Belisarius, the General Who Upheld Justinian’s Empire and Refused to Be Emperor of the West

I entrusted the care of arms to my Belisarius, and so favorable did the divine hand show itself to him that it gave me the security to live peacefully.

These words, which Dante Alighieri places in the mouth of Justinian I, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, in canto VI of the Divine Comedy, refer to the most famous general of his time—the man who played a decisive role in reconquering much of the territory lost by the Western Empire, whose throne was offered to him but refused. According to legend, albeit a doubtful one, Justinian’s distrust of him was so persistent that it led to his arrest and blinding, forcing him to live as a street beggar. We refer, as the text says, to Flavius Belisarius.

Historians believe that Belisarius was born around 505 AD in a village called Germania, whose archaeological ruins are today near the Bulgarian city of Sapareva Banya, or perhaps in Germen, a Greek city near Ormenio. This means he could have been of Thracian, Illyrian, or Hellenic descent, though Romanized, which allowed him to serve from a very young age in the guard of Emperor Justin I, at a time when the borders of the Eastern Roman Empire were under considerable pressure from the Ostrogoths and Sassanids.

Justin died in 527 and was succeeded by his nephew Flavius Petrus Sabbatius, whom he adopted as his son and renamed Justinian. It was Justinian who took notice of Belisarius and gave him command of the army, tasking him with forming an escort unit from the old Bucellarii (Bucellarians). Initially composed of noble heavy cavalry, it would eventually reach seven thousand men, forming the backbone of his troops due to their armament and versatility; also due to the close bond its members shared with their commander, an early sign of the future feudal system.

The empire that Justinian inherited (dark orange) and the one he left at his death with added territories (light orange). Credit: Neuceu / Wikimedia Commons

Ironically, Belisarius’s first participation in military actions, in the context of the Iberian War against the Persians (so-called because the operations took place in the Kingdom of Iberia, which was not in Hispania but in present-day Georgia, part of the Sassanid Empire), was rather unfortunate, with defeats at Tanurin and Mindouos in 528. However, not only was he not held responsible, but he was also promoted to Magister Militum per Orientem, and, sharing command with General Sittas, turned the tide by devastating much of Persia and securing victory at Dara in 530 despite being outnumbered.

Although he suffered another setback the following year at Callinicum, his actions were dissuasive enough to force Khosrow I, the newly proclaimed successor of the late King Kavadh I, to negotiate—a necessity for both, as Justinian needed Belisarius’s services on other fronts. The so-called Eternal Peace, by which both monarchs recognized each other as equals and returned the conquered cities, promising mutual aid, lasted eight years. However, in Constantinople, the agreement was seen as benefiting the enemy, and the acceptance of paying some tributes was unpopular.

Belisarius had to return to the capital to explain this, even though the negotiations had been conducted by the ambassador Rufinus and the Magister Officiorum Hermogenes. The ensuing investigation, which extended to his role in the Battle of Callinicum (John Malalas claims he fled, abandoning the infantry, while Procopius of Caesarea asserts he fought until the end), cleared the matter, and the general was exonerated. He lost the eastern command, but his stay in the city would prove providential.

He happened to coincide with a serious internal issue caused by popular discontent over, among other things, high taxes, compounded by the violence of tax collectors and the emperor’s declining reputation for choosing as his wife a woman of no noble birth like Theodora, an actress with a scandalous reputation (their marriage was only possible because Justin had repealed the law prohibiting such unions between different social classes). The spark that ignited what is now known as the Nika Riots was a fight between fans of chariot races.

General overview of the so-called Vandalic War. Credit: Cplakidas / Wikimedia Commons

Racing was the great passion of the Romans, a popular spectacle far more followed and motivating than gladiator fights (which, on the other hand, had already been banned for two centuries). Two of the rival factions, the Blues and the Greens, got into a fight at the Hippodrome, which then spread to the streets, and mixed with other factors, led to an open riot that lasted six days, with the instigators proclaiming Hypatius, nephew of Anastasius I (the man who had preceded Justin on the throne), as emperor.

