Belisarius

Flavius Belisarius
Belisarius may be this bearded figure[1] on the right of Emperor Justinian I in the mosaic in the Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, which celebrates the reconquest of Italy by the Byzantine army. Compare Lillington-Martin (2009) page 16
Native name	Flavius Belisarius
Born	c. 500 Germane, modern-day Sapareva Banya, Bulgaria
Died	c. March 565 (aged 65) Rufinianae, Chalcedon
Buried	Saints Peter and Paul, Constantinople
Allegiance	Byzantine Empire
Service/branch	Byzantine army
Rank	Magister Militum
Commands held	Roman army in the east, land and sea expedition against the Vandal Kingdom, Roman army
Battles/wars	Iberian War Battle of Thannuris (528) Battle of Dara (530) Battle of Callinicum (531) Nika Riots Vandalic War Battle of Ad Decimum (533) Battle of Tricamarum (533) Gothic War (535–554) Siege of Panormus (535) Siege of Naples (536) Siege of Rome (537–538) Siege of Ariminum (538) Siege of Urbinum (538) Siege of Auximum (539) Siege of Ravenna (539–540) Siege of Otranto (544) Sack of Rome (546) Lazic War Siege of Sisauranon (541) Battle of Melantias (559)
Spouse(s)	Antonina

Flavius Belisarius (Greek: Φλάβιος Βελισάριος, c. 500^[2] – 565) was a general of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Emperor Justinian I's ambitious project of reconquering much of the Mediterranean territory of the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century before.

One of the defining features of Belisarius's career was his success despite varying levels of support from Justinian, his name is frequently given as one of the so-called "Last of the Romans".

Belisarius is considered a military genius who conquered the Vandal Kingdom of North Africa in the Vandalic War in nine months from July 533 to March 534, he defeated the Vandal armies at the battles of Ad Decimum and Tricamarum and compelled the Vandal king Gelimer to surrender. After the conquest of North Africa, Belisarius took over most of Italy from the Ostrogothic Kingdom in a series of sieges between 535 and 540 during the Gothic War.

Early life and career[edit]

Map of the Byzantine-Persian frontier

Belisarius was probably born in Germane or Germania, a fortified town of which some archaeological remains still exist, on the site of present-day Sapareva Banya in south-west Bulgaria, within the borders of Thrace and Paeonia, or in Germen, a town in Thrace near Adrianople, in present-day Turkey.^[3] Born into an Illyrian^{[4][5][6][7][8]} or Thracian^[9] family that spoke Latin as a mother tongue, he became a Roman soldier as a young man, serving in the bodyguard of Emperor Justin I.^[10]

He came to the attention of Justin and his nephew, Justinian, as a promising and innovative officer, he was given permission by the emperor to form a bodyguard regiment (bucellarii), of heavy cavalry, which he later expanded into a personal household regiment, 1,500 strong. Belisarius's bucellarii were the nucleus around which all the armies he would later command were organized. Armed with a lance, (possibly Hunnish style) composite bow, and spatha (sword), they were fully armoured to the standard of heavy cavalry of the day. A multi-purpose unit, the bucellarii were capable of shooting at a distance with bow, like the Huns, or could act as heavy shock cavalry, charging an enemy with lance and sword. In essence, they combined the best and most dangerous aspects of both of Rome's greatest enemies, the Huns and the Goths.

Following Justin's death in 527, the new emperor, Justinian I, appointed Belisarius to command the Roman army in the east to deal with incursions from the Sassanid Empire, he quickly proved himself an able and effective commander, defeating the larger Sassanid army through superior generalship. In June/July 530, during the Iberian War, he led the Romans to a stunning victory over the Sassanids in the Battle of Dara, followed by a tactical defeat at the Battle of Callinicum on the Euphrates in 531—this was perhaps a strategic victory in that the Persians retreated to their own borders; this led to the negotiation of an "Eternal Peace" with the Persians, and Roman payment of heavy tributes for years in exchange for peace with Persia, freeing resources for redeployment elsewhere.

