Plate with the Battle of David and Goliath 1

Aretion () was a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

governor of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

during the reign of

Heraclius Heraclius (; 11 February 641) was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular emperor Phocas. Heraclius's reign was ...

(), and a general in the

Arab–Byzantine wars The Arab–Byzantine wars or Muslim–Byzantine wars were a series of wars from the 7th to 11th centuries between multiple Arab dynasties and the Byzantine Empire. The Muslim Arab Caliphates conquered large parts of the Christian Byzantine empir ...

. He is described by

al-Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...

as "the most cunning of the Byzantines, the most far-sighted, and the most harmful".

Name

Since Aretion is not easily identifiable with anyone attested in Byzantine sources, his original Greek name is unknown. Most Arab sources give his name as "Arṭabūn" ( أرطبون), with a few (like Abu 'l Mahasin and

Al-Waqidi Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Waqid al-Aslami () ( – 207 AH; commonly referred to as al-Waqidi (Arabic: ; c. 747 – 823 AD) was an early Arab Muslim historian and biographer of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, specializing in his military ...

) instead calling him "Areṭîūn" (ارطيون).

Hendrik Arent Hamaker Hendrik Arent Hamaker (25 February 1789 in Amsterdam – 7 October 1835 in Nederlangbroek) was a Dutch Assyriologist, philologist and orientalist. He studied most European and Asian languages, and the history and geography of the East. He was ...

translated the latter into Latin as "Aretion". Alfred J. Butler believed that "Aretion" was the correct form and "Artabun" was a corruption. An alternate translation is " Artabanus". However, some historians (such as

Michael Jan de Goeje Michael Jan de Goeje (August 13, 1836 – May 17, 1909) was a Dutch orientalist focusing on Arabia and Islam. Early life Michael Jan de Goeje was born in Dronrijp, Friesland. He devoted himself at an early age to the study of oriental lang ...

) believe that "Artabun" may not be a name at all, but rather a corruption of the Roman title '. This allows Aretion to be identified with other attested figures.

Walter Kaegi Walter Emil Kaegi (November 8, 1937, New Albany, Indiana – February 24, 2022) was a historian and scholar of Byzantine history, professor of history at the University of Chicago, and a Voting Member of The Oriental Institute. He received his B. ...

believed he "may be identical" with Vardan, whom Al-Azdi al-Basri names as a Byzantine general at the

Battle of Ajnadayn The Battle of Ajnadayn () was fought in July or August 634 ( Jumada I or II, 13 AH), in a location close to Bayt Jibrin in Palestine; it was the first major pitched battle between the Byzantine (Roman) Empire and the army of the Arab Rashid ...

Biography

Ajnadayn and Jerusalem

Mohammad adil-Muslim invasion of Syria-3

Aretion was the governor of

in 634, when an Arab army led by

Khalid ibn Walid Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (; died 642) was a 7th-century Arab military commander. He initially led campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career servi ...

invaded much of Syria. After taking Bosra, they began marching south into

Palaestina Prima Palaestina Prima or Palaestina I was a Byzantine province that existed from the late 4th century until the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 630s, in the region of Palestine. It was temporarily lost to the Sassanid Empire (Persian Empire) in ...

. Under orders from Heraclius, Aretion placed garrisons in Jerusalem and

Ramla Ramla (), also known as Ramle (, ), is a city in the Central District of Israel. Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with significant numbers of both Jews and Arabs. The city was founded in the early 8th century CE by the Umayyad caliph S ...

, while he himself remained in Ajnadayn (near

Bayt Jibrin Bayt Jibrin or Beit Jibrin ( lit. 'House of the Powerful') was an Arab village in the Hebron Subdistrict of British Mandatory Palestine, in what is today the State of Israel, which was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was ...

) to lead its defence, alongside the emperor's brother Theodore and a general named Vardan. The caliph,

Umar Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Mu ...

