Belisarius: The Last Roman General
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Authors: Ian Hughes
Belisarius
The Last Roman General
Ian Hughes
Copyright © 2009 Ian Hughes
Published by Westholme Publishing under an agreement with Pen & Sword Books, Ltd.
47 Church Street
Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2 AS
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
Westholme Publishing, LLC
904 Edgewood Road
Yardley, Pennsylvania 19067
Visit our Web site at
www.westholmepublishing.com
ISBN: 978-1-59416-528-3 (electronic)
Also available in hardback.
Produced in the United States of America.
Contents
2. The Byzantine Court and the Early Life of Belisarius
5. The Nika Riots and Marriage
8. The Invasion of Sicily and Southern Italy
Acknowledgements
Many people have made this book possible and I would like to take this opportunity to thank a few for their exceptional support.
Firstly, I would like to thank Nik Gaukroger and Niall Taylor for their support with background material and Chris Lillington-Martin for access to his thesis on the location of the Battle of Dara.
For their help in allowing me to use their photographs I would like to thank: Adrian Wink of Armamentaria for pictures of reconstructions of Roman/Byzantine equipment; Zach at
beastcoins.com
, and Joseph Sermarini and Richard of
forumancientcoins.com
for giving permission to use photographs of coins from their sites; Chris Constantine of
spitfirehorsebows.com
for both the pictures of bows and the illuminating discussions on the difference between the symmetrical and asymmetrical bow; Roberto Piperno of
romeartlover.it
for permission to use the pictures of the gates of Rome; Anik Messier of Bishop’s Stortford, England, for the photos of Carthage; and Dorieo21 of Flickr for permission to use the photo of Belisarius asking for alms on the decorative plasterwork in the archway of the Palazzo Beneventano del Bosco, Sicily. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Adrian Fletcher for permission to use his pictures of the mosaics of Justinian and Theodora at San Vitale.
I would like to thank Dr Kaveh Farrokh for permission to use his line drawings of Sasanid equipment, both those previously published and those unpublished prior to this book, and Peter Inker for his labours on the drawing board to produce the drawings of some of the troops who took part in the wars described.
However, without the patience and guidance of three people this book would not have been written: to Phil Sidnell for having faith in an unknown and for fielding endless questions about the processes of book-publishing; to Joanna for putting up with endless discussions on ‘some bloke called Belisarius’ and for reading endless drafts of the book with patience and clear insights; and finally to Adrian Goldsworthy for both his recommendation and his endless patience in answering queries and reading drafts of the finished product. Without them, you would not be reading this. However, despite our best efforts at achieving perfection, no doubt mistakes have been made and the responsibility for these rests solely on my shoulders.
List of Illustrations
Line Drawings
1. Roman ridge helmet (after James)
2. Intercisa 4 helmet (after James)
3. The Concesci helmet (after James)
4. Detail of the David and Goliath plate (Ian Hughes)
6. Vambrace (after Stephenson)
7. Late Roman sword from Koln (after Bishop and Coultson)
8. Two distinct types of Sasanid Helmet (after Farrokh)
9. Sasanid helmet found at Dura-Europus (after James)
10. Late Sasanian sword (by Kaveh Farrokh, 2004)
11. Late Sasanian belt found in Nehavand (by Kaveh Farrokh, 2004)
12. Tenth-century illustration of a traditional German warrior
13. A traditonal Germanic warrior from the Homhausen Stone
14. Horseman from the sixth-century Isola Rizza dish in the Castelvecchio Museum, Ravenna
15. Traditional Sarmatian warrior from a Bosporan grave stele (after Suliminski)
Plate Section
1. Belisarius and Justinian in a mosaic in the basilica of San Vitale at Ravenna
(photo © Adrian Fletcher,
www.paradoxplace.com
)
2. Empress Theodora (and Antonina?) in the San Vitale mosaic
(photo © Adrian Fletcher,
www.paradoxplace.com
)
3. Plate depicting Khusrow I
(Cabinet de Medailles et Antiques, Paris)
4. Coin of Khusrow I
(courtesy of
Beastcoins.com
)
5. Relief from Taq-i-Bostan, showing Sasanian armoured horseman
6 & 7. The ruins of Carthage
(courtesy of Anik Messier)
8. Coin of the Vandal king, Gelimer
(courtesy of Forum Classical Coins)
9. Artist’s impression of a Late Roman infantryman
( © Peter Inker)
10. Artist’s impression of a Late Roman cavalryman
( © Peter Inker)
11. Artist’s impression of a Sasanid infantryman
( © Peter Inker)
12. Artist’s impression of a Sasanid
savaran
cavalryman
( © Peter Inker)
13. Artist’s impression of a German infantryman
( © Peter Inker)
14. Artist’s impression of a Gothic or Vandal horseman
(©Peter Inker)
15. Modern reconstruction of an Intercisa 1 helmet
(courtesy of
armamentaria.com
)
16. Modern reconstruction of a Roman ridge helmet
(courtesy of
armamentaria.com
)
17. Modern reconstruction of the Burgh-on-Sands spangenhelm
(courtesy of
armamentaria.com
)
18. Remains of helmet found at Intercisa and designated Intercisa 4
19. Highly-decorated reconstruction of a spangenhelm
(Rheinischen Landesmuseum, Bonn)
20. Reconstruction of a Late Roman
spatha
(courtesy of
armamentaria.com
)
21. Sasanid sword and scabbard
(Smithsonian Institute)
22 & 23. Modern reconstruction of an asymmetrical bow, strung and unstrung
(courtesy of
spitfirehorsebows.com
)
24 & 25. Modern reconstruction of a symmetrical bow, strung and unstrung
(courtesy of
spitfirehorsebows.com
)
26. The Milvian Bridge
(courtesy of
www.romeartlover.it
)
27. The Mausoleum of Hadrian
(courtesy of
www.romeartlover.it
)
28. The Porta Pinciana, Rome
(courtesy of
www.romeartlover.it
)
29. The Porta Chiusa, Rome
(courtesy of
www.romeartlover.it
)
30. The Porta Ostiensis, Rome
(courtesy of
www.romeartlover.it
)
31. The Porta Salaria, Rome
(courtesy of
www.romeartlover.it
)
32. The Porta Flaminia, Rome
(courtesy of
www.romeartlover.it
)
33. Theoderic’s palace, as depicted in a mosaic in his palace chapel of San Apollinare Nuovo
(courtesy of the Yorck Project)
List of Maps
Strategic Maps
1. The Empire at the accession of Justinian
2. Provinces of the Eastern Roman Empire
4. Justinian’s reorganization and the Persian War
10. Imperial
fabricae
under the Goths
12. Events prior to the siege of Rome
14. Events during and after the siege of Rome
17. Belisarius makes new plans
18. Belisarius and Narses in Italy
19. The closing stages of the war in Italy
24. Italy during Belisarius’ absence
25. Belisarius in Italy (again)
27. The Empire on the death of Justinian
Tactical Diagrams Page
Battle of Callinicum (phases 1–4)
Battle of Ad Decimum (phases 1–3)
Battle of Tricamerum (phases 1–2)