In 532, he was the highest-ranking military officer in the Imperial capital of Constantinople when the Nika riots broke out in the city (among factions of chariot racing fans) and nearly resulted in the overthrow of Justinian. Belisarius sought the help of Mundus, the magister militum of Illyricum, Narses, a eunuch and general, and his friend John the Armenian. Together, they suppressed the rebellion, turning the rebels who had gathered in the Hippodrome against each other, by bribing one group to depart in peace and massacring the remainder, by some accounts as many as 30,000 people.^[11]

Military campaigns[edit]

Against the Vandals[edit]

Map of the Vandalic War

For his efforts, Belisarius was rewarded by Justinian with the command of a land and sea expedition against the Vandal Kingdom, mounted in 533–534; the Romans had political, religious and strategic reasons for such a campaign. The pro-Roman Vandal king Hilderic had been deposed and murdered by the usurper Gelimer, giving Justinian a legal pretext; the Arian Vandals had periodically persecuted the Nicene Christians within their kingdom, many of whom made their way to Constantinople seeking redress. The Vandals had launched many pirate raids on Roman trade interests, hurting commerce in the western areas of the Empire. Justinian also wanted control of the Vandal territory in north Africa, which was one of the wealthiest provinces and the breadbasket of the Western Roman Empire and was now vital for guaranteeing Roman access to the western Mediterranean.

In the late summer of 533, Belisarius sailed to Africa and landed near Caput Vada (near Chebba on the coast of Tunisia), he ordered his fleet not to lose sight of the army, then marched along the coastal highway toward the Vandal capital of Carthage. He did this to prevent supplies from being cut off and to avoid a great defeat such as occurred during the attempt by Basiliscus to retake northern Africa 65 years before, which had ended in the Roman disaster at the Battle of Cap Bon in 468.

Gelimer had planned to ambush and encircle the Romans along with a force under his brother Ammatas and 2,000 men under his nephew Gibamund; the three attacks were not properly synchronized, however, so that Ammatas and Gibamund's forces were defeated before the forces of Gelimer (who had just executed Hilderic) met Belisarius ten miles from Carthage at the Battle of Ad Decimum on September 13, 533. Despite his bold plan, Gelimer's forces were outnumbered and surprised and disorganised for the positioning of Belisarius' main force, leading to Belisarius routing Gelimer and the remains of his army off the field. With this victory, Belisarius soon took Carthage. A second victory at the Battle of Tricamarum on December 15 resulted in Gelimer's surrender early in 534 at Mount Papua, restoring the lost Roman provinces of north Africa to the empire. For this achievement, Belisarius was granted a triumph when he returned to Constantinople. According to Procopius, the spoils of the Temple of Jerusalem, including many objects looted from Rome 80 years earlier, were paraded in the procession along with Gelimer himself, before he was sent into peaceful exile. Medals were stamped in honor of Belisarius with the inscription Gloria Romanorum, though none seem to have survived to modern times. Belisarius was also made sole Consul in 535, being one of the last private citizens to hold this office, which originated in the ancient Roman Republic; the recovery of Africa was incomplete, however: army mutinies and revolts by the native Berbers plagued the new praetorian prefecture of Africa for almost 15 years.

Against the Ostrogoths[edit]

Map of the operations of the first five years of the war, showing the Roman conquest of Italy under Belisarius

Justinian resolved to restore as much of the Western Roman Empire as he could. In 535, he commissioned Belisarius to attack the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy. Belisarius landed in Sicily and took the island in order to use it as a base against Italy, while Mundus recovered Dalmatia;^[12] the only Ostrogothic resistance was at Panormus, which fell after a quick siege, where Belisarius used archer fire from boats on top of the masts of his ships to subdue the garrison.^[13] He made a triumphal entry to Syracuse on 31 December 535;^[13] the preparations for the invasion of the Italian mainland were interrupted in Easter 536, when Belisarius sailed to Africa to counter an uprising of the local army.^[13] His reputation made the rebels abandon the siege of Carthage, and Belisarius pursued and defeated them at Membresa.^[13] Thereupon he returned to Sicily, and then crossed into mainland Italy, where he captured Naples in November and Rome in December 536.^[14] Much of Tuscany submitted willingly to Belisarius' troops at this point.^[15]

