Siege of Samosata (859)
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| Siege of Samosata (859) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Arab–Byzantine wars | |||||||
 The Byzantine army besiege Samosata in 859 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Abbasid Caliphate | Byzantine Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Umar al-Aqta Karbeas |
Michael III Bardas | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown |
Heavy 100 officers captured | ||||||
The Siege of Samosata was a military engagement between the Byzantine army and the Arab garrison of Samosata. The Byzantine army, led by emperor Michael III, besieged the city but a sortie defeated the besieged army.
During the reign of empress Theodora, she brought an end to the Byzantine Iconoclasm. A Christian sect called Paulicianism rejected image worship. Theodora issued a decree that all Paulicians should abandon the errors of their faith, but they refused. Under the orders of the empress, the Paulicians were ruthlessly suppressed; thousands were killed, crucified, or drowned. Many Paulicians escaped and found refuge on the frontier between Byzantium and the Abbasid Caliphate. Their properties were confiscated by the state. After the death of Theodora, many Paulicians sided with Arabs in their raids against Byzantium. The Arabs of Malatya allowed the Paulicians to establish their own state in Tephrike, Amara, and Arguvan.[1]
The year 856 marked the beginning of a short but continuous period of hostilities between Umar al-Aqta of Malatya, allied with Karbeas of Tephrike, and Byzantium. In the same year, the brother of Theodora, Petronas, led a successful raid into Samosata and Amida and laid waste to Tephrike.[2]