Justinian, who was on the verge of abdicating, changed his mind, convinced by his wife (“Who is born into this world must die; but a sovereign cannot go into exile,” Procopius attributes to her), and entrusted the suppression of the revolt to three of his most trusted men. One was Narses, a eunuch and the emperor’s right-hand man; another was Mundo, magister militum per Illyricum; and the third was Belisarius. Upon their arrival, the Blues abandoned their stance, but the Greens, led by Hypatius, barricaded themselves in the Hippodrome, refusing to surrender. Belisarius forcefully entered, supported by Mundo, while Narses blocked the exits. The result was a massacre in which tens of thousands of people lost their lives. Hypatius was executed the next day.

The effectiveness demonstrated earned Belisarius command of the great expedition prepared in 533 against the Vandals, who had created a kingdom in North Africa after occupying the former Roman diocese (which covered present-day Tunisia and Algeria). The casus belli was the overthrow of King Hilderic, a sympathizer of Rome, by the usurper Gelimer, who also reversed tolerance toward Catholics in favor of strict Arianism at a time when a reunification between pro-Chalcedonian and anti-Chalcedonian Christians, as well as a rapprochement between the Western and Eastern churches, seemed to be beginning.

But at its core was Justinian’s plan known as the Recuperatio (or Renovatio) Imperii, that is, the recovery of the former territories of the Western Roman Empire that had fallen to the barbarians. Internal problems among the Vandals, which led to several rebellions—stirred up by the Byzantines—due to Gelimer’s growing unpopularity, were compounded by external issues, such as conflicts with the Berbers and Ostrogoths, which Justinian saw as a golden opportunity to launch his campaign.

The Battle of Ad Decimum, Phase 3.Credit: Cplakidas / Wikimedia Commons

Justinian probably chose Belisarius because he wasn’t Greek and spoke Latin, which alleviated any local suspicion among the population he was about to liberate. Once again appointed magister militum per Orientem (Procopius says he was also strategos autokrator, akin to imperator), Belisarius was given command of an army of ten thousand infantrymen and five thousand cavalry, along with the general’s personal guard, contingents of mercenaries (four hundred Heruli and six hundred Huns), and the foederati troops of Dorotheus, magister militum per Armeniam, and Solomon, Belisarius’s domesticus.

In total, seventeen thousand men plus a fleet of a hundred warships and five hundred other vessels, with their corresponding crews (another five thousand personnel). On the other side, Gelimer had twenty thousand, with strong cavalry, as was traditional among the Vandals, but no horse archers and few experienced officers. The Byzantine force set sail from Constantinople and made a stop in Sicily, where Queen Amalasuntha, an enemy of Gelimer, resupplied them and informed them that the Vandal fleet was in Sardinia.

Belisarius, now in sole command following Dorotheus’s death during the journey, didn’t want to miss the opportunity and landed at Caput Vada, securing a beachhead from which he advanced toward Carthage. The march was conducted carefully so as not to disturb the local population, aiming to win them over and avoid difficulties, which was successful, conserving strength for the upcoming battle. It took place in September 533 at Ad Decimum, very close to the capital. The Vandals were close to defeating the Byzantines, but the death in battle of the commander of one of their wings, Ammatas, the king’s brother, disorganized them and allowed Belisarius to counterattack, ultimately prevailing and capturing Carthage.

Three months later, Gelimer was definitively defeated at Tricamerum and had to flee. He couldn’t escape to Sardinia, which had also fallen, so he chose Hispania; but he never made it, as he was intercepted and took refuge in the Tunisian mountains, surrendering a year later due to a lack of provisions. That victory was bittersweet for Belisarius, as some soldiers accused him before the emperor of aspiring to proclaim himself king of the region. Astutely, Justinian offered him the choice of staying on as governor or returning to receive his well-deserved triumph.

