Belisarius was born around the year 500, probably in Germania,[8] 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.

Armed with lances, (possibly Hunnish style) composite bows, and spatha (long sword), they were fully armored to the standard of heavy cavalry of the day.

A multi-purpose unit, the Bucellarii (biscuit-eaters) were capable of shooting at a distance with bows, like the Huns, or could act as heavy shock cavalry, charging an enemy with lance and sword.

[23]: 47–48  At the battle Belisarius had dug trenches in order to direct the more mobile Sassanian force to a location where he could attack them from the rear,[17][18] this was adopted from the Sasanians at Tanurin two years earlier.

With 20,000 Byzantines and 5,000 Arabs he moved against the Persians, but he was defeated by Callinicum (modern Raqqa)[23]: p. 48  despite heavy numerical superiority, as the opposing commander, Azarethes, was a tactician as good as himself.

[20] The corruption of John and Tribunianus;[23]: 49  the curbing of corruption of other influential figures; loss of influence and employment because of a decrease in funding for the civil service; Justinian's low birth; extremely high taxes;[23]: 49 [26] cruel methods of tax collection;[17] the curbing of the power of the chariot racing factions; and the execution of rioters[23]: 49  led to great anger among the population, culminating in the Nika riots of 532.

The Vandals, being Arians, persecuted Nicene Christians, refused to mint coins with depictions of the emperor on them, and had banished the Roman nobility, replacing them with a Germanic elite.

The persecution had started after the Vandal military leader Gelimer, who had a reputation as a good soldier,[28] had overthrown his cousin, the king, Hilderic, a "guest friend" of Justinian, in the year 530.

[18][Note 8] On the other hand, Justinian had lost almost all of his prestige and much of his power through defeat by Persia, the Nika riots, the slow progress of the current legal reforms and the failure of his quest for reconciliation in the church.

[17] Belisarius ordered fortification to be constructed, guards to be posted and a screen of lightships to be deployed to defend the army and fleet, so that this invasion would not be a repeat of the Battle of Cape Bon where the Byzantines were defeated by fire ships.

His journey now became increasingly dangerous as the fleet had to sail around Cape Bon and the road curved inland so it became impossible to rapidly evacuate, which he could have done at any time he wanted until this point.

[18] When Tzazo, the Vandal commander fighting the rebellion on Sardinia, sent a message of his victory to Carthage, the messenger was captured, providing Belisarius with intelligence on the strategic situation.

When the units moved, Belisarius took advantage of their temporary disarray and launched a successful attack against them, which caused the entire rebel army to panic and flee.

[37] During the siege of Rome, an incident occurred for which the general would be long condemned: Belisarius was commanded by the Empress Theodora, who supported Miaphysite Christianity, to depose the reigning Pope, who had been installed by the Goths.

[38] Following the advocacy of his innocence by the bishop of Patara,[citation needed] he was ordered to return to Italy at the command of the Emperor Justinian, and if cleared by investigation, reinstated.

[citation needed] Silverius was intercepted before he could reach Rome and exiled once more, this time on the island of Palmarola (Ponza),[38][42] where by one account he is said to have starved to death,[38][42] while others say he left for Constantinople.

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 (guards).

He disregarded the fact that no information on Persian dispositions was available and Belisarius hadn't been able to take Sisauranon by force, making it unlikely he could have stormed Ctesiphon.

[20] Justinian was fighting wars on many fronts and the plague was devastating Constantinople for a second time; he was thus unable to provide even the equipment and money needed to re-equip and pay the forces already in Italy.

The boat was filled with burnable materials, so when it was thrown into one of the Gothic towers in the middle of the blockade, the entire garrison died either on impact or because of the fire.

With surprise lost, no assistance from Bessas or John, who was blocked off in Calabria, and with little resources, Belisarius wasn't able to prevent Totila from eventually capturing the city.

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.

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 and approached Constantinople.

He knew how to provoke the barbarian armies of the West into indulging their natural instinct for direct assault; with the more subtle and skilful Persians he was able at first to take advantage of their feeling of superiority to the Byzantines, and later, when they learnt respect for him, he exploited their wariness as a means of outmanoeuvring them psychologically.Hart concluded that, "[t]here is no parallel in history for such a series of conquests by abstention from attack.

Belisarius' failure to position himself properly, make a cohesive plan, take advantage of the terrain, and plug the created gap caused a disastrous defeat.

[17] In the first five chapters of his Secret History, whose reliability is debated by scholars, Procopius characterizes Belisarius as a cuckolded husband, who was emotionally dependent on his debauched wife, Antonina.

[56] Philip Stanhope, a 19th-century British philologist[citation needed] who wrote Life of Belisarius, believed the story to be true, based on his review of the available primary sources.

[58] 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.

[citation needed] 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 recognizes his old commander).