Flavius Belisarius
Flavius Belisarius
Flavius Belisarius (c. 500–565) was a general of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire who led Emperor Justinian I's campaigns to recover former Roman lands in the West. Born in the Balkans, he rose from Justinian's personal guard and first distinguished himself against the Sasanian Persians at Dara in 530. In 533–534 he recovered North Africa from the Vandal kingdom with a small expeditionary force and was honored with a triumph in Constantinople. He then campaigned in Italy against the Ostrogoths, entering Rome in 536 and holding the city through a long siege. In 540 the Goths offered to make him emperor of the West; he used the offer to secure Ravenna and then declined the crown, remaining loyal to Justinian. Recalled from retirement in 559, he defended Constantinople against a raid. His secretary, the historian Procopius, recorded his campaigns in detail.
Latest UpdatesLIVE
Rome from Republic to Byzantium
Julius Caesar's rise to supreme power brought the Roman Republic to its end, and his adopted heir Augustus became Rome's first emperor, ushering in the Pax Romana. Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher-emperor, recorded his Stoic reflections in the Meditations. Constantine the Great granted tolerance to Christianity and founded Constantinople, and in the sixth century the general Belisarius recovered North Africa and Italy for the Eastern Roman Empire under Justinian.
18 followers
