in a series of wars that helped establish him as one of his-
tory’s greatest generals. He fought against the Saddanids
of Persia (now modern Iran) and quickly defeated that
army despite being vastly outnumbered. His key victory
in this war was at Daras (530). However, in 531, he was
defeated by the Saddanids at Callinicum, the only battle
he would lose in his long career. Recalled by Justinian,
he redeemed himself when he aided in the suppression of
the so-called Nika revolt (532) and saved the emperor’s
throne. In response to this service, Justinian once again
placed Belisarius in charge of the Byzantine army and
sent him to north Africa to fight the Vandals.
At Carthage on 14 September 533, Belisarius faced
a Vandal army of some 160,000 men; historians agree
that the Byzantine forces were far inferior in numbers.
The Vandals, commanded by Gelimer, divided into
three wings and hastily attacked the main Byzantine
army. Belisarius used this moment to launch an assault
on Gelimer and forced the Vandals to flee, resulting in
Carthage’s surrender. He took Gelimer as his prisoner
and returned to Byzantium in triumph.
In 535, Justinian dispatched Belisarius to Italy to
fight the Goths and defend Rome. He first invaded Sicily
and then moved on to Naples. Finally he reached Rome,
where, in two battles nine years apart, he demonstrated
his military genius and shielded the city from tribal en-
emies. In the first battle in March 537, a Gothic army
of 30,000 men under the Vandal king Vitiges marched
on Rome and faced Belisarius’s troops (whose numbers
are unknown). The Byzantines’ fierce resistance forced
Vitiges to raise the siege in March 538 after a year of
fighting. Vitiges was captured in 540 when Belisarius
defeated the Vandals at Ravenna in a rout for the Byz-
antine forces.
With the Goths defeated, Justinian recalled Belisar-
ius and sent him back to Persia, where another force
under King Chosroes I was threatening the Byzantine
Empire. Belisarius fought the Persians from 541 to 544,
but when the Goths restarted their war in Italy, he was
forced to return there, leading to the second battle of
Rome in May 546. In this battle, Totila, the king of Italy,
besieged Rome and forced the city’s surrender. Belisarius
then marched on the city and rescued it for a short pe-
riod until Totila retook it later.
Despite Belisarius’s numerous victories for Justin-
ian, the emperor was jealous of his general, and in 548
he named Belisarius’s rival, Narses, as the new head of
the Byzantine army. Despite this slight, Belisarius re-
mained in Italy, fighting off tribal forces with inadequate
resources until his recall to Byzantium in 549. He then
retired for a decade, only to be recalled back into service
in 559 when an army of Bulgars advanced to the walls of
Constantinople; he successfully repelled the attempted
invasion, again demonstrating his military genius. Yet
despite this service, Justinian still regarded Belisarius
with suspicion; he was arrested on charges of conspiring
to remove the emperor, and his property was confiscated.
Some historians have claimed that Belisarius was reduced
to begging in the streets of Constantinople; another
writer claims that Justinian had Belisarius’s eyes put out.
These stories are unproven; a 12th-century painting by
the famed artist Gérard shows a blind Belisarius, but it
is not believed to be based on any actual history. In any
event, Justinian finally became convinced of Belisarius’s
innocence and restored his property and good name in
563, two years before his death on 13 March 565.References: Lord Mahon, The Life of Belisarius, 2d ed.
(London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1848); Old-
mixon, John, The Life and History of Belisarius, Who
Conquer’d Africa and Italy... (London: A. Baldwin,
1713); Marmontel, Jean François, The History of Belisar-
ius, The Heroick and Humane Roman general... (Phila-
delphia: J. Crukshank, 1770); “Belisarius,” in Command:
From Alexander the Great to Zhukov—The Greatest Com-
manders of World History, edited by James Lucas (London:
Bloomsbury Publishing, 1988), 31–32; Bury, J. B., “The
Reconquest of Italy,” in History of the Later Roman Empire
From the Death of Theodosius I to the Death of Justinian, 2
vols. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1923), II:226–249;
Bruce, George, “Carthage II,” “Rome IV,” “Rome V,”
and “Tricameron,” in Collins Dictionary of Wars (Glasgow,
Scotland: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995), 52, 212,
251.Benbow, John (1653–1702) British admiral
John Benbow was probably born in Shrewsbury, Shrop-
shire, where his father, a burgess, owned a tannery house,
on 10 March 1653. In 1678, he entered the English navy
(some sources put him in the merchant marines), ris-
ing to the rank of captain in 1689. He served under the
British admiral Edward Russell and saw action at the
battle of La Hogue (19–20 May 1692), when a com-
bined British and Dutch fleet, under the command of
Russell and Admiral Philips Van Almonde, defeatedbenbow, John