Sunicas ( el, Σουνίκας) was a

Hun The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

who served in the

Byzantine 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 ...

military during the

Iberian War Iberian refers to Iberia. Most commonly Iberian refers to: *Someone or something originating in the Iberian Peninsula, namely from Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra. The term ''Iberian'' is also used to refer to anything pertaining to t ...

, in the early reign of Emperor

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

(r. 527–565).

Biography

According to Zacharias of Mytilene, Sunicas was a Hun who fled to the Byzantine Empire, where he was

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

. By 527, he was an officer stationed at the

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

of Dara in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

along with Simmas, and defended it against Sassanid Persian attacks.. In 530, he appears as a '' dux'', although it is not clear whether he held the territorial command of ''

dux Mesopotamiae Mesopotamia was the name of a Roman province, initially a short-lived creation of the Roman emperor Trajan in 116–117 and then re-established by Emperor Septimius Severus in c. 198. Control of the province was subsequently fought over betwe ...

'' or if he just received the title. In this capacity, he participated at the great Byzantine victory in the

Battle of Dara The Battle of Dara was fought between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanians in 530 AD. It was one of the battles of the Iberian War. Procopius's account of this engagement is among the most detailed descriptions of a late Roman battle. Bac ...

in June 530, where, along with Aigan, he commanded a 600-strong unit of Hun cavalry stationed on the Byzantine left flank. During the battle, Sunicas's Huns repelled the Persian attack on the Byzantine left and were then sent by

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 ...

, the Byzantine commander, to reinforce the threatened right flank. There, Sunicas killed the Persian second-in-command, Baresmanes, as well as his standard-bearer, and the Sassanid Persians began to fall back in panic, cementing the Byzantine victory. In the next year, he served again under Belisarius in his new campaign against Sassanid Persia. On his own initiative, he led a force into the Persian rear, where he caught many Persians and their

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

allies out foraging. He killed some of them and captured others for

interrogation Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful i ...

. However, as he had acted without orders, Belisarius severely reprimanded him, and only through the mediation of Belisarius's co-commander Hermogenes were the two reconciled. At the Battle of Callinicum (April 19, 531), Sunicas and Simmas were placed in command of the Byzantine left. Although they repelled the successive Persian attacks, the remainder of the army was defeated and forced to withdraw. Sunicas and his men, mostly infantry, nevertheless continued to fight, preventing the Sassanid Persians from pursuing the defeated Byzantines.. Nothing is known of him thereafter.

References

Sources

* * {{Huns 6th-century Byzantine people 6th-century Christians Huns Generals of Justinian I People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars Iberian War Byzantine people of Hunnic descent