The Mazdakite Wars, Part Seven: The Campaigns of 533
The first sunrise of 533 illuminated a land still in the grips of war. Kawus and his troops, now encamped 100 miles west of Aria, could see the fires arise from Khosrau’s camp just a few miles away. Every day, they received more strength- but it was a hollow strength, as they were untrained farmers and villagers, often boys or old men. Khosrau, Kawus knew, was receiving fewer reinforcements, but the reinforcements that did arrive to his camp were much better equipped and trained than his own men. Despite the successes of the previous year, as the winter months progressed, Kawus fell deeper into a sort of pessimistic fog. It may have been a combination of fatigue and news from his agents in Loyalist Persia of the brutal Romano-Persian crackdown on the Great Rising, but it may have found its origin in another source- a schism in the Mazdakite ranks.
As has been stated repeatedly in this record, Kawus initially jumped onto the Mazdakite bandwagon because it was a convenient way of garnering more power for the throne by restricting the temporal authority of the Zoroastrian clergy; later, it proved a good way to rally people to his claim for succession. While he talked a good talk, Kawus and the main leadership of the Mazdakite rebellion held little care for the teachings of the prophet in their midst; it is unsure if they had any real intent to implement his more radical proposals of equality for all men.
Mazdak didn’t seem to realize that his main backers in the nobility had no real concern for his doctrine; and if he was, he seemed content in the earlier stages of the war to stay within the territory controlled by his followers and further expound and solidify his doctrine (later compiled in a book entitled “The Laws of Paradise”, which would become accepted as canon among his followers). However, that same lack of caring did not apply to the growing number of fanatics, the main leadership group of which was known as the Devout, within the ranks of the Mazdakites. These men, mostly comprised of lower-class individuals, felt that in order to achieve Mazdak’s vision, further steps needed to be taken- more power had to be given to Mazdak and the new religious authority if the true equality he proposed was to take place.
This was in direct conflict with Kawus’s view on what should happen, but for the first two years of the war, open conflict was avoided at least. The military leadership (as well as the majority of the regular soldiers) were firmly in Kawus’s camp, which deterred the Devout from taking any action beyond grumbling. However, as losses mounted during the war and the number of soldiers and military noblemen dwindled, the Devout found themselves suddenly gaining more and more authority in the Mazdakite camp. The vast majority of soldiers now in the Mazdakite armies were from the lower-classes, and many of them believed wholeheartedly in the message of the prophet. The successes of the Great Revolt, which pitted fanatical peasants against local military nobility, exhilarated the Devout- the power of the lower class was demonstrated for all to see!
The Devout made their first major play for power in the opening months of 533, presenting Kawus and his general staff a list of assurances for Persia after they achieved their victory. Some of these included an end of many royal abuses and the creation of a council to oversee the redistribution of land and wealth. Kawus tried to placate them with vague promises, reminding them that it was premature to make such concrete plans when the victory of the cause was still so far away. The Devout, a bit miffed at this, regrouped to discuss their next move, which was a second petition a few weeks later, with some slight adjustments. Kawus, once again, denied them their demands, repeating his same assurances.
This seemed to convince the more hardline of the Devout that Kawus wasn’t fully behind the doctrine of Mazdak- something that many had thought in secret. These hardliners advised taking action against Kawus, to force him to accept their demands, but they were convinced to not commit such a rash deed by their fellows. Kawus was the best military hope they had to defeat those loyal to Khosrau, and the political figure keeping their coalition together. Mazdak may have been the catalyst for this rebellion, but without Kawus the rebellion would collapse militarily and fall easy prey to the Loyalists. This placated the hardliners for a while, but their thoughts still simmered.
Instead of taking action against Kawus, the Devout began to play to the hopes and expectations of the soldiers. The ranks were mostly comprised of poorly equipped fanatics by this stage in the war, the perfect breeding ground for support for the Devout. They were able to connect with the men easily, coming from similar social and economic backgrounds, which meant they were able to circulate their demands through their numbers with relative ease. This third list of demands set out a much more comprehensive and concrete view of post-war Persia, distilling the Devout’s view of what should happen. The soldiers, glad to receive any sort of real promise, gladly supported this third list of demands; with this support, the Devout once again approached Kawus in March, presenting their demands.
