Belisarius
BelisariusSometimes called Flavia gens#Later use, Flavius Belisarius. The name became a courtesy title by the late 4th century, see (; ; The exact date of his birth is unknown. March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Justinian I. Belisarius was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean territory belonging to the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century prior. He is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history and in Byzantium. One of the defining features of Belisarius' career was his success despite varying levels of available resources. He is frequently cited as being among the "Last of the Romans". He conquered the Vandal Kingdom of North Africa in the Vandalic War in nine months and conquered much of Italy during the Gothic War (535–554), Gothic War. He also defeated the Vandal armies in the battle of Battle of Ad Decimum, Ad Decimum and played an important role at Battle of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Antonina (wife Of Belisarius)
Antonina (, – after 565) was a Byzantine patrician and wife of the general Belisarius. The historian Procopius, who was Belisarius' legal advisor, alleges that her influence over her husband was great and features her as dominating him.Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), p. 91–93 The historian Paolo Cesaretti mentions her as a controversial figure and the "right arm" of the empress Theodora in the exercise of influence and power. The chief source regarding Antonina is Procopius' '' Secret History'', whose reliability is debated by scholars, and Procopius' ''Wars''. Much of the information that we have regarding Antonina is uncertain and subject to speculation. However, multiple contemporary sources such as John Malalas and Liber Pontificalis corroborate Procopius' account that she orchestrated the downfalls of John the Cappadocian, the praetorian prefect, and Silverius, the Bishop of Rome. Family Procopius records that both the father and the grandfather of Antonina ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vandalic War
The Vandalic War (533–534) was a conflict fought in North Africa between the forces of the Byzantine Empire (also known as the Eastern Roman Empire) and the Germanic Vandal Kingdom. It was the first war of Emperor Justinian I's , wherein the Byzantines attempted to reassert Roman sovereignty over territory formerly controlled by the Western Roman Empire. The Vandals occupied Roman North Africa in the early 5th century and established an independent kingdom there. Under their king, Geiseric, the Vandal navy carried out pirate attacks across the Mediterranean, Sack of Rome (455), sacked Rome in 455, and defeated a Roman invasion in 468. After Geiseric's death in 477, relations with the Eastern Roman Empire were normalized, although tensions flared up occasionally due to the Vandals' adherence to Arianism and their persecution of the Nicene native population. In 530, a palace coup happened in Carthage due to a defeat against the Moorish Chieftain and war chief of the Frexes trib ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gothic War (535–554)
The Gothic War between the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Roman emperor, Emperor Justinian I and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy took place from 535 to 554 in the Italian peninsula, Dalmatia (theme), Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily, and Corsica. It was one of the last of the many Gothic wars against the Roman Empire. The war had its roots in the ambition of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I to recover the provinces of the former Western Roman Empire, which the Romans had lost to invading barbarian tribes in the previous century, during the Migration Period. The war followed the Roman reconquest of the diocese of Africa from the Vandals. Historians commonly divide the war into two phases. The first phase lasts from 535 to the fall of the Ostrogothic capital Ravenna in 540, and the apparent reconquest of Italy by the Byzantines. The second phase from 540/541 to 553 featured a Goths, Gothic revival under Totila, which was suppressed only after a long struggle by the Roman genera ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Siege Of Rome (537–538)
The first siege of Rome during the Gothic War (535–554), Gothic War lasted for a year and nine days, from 2 March 537 to 12 March 538. The city was besieged by the Ostrogoths, Ostrogothic army under their king Vitiges; the defending Eastern Roman Empire, East Romans were commanded by Belisarius, one of the most famous and successful Roman generals. The siege was the first major encounter between the forces of the two opponents, and played a decisive role in the subsequent development of the war. Background With Praetorian prefecture of Africa, northern Africa back in Roman hands after the successful Vandalic War, Emperor Justinian I turned his sights on Italy, with the old capital, the city of Rome. In the late 5th century, the peninsula had come under the control of the Ostrogoths, who, although they continued to acknowledge the Empire's suzerainty, had established a practically independent Ostrogothic Kingdom, kingdom. However, after the death of its founder, the able Th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Callinicum
The Battle of Callinicum took place on Easter Saturday, 19 April 531 AD, between an army of the Byzantine Empire under Belisarius and a Sasanian Empire, Sasanian cavalry force commanded by Azarethes. After being defeated at the Battle of Dara, the Sasanians moved to invade Roman Syria in an attempt to turn the tide of the war. Belisarius' rapid response foiled the plan, and his troops pushed the Persians to the Syrian border through maneuvering before forcing a battle in which the Sasanians won a Pyrrhic victory. Prelude In April 531 AD, the Persian king Kavadh I sent an army under Azarethes, consisting of a cavalry force numbering about 15,000 Aswaran with an additional 5,000 Lakhmid Arab cavalry under Al-Mundhir, to invade Syria, not through the heavily fortified frontier cities of Mesopotamia (Roman province), Roman Mesopotamia, but through the less conventional but also less-defended route in Commagene in order to capture Syrian cities such as Antioch. The Persian army cro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Ad Decimum
