Rome Strikes Back: Belisarius and the Wars of Justinian (ALL PARTS)

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In the 6th century AD, during the reign of Emperor Justinian, the Roman Empire experienced an extraordinary resurgence, reconquering lands – including Italy, North Africa and Rome itself – that had been lost to the ‘barbarians’ a century before. Leading these campaigns, a brilliant Roman general named Flavius Belisarius – a skilled tactician, inspirational leader, pragmatic and humane. This is the story of those campaigns, as recorded by Procopius, an eyewitness to many of them, as well as other ancient historians, texts, and archaeological remains.

Big thanks to Legendarian for ‘Total War: Attila’ gameplay footage, check out his YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOI2IhyQ9qaUvwPl3sn0y4g

‘Total War: Attila’ gameplay footage used with kind permission of Creative Assembly – buy the game here: https://geni.us/qDreR

Thanks also to the 555 mod crew for modding support, find out more about their mods here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1836928957

🎨 Original artwork by Miłek Jakubiec https://www.artstation.com/milek
🎨 Thanks to Igor Dzis for permission to use his painting, ‘Battle of Dara’.
📷 Thanks to Dr Hugh Willmott, Sheffield University for permission to use photographs of plague burial

Creative Commons images:
Basilica San Marco by Gary Ullah via WM Commons
Dara fortifications by Procopius via Flickr
Dara photographs by Nevit Dilmen via Flickr
Mosaic of Theodora by Petar Milošević via WM Commons
Porta Asinaria by Mikhail Malykh via WM Commons
Windrow by Christian Collins via Flickr
Stag Heads Free Vector by misfitblue via vecteezy.com
Winter Sun by It’s No Game via Flickr
Beach video by Ruvim Miksanskiy via Pexels

📚Recommended reading (as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases):
📖Procopius, History of the Wars https://geni.us/L3Pgc
📖 The Wars of Justinian by Michael Whitby https://geni.us/Xxrd3
📖 Rome Resurgent by Peter Heather https://geni.us/ZFoU1
📖The Armies of Ancient Persia: the Sassanians by Kaveh Farrokh https://geni.us/jMQo3z
📖Late Roman Cavalryman AD 236–565 (Osprey) by Simon MacDowall https://geni.us/XMGl

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#EpicHistoryTV #RomanEmpire #EasternRomanEmpire #Justinian #Belisarius #ByzantineEmpire

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50 thoughts on “Rome Strikes Back: Belisarius and the Wars of Justinian (ALL PARTS)”

  1. We hope you enjoy the ALL PARTS edition of our Belisarius series! No sponsors, seamless joins and a very small number of factual corrections. (Callinicum was fought on Holy Saturday, not Easter Sunday; Belisarius probably tried to delay the Goths at the Salarian Bridge, not Milvian.. that sort of thing). Thanks again to Legendarian for providing 'Total War: Attila' gameplay footage, links in description. And big thanks to our series consultant Professor David Parnell of Indiana University Northwest, who is well worth a follow on Twitter @ByzantineProf.
    If you want to watch the series with SUBTITLES, you will need to watch the individual episodes https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUOc2qodFHp8x5tpVvVyATUQi8GI1HSed. And don't forget you can support our work and get ad-free early access to new videos via Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/EpicHistoryTV

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  2. This is wonderful!! Regarding the defense of Dara, you mention Belisarius' reasons for making a stand outside the City walls are unclear. I'd like to offer an explanation I believe is highly likely, though I can't offer any definitive proof. I believe Belisarius made this decision because he knew that to hold the city walls would mean defending against a siege, which he likely was not prepared for. 25,000 men is a large number to support and sustain, especially in a remote desert environment where his resources were surely limited. 25,000 men is also a large number to control and maneuver on the fly. To have them stuck sitting behind walls, to be encircled by a significantly larger force would have proved disastrous. Eventually he'd either have to A, sally out and attack an entrenched enemy, which would have been chaotic and disorganized, or B, submit to starvation and attrition. I believe this to be the reason why he chose to organize and entrench his army outside the walls and have the fight straight out while his men were fresh and ready. In the best case scenario they win, in the worst case, they're beaten back and retreat behind their walls and then deal with the ensuing siege. Starting from outside the walls gave him options and in many regards allowed him to dictate the terms of battle, whereas starting from within the walls would have given him no options and the terms of battle would have been dictated by the enemy. As far as I can tell, the best possible option in this scenario is the one that he chose and it paid off.

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  5. See?! Armies can be brought to heel. Rape and pillage never NEEDED to be part of war. It was just something the deviant and debauched took advantage of. War is natural, just like hyena and lions. Or colonies of ants or bees. If something is precious to you, defend it. Because sometimes an as*-hat wants to take your things and cut you up. With a GOOD moral leader who cares for his men and nation, nothing is impossible.