Realizing the situation he was in, Kawus actually considered their petition this time instead of dismissing it outright. Talking with his general staff, Kawus outlined his fears- that this would prevent him from assuming the title of Shahanshah with the dignity and authority that that office deserved. He also feared of becoming a puppet to Mazdak and his more radical supporters (ironic, for he had wanted Mazdak to be his puppet to begin with). The general staff, reluctantly, informed their leader that there was little alternative- it seemed to them that it was either give into the demands of the Devout or face a rebellion among the ranks. It was better to salvage what power they could now, with prospects of regaining it in the future (Mazdak wasn’t going to live too much longer anyway, right? After he died, surely, his supporters would be divided and allow Kawus and his fellows to retake power). Kawus agreed, and returned to the Devout, informing them that after the war, he would implement their demands.
This was music to the ears of the Devout (except for the more radical ones, who wanted their points implemented now), and soon the camp of the Mazdakites was in general celebration. Known as the Devout Law, this document would serve as the foundation for future attempts at creating a government inspired by Mazdakism. However, it would have to be waited to be enforced till after the war was over- and that would come sooner than expected, but not in the way the Mazdakites had hoped.
In the West, the Great Rising burned itself out around June. The ferocious Roman crackdown destroyed the largest bands of its supporters, and famine and economic crackdown devastated the ranks of those that escaped Imperial swords. Some pockets of resistence remained, but the situation was reversed enough to allow Persian regular soldiers to march east to more heavily reinforce the armies of Khosrau, which prepared itself to deliver a final killing blow. Khosrau felt that the end of the war was coming soon, as his own spies knew of the discord in the Mazdakite camp and the overall state of their army. The killing blow would fall in July, he decided.
In mid-July, the army of Khosrau, numbering some 75,000 in number, marched against the camp of Kawus. Kawus, with his own 70,000, debated retreating towards the Harrirud once again, falling back along his lines of supply, but his advisors, as well as the Devout, demanded that he stand and fight. The claimant gave in to pressure and ordered his host to prepare for battle (another point that would be debated by alternate historians in the future). The two armies met near a place that would become known as Wolves’ Den, for a pack of wolves made their home near the site of battle. The howls of these wolves would haunt both sides in the night before the battle began, seeming a dire omen for the coming conflict.
The battle would prove to be ferocious, living up to its name. After an exchange of missiles by both sides, the Loyalists would advance, sending their cavalry against the Mazdakite line to soften it up before sending in their infantry to follow up. The Mazdakites were able to repel the cavalry’s initial charge, inflicting some grand losses, before the arrival of the Loyalist infantry. The fighting grew vicious, the Mazdakites fighting with the ferocity reserved only for religious fanatics, the Loyalists relying on their discipline and superior arms to defeat them. However, by mid-afternoon, the Mazdakites were still holding their ground, despite the press of the Loyalists.
Khosrau, coming up with a new plan, decided to play to the fanatical aspect of the Mazdakite army. He ordered his men to start pulling back from the assault, which, after some shock, they did. The radical element among the Mazdakites, spurred on by the Devout, saw this as evidence of a victory- they began to press on after the Loyalists, abandoning their lines and swarming out. Kawus, at first ecstatic, caught onto what his brother was doing when one of his staff pointed out the unmistakable mass of gathering horsemen on a rise to the right. Kawus, panicking now, did his best to recall his men- his regulars held back, while the fanatics pushed forward. This created confusion among the Mazdakite ranks as the fanatics outstripped the regulars, putting distance between them.
It was then that Khosrau sprang his trap. He ordered his men to press the attack again- the Loyalist regulars turned and charged the short distance towards the mass of Mazdakite fanatics, who, in their disorganized state, were unable to put up the stiff resistance they had exercised earlier. Simultaneously, a horn blast from the right heralded a thundering charge of Khosrau’s remaining heavy cavalry, who slammed into the flank of the main body of Mazdakites. This served to break the morale of all but the most fanatical, and many of the irregulars suddenly remembered that they were peasants armed with improvised weapons. A great rout began, with some of the more radical among the irregulars holding their ground for some time.
Kawus, cursing the day, ordered his regulars to withdraw, hoping to preserve at least a part of his army, and they beat a stiff retreat. However, he was beaten there by news of his defeat- as well as some surviving radical members of the Devout. Feeling that they had been betrayed by Kawus when he held his regulars back, they laid in wait for him to arrive with a ragtag mob of surviving irregulars and other rabble. When Kawus arrived, a member of the Devout attacked him, stabbing him with a dagger. His regulars repelled the attack of the radicals, but Kawus did not survive. The death of their political leader would lead to the collapse of the Mazdakite cause, as would the death of the only other man remotely capable of holding things together- Perozes.
