Bleschames ( el, Βλησχάμης)Procopius, History of the Wars, 2.19.23
/ref> was a Persian military officer, who first served the Sasanian Empire and from 541 the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

. He is first mentioned in 541 as the head of the Sasanian garrison of the fortress

Sisauranon Sisauranon, Sisauronon ( gr, Σισαυράνων), Sisaurana, or Sarbane was a Sasanian fortress city in the province of Arbayistan, located to the east of Nisibis at the edge of the north Syrian plain. It was situated near the border with the By ...

, where he

defected In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

to the Byzantine army under

Belisarius Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean ter ...

, who sent him and 800 Sasanian cavalrymen to the Byzantine capital of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. However, he did not stay there for long, and was sent to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in order to fight the

Ostrogothic Kingdom The Ostrogothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of Italy (), existed under the control of the Germanic Ostrogoths in Italy and neighbouring areas from 493 to 553. In Italy, the Ostrogoths led by Theodoric the Great killed and replaced Odoacer ...

in the

Gothic War Gothic War may refer to: *Gothic War (248–253), battles and plundering carried out by the Goths and their allies in the Roman Empire. *Gothic War (367–369), a war of Thervingi against the Eastern Roman Empire in which the Goths retreated to Mont ...

, while some of his men were sent to fight under

Artabazes Artavasdes is the Hellenized form of the Iranian name . Variant renderings in Greek include (), (), and (); in Armenian (); and in Latin or . People with this name include: Persian satraps * Artabazos I of Phrygia (flourished 5th century ...

. Nothing else is known of his life.

Sources

References

Year of death unknown People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars Year of birth unknown 6th-century Iranian people People of the Gothic War (535–554) 6th-century Byzantine military personnel Generals of Khosrow I Byzantine people of Iranian descent {{Byzantine-bio-stub