General Belisarius

Flavius Belisarius (c.500 - March 565) was Byzantine Emperor Justinian's favorite military commander. He successfully managed to gain control of Northern Italy from the Ostrogoths during the Gothic Wars, and then was sent back to Italy when the Lombards invaded.He was probably born in what is now Bulgaria, and the part of the Eastern Roman Empire (Constantinople still thought of itself as the Eastern Roman Empire; the Gothic wars were Justinian's attempt to re-unite with the Western Roman Empire). In his 20s he was a guardsman for Justinian, who at the time was not emperor but a royal and the nephew of Emperor Justin. Belisarius later was given the command to create a regiment of heavy cavalry armed with lances, bows, and long swords. This later grew to be 7000 men.Although his early career saw him defeated many times, he retained Justinian's confidence. When Emperor Justin died in 527, Justinian took the throne and gave Belisarius command of the armies in the east. In the summer of…