From March 537 to March 538 he successfully defended Rome against the army of the Goth king Witiges. In early 538, Belisarius sent out a force of 2,000 cavalry, which captured Ariminum (modern Rimini) in early 538;^[16] the Gothic army was forced to abandon the siege of Rome.^[16] Witiges moved northeast and besieged Ariminum; the arrival of a Byzantine relief army under Belisarius and Narses compelled the Ostrogoths to give up the siege and retreat to their capital of Ravenna.^[17] Belisarius captured Urbinum (modern Urbino) in December 538 after a three-day siege when the Gothic garrison ran out of water.^[18] A Roman revolt against the Goths at Mediolanum (modern Milan) was bloodily suppressed in 538 and early 539 by the Goths, after Belisarius' efforts to relieve the besieged city failed.^[19]

In 539, Belisarius set up siege forces around Auximum (modern Osimo) and Faesulae (modern Fiesole), starving both cities to submission by late 539,^[20] he then stationed his army around the Ostrogothic capital of Ravenna in late 539.^[21] Cut off from outside help by the Byzantine navy patrolling the Adriatic Sea, the Ostrogoths surrendered after negotiations in May 540, and the Byzantine army occupied the city.^[21] Shortly before the taking of Ravenna, the Ostrogoths had offered to make Belisarius the western emperor.^[21] Belisarius feigned acceptance and entered Ravenna via its sole point of entry, a causeway through the marshes, accompanied by a comitatus of bucellarii, his personal household regiment.^[21] Soon afterwards, he proclaimed the capture of Ravenna in the name of the Emperor Justinian;^[21] the Goths' offer raised suspicions in Justinian's mind and Belisarius was recalled. He returned home with the Gothic treasure, king and warriors.

Belisarius was recalled in part to deal with the Persian conquest of Syria, a crucial province of the empire, where he repulsed renewed attacks, he defeated the Persian army under Nabades at Nisibis but could not take the city because it was fortified and well defended by the Persians. He captured Sisauranon, a small Persian fort to the east. Here Belisarius sent Harith with 1,200 Roman troops under John the Glutton and Traianus to plunder Assyria; the expedition penetrated far into Persian territory and gathered much plunder. In the campaign of 542, Belisarius's presence just to the west of the Euphrates prevented Khosrow I from advancing further and the king decided to retreat. Belisarius was acclaimed throughout the East for his success in repelling the Persians.^[22]

Belisarius returned to Italy in 544, where he found that the situation had changed greatly. In 541 the Ostrogoths had elected Totila as their new leader and had mounted a vigorous campaign against the Romans, recapturing all of northern Italy and even driving the Romans out of Rome. Belisarius managed to recover Rome briefly but his Italian campaign proved unsuccessful, partly because of limited supplies and reinforcements from an empire which had been weakened by the plague of 541–542; according to Procopius, Justinian denied him supplies because he was jealous of his success. However, it is worth noting the letter that Belisarius wrote to Totila, according to Procopius, which reportedly prevented Totila from destroying Rome:

