The treaty-breaker is not he who first draws the sword, but he who sets the example of seeking the other's hurt.

Or did Persia fear the result of declaring war?
Such fear was unreasonable, for Rome had neither troops, nor generals to oppose to a sudden Persian attack.

Sittas was dead; Belisarius and the best of the Roman forces were in Italy.

If Justinian recalled Belisarius, it was not certain that he would obey; and, in the worst case, it would be in favor of Persia that the Goths of Italy, and the Armenians who for centuries had been subjects of Rome, were now ready to make common cause with her." Thus urged, the Persian king determined on openly declaring war and making an attack in force on the eastern provinces of the empire.
The scene of contest in the wars between Rome and Persia had been usually either Mesopotamia or Armenia.

On rare occasions only had the traditional policy been departed from, and attempts made to penetrate into the richer parts of the Roman East, and to inflict serious injury on the empire by carrying fire and sword into peaceful and settled provinces.