Detail of the mosaic in the church of San Vitale (Ravenna) with the portrait of Belisarius.Credit: Petar Milošević / Wikimedia Commons

The general, suspecting he was being tested, chose the latter option and, in this equally shrewd way, dispelled the suspicions that had fallen on him and secured his triumph—during which the loot from Solomon’s Temple, seized from the Vandals, was displayed. He was also appointed consul, and medals were minted in his honor with the inscription Gloria Romanorum (“Glory of the Romans”). Ironically, after leaving Africa, a mutiny broke out over back pay and religious impositions, which forced Belisarius himself to return and suppress it, subduing the ringleader, Stostzas.

Barely had he completed this mission when he received another: to attack the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Theodahad, which ruled the Italian peninsula. Sicily did not resist much, and after the Battle of Panormus (Palermo), it fell under Byzantine control, serving as a base to advance north while Belisarius captured Naples and Rome by the end of 536. Once again, he applied the lenient policy that had brought him such great results, allowing him to take Tuscany without effort. However, Vitiges, Theodahad’s successor, managed to besiege him in Rome in 537.

It was during this time that Belisarius received the order from Empress Theodora to depose Pope Silverius, a mere subdeacon appointed by the Ostrogoths, son of Pope Hormisdas, and replace him with Deacon Vigilius, whom he knew because Vigilius had been an apocrisiarius (envoy) in Constantinople for Pope Boniface II, who had considered him as a successor. Silverius ended up exiled and never returned, despite the controversy that arose because, after all, neither Belisarius nor Theodora were Catholics (he practiced the Greek rite, and she was a Monophysite).

Although the siege of Rome lasted a year, the besiegers fared worse than the besieged because, lacking experience, they were repeatedly caught off guard by Belisarius’ periodic sorties. In the end, they had to give up and withdraw, especially after learning that Ariminum (Rimini) had fallen into enemy hands. This freed Belisarius to send reinforcements to Mediolanum (Milan), and those troops captured several cities along the way—including Urbinum (Urbino)—leaving most of Liguria under his control.

The siege of Rome by the Ostrogoths. The defensive walls, as well as the besiegers' camps, can be seen — The siege of Rome by the Ostrogoths. The defensive walls, as well as the besiegers’ camps, can be seen.Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

The campaign began to tilt in favor of the Byzantines thanks to these victories and the arrival of reinforcements personally led by the eunuch Narses, sent by a Justinian who had once again grown suspicious of his general, believing that Belisarius should have defeated the barbarians more decisively. As expected, the two military leaders did not get along. Nevertheless, they ultimately won, and Narses returned to court, leaving his rival to capture Ravenna, the Ostrogothic capital. Ravenna surrendered under conditions that raised new suspicions in Constantinople.

It was because they offered Belisarius the throne of the Western Roman Empire, and he pretended to accept it. We say “pretended” because once his troops controlled the city, he took Vitiges captive, seized his treasury, and proclaimed that he did so in the name of Justinian I. Perhaps this dispelled any doubts about him. Or perhaps not, and that is why he was removed from Italy and assigned to lead the new campaign against the Persians, who had broken the peace and, in a surprise move, attacked the Kingdom of Lazica, west of present-day Georgia, in ancient Colchis.

He departed for Nisibis, for the first time without being accompanied by his wife Antonina, a former dancer and the daughter of a charioteer and an actress, mother of Photius, a son from a previous marriage. Antonina’s low social standing was a subject of ridicule among the Byzantines, much like Justinian and Theodora’s situation, and that is likely why the general’s wife and the empress became close, although they had known each other before. It seems that it was Antonina who conveyed to her husband the order to replace Pope Silverius, which increased her unpopularity, already heightened due to her scandalous extramarital behavior.

It is Procopius who recounts this in his Secret History, claiming that she lived a “dissolute life” and had a lover named Theodosius, who was even Belisarius’ godson. It is said that Belisarius took Theodosius with him on the campaign against the Vandals, and one day he found him with his wife, both unclothed, in an underground chamber, claiming they were hiding part of the treasure to avoid giving it to the emperor. The general chose not to believe what he had seen, but soon he would have new evidence that something was going on.