"While the creation of beauty in a city which has not been beautiful before could only proceed from men of wisdom who understand the meaning of civilization, the destruction of beauty which already exists would be naturally expected only of men who lack understanding, and who are not ashamed to leave to posterity this token of their character. Now among all the cities under the sun Rome is agreed to be the greatest and the most noteworthy. For it has not been created by the ability of one man, nor has it attained such greatness and beauty by a power of short duration, but a multitude of monarchs, many companies of the best men, a great lapse of time, and an extraordinary abundance of wealth have availed to bring together in that city all other things that are in the whole world, and skilled workers besides. Thus, little by little, have they built the city, such as you behold it, thereby leaving to future generations memorials of the ability of them all, so that insult to these monuments would properly be considered a great crime against the men of all time ; for by such action the men of former generations are robbed of the memorials of their ability, and future generations of the sight of their works. Such, then, being the facts of the case, be well assured of this, that one of two things must necessarily take place : either you will be defeated by the emperor in this struggle, or, should it so fall out, you will triumph over him. Now, in the first place, supposing you are victorious, if you should dismantle Rome, you would not have destroyed the possession of some other man, but your own city, excellent Sir, and, on the other hand, if you preserve it, you will naturally enrich yourself by a possession the fairest of all; but if, in the second place, it should perchance fall to your lot to experience the worse fortune, in saving Rome you would be assured of abundant gratitude on the part of the victor, but by destroying the city you will make it certain that no plea for mercy will any longer be left to you, and in addition to this you will have reaped no benefit from the deed. Furthermore, a reputation that corresponds with your conduct will be your portion among all men, and it stands waiting for you according as you decide either way. For the quality of the acts of rulers determines, of necessity, the quality of the repute which they win from their acts."^[23]

Following this disappointing campaign, mitigated by Belisarius' success in preventing the total destruction of Rome, in 548–9, Justinian relieved him. In 551, after economic recovery (from the effects of the plague) the eunuch Narses led a large army to bring the campaign to a successful conclusion; Belisarius retired from military affairs. At the Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople (553), Belisarius was one of the Emperor's envoys to Pope Vigilius in their controversy over The Three Chapters; the Patriarch Eutychius, who presided over this council in place of Pope Vigilius, was the son of one of Belisarius's generals.

Deposition of Pope Silverius[edit]

During the Siege of Rome an incident occurred for which the general would be long condemned: Belisarius, a Byzantine Rite Christian, was commanded by the monophysite Christian Empress Theodora to depose the reigning Pope, who had been installed by the Goths; this Pope was the former subdeacon Silverius, the son of Pope Hormisdas. Belisarius was to replace him with the Deacon Vigilius, Apocrisarius of Pope John II in Constantinople. Vigilius had in fact been chosen in 531 by Pope Boniface II to be his successor, but this choice was strongly criticised by the Roman clergy and Boniface eventually reversed his decision.

In 537, at the height of the siege, Silverius was accused of conspiring with the Gothic King and several Roman senators to secretly open the gates of the city. Belisarius had him stripped of his vestments and exiled to Patara in Lycia in Asia Minor. Following the advocacy of his innocence by the bishop of Patara he was ordered to return to Italy at the command of the Emperor Justinian and, if cleared by investigation, reinstated. However, Vigilius had already been installed in his place and Silverius was intercepted before he could reach Rome and exiled once more, this time on the island of Palmarola (Ponza), where by one account he is said to have starved to death, while others say he left for Constantinople; however that may be, he remains the patron saint of Ponza today.

Belisarius, for his part, built a small oratory on the site of the present church of Santa Maria in Trivio in Rome as a sign of his repentance, he also built two hospices for pilgrims and a monastery, which have since disappeared.

Later life and campaigns[edit]

The enlargement of the Roman Empire possessions between the rise to power of Justinian (red, 527) and his and Belisarius's death (orange, 565). Belisarius contributed immensely to the expansion of the empire.

The retirement of Belisarius came to an end in 559, when an army of Kutrigur Bulgars under Khan Zabergan crossed the Danube River to invade Roman territory for the first time and threatened Constantinople. Justinian recalled Belisarius to command the Roman army. In his last campaign, Belisarius defeated the Kutrigurs at the battle of Melantias and drove them back across the river with the greatly outnumbered force under his command.

In 562, Belisarius stood trial in Constantinople on a charge of corruption; the charge is presumed to have been trumped-up and modern research suggests that his former secretary Procopius of Caesarea may have judged his case.^{[citation needed]} Belisarius was found guilty and imprisoned but not long after, Justinian pardoned him, ordered his release, and restored him to favour at the imperial court.

