22 giug 667 anni - Second Battle of Kaisereia

Descrizione:

Dispite the success in Amorium, advances of Kaisereia however were unsuccessful. Manouel laid down plans to retake the area in 667, but events would intervene. Mu'awiya had led his full army north, and after a time of maneuver and skirmishing the Romans were forced to withdraw.

Sending messengers back to Constantinople Romanos ordered his son, Anastasios to begin a campaign against the coast. To capture prisoners, burn ships, and inflict general mayhem on the Caliphate. This he did, as the campaign in Anatolia resumed.

Romanos's army moved faster, but was no match for the Arab forces. Romanos instead relied on his Sclaveni to raid the enemy, while his own force presented too large a threat for the Arabs to be divided. A number of minor battles were fought, but nothing decisive could be forced. Most of the cities of the plateau passed back into Roman hands, and Mu'awiya was unable to retake them lest his own army be left exposed. At the end of 667 the two sides retired back to their bases, Romanos to Nicaea, and Mu'awiya to Tarsus.

668 was much the same as 667 with one exception, a large Arab fleet attacked Anastasios, and in a large battle the Romans were able to destroy virtually the entire enemy fleet, but at severe cost to their own. Limping back to Cyprus Anastasios was forced to report his inability to return to offensive operatons for the forseeable futue.

Unaware of this however Mu'awiya was faced with the possibility of a large-scale Roman naval campaign in his rear, and finally sent envoys to the Roman Emperor seeking a truce. Romanos agreed, and the two haggled for a while before setttling on terms.

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