Battle of Callinicum

The Battle of Callinicum was fought in 531 near the Euphrates after Roman troops pressed Belisarius to engage a retreating Sasanian force. The fighting exposed weaknesses on the Roman flank and ended with heavy losses and withdrawal across the river.

Although the Sasanian army also suffered severely, the result damaged Belisarius’s standing and led to an imperial inquiry into the campaign.

The battle supports fiction about command pressure, disputed responsibility and the uncertain outcomes of warfare on the eastern Roman frontier.