In the first five chapters of his Secret History, Procopius characterises Belisarius as a cuckolded husband, who was emotionally dependent on his debauched wife, Antonina. According to the historian, Antonina cheated on Belisarius with their adopted son, the young Theodosius. Procopius claims that the love affair was well known in the imperial court and the general was regarded as weak and ridiculous; this view is often considered biased, as Procopius nursed a longstanding hatred of Belisarius and Antonina. Empress Theodora reportedly saved Antonina when Belisarius tried to charge his wife at last.

Belisarius and Justinian, whose partnership had increased the size of the empire by 45 percent, died within a few months of each other in 565. Belisarius owned the estate of Rufinianae on the Asiatic side of the Constantinople suburbs, he may have died there and been buried near one of the two churches in the area, perhaps Saints Peter and Paul.

Timeline[edit]

Legend as a blind beggar[edit]

Bélisaire, by François-André Vincent (1776). Belisarius, blinded, a beggar, is recognised by one of his former soldiers

Belisarius Begging for Alms, as depicted in popular legend, in the painting by Jacques-Louis David (1781)

The outcast Belisarius receiving hospitality from a Peasant by Jean-François Pierre Peyron (1779)

According to a story that gained popularity during the Middle Ages, Justinian is said to have ordered Belisarius's eyes to be put out, and reduced him to the status of homeless beggar near the Pincian Gate of Rome, condemned to asking passers-by to "give an obolus to Belisarius" (date obolum Belisario), before pardoning him. Most modern scholars believe the story to be apocryphal, though Philip Stanhope, a 19th-century British philologist who wrote Life of Belisarius—the only exhaustive biography of the great general—believed the story to be true based on his review of the available primary sources.

After the publication of Jean-François Marmontel's novel Bélisaire (1767), this account became a popular subject for progressive painters and their patrons in the later 18th century, who saw parallels between the actions of Justinian and the repression imposed by contemporary rulers. For such subtexts, Marmontel's novel received a public censure by Louis Legrand of the Sorbonne, which contemporary theologians regarded as a model exposition of theological knowledge and clear thinking.^[24] Marmontel and the painters and sculptors depicted Belisarius as a kind of secular saint, sharing the suffering of the downtrodden poor—for example, the bust of Belisarius by the French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Stouf; the most famous of these paintings, by Jacques-Louis David, combines the themes of charity (the alms giver), injustice (Belisarius), and the radical reversal of power (the soldier who recognises his old commander). Others portray him being helped by the poor after his rejection by the powerful.

In art and popular culture[edit]

Belisarius was featured in several works of art before the 20th century; the oldest of them is the historical treatise by his secretary, Procopius. The Anecdota, commonly referred to as the Arcana Historia or Secret History, is an extended attack on Belisarius and Antonina, and on Justinian and Theodora, indicting Belisarius as a love-blind fool and his wife as unfaithful and duplicitous. Other works include:

Belisarius as a character[edit]

Drama[edit]

• Belasarius: a play by Jakob Bidermann (1607)
• The life and history of Belisarius, who conquer'd Africa and Italy, with an account of his disgrace, the ingratitude of the Romans, and a parallel between him and a modern hero: a drama by John Oldmixon (1713)
• Belasarius: a drama by William Philips (1724)

Literature[edit]

