# Azarethes

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{{short description|Sassanid Persian military commander}}
{{More footnotes|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=Azarethes
|birth_date=
|death_date=
|birth_place=
|death_place=
|burial_place=
|image=
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance= [Sasanian Empire](/source/Sasanian_Empire)
|branch= [Sasanian army](/source/Sasanian_army)
|service_years=
|rank="[Astabadh](/source/Astabadh)" or [hazaraft](/source/hazaraft)
|commands = Persian forces in Mesopotamia
|unit=
|battles= [Iberian War](/source/Iberian_War)<br/>
*[Battle of Callinicum](/source/Battle_of_Callinicum)
[Khosrow I](/source/Khosrow_I)'s second Roman campaign
*[Siege of Edessa (544)](/source/Siege_of_Edessa_(544))
|other_work=
}}
'''Azarethes''' ({{langx|el|{{lang|grc|Ἀζαρέθης}}}}), also recorded as '''Exarath''' ({{lang|grc|Ἑξαράθ}}) and '''Zuraq''', was a [Sassanid](/source/Sassanid) [Persian](/source/Persian_people) military commander during the [Byzantine–Sassanid Wars](/source/Byzantine%E2%80%93Sassanid_Wars). His Greek name is possibly a misunderstanding of the honorific title ''[hazaraft](/source/Hazarbed)''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uWEbAAAAYAAJ&q=azarethes|title=Rome and Persia at War, 502-532|first=Geoffrey|last=Greatrex|date=1 January 1998|publisher=Francis Cairns|isbn=9780905205939|via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Biography==

According to the account of [Procopius](/source/Procopius) (''De bello Persico'', [I.18](/source/s%3AHistory_of_the_Wars%2FBook_I)), Azarethes was placed in command of the Persian army in [Mesopotamia](/source/Mesopotamia) after the Persian defeat in the [Battle of Dara](/source/Battle_of_Dara) in 530. Procopius calls him an "exceptionally able warrior", and [Zacharias of Mytilene](/source/Zacharias_of_Mytilene) records that he held the rank of ''[astabadh](/source/astabadh)''. In 531, together with his [Lakhmid](/source/Lakhmid) allies, he led an invasion across the [Euphrates](/source/Euphrates) into the Byzantine region of [Commagene](/source/Commagene) (more probably Chalybonitis).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rawlinson |first1=George |title=The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World |date=1884 |publisher=J. Stillman Smith |page=77b |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bspJAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA77 |language=en}}</ref> When the Byzantine army under [Belisarius](/source/Belisarius) approached, they withdrew east, halting at Callinicum. In the [ensuing battle](/source/Battle_of_Callinicum), the Byzantines suffered a heavy defeat, but Persian losses were also so high that the Persian king [Kavadh I](/source/Kavadh_I) (r. 488–531) was displeased with him and relieved him of his command.

He only reappears in the sources once, in 544, when he accompanied Kavadh's successor, [Khosrau I](/source/Khosrau_I) (r. 531–579), at the [siege of Edessa (544)](/source/siege_of_Edessa_(544)). In the last stage of the siege, when the Persians under Khosrow I withdrew from their second general assault, Azarethes and his men were the only Persians who were still fighting and making progress at one of the city gates. They were repelled by regrouped Romans under [Peranius](/source/Peranius_of_Iberia).<ref>[Procopius](/source/Procopius), ''De Bello Persico'', XXVII, 36-43</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*{{cite book|editor1-last=Martindale|editor1-first=John Robert|editor2-last=Jones|editor2-first=Arnold Hugh Martin|editor3-last=Morris|editor3-first=J.|title=The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume III: A.D. 527–641|year=1992|location=Cambridge, United Kingdom|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-20160-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ElkwedRWCXkC|page=160}}

Category:6th-century Iranian people
Category:People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars
Category:Generals of Khosrow I
Category:Iberian War
Category:Generals of Kavad I

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Azarethes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azarethes) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azarethes?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.