ORDER OF BATTLE // July 22, 0838
Battle of Anzen
Estimated force strength by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Forces engaged
2 sides catalogued · combined 45,000–70,000 estimated
Byzantine Empire
25,000–40,000
Medium-confidence figure
Abbasid Caliphate
20,000–30,000
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
The Battle of Anzen (Dazimon) on 22 July 838 was fought in the context of a large-scale Abbasid retaliatory expedition launched in response to Byzantine emperor Theophilos's military successes the previous year. The Abbasid campaign was organized as two separate armies with the strategic objective of sacking Amorion, one of Byzantium's largest cities. Theophilos moved to confront one of those armies — the smaller force commanded by the Iranian vassal prince Afshin — at Dazimon, while the broader Abbasid operation continued to target the Byzantine heartland. The battle thus forms a critical episode within the wider Abbasid offensive of 838, which culminated in the assault on Amorion and represented one of the most significant Arab military thrusts into Byzantine Anatolia during the long Arab–Byzantine conflict.
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