Battle of Kopidnadon
Abbasid victory in 788; death of Diogenes, possible Digenes Akritas source.
The Battle of Kopidnadon, fought in September 788, was a military engagement between the Abbasid Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire. It resulted in an Abbasid victory and is notable for the death of the Byzantine officer Diogenes, whom some scholars identify as the probable original source for the literary hero Digenes Akritas.
Quick Facts
- Part of
- the Arab–Byzantine wars
- Date
- September 788 AD
- Location
- Podandos, Asia Minor
- Result
- Abbasid victory
Facts from the source article.
Background
After the failure of the last Arab attempt to take Constantinople, the Caliphate conducted regular raids into Byzantine Asia Minor. A major invasion in 782 by the future Harun al-Rashid forced Byzantium to sue for a truce with an annual payment of 160,000 gold nomismata. Empress-regent Irene of Athens ended the tribute in 785, and warfare resumed. In early 786, the Byzantines sacked the fortress town of Hadath in Cilicia, which the Abbasids had been fortifying for five years.
Impact
The immediate impact of the Byzantine defeat was negligible; losses were heavy but not unbearable, and devastation was not excessive. The battle marks a recommencement of large-scale border warfare after a lull since 782, continuing until Harun's death in 809 and the subsequent Abbasid civil war. The death of Diogenes may have long-term significance: Henri Grégoire identified him as the original archetype for the later epic hero Digenes Akritas.
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