The war-horns blared and the battle-drums thundered until the earth turned black as pitch and the night ebbed dark as ebony. King Khosrow Anushirvan marshaled thirty thousand elite swordsmen from his grand host, placing this formidable vanguard under the command of Mondhir to strike from the Aramean plains toward the Roman frontiers. Yet, steadfast in his commitment to justice, the Persian monarch determined to offer a final warning before unleashing total war. He summoned a court scribe to draft a stern letter to the Caesar of Rome.
The missive commenced with exalted praise for Yazdan, the Sovereign of the sun and moon. Khosrow warned Caesar to cease his aggressions against the border tribes, cautioning that expecting a lamb to escape the wolf's jaws was a foolish dream. He made it clear that any strike against Mondhir would be answered by the total destruction of the Roman throne. A eloquent, battle-hardened envoy delivered the royal letter. Upon reading it, Caesar's face turned pale with fury. In his arrogant reply, Caesar declared that the lineage of Rome had never paid tribute to the Kian dynasty. Boasting of his own legions, Caesar threatened to exact tribute from Iran itself and turn the borderlands to dust, sending the envoy away with cold disdain.
When the envoy returned and recited Caesar's defiance, King Anushirvan's wrath blazed forth. For three days he held council with his mobads, wise counselors, and army commanders. On the fourth day, the decision for war was cast. The great cow-horns sounded and the bronze trumpets pierced the skies. Unfurling the sacred Kavian Banner, King Khosrow marched toward Azarbaijan at the head of a massive host. The dust of their hoofbeats blotted out the sun, turning the sky crimson and the earth into a churning sea of steel and war-elephants.