Hermogenes ( magister officiorum ) Hermogenes ( , died 535 / 536 ) was an East Roman ( Byzantine ) official who served as " magister officiorum " , military commander and diplomatic envoy during the Iberian War against Sassanid Persia in the early reign of Emperor Justinian I ( r . 527 – 565 ) . Biography . Hermogenes was probably from Scythia Minor ( modern Dobrudja ) , as he is called " the Scythian " in Byzantine chronicles . In the 510s , he served as an " assessor " ( head legal assistant ) to the general Vitalian , who in 513 – 515 led a series of revolts against Emperor Anastasius I ( r . 491 – 518 ) . By May 529 , he had risen to the post of " magister officiorum " , head of the imperial secretariat . In April 529 , he was sent as an envoy with many gifts to the Persian shah Kavadh I ( r . 488 – 531 ) to formally announce Justinian ' s accession to the Byzantine throne and propose peace in the ongoing war . He arrived before Kavadh in July and returned bearing his reply for a one - year truce . In response , Emperor Justinian sent him again as an envoy , along with Rufinus , who had led repeated embassies to the Persian court in the past . The two arrived at Antioch in March 530 , and then set out for Hierapolis , from where they sent notice of their arrival to Kavadh , expecting negotiations to resume . Kavadh , however , had prepared an invasion army and postponed meeting them . While Rufinus remained at Hierapolis , Hermogenes joined the Byzantine army commanded by Belisarius , newly promoted to " magister militum per Orientem " , at the fortress of Dara on the Persian border . As Hermogenes had been instructed by Emperor Justinian to aid Belisarius in forming his army , he came to share command of the Byzantine forces with the latter . When the Persian army under Mihran advanced across the border to Ammodius ( June 530 ) , the Byzantines too exited Dara , arraying their forces in front of the city . Belisarius and Hermogenes attempted to resume negotiations the day before the battle , but the Persian commander refused . Hermogenes shared command with Belisarius during the subsequent Battle of Dara , which ended in a major Byzantine victory . After the battle , Kavadh accepted a new embassy , but without Hermogenes , who returned to Constantinople in late 530 or early 531 . In the meantime , Kavadh had sent Rufinus back to Emperor Justinian with terms acceptable to the latter . When Rufinus returned to the shah bearing Justinian ' s agreement , the Persian ruler had changed his mind and resolved to renew the war . In spring 531 , as news arrived of another Persian invasion , Hermogenes was sent again to the East at the head of reinforcements for Belisarius ' s army . He joined Belisarius , who had been following the Persians , at Barbalissus . There , Hermogenes mediated and resolved a dispute between Belisarius and one of his subordinate commanders , Sunicas . At this point the Persians , confronted by the Byzantine army , decided to withdraw . Hermogenes agreed with Belisarius ' s opinion that , their invasion having failed , they should be allowed to do so , but his subordinate commanders advocated battle . The two armies met near Callinicum , but the ensuing battle resulted in a heavy Byzantine defeat . In the aftermath of the battle , Hermogenes visited Kavadh as an envoy , but failed to achieve any results . He returned to Constantinople , from where he was again sent as an envoy in late summer of 531 . There , he attached himself to the army of Sittas , and was with Sittas when he relieved the city of Martyropolis from a Persian siege . Whilst at the city , news arrived of Kavadh ' s death and the succession of his son , Khosrau I ( r . 531 – 579 ) . Khosrau wrote to Emperor Justinian through Hermogenes for a renewal of talks , but the Byzantine emperor forbade his envoys , Rufinus and Strategius , who were waiting at Edessa , to do so . If Emperor Justinian thus hoped to destabilize Khosrau ' s position , his hopes were thwarted : the new shah quickly suppressed the threat posed by his brother and the Mazdakites , and renewed his offer of negotiations , along with a three - month truce . Emperor Justinian instructed Hermogenes to accept the truce , and after an exchange of hostages , the Persian army withdrew from Byzantine territory . Hermogenes was then one of the four Byzantine envoys sent to negotiate with Khosrau himself . The talks broke down , but a renewed embassy by Hermogenes and Rufinus succeeded in concluding the so - called " Eternal Peace " in September 532 . Hermogenes was dismissed as " magister officiorum " after November 533 , being replaced by Tribonian . He held the post again in 535 , shortly before his death , which occurred sometime before March 18 , 536 . Hermogenes had a son , Saturninus . Sometime after Hermogenes ' s death , he tried to marry his cousin , the daughter of Cyril , commander of the " foederati " under Belisarius , but this was thwarted by the Empress Theodora . Instead , the empress had him marry the daughter of a former courtesan living in the palace , and when he protested , he was flogged .