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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 for a period of time restored the empire to its ancient boundaries in the Middle East. This resurgence of power and prestige was not to last, however, as within a matter of decades an Islamic Caliphate emerged from the Arabian desert and once again brought the empire to the brink of destruction.
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. In 627 the Gokturks invaded Transcaucasia, and Heraclius joined his forces with theirs in the unsuccessful Siege of Tbilisi. After the Gokturks and Khazars retreated to their steppes, Heraclius unexpectedly crossed the Aras River and struck southward across Persia.
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, however, they are thought to be even. The battle was closely contested, and was fought from dawn to dusk, 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.
