Belisarius

Belisarius (c. 505–565) was a Byzantine general who served under Emperor Justinian I and is regarded as one of the most accomplished military commanders of late antiquity. He came from a provincial aristocratic background and rose to prominence in the Byzantine army in the 520s, becoming Justinian’s chief field commander in campaigns aimed at restoring the Roman Empire’s western territories.

His first major campaign, the Vandalic War (533–534), toppled the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa. Belisarius defeated Gelimer at Ad Decimum and Tricamarum, and Africa Proconsularis was reestablished as Byzantine territory. He was celebrated in Constantinople and later received further commands abroad.

In 535 he led the Gothic War in Italy, launching the effort to reconquer the western provinces. He rapidly overran Sicily and much of southern Italy, defended Rome during a Gothic siege (537–538), and, in a series of battles, gradually reduced Ostrogothic power. A notable win at the Battle of Taginae in 552 and another at Mons Lactarius the following year sealed major Gothic defeats, though the war persisted until a settlement brought nominal Byzantine control over large portions of the peninsula. Ravenna and other strongholds passed under Byzantine administration under later generals.

Belisarius’s career was marked by extraordinary military skill but also by the era’s court intrigues. He was at times set aside by the Byzantine court amid factional strife, then recalled to lead again. His life and campaigns remain a subject of admiration and controversy, and he is a central figure in Procopius’s writings, including the Secret History, which contrasts his prowess with the court’s scheming.