• El ejemplo mayor de la desdicha: a play by Antonio Mira de Amescua (1625)
• Bélisaire: a novel by Jean-François Marmontel (1767)
• Belisarius: A Tragedy: by Margaretta Faugères (1795). Though she wrote it as a play, Faugères "intended [this work] for the closet," i.e., to be read and not performed. Her preface voices complaints about "maledictions" and long-winded rhetoric in popular tragic drama, which she says tend to bore and even outrage a reader, and announces her intent to "substitute concise narrative and plain sense." The drama's plot and character development are secondary to moral conflicts, mainly between vengeance and mercy/pity, respectively associated with pride and humility.
• Beliar: 18th-century poem by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque.
• Kampf um Rom: an historical novel by Felix Dahn (1867)
• Belisarius, 19th-century poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
• Count Belisarius: a novel by Robert Graves (1938); Ostensibly written from the viewpoint of the eunuch Eugenius, servant to Belisarius's wife, but actually based on Procopius's history, the book portrays Belisarius as a solitary honorable man in a corrupt world, and paints a vivid picture of not only his startling military feats but also the colorful characters and events of his day, such as the savage Hippodrome politics of the Constantinople chariot races, which regularly escalated to open street battles between fans of opposing factions, and the intrigues of the emperor Justinian and the empress Theodora.
• Lest Darkness Fall: an alternative history novel by L. Sprague de Camp (1939). Belisarius appears first as the Roman opponent of the time traveler Martin Padway who tries to spread modern science and inventions in Gothic Italy. Eventually Belisarius becomes a general in Padway's army and secures Italy for him.
• The Belisarius series: six books by Eric Flint and David Drake (1998–2006). Science Fiction/Alternative History.
• The character "Bel Riose" in Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov is based on Belisarius (1952)
• A Flame in Byzantium: an historical horror fiction novel by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (1987)

Opera[edit]

• Belisario: tragedia lirica by Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Salvatore Cammarano after Luigi Marchionni's adaptation of Eduard von Schenl's Belisarius (1820), scenography by Francesco Bagnara, premiered during the Stagione di Carnevale, 4 February 1836, Venezia, Teatro La Fenice.

Comics[edit]

• Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold: comic book miniseries authored by Alisa Kwitney with art by Kent Williams, Michael Zulli, Scott Hampton, and Rebecca Guay (1997). Belisarius briefly appears as a jealous husband, imprisoning his wife in their quarters due to rumors of her affairs, instead of fighting in Italy.

Games[edit]

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• Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings: A video game by Ensemble Studios (1999). Belisarius is a "Hero" that can only be accessed in the map editor, he has the appearance of a Cataphract, the Byzantine unique unit. The second official expansion pack for the game, Age of Empires II: The Forgotten (2013), added a few campaigns in which Belisarius is featured as a player controllable unit.
• Age of Empires: Castle Siege: A video game by Microsoft Studios (2014). Belisarius is a "Hero" associated with the Byzantines civilization, with a special ability to undermine walls.
• Civilization IV: A video game by Take-Two Interactive (2005). Belisarius is a "Great Person"; specifically, one of many "Great Generals" that arise through gameplay via warfare with other civilizations (excluding barbarians).
• Civilization V: Belisarius, as in Civilization IV, appears as a "Great General".
• Total War: Attila: A video game by The Creative Assembly. The player can command the army of Belisarius at the Battle of Ad Decimum, he is also featured as the main protagonist in "The Last Roman" Campaign Pack where the player can take the role of Belisarius, tasked with reclaiming the former territory of the Western Empire. The campaign ends either with the player successfully recovering territory for the Eastern Roman Empire, or alternatively with Belisarius's forces declaring independence from the Eastern Roman Empire and resurrecting the Western Roman Empire.
• He is in a tutorial level of Empire Earth.

Films[edit]

• Belisarius was portrayed by Lang Jeffries in the 1968 German movie Kampf um Rom, directed by Robert Siodmak.

See also[edit]

• Flavius Aetius

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Primary sources[edit]

• Procopius, Belisarius and Narses, Academic Fellowship, 1964.
• Procopius, The Secret History of the Court of Justinian, online at Gutenberg Project.

