John the Armenian

War thus would provide the empire with large stores of grain and remove one of the nation's main imperial rivals.

This post would prove exceptionally important due to the entire Vandal army being made up of light cavalrymen.

John the Armenian commanded the Byzantine vanguard at the Battle of Ad Decimum, and killed Ammatas, the brother of the Vandal king Gelimer near Carthage on September 13 533.

The commander of the army Belisarius was granted a triumph, elected Consul, and became a major political figure as a result of the war.

The outcomes of these wars lead to the weakening of the Byzantine Empire as it depleted its gold reserves and manpower.

[2]The African campaign cost the Byzantine Empire over 100,000 pounds of gold[1] and saw the rise of one of the most prestigious Roman generals, Belisarius.

[8] It must be noted that the only mentions of John the Armenian occur within Procopius History of the Wars Book III and IV.

However, Procopius is the major source historians rely on for information including warfare and politics in the age of Justinian.

Despite the biases apparent in other works by Procopius[9] History of the Wars is considered a well learned and accurate account of the era.

The lessons learned by this generation of generals saw the Byzantine empire hit its greatest territorial extent and then decay from then on.