Nineteenth-century anonymous illustration showing Belisarius rejecting the imperial crown offered to him by the Ostrogoths. Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

It was in Syracuse when a maid named Macedonia warned him of his wife’s betrayal. Enraged, he ordered the execution of Theodosius, who managed to escape to Asia; but once again, he allowed himself to be deceived and listened to Antonina’s pleas of innocence, who even succeeded in bringing her lover back. However, he ordered that Macedonia’s tongue be cut out and that she be torn to pieces. Theodosius pretended to retire to a monastery in Ephesus, much to the distress of the couple, but as soon as Belisarius left for Persia, he left the monastery to reunite with his stepmother and continue the affair.

Meanwhile, Belisarius set up camp in Nisibis, skillfully repelled a Persian attack, and conquered Sisauranon. He had Ctesiphon within reach, but fevers had significantly weakened his forces, and he prudently chose to retreat. The campaign had lasted a year, from 541 to 542, and was called off to fall back to Byzantine territory in the face of the threat posed by Khosrow’s advance. Belisarius met him and managed to stop him by making him believe that he had more men than he actually did and that these men were infected with the so-called Plague of Justinian (probably bubonic plague), which had begun to ravage the empire.

This epidemic, combined with the discontent caused by the corruption of Italy’s governor, Alexander, incited the Ostrogoths to reclaim what they had lost, taking control of the northern part of the peninsula first under the leadership of King Hildibald, and, after his death in 541, under his nephew Totila. The Byzantine armies lost battle after battle, and a total disaster was feared, so they called upon the man who had just been hailed as a hero for stopping the Persians, from whom they had extracted a commitment to maintain peace for five years and pay five thousand pounds of gold as compensation.

In this other mosaic of San Vitale, some experts identify the woman in the center as Antonina. The one on her right (left for the reader) would be Juanina, the daughter she had with Belisario. Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

Thus, in 544, Belisarius once again set foot on Italian soil. Possibly not in the best emotional state, as Photius had informed him of the renewed infidelity of Antonina with Theodosius. Since he didn’t seem inclined to do anything other than forbid his wife from leaving the house, Photius took advantage of her departure to reunite with her husband, capturing the lover and imprisoning him in Cilicia. At the end of the campaign, Theodora summoned them to court, pressured Justinian to force them to reconcile, and ordered Photius to be tortured until he revealed where Theodosius was hidden.

He was rescued and reunited with Antonina, but only for a short time; he died of dysentery, and she was filled with resentment against Belisarius, against whom she swore revenge, despite the fact that they had a daughter together, Joannina (the stepson, Photius, who spent three years in prison, eventually escaped and hid in a monastery). All the disgrace her husband had suffered in Africa and Italy was blamed on her: the overthrow of the Pope, the reserve of clean water for personal consumption while soldiers drank contaminated water, the instigation of her husband to order several murders, etc.

She was also blamed for complicity in the death of the praetorian prefect of the East, John the Cappadocian, to assist the empress (who was jealous of the influence he had over the emperor). However, the major blow that Belisarius suffered at the end of 542 was not due to his wife but to Theodora. When the emperor fell ill with the disease that bears his name, Belisarius was accused of opposing his wife’s will to continue ruling alone if she were widowed. Buzes, another general accused along with him, was imprisoned for two and a half years, after which he was released but physically ruined. No charges were proven against Belisarius, but he was dismissed, left socially isolated, and his wealth was confiscated.

The empress eventually forgave him, according to Procopius, at the insistence of Antonina, and his property was restored. But his wife ensured that he was reinstated as magister militum per Oriente because she didn’t want to return to Persia, where she had been humiliated by being forbidden to leave the house, so she secured his appointment as comes sacri stabuli to face the Ostrogoths again. He accepted the decision meekly; he was about sixty years old and still in love with his wife despite everything. Thus, he set off for Italy. With scant forces, as he could only recruit four thousand men.