Secondary sources[edit]

• "Belisarius" Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 27 Apr 2009
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Belisarius" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• R. Boss, R. Chapman, P. Garriock, Justinian's War: Belisarius, Narses and the Reconquest of the West, Montvert Publications, 1993, ISBN 1-874101-01-9.
• Henning Börm, Justinians Triumph und Belisars Erniedrigung. Überlegungen zum Verhältnis zwischen Kaiser und Militär im späten Römischen Reich. In: Chiron 43 (2013), pages 63–91.
• Glanville Downey, Belisarius: Young general of Byzantium, Dutton, 1960
• Edward Gibbon has much to say on Belisarius in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter 41 online.
• Hughes, Ian (2009). Belisarius: The Last Roman General. South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 9781844158331.
• Lillington-Martin, Christopher 2006–2013:
  • 2006, "Pilot Field-Walking Survey near Ambar & Dara, SE Turkey", British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara:Travel Grant Report, Bulletin of British Byzantine Studies, 32 (2006), pages 40–45;
  • 2007, "Archaeological and Ancient Literary Evidence for a Battle near Dara Gap, Turkey, AD 530: Topography, Texts and Trenches" in: BAR –S1717, 2007 The Late Roman Army in the Near East from Diocletian to the Arab Conquest Proceedings of a colloquium held at Potenza, Acerenza and Matera, Italy edited by Ariel S. Lewin and Pietrina Pellegrini, p 299–311;
  • 2008, "Roman tactics defeat Persian pride" in Ancient Warfare edited by Jasper Oorthuys, Vol. II, Issue 1 (February 2008), pages 36–40;
  • 2009, "Procopius, Belisarius and the Goths" in: Journal of the Oxford University History Society,(2009) Odd Alliances edited by Heather Ellis and Graciela Iglesias Rogers. ISSN 1742-917X, pages 1– 17, Issue 7 (Special Issue - Colloquium 2009) - jouhsinfo;
  • 2010, "Source for a handbook:Reflections of the Wars in the Strategikon and archaeology" in: Ancient Warfare edited by Jasper Oorthuys, Vol. IV, Issue 3 (June 2010), pages 33–37;
  • 2011, "Secret Histories", Secret Histories, with Christopher Lillington-Martin;
  • 2012, "Hard and Soft Power on the Eastern Frontier: a Roman Fortlet between Dara and Nisibis, Mesopotamia,Turkey, Prokopios' Mindouos?" in: The Byzantinist, edited by Douglas Whalin, Issue 2 (2012), pages 4–5, [1];
  • 2013a, "La defensa de Roma por Belisario" in: Justiniano I el Grande (Desperta Ferro) edited by Alberto Pérez Rubio, 18 (July 2013), pages 40–45, ISSN 2171-9276;
  • 2013b, "Procopius on the struggle for Dara and Rome" in: War and Warfare in Late Antiquity: Current Perspectives (Late Antique Archaeology 8.1–8.2 2010–11) by Sarantis A. and Christie N. (2010–11) edd. (Brill, Leiden 2013), pages 599–630, ISBN 978-90-04-25257-8.
• Martindale, John R., ed. (1992). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume III, AD 527–641. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 181–224. ISBN 0-521-20160-8.
• Petersen, Leif Inge Ree (2013). Siege Warfare and Military Organization in the Successor States (400-800 AD): Byzantium, the West and Islam. Leiden: Brill Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-25199-1.
• Lord Mahon, The Life of Belisarius, 1848. Reprinted 2006 (unabridged with editorial comments) Evolution Publishing, ISBN 1-889758-67-1
• Lord Mahon, The Life of Belisarius, J. Murray, 1829. With a new critical introduction and further reading by Jon Coulston. Westholme Publishing, 2005. ISBN 1-59416-019-8
• Ancient Warfare magazine, Vol. IV, Issue 3 (Jun/Jul, 2010), was devoted to "Justinian's fireman: Belisarius and the Byzantine empire", with articles by Sidney Dean, Duncan B. Campbell, Ian Hughes, Ross Cowan, Raffaele D'Amato, and Christopher Lillington-Martin.
• Hanson, Victor Davis. The Savior Generals: How Five Great Commanders Saved Wars That Were Lost. Bloomsbury Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1-6081-9163-5 online edition

External links[edit]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: History of the Wars

Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Secret History

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Belisarius.

• Military History magazine article