The Battle of Ad Decimum took place on September 13, 533 between the armies of the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, and the Byzantine Empire, under the command of General Belisarius. This event and events in the following year are sometimes jointly referred to as the Battle of Carthage, one of several battles to bear that name. The Byzantine victory marked the beginning of the end for the Vandals and began the reconquest of the west under the Emperor Justinian I. Battle Prelude The Vandal Kingdom in North Africa was ruled by King Hilderic. His reign was noteworthy for the kingdom's excellent relations with the Byzantine Empire ruled by Emperor Justinian I. Procopius writes that he was "a very particular friend and guest-friend of Justinian, who had not yet come to the throne", noting that Hilderic and Justinian exchanged large presents of money to each other. Hilderic allowed a new Chalcedonian bishop to take office in the Vandal capital of Carthage, and many Vandals be ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Justinian I
Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was expressed by the partial recovery of the territories of the defunct Western Roman Empire. His general, Belisarius, swiftly conquered the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa. Subsequently, Belisarius, Narses, and other generals Gothic War (535–554), conquered the Ostrogothic Kingdom, restoring Dalmatia, Sicily, Italian peninsula, Italy, and Rome to the empire after more than half a century of rule by the Ostrogoths. The Liberius (praetorian prefect), praetorian prefect Liberius reclaimed the south of the Iberian Peninsula, establishing the province of Spania. These campaigns re-established Roman control over the western Mediterranean, increasing the Empire's annual revenue by over a million ''solidi''. During his reign, Justinian also subdued ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Dara
The Battle of Dara was fought between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanians in 530 AD. It was one of the battles of the Iberian War. Procopius's account of this engagement is among the most detailed descriptions of a late Roman battle. Background The Byzantine Empire was at war with the Sasanians from 527, supposedly because Kavadh I had tried to force the Iberians to become Zoroastrians. The Iberian king fled from Kavadh, but Kavadh tried to make peace with the Byzantines, and attempted to have Justin I adopt his son Khosrau. Justin agreed, but on the terms that he would do so only in a rite reserved for barbarians. This failed to satisfy Kavadh, who attacked Byzantine allies, so Justin sent his generals Sittas and Belisarius into Persia, where they were initially defeated. In 529, the failed negotiations of Justin's successor Justinian prompted a Sasanian expedition of 40,000 men towards Dara. The next year, Belisarius was sent back to the region alongside ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ioannina (daughter Of Belisarius)
Ioannina, also spelled Joannina, (Greek: Ιωάννινα, born ) was a Byzantine noblewoman and the daughter of general Belisarius and his wife Antonina. Ioannina also briefly married from 547 to 548 to Anastasius, the son of Anastasius Sabinianus, who served as consul in 517, and the grandson of empress Theodora. Ioannina is also believed to possibly be the namesake of the Greek city of Ioannina. Early life Ioannina was born around 530, mostly likely in modern-day Turkey. Ioannina was the daughter of Byzantine general Belisarius, the leading commander of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I's forces, and Antonina, a noblewoman and close attendant to Empress Theodora. Ioannina is Belisarius and Antonina's only confirmed child, however she did have at least two half-siblings, Photius and an unnamed sister who married Ildiger, both children of Antonina from a previous marriage.Procopius, History of the Wars, Book 6, Chapter 5.5. Ioannina also had an adopted brother, Theodosius, t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Thannurin
The Battle of Thannuris (Tannuris) (or Battle of Mindouos) was fought between the forces of the Eastern Roman Empire under Belisarius and the Persian Sasanian Empire under Xerxes in summer 528, near Dara in northern Mesopotamia. The attempt to build a new frontier fort at Thannuris/Mindouos by the Byzantines triggered a Sasanian military response. The Byzantines further reinforced the area, but the Sasanian force managed to defeat their superior opponent by stratagem and many Byzantines were killed or captured along with their commanders. The Sasanians demolished the partially-built fort, but their losses were high and they did not advance further. Sources The description provided by Procopius is quite terse. Other sources include John Malalas and Zachariah of Mitylene. Background After the death of the emperor Justin I in 527, his successor Justinian I was determined to continue the war against the Sassanid Empire. He appointed Belisarius as ''magister militum'' of the East ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Tricamarum
The Battle of Tricamarum took place on December 15, 533 between the armies of the Byzantine Empire, under Belisarius, and the Vandal Kingdom, commanded by King Gelimer, and his brother Tzazo. It followed the Byzantine victory at the Battle of Ad Decimum, and eliminated the power of the Vandals for good, completing the reconquest of North Africa under the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. The main contemporary source for the battle is Procopius, ''De Bello Vandalico'', which occupies Books III and IV of his magisterial ''Wars of Justinian''. Prelude After the great Byzantine victory at the Battle of Ad Decimum, Belisarius and his army captured Carthage. Vandal king Gelimer set up at Bulla Regia in Numidia, about to the west of Carthage (at what is now the western border of modern Tunisia). He knew that in his current state he would not be able to face Belisarius's forces, so he sent messengers to his brother Tzazon who was then campaigning in Sardinia. When he received the mess ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Melantias
The Battle of Melantias or Battle of Melanthius (Greek: Μάχη τής Μελαντιάς), which took place in 559, was a battle between the armies of the Kutrigurs, commanded by Zabergan, and the Byzantine Empire, under the able and skilled command of general Belisarius. Though substantially outnumbered, the Byzantine army decisively won the battle and forced the Kutrigurs to withdraw in bad order. This was the last battle in which Belisarius commanded a force. Background During the winter of 558, Zabergan led a substantial Kutrigur army which crossed the frozen Danube. This army invaded Moesia and Thrace, threatening Constantinople itself. Emperor Justinian I recalled Belisarius from retirement. Belisarius led a small force of 300 veterans, together with locally raised levies, to drive the Kutrigurs from the Theodosian Walls. Battle Belisarius decided to advance to meet the Kutrigurs and set up his camp a few kilometers from his opponent in Melantias, a settlement about 20 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |