Battle of Satala ( 530 ) The Battle of Satala was fought between the forces of the Eastern Roman ( Byzantine ) Empire and the Sassanid ( Persian ) Empire in summer 530 , near Satala in Byzantine Armenia . The Persian army approached the city to lay siege , when it was attacked in the rear by a small Byzantine force . The Persians turned back to meet them , but were then attacked by the main army from inside the city . A determined attack by a Byzantine unit led to the loss of the Persian general ' s flag , causing the panicking Persians to retreat . Background . In spring 530 , the Persian attack in Mesopotamia met with defeat at the Battle of Dara . At the same time , however , the Persians had gained ground in the Caucasus , having subdued Iberia and invaded Lazica . The Persian shah , Kavadh I ( r . 488 – 531 ) , decided to take advantage of this and sent an army into Byzantium ' s Armenian provinces . For this task , he chose the general Mihr - Mihroe ( Mermeroes ) . Mihr - Mihroe began assembling his forces near the Byzantine border fortress of Theodosiopolis ( Erzurum ) . According to Procopius , his army composed mostly of levies from Persian - ruled Armenia and Sunitae from the northern Caucasus , as well as 3 , 000 Sabirs . The Byzantine commanders were Sittas , who had just been promoted from " magister militum per Armeniam " to " magister militum praesentalis " , and his successor in the former post , Dorotheus . As soon as news of the ongoing Persian preparations reached them , they sent two of their guards to spy on them . One was captured , but the other returned with information that allowed the Byzantines to launch a surprise attack the Persian camp . The Persian army scattered with some loss , and after looting their camp , the Byzantines returned to their base . Battle . Once Mihr - Mihroe had finished assembling his army , however , he invaded Byzantine territory . Bypassing Theodosiopolis , he headed for Satala , and set up his camp some distance from the city walls . The Byzantine forces , about half as strong as the Persians according to Procopius , did not engage him . Sittas , with a thousand men , occupied the hills around the city , while the bulk of the Byzantine army remained with Dorotheus inside the walls . On the next day , the Persians advanced and began to surround the city , preparing for a siege . At this point , Sittas with his detachment sallied forth from the hills . The Persians , seeing them raising much dust and thinking that they were the main Byzantine army , quickly gathered their forces and turned to meet them . Dorotheus then led his own men to attack the Persian rear . Despite their bad tactical position , facing attack from both front and rear , the Persian army resisted effectively , due to its greater numbers . At one point , however , a Byzantine commander , Florentius the Thracian , charged his unit into the Persian centre and managed to capture Mihr - Mihroe ' s battle standard . Although he was killed soon after , the loss of the flag caused fear among the Persian ranks . Their army began to retreat to their camp , abandoning the battlefield . Aftermath . The next day , the Persians departed and returned to Persian Armenia , unmolested by the Byzantines , who were satisfied with their victory over a far larger force . This victory was a major success for Byzantium , and was followed by the defections of a number of Armenian chieftains to the Empire ( the brothers Narses , Aratius , and Isaac ) , as well as by the capture or surrender of a number of important fortresses , like Bolum and Pharangium . Negotiations between Persia and Byzantium also resumed after the battle , but they led nowhere , and in spring 531 war resumed , with the campaign that led to the Battle of Callinicum .