Narses was an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

military commander in service of the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

and later the

Byzantine Empire 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 History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

Family

Narses was a native of

Persarmenia Sasanian Armenia, also known as Persian Armenia and Persarmenia ( – ''Parskahayastan''), may either refer to the periods in which Armenia ( – ''Armin'') was under the suzerainty of the Sasanian Empire or specifically to the parts of Armeni ...

, a part of Armenia under Sasanian Persian control. He was the brother of

Aratius Aratius (, d. 552) was an Armenian military commander of the 6th century whose brother was Narses. He served at first the Sasanian Empire, then defected to the Byzantine Empire. He is primarily known for his activities in the Iberian War and the ...

and Isaacius and possibly a member of the

Kamsarakan The House of Kamsarakan () was an Armenian noble family that was an offshoot of the House of Karen, also known as the Karen-Pahlav. The Karens were one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran and were of Parthian origin. In the Byzantine-Sasanian era ...

family (a noble Armenian family of Parthian origin).

Career

He is first recorded in 527 in service of the Sasanian military in the

Iberian War The Iberian War was fought from 526 to 532 between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire over the eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia—a Sasanian client state that defected to the Byzantines. Conflict erupted among tensions over tribut ...

, where he and his brother Aratius defeated

Sittas Sittas (; died 538) was a Byzantine military commander during the reign of Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565). During the Iberian War against the Sassanid Empire, Sittas was given command of forces in Armenia, similar to the status of Belisarius i ...

and

Belisarius BelisariusSometimes called Flavia gens#Later use, Flavius Belisarius. The name became a courtesy title by the late 4th century, see (; ; The exact date of his birth is unknown. March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under ...

in Persarmenia. Both Narses and Aratius, accompanied by their mother, deserted to the Byzantine Empire in summer of 530 and were welcomed with a large sum of money by the imperial ''

sacellarius A ''sakellarios'' () or ''sacellarius'' is the title of an official entrusted with administrative and financial duties (cf. ''sakellē'' or ''sakellion'', "purse, treasury") in a government or institution. The title was used in the Byzantine Empi ...

Narses Narses (also spelled Nerses; ; ; ; c. 478–573) was a distinguished Byzantine general and statesman of Armenian heritage, renowned for his critical role in Emperor Justinian I’s military campaigns. Alongside the famed Belisarius, Narses was ...

, also a Persarmenian. Their favorable reception also encouraged Isaacius to defect. In , he was the commander of the troops in

Philae The Philae temple complex (; , , Egyptian: ''p3-jw-rķ' or 'pA-jw-rq''; , ) is an island-based temple complex in the reservoir of the Aswan Low Dam, downstream of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser, Egypt. Originally, the temple complex was ...

, Egypt, where he destroyed the pagan shrines of the Nobades and

Blemmyes The Blemmyes ( or Βλέμυες, ''Blémues'' , Latin: ''Blemmyae'') were an Eastern Desert people who appeared in written sources from the 7th century BC until the 8th century AD. By the late 4th century, they had occupied Lower Nubia and esta ...

, as ordered by the emperor

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

. His office was probably ''

dux ''Dux'' (, : ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux'' coul ...

Thebaidis'' at this point. As ''

comes rei militaris ''Comes'' (plural ''comites''), translated as count, was a Roman title, generally linked to a comitatus or comital office. The word ''comes'' originally meant "companion" or "follower", deriving from "''com-''" ("with") and "''ire''" ("go"). Th ...

'' he was active in Italy and the East. He was among the commanders sent by the sea against the

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

to raise the Siege of Ariminum (538). He is mentioned several times commanding troops in Italy, including in Siege of Auximum in 539. In 540, Narses was sent away from Ravenna by

. Narses was not given any military command until 543, when he was assigned a force of Armenians and

Herules The Heruli (also Eluri, Eruli, Herules, Herulians) were one of the smaller Germanic peoples of Late Antiquity, known from records in the third to sixth centuries AD. The best recorded group of Heruli established a kingdom north of the Middle Danu ...

to fight the

Sasanians The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

. During the hasty invasion of 543 against Dvin, it was wrongly heard that the Sasanian army had left Anglon. Narses rebuked the other commanders for their slowness. In the

Battle of Anglon The Battle of Anglon took place in 543 AD, during the Byzantine (East Roman) invasion of Sasanian-ruled Armenia (" Persarmenia"). After receiving the news of a rebellion in Persia and an epidemic in King Khosrow I's army, the Byzantine armies in ...

that followed, there are sources that cite Narses and his forces were the first to engage. In this account, which drew from the records of

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...

, the Sasanian army (or part of it) was driven back or feigned retreat back into the village, but Narses was caught in an ambush by the Sasanians who were hiding in the houses. He was hit in the temple in close combat and his and other Byzantine forces were routed. His brother Isaacius carried him away from the battlefield, but he died of his wound soon afterward.

References

{{Reflist 6th-century Armenian people 6th-century Iranian people Generals of Kavad I Generals of Justinian I Kamsarakan family Byzantine people of Armenian descent 543 deaths People of the Gothic War (535–554) People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars Iberian War Comites rei militaris Defectors Persian Armenians Byzantines killed in battle