Belisarius: Powerful General of the Byzantine Empire

Flavius Belisarius was a Byzantine general who lived during the 6th century AD. He is often regarded as one of the greatest generals of the Byzantine Empire. Additionally, he is one of the candidates for the title ‘Last of the Romans’, i.e. the last individual who embodied the best values of the Roman Empire. The story of Belisarius can perhaps be divided into three parts – his humble beginnings, his rise to power, and his fall from grace.

Young Belisarius’ Humble Beginnings

Belisarius is said to have been born in the region of Illyria (the western part of the Balkan Peninsula) to poor parents. The historian Edward Gibbon, in his work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, wrote that Belisarius “Was born, and perhaps educated, among the Thracian peasants.”