Belisarius: Rome's Greatest General Was Punished for Winning

Belisarius, the greatest general of the Byzantine Empire (the Eastern Roman Empire), won battles he should have lost. At the Battle of Dara in 530 he was outnumbered two to one by the Persian army of the Sasanian Empire, so he had his men dig ditches in the sand, and two days later the Persians were running. For Emperor Justinian he then destroyed the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa with only 15,000 men (Battle of Ad Decimum and Tricamarum, 533), and held the city of Rome against the Goths for more than a year with about 5,000 soldiers (Siege of Rome, 537-538, in the Gothic War). His reward was suspicion, recall and disgrace. Belisarius' three great moves, worked out on the map: - Battle of Dara, 530: the U-shaped ditch, Hun horse archers in the corners and the Heruli hidden behind the hill - Battle of Ad Decimum, 533: a three-army trap that fell apart on timing, and a Vandal king who stopped to bury his brother - Siege of Rome, 537-538: horse archers against Gothic lancers, ballistas on the walls, and the oxen Belisarius shot himself Plus the Ravenna trick that ended the Gothic War, his last battle against the Kutrigur Huns at Melantias in 559, and the truth about the legend that Belisarius died blind and begging in the streets of Constantinople. Shield Theory takes one battle or commander at a time and works it out on the map: ancient and medieval battles, tactics and the generals who won them. If you want the next one, subscribe. CHAPTERS 0:00 Battle of Dara, 530 AD 1:02 The Eastern Roman army and young Belisarius 2:11 Move 1 - The ditches of Dara 5:14 Move 2 - Vandal War: Battle of Ad Decimum 7:46 Move 3 - Siege of Rome (537-538) 9:37 Ravenna: the offer of a throne 10:05 Justinian's distrust 10:21 Melantias 559: his last battle 10:58 Did Belisarius die blind and begging? 11:24 Why Belisarius kept winning SOURCES Procopius, History of the Wars (Persian War I.13-14; Vandal War; Gothic War) Agathias, Histories (Melantias, 559) Ian Hughes, Belisarius: The Last Roman General (2009) Numbers follow Procopius; the "150,000 Goths" figure is flagged in the video as an exaggeration. #Belisarius #ByzantineEmpire #MilitaryHistory