Khusro’s Fateful Decision

The first decisive moment in the war came in winter 615–16, when Khusro rejected a grovelling plea for peace made by the Senate, based on terms discussed by Heraclius and Shahen at a summit meeting on the Bosporus in 615. This was tantamount to a decision to liquidate the Roman Empire, which made sense in the context of the threat posed by the Turkish khaganate in the east. The following five years saw the Persians take over Palestine (616), raid Asia Minor (617), and conquer Egypt (619). In Palestine they reintroduced controls on Jewish immigration into Jerusalem and designated the Ghassan their chief clients among the neighbouring Arab tribes.