Battle of Nineveh (627)

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The Battle of Nineveh was the climactic battle of the last of the Roman-Persian Wars between the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Empire, in 627. The Byzantine victory broke the power of the Sassanid dynasty and briefly restored the Empire to its ancient boundaries in the Middle East.

During a six-year campaign, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius had driven the Persians from Asia Minor back into their own territories, but the Persian emperor Khosrau II still refused to make peace. On December 12, 627, the main armies of Heraclius, in personal command, and Khosrau's army commanded by the general Rhahzadh, met at Nineveh. How many soldiers engaged in the battle is unknown.

The battle was closely contested, but Heraclius' superior generalship won the day, and Rhahzadh was killed by Heraclius in the fighting. The Persian army was driven from the field and Persia lay open to the Byzantine army. The next year, Persia accepted Heraclius' peace terms.

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