The main mosaic in San Vitale (Ravenna) shows Justinian and his entourage, with Belisarius and Narses flanking him. It is possible that the figure next to Belisarius is John the Cappadocian. Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

That obviously impacted the results. His charismatic presence was not enough to stop the defections or to secure reinforcements on the ground. Nor did he receive any from Constantinople because the plague had caused a demographic disaster. Therefore, he tried to avoid direct battles but couldn’t prevent falling into several ambushes, nor could he stop Rome from falling for the second time after he briefly reconquered it. Following the failure of the campaign, he was replaced by Narses, who successfully concluded it thanks to the support he received from the emperor.

Belisarius was once again distrusted by Justinian and began contemplating retirement, focusing on annulling his daughter’s marriage to Anastasius, a grandson of Theodora (who wanted to seize the wealth of her potential father-in-law). Perhaps the empress intended to make him pay for the offense, but she couldn’t, as she died of cancer in 548. Three years later, the general was sent to Rome as a memoratus iudex (a sort of mediator) with the mission of getting Pope Vigilius to participate in the Fifth Ecumenical Council convened by Justinian to condemn the “Three Chapters,” the work of Theodoret. The pope refused.

Despite his retirement, Belisarius still had to fight on the battlefield several more times, as he was once again given the title of magister militum per Oriente, and in 559, he had to face an invasion led by Zabergan, leader of the Kutrigurs (nomadic Turkish horsemen from what is now Bulgaria, though Byzantine sources called them “Huns”). They had crossed the Danube and reached the gates of Constantinople, intending to cross into Asia Minor and plunder it. The general gathered a small force of three hundred veterans and a thousand volunteers to oppose the seven thousand invaders.

Taking advantage of his knowledge of the terrain and using torches to feign larger numbers, the Byzantines managed to repel the enemy attack, pursuing them in their retreat across the Danube. There was no counterattack, so it was another victory and another acclamation as a hero. However, this also brought the envy of high-ranking officials and military officers, who accused him of being corrupted by the popular fervor to achieve other goals. In other words, they suggested he was conspiring against Justinian, according to the testimony of two of his servants—under torture—which is why in 562 he found himself imprisoned.

Belisarius, blind and begging, is recognized by one of his soldiers. Painting by François-André Vincent. Credit: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Procopius, the prefect of Constantinople in charge of judging him (perhaps the same Procopius of Caesarea we’ve mentioned several times), declared him guilty and sentenced him to house arrest. It is possible that, as we said, Theodora had something to do with it. In any case, everything was eventually resolved positively: the emperor pardoned him and restored both his freedom and his position at court. Therefore, the legend that he was blinded and turned into a mere beggar is considered false; it seems to have arisen in a 12th-century manuscript, Patria Constantinopolitana, and continued in the Misionas or Chiliads of John Tzetzes, who says:

This Belisarius, a great commander who lived in the time of Justinian, after having achieved victories in all corners of the Earth, ended up blinded by envy (or by fickle fate!) and, holding a wooden cup [in his hand], they cried in the stadium: ‘Give an obol to Commander Belisarius, whom fate made famous but who is now blinded by envy!’ Other chronicles say he was not blinded, but rather excluded from the ranks of honorable men and managed to regain the esteem he once enjoyed.

Belisarius and Justinian, who significantly expanded the empire’s borders, died just eight months apart: the former in March and the latter in November, both in the year 565. Some authors place the general among the great military leaders of history, second only to the likes of Alexander, Caesar, and Hannibal. As we have seen, Procopius, however, constantly shows hostility toward him and his wife. By the way, it is unknown what became of Antonina, as after becoming a widow, she disappeared from the chronicles; according to the Patria Constantinopolitana, she settled with Vigilantia, the sister of the late emperor, as zoste patrikia (chief lady-in-waiting to the empress).

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on September 30, 2024: Belisario, el general que sostuvo el imperio de Justiniano y rechazó ser emperador de Occidente