Besieged in Harmozeia, Perozes spent the first months of 533 spending his time fighting off Belisarius’s attempts to cut off his supplies from the sea. He had little communication with his master, Kawus, and he learned of the Devout Laws in June, a few months after they had been agreed to. Perozes was not very happy with this decision of Kawus’s, but he was resolved to support his leader’s cause. That did not stop him, however, from sending letters, making plans of his own to counter the Devout Laws and break the power of the radicals after their victory.
By the end of June, Belisarius had succeeded in cutting of Harmozeia’s supply by sea. Relying on hired pirates and conscripted fisherman, he set up a blockade which turned out to be successful in driving away attempts to resupply the city. He could now spend his time plotting an assault on the city itself, to which end he prepared a large siege tower to overcome the wall. The assault, launched in July (shortly before the battle of Wolves’ Den), would prove to be vicious.
The Imperials, wheeling up their siege tower as the defenders rained missiles upon them, managed to reach the wall- brutal hand to hand fighting then took place as the Romans sought to gain a purchase on the wall and as the Mazdakites sought to drive them back. Superior Imperial training and equipment would win this particular engagement, and the Romans secured the wall and opened the gates for the rest of their men. Brutal, house-to-house fighting would then follow, with the citizens of Harmozeia joining in with whatever they could get their hands on. It was a grinding sort of conflict that lasted a few days as the remaining Mazdakites retreated into the town’s citadel.
Belisarius, wanting to end this conflict, led his men against the citadel in a daring attack, using a ram to break through the thick doors. They succeeded, amid heavy casualties, and more ferocious fighting took place inside. Belisarius was in the midst of it, laying about with his own sword, leading his men from floor to floor. Perozes was slowly forced back until he was on the roof of the citadel, with only a dozen or so members of his guard left to face the fury of the Romans. Belisarius called upon his opponent to surrender, but Perozes refused. One last desperate fight would be entered into, with Belisarius himself fighting against Perozes- after a hard struggle, the Imperial triumphed, and, after running Perozes through, Belisarius kicked him from the roof of the citadel.
The Roman victory was complete. Perozes army was totally destroyed (along with most of the city of Harmozeia), destroying the main field army of the Mazdakites in the south. It came at a steep cost, however- Belisarius had taken losses to the tune of 27,000 of his 45,000, with most of them coming from the original 30,000 who had marched into Persia with him in 531. Belisarius, a bit exhausted from this struggle, ordered his men to hold up and rest, tending to the wounded and the dead, while he sent word back to Constantinople and asked for more reinforcements. He felt he was close to delivering a killing blow- not knowing that, almost simultaneously, Kawus had been killed by his own men.
News of these two victories spread quickly. Some of the noblemen who had joined Kawus at the beginning, hoping to gain some sort of advantage in a new regime, panicked and pled with Khosrau for clemency, fleeing the wrath of the Devout who felt they had been the cause of their defeat. Khosrau was magnanimous, needing all the support he could get, and several nobles, along with what remained of their retinues, switched allegiances, assisting Khosrau with his march further east into what remained of Mazdakite territory. The last major engagement occurred when a small force of Mazdakite irregulars tried to halt his advance one last time at Aria in August, but were brushed aside easily by the Shahanshah.
Mazdak, when he received word of the deaths of Perozes and Kawus, was surprised, and more than a little shock at this sudden decline in fortunes. The Devout, who had carried word to him, spirited the cleric away; they would try to flee further east, with a veritable small army of refugees. Khosrau, however, would catch up with them; they were demolished in a one-sided slaughter. The prophet Mazdak was beheaded, his head placed on a spike. After that, it was a matter of time until the authority of Khosrau was reestablished throughout the Sassanian Empire.
Now, Khosrau was faced with an even greater challenge- rebuild a devastated land. The Great Rising had destroyed fields and farms, disrupting the local economy, causing massive famines and destroying fortunes. Many leading members of Persia’s military aristocracy and clergy were dead as a result of this conflict. And, perhaps even more challenging, Khosrau was heavily in debt to Justinian. The Roman Emperor had invested a lot of money, material, and manpower in keeping his adopted cousin on the throne.
And now, the creditor from Constantinople was calling for a return on his investment…