2. The Gothic war consists of two acts, the first (Goth. 1.5, 2.30.) He
was then recalled by the jealousy of Justinian and the intrigues of rival generals, without
even the honours of a triumph. (Procop. Goth. 3.1.)
The interval between the two Gothic wars was occupied by his defence of the eastern frontier
against the inroads of the Persians under Nushirvan or Chosroes (541-543) (Procop. Pers. 1.25), from which he was again recalled by the intrigues of the
empress Theodora, and of his wife Antonina, and escaped the sentence of death only by a heavy
fine, and by his complete submission to his wife. (Procop. Hist. Arcan.
3, 4.)
The second act of the Gothic war, which Belisarius undertook in the office of count of the
stables, arose from the revolt of the Goths and reconquest of Italy under their new king,
Totila, Goth. 3.2-9.) Belisarius, on arriving in Italy, made a vigorous but vain
endeavour to raise the siege of Rome (May, 546--Feb. 547), and then kept in check the
hostility of the conquerors, and when they left the city, recovered and successfully defended
it against them. (Procop. Goth. 3.13-24.) His career was again cut short
by the intrigues of the Byzantine court, and after a brief campaign in Lucania, he returned
from Italy, Sept. Goth.
3.29-32), and left his victories to be completed by his rival Narses in the complete overthrow
of the Ostrogothic kingdom, and the establishment of the exarchate of Ravenna. (Procop. Goth. 4.21-35.) (
The last victory of Belisarius was gained in repelling an inroad of the Bulgarians, Fist. 5.15-20; Theophanes, pp.
198,199.) In
It is remarkable that whilst his life is preserved to us with more than usual accuracy--by
the fact of the historian Procopius having been his secretary (Procop. Pers. 1.12), and having published both a public and private history of the times--the
circumstances of his disgrace and death are involved in great uncertainty, and historical
truth has in popular fame been almost eclipsed by romance. This arises from the termination of
the contemporary histories of Procopius and Agathias before the event in question; and in the
void thus left, Gibbon (after Alemann) follows the story of John Malala (p. 242), and of
Theophanes (pp. 159-162), that he was merely imprisoned for a year in his own palace (
The statue in the Villa Borghese, in a sitting posture with an open hand, formerly supposed to be Belisarius, has since the time of Winkelmann been generally conjectured to represent Augustus in the act of propitiating Nemesis.
In person, Belisarius was tall and handsome. (Procop. Goth. 3.1.) As a
general, he was distinguished as well by his personal prowess and his unconquerable presence
of mind, as by the rapidity and comprehensiveness of his movements, and also as never having
sustained defeat without good reason, and as having effected the greatest conquests with the
smallest resources. His campaigns form an era in military history, as being the first
conducted by a really great soldier under the influence of Christianity (for that he conformed
to Christianity, even if he was not himself a Christian, is evident from his mention in
connexion with the baptism of Theodosius, Procop. Hist. Arcan. 1.); and
it is remarkable to trace the union of his rigorous discipline over his army (Procop. Goth. 1.28, Vand. 1.12, 16) with his considerate
humanity towards the conquered, and (especially in contrast with the earlier spirit of Roman
generals) his forbearance towards his enemies. (Procop. Vand. 1.16, 17,
Goth. 1.10.)
In a private capacity, he was temperate, chaste, and brave; but his characteristic virtue,
which appeared to Gibbon "either below or above the character of a man," was the patience with
which he endured his rivals' insults, and the loyalty to Justinian--in itself remarkable as
one of the earliest instances in European history of loyalty to the person of the
sovereign--which caused him at the height of his success and power to return, at the emperor's
order, from Africa, Persia, and Italy. Sir W. Temple (Works, vol. ii. p.
286) places him among the seven generals in the history of the world who have deserved a crown
without wearing it.
In his two vices--the avarice of his later life (Procop. Hist. Arcan.
5), and his uxoriousness--he has been well compared to Marlborough, except so far as the great
Sarah was superior to the infamous Antonina. To her influence over him are to be ascribed the
only great blots of his life--the execution of his officer, Constantine (Procop. ibid. 1), Ibid. 1-3), Goth. 1.25.) He had by Antonina an only daughter,
Joannina. (Procop. Hist. Arcan. 1.5,Goth. 3.30.)
The effects of his career are--
1. The preservation of the Byzantine empire, and, with it, of the mass of ancient literature afterwards bequeathed by it to the West; both of which, but for his appearance, must, humanly speaking, have perished in the inroad of the barbarians.
2. The timely support given to the cause of the orthodox faith in the Western empire at the crisis of its greatest oppression by the Arian kingdoms of the Goths and Vandals in all the western provinces.
3. The temporary infusion of Byzantine art and of the Greek language into Italy by the establishment of the exarchate of Ravenna on the ruins of the Ostrogothic kingdom.
4. The substitution of the Byzantine for the Vandal dominion in Africa and Sicily, and the consequent preparation for their future submission to the Mohammedan conquerors, and their permanent desolation, from the fact of his having made them the provinces of a distant and declining empire, instead of leaving them to become the homes of a warlike and vigorous nation.
The authorities for the life of Belisarius are the works of Procopius; for the Bulgarian
war, Agathias (5.15,20) and Theophanes (pp. 198,199); and for his death, those mentioned
above. In modern times, the chief authority is Gibbon (cc. 41 and 43); Lord Mahon's Life of Belisarius, in which several inaccuracies in Gibbon's account are
pointed out; and a review of this last-mentioned work in the Wiener
Jahrbücher, by Von Hammer.