For a thousand years the Byzantine Empire, the Roman Empire of the East, was defended and defined by its battles. These are the greatest of them, the brilliant victories that saved it and the catastrophes that cut it down, from the reconquests of Belisarius to the fall of Constantinople, each linked to its full story.
The Battle of Dara, 530. Badly outnumbered, Belisarius dug a system of trenches and broke a much larger Persian army, his first great victory.
The Battle of Nineveh, 627. Heraclius marched deep into Persia and shattered the Sasanid army, reversing a war that had seemed lost.
The Battle of Yarmouk, 636. The exhausted Byzantine army was destroyed by the armies of the young caliphate, and Syria was lost for good.
The Siege of Chandax, 961. Nikephoros Phokas stormed the great fortress on Crete and won the island back after more than a century of Arab rule.
The Battle of Kleidion, 1014. Basil II trapped and destroyed the Bulgarian army in a mountain pass, earning the name the Bulgar-Slayer.
The Battle of Manzikert, 1071. The Seljuk Turks routed the Byzantine army and captured the emperor, opening Anatolia to the Turks.
The Fall of Constantinople, 1453. Mehmed II's great cannon breached the ancient walls and the thousand-year empire finally fell.
Victories and catastrophes
The story of Byzantium is written in these battles. Belisarius at Dara and Heraclius at Nineveh show the empire at its most brilliant; Yarmouk and Manzikert are the disasters that cut it down; and the fall of Constantinople in 1453 closed a thousand years of history. Meet the men who led them in the greatest commanders of the Byzantine Empire.
Sources
Each battle above links to its full story, on the battle's own page or in the biography of the commander who fought it, each with its own sources. See our editorial approach.