both sides exchanged missile fire. According to Byzantine accounts, however, an Arab prisoner who had converted to Christianity defected back to the Caliph, and informed him about a place in the wall which had been badly damaged by heavy rainfall and only hastily and superficially repaired. As a result, the Arabs concentrated most of their engines on this section, and after two days managed to breach the wall. The Byzantines defended the breach, but their position became hopeless, and Aetios decided to try and break through the besieging army during the night and link up with Theophilos. The plan had to be abandoned, however, after his messages to the emperor were intercepted, while the Arabs stepped up their vigilance to prevent any sortie and intensified their attacks.
After about two weeks of siege (the date is variously interpreted as 12, 13 or 15 August by modern writers), Aetios sent an embassy under the city's bishop, offering to surrender Amorium in exchange for safe passage of the inhabitants and garrison, but Mu'tasim refused. The Byzantine commander Boiditzes, however, who was in charge of the breach section, decided to conduct direct negotiations with the Caliph on his own, probably intending to betray his own post. He went to the Abbasid camp, leaving orders for his men in the breach to stand down until his return. While Boiditzes parlayed with the Caliph, the Arabs came closer to the breach, and at a signal charged and broke into the city. Taken by surprise, the Byzantines' resistance was sporadic: some soldiers barricaded themselves in a monastery and were burned to death, while Aetios with his officers sought refuge in a tower before being forced to surrender.
The city was thoroughly sacked and plundered. The Byzantine chronicler Theophanes Continuatus
Theophanes Continuatus
Theophanes Continuatus or Scriptores post Theophanem is the Latin name commonly applied to a collection of historical writings preserved in the 11th-century Vat. gr. 167 manuscript. Its name derives from its role as the continuation, covering the years 813–961, of the chronicle of Theophanes the...
mentions 70,000 dead, while the Arab al-Mas'udi records 30,000. The spoils from the sack as well as the surviving population were divided as slaves among the army, except for the city's military and civic leaders, who were reserved for the Caliph's disposal. After allowing Theophilos's envoys to return to him with the news of Amorium's fall, Mu'tasim burned the city to the ground, with only the city walls surviving relatively intact.
Aftermath
Immediately after the sack, news reached the Caliph of a rebellion headed by his nephew, al-Abbas ibn al-Ma'munAl-Abbas ibn al-Ma'mun
Al-Abbas ibn al-Ma'mun was an Arab prince and general, the son of the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun . A distinguished military leader in the Byzantine–Arab Wars, he was passed over in the succession in favour of his uncle al-Mu'tasim...
. Mu'tasim was forced to cut short his campaign and return quickly to his realm, leaving intact the fortresses around Amorium as well as Theophilos and his army in Dorylaion. Taking the direct route from Amorium to the Cilician Gates, both the Caliph's army and its prisoners suffered many casualties in their forced march through the arid regions of central Anatolia. Many of the captives found the opportunity to escape, while some 6,000 were executed on Mu'tasim's orders.
Theophilos sent a second embassy to the Caliph, headed by the tourmarches Basil, bearing gifts and an apologetic letter, and offering to ransom the high-ranking prisoners for 20,000 Byzantine pounds
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
(about 6,500 kg) of gold and to release all Arabs held captive by the Byzantines. In reply, Mu'tasim demanded the surrender of Theophobos and the Domestic of the Schools
Domestic of the Schools
The Domestic of the Schools was a senior Byzantine military office, extant from the 8th century until at least the early 14th century. Originally simply the commander of the Scholai, the senior of the elite tagmata regiments, the Domestic quickly rose in prominence: by the mid-9th century, its...
, Manuel the Armenian
Manuel the Armenian
Manuel the Armenian was a prominent Byzantine general of Armenian origin, active from ca. 810 until his death in 838. After reaching the highest military ranks, a palace conspiracy forced him to seek refuge in the Abbasid court in 829. He returned to Byzantine service the next year, receiving the...
, who had some years ago deserted from Arab service. The Byzantine ambassador refused to comply to this and indeed could not, as Theophobos was in revolt and Manuel may have been dead. Instead, Basil handed over a second, much more threatening letter by Theophilos. Mu'tasim, angered by this, returned the emperor's gifts.
The strategos Aetios was executed at about this time, perhaps, as the historian Warren Treadgold suggests, in retaliation to Theophilos's second letter. Most of the captives were exchanged with Arab prisoners in a truce agreed in 841, but the other magnates and officers were exempt from this. After years of captivity and no hope of ransom, they were urged to convert to Islam. When they refused, they were executed at Samarra on 6 March 845, and are celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
as the 42 Martyrs of Amorium. Several tales also sprung up around Boiditzes and his betrayal. According to the legend of the 42 Martyrs, he converted to Islam, but was nevertheless executed by the Caliph alongside the other captives; unlike the others, however, whose bodies "miraculously" floated in the water of the river Tigris
Tigris
The Tigris River is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.-Geography:...
, his sank to the bottom.
Impact
The sack of Amorium was one of the most devastating events in the long history of Arab raids into Anatolia. Theophilos reportedly fell ill soon after the city's fall, and although he recovered, his health remained in poor state until his death, three years later. Later Byzantine historians attribute his death before the age of thirty to his sorrow over the impact of the city's loss, although this is most likely a legend. The fall of Amorium inspired several legends and stories, and can be traced in surviving literary works such as the Song of ArmourisSong of Armouris
The Song of Armouris or Armoures is a heroic Byzantine ballad, and probably one of the oldest surviving acritic songs, dating from the 11th century...
or the ballad Kastro tis Orias ("Castle of the Fair Maiden"). Arabs on the other hand celebrated the capture of Amorium, which became the subject of Abu Tammam
Abu Tammam
Abu Tammam was an Abbasid era Arab poet and Muslim convert born to Christian parents.- Biography :...
's famous Ode on the Conquest of Amorium.
In reality, the military impact on Byzantium was limited: outside the garrison and population of Amorium itself, the Byzantine field army at Anzen seems to have suffered few casualties, and the revolt of the Khurramite corps was suppressed without bloodshed the next year and its soldiers reintegrated into the Byzantine army. Ancyra was quickly rebuilt and reoccupied, as was Amorium itself, although it never recovered its former glory after the seat of the Anatolic theme was transferred to Polybotus
Polybotus
Polybotus or Polybotos , modern Bolvadin, Turkey, was an ancient and medieval city in Phrygia Salutaris. The city's bishop was a suffragan of Synnada and the see remains a Catholic titular see-History:...
. The Abbasids too failed to follow up on their success, and after Mu'tasim's death in 842, their state entered a prolonged period of decline.
Thus the most long-term result of the fall of Amorium was in the religious rather than in the military sphere. According to Warren Treadgold, the imperial army's defeats at Anzen and Amorium were to a large degree the result of circumstance rather than actual incapability or inadequacy. In addition, the Byzantine campaign had suffered from Theophilos's overconfidence, both in his willingness to divide his forces in the face of greater Arab numbers and in his over-reliance on the Khurramites. Neither this nor the reported treachery of Boiditzes could however disguise that this was "a humiliating disaster to match the worst defeats of any iconophile emperor" (Whittow), comparable in recent memory only to the crushing defeat suffered by Nikephoros I
Nikephoros I
Nikephoros I or Nicephorus I, Logothetes or Genikos was Byzantine emperor from 802 to 811, when he was killed in the Battle of Pliska....
(r. 802–811) at Pliska
Battle of Pliska
The Battle of Pliska or Battle of Vărbitsa Pass was a series of battles between troops, gathered from all parts of the Byzantine Empire, led by the Emperor Nicephorus I Genik, and Bulgaria, governed by Khan Krum...
. The loss of Amorium therefore thoroughly undermined the notion that iconoclasm brought divine favour and assured military victory. As Warren Treadgold writes, "the outcome did not exactly prove that Iconoclasm was wrong ... but it did rob the iconoclasts for all time of their most persuasive argument to the undecided, that Iconoclasm won battles". A little over a year after Theophilos's death, on 11 March 843, a synod restored
Feast of Orthodoxy
The Feast of Orthodoxy is celebrated on the first Sunday of Great Lent in the liturgical calendar of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Greek-Catholics...
the veneration of icons, and iconoclasm was declared heretical.