The
Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591 was a war fought between the
Sasanian Empire of Persia and the
Eastern Roman Empire, termed by modern historians as the
Byzantine Empire. It was triggered by pro-Byzantine revolts in areas of the
Caucasus under Persian hegemony, although other events contributed to its outbreak. The fighting was largely confined to the southern Caucasus and
Mesopotamia, although it also extended into eastern
Anatolia,
Syria, and northern
Iran. It was part of an intense sequence of wars between these two empires which occupied the majority of the 6th and early 7th centuries. It was also the last of the many wars between them to follow a pattern in which fighting was largely confined to frontier provinces and neither side achieved any lasting occupation of enemy territory beyond this border zone. It preceded
a much more wide-ranging and dramatic final conflict in the early 7th century.