''Belisarius'' is a 1724

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

by the British writer William Phillips.Nicoll p.107 It is based on the life of the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

general

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 ...

, sometimes dubbed the "

Last of the Romans The term Last of the Romans () has historically been used to describe a person thought to embody Culture of ancient Rome, the values of ancient Rome, ancient Roman civilization – values which, by implication, became extinct on his death. It ha ...

". The original

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is located in Holborn and is the List of city squares by size, largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a ...

cast included

Anthony Boheme Anthony Boheme (died 1731) was a British stage actor of the eighteenth century. His year of birth is unknown. From 1720 he was a long-standing part of John Rich's company at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre until his death. He was married to the ...

as Belisarius,

Lacy Ryan Lacy Ryan (c. 1694–1760), English actor, appeared at the Haymarket Theatre about 1709. Life By 1718 he had joined the company at Lincoln's Inn Fields, where he shared the lead with his friend James Quin. He took leading roles in ''Richar ...

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 ...

, Richard Diggs as Vitiges, Thomas Walker as Proclus,

James Quin James Quin (24 February 1693 – 21 January 1766) was an English actor of Irish descent. Life Quin was born in King Street, Covent Garden, London, an illegitimate son of James Quin, an Irish-born barrister, and his partner (whom he apparently ...

as Hermogenes, John Egleton as Macro, Anne Brett as Almira and Anne Parker as Valeria.

References

Bibliography

* Burling, William J. ''A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992. * Nicoll, Allardyce. ''A History of Early Eighteenth Century Drama: 1700-1750''. CUP Archive, 1927. {{18thC-play-stub 1724 plays British plays Tragedy plays West End plays Cultural depictions of Belisarius Cultural depictions of Justinian I