, ordered

Amr ibn al-As Amr ibn al-As ibn Wa'il al-Sahmi (664) was an Arab commander and companion of Muhammad who led the Muslim conquest of Egypt and served as its governor in 640–646 and 658–664. The son of a wealthy Qurayshite, Amr embraced Islam in and was ...

to go and conquer Ajnadayn. For a long time, Aretion foiled the Muslims' attempts by simply refusing to leave his fortified position at Ajnadayn. al-Tabari records several letters exchanged between Aretion and Amr, and several pleas for help from Amr to Umar. He also describes an attempted assassination of Amr by Aretion, which Amr was told about in Aretion's camp. Amr managed to escape by offering to bring more Muslim generals to Aretion's camp to negotiate, then leaving it and not returning. On 30 July 634, Aretion was forced into an open battle with Amr, which was a disaster for the Byzantines. Their soldiers and even one of their commanders (likely Vardan) were massacred, while Aretion and Theodore retreated to Jerusalem. The

Chronicle of Fredegar The ''Chronicle of Fredegar'' is the conventional title used for a 7th-century Frankish chronicle that was probably written in Burgundy. The author is unknown and the attribution to Fredegar dates only from the 16th century. The chronicle begi ...

reports that the Arabs stole much from Ajnadayn, and even offered to resell their loot to Heraclius, but he angrily refused. Aretion reportedly taunted Amr from Jerusalem, telling him that he "will not conquer any part of Palestine after Ajnadayn". He also told Amr that he would only surrender to

, not him, based on a prophecy saying that Jerusalem would be conquered by a man with three letters in his name. However, when Umar arrived in Palestine in April 637, Aretion went to Egypt to gather reinforcements, leaving Jerusalem in the hands of the Patriarch Sophronius, who surrendered it after a long siege.

Egypt

In Egypt, Aretion began rallying an imperial army to retake the Levant. This was one of the reasons

cited when he proposed an invasion of Egypt to Umar. In December 639, an Arab army headed by Amr marched into Egypt. After taking

Pelusium Pelusium (Ancient Egyptian: ; /, romanized: , or , romanized: ; ; ; ; ) was an important city in the eastern extremes of Egypt's Nile Delta, to the southeast of the modern Port Said. It became a Roman provincial capital and Metropolitan arc ...

, they continued onto

Bilbeis Bilbeis ( ; Bohairic ' is an ancient fortress city on the eastern edge of the southern Nile Delta in Egypt, the site of the ancient city and former bishopric of Phelbes and a Latin Catholic titular see. The city is small in size but dens ...

Cyrus of Alexandria Cyrus of Alexandria ( '' al-Muqawqis'', ; 6th century – 21 March 642) was a prominent figure in the 7th century. He served as a Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and held the position of the second-last Byzantine prefect of Egypt. As P ...

, who was both the governor of Egypt and the Chalcedonian Patriarch of Alexandria, came out with Aretion and two Christian monks to negotiate with Amr. He offered them three alternatives: adopt

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, pay the

jizya Jizya (), or jizyah, is a type of taxation levied on non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Sharia, Islamic law. The Quran and hadiths mention jizya without specifying its rate or amount,Sabet, Amr (2006), ''The American Journal of Islamic Soc ...

, or engage in armed conflict. Initially, they requested three days to deliberate and then an additional two days, as recorded by

. At the end of the five days, Aretion, the two monks, and Cyrus' daughter

Armenousa Armenousa (fl. 7th century) was, according to legend, a daughter of Cyrus of Alexandria and intended bride of Heraclius Constantine who defended Roman Egypt, Egypt during the Arab conquest of Egypt, Arab conquest. Her historicity is questioned by m ...

(whose existence is doubted by Butler) decided to fight the Muslims, thus disobeying Cyrus, who wanted to surrender and pay jizya. Cyrus left for the

Babylon Fortress Babylon Fortress (; ) is an Ancient Rome, Ancient Roman fortress on the eastern bank of the Nile Delta, located in the area known today as Old Cairo or Coptic Cairo. The fortress was built circa 300 AD by Emperor Diocletian in order to protect ...

. During the subsequent conflict, the Muslim forces emerged victorious; Aretion was killed and Armenousa was captured, though she was later returned to Cyrus. Later,

attempted to persuade the

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ians to support the Arab forces and surrender the city, citing a shared kinship through Hajar. When the Egyptians refused, the siege continued until the city fell at the end of March 640.

Notes

References

{{Reflist 640 deaths Byzantine people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Generals of Heraclius Muslim conquest of Egypt