In 548, Justinian sent a force under Dagisthaeus—this time allied with the Lazi, who had become discontent with Sasanian hegemony—to retake Petra. The allies besieged the city and defeated two Sasanian field armies sent to its aid, but subsequent maneuvers by the Iranian commander Mihr-Mihroe made the besiegers' positions untenable. Eventually, Dagisthaeus failed to retake Petra in 549 and withdrew the same year. In 551, a Roman–Lazi army under Bessas began a second siege. After more than a year, the city fell and Bessas razed the city fortress to the ground to prevent it again becoming a Sasanian target. However, recent archaeological evidence from Tsikhisdziri suggests that the site survived well into the 7th century AD and beyond, with the fortification walls remaining in use and repeatedly repaired.