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  7. Belisarius died of a broken back carrying a Eastern Roman empire who didn't deserve him, he was surrounded by incompetence everywhere it's truly amazing that he was able to accomplish anything, this guy deserves to have a movies TV shows and games about him, because without him we wouldn't even know who Justinian and his whore of wife was they would have been killed and replaced by even more incompetent emperors.

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  9. This series was one of the very best documentaries I have ever seen. I especially love the quotes. I will never forget that moment when the captive Gelimer says "Vaniny of vanities, all is vanity", with that gorgeous art and wonderful narration.

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  17. now, try making Hollywood green light a movie with this. without making Belisarius black, Justinian crippled or Theodora lesbian. Selling tickets and earning good money isn't in their interest 😭

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  19. I feel like religion is a guise to mobilize innocent people in order to conquest territory….if ANY religion was REAL there wouldn't be over 1500 different ones….religion is used to manipulate the ignorant to live a certain way so they don't riot after you slaughter them in order to gain their land…no? Cuz that's how religion has been used since its conception…it's a guise to slaughter people when you think you're doing it for the "right" reasons you have no problem murdering…just look at 2022 russia/Ukraine they claim to be brothers yet slaughter them in order to control their territory….

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  23. History calls him Justinian "The Great" but after everything Belisarius did to save his life and empire….I'd say it's Belisarius and his Bucellarii that are "The Great" Justinian didn't have to do anything but breath to reap the glory of another man's conquest. And still stripped him of all honors at the end. Sad! What a great man (Belisarius not Justinian the treacherous)

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  25. i once went to a German Cars Workshop
    i was looking for a spare part and potentially service my car.
    when i got into the office I met an old German guy in the 60s
    i said spontaneously,, hi how you doing?
    he answered me: i am pretty sure you are in workshop not to ask how I'm doing, so tell me what you want.
    i was like wtf 😐

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  33. Ah. The complete series covering Belisarius "The Great" & Justinian "The Controversial."
    When you combine common sense with history, you tend to understand & question history more than even today's historians, college teachers, & even Christian scholars, who view specific figures differently.

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  35. Totila is a very interesting and impressive figure and antagonist to Belasarius.
    When Totila invaded Italy his 5000 Goths beat the Roman force of 12,000, scattering them in chaos according to the historian Bradly.
    Much of the following anecdotes are from Pricopious
    Being a devout Aryan Christian he was big on justice and mercy, and Pricipious often points out the irony of the ‘barbarians’ being more civilised than the Romans at times. During sieges the Goths offered the Romans 3 months truce to hold out for reinforcements, this bluff worked and the massive perceived confidence of the Goths made the starving Romans surrender.
    Totila immediately made a small ration for the starving populace, knowing if the starving were given plenty they would die, slowly he increased their daily allowance of food and nursed the populace back to health, with acts of outrage by his men being punished with death.

    Further still, the Roman commander Conan, was allowed to sale to any port they preferred with his defeated garrison. The wind made sailing to their preferred destination (Rome) impossible, forced to stay the goths opened up the markets to the Romans and treated them as equals until it was possible for them to sail, eventually Totila provided the Romans with horses, supplies AND an escort and allowed them to escape by land.

    In the Gothic retaking of Rome, 400 Romans held out in the tomb of Hadrian, the goths opted to starve them out, rather than starve the 400 Romans charged in an effort to die in glory, to their shock the goths offered them surrender, and then offered to either repatriate them to Constantinople or allowed them to join his own armies.

    Totila believed in keeping justice on his side to keep the favour of God, thus treating the populace with decency and care, and showing mercy to his enemies.

    Pricipious accounts several times with eloquent frustration at the contrast with the behaviour of the ‘barbarians’ vs the civilised Romans.

    Eastern Rome began to buy off huge mercenary forces to supplement their armies, many of whom were gothic tribes, thus when the Roman army under Narcies met Totila in his final battle, the goths were ‘terribly down cast’

    He met his death after showing off infront of his outnumbered army throwing up and catching his Lance and dressed in golden armour and purple robes, when the goths could not beat the huge Roman force totila tried to escape with a few guards, a Gepid war chief hired by the Romans charged Totila in the dark apparently not knowing who he was, a gothic guard is stated to have exclaimed “dog, would you kill your own master!?” Then realising who the target was Totila was charged down and killed.

    Even after this decisive defeat, the Goths chose a new king, Teia, who in a final battle against the Romans is described by Pricopious “ having being betrayed their horses starving, the goths suddenly rushed on foot upon the astonished Romans the battle that then ensued was terrible, not one of Homers hero’s ever performed greater miracles of valour than did Teia on that day” He fell when his shield was heavy with 12 spears, when his armour bearer was changing his shield he was pierced in the chest and killed, the Romans paraded his head on a pike, “yet the goths still fought on until darkness, then the next day renewed the struggle until darkness again compelled them to pause” and the 3rd they sent envoys to Narcies to seek peace, their ‘terms’ were that they go free on the condition they would never again take up arms against the Romans, on condition they were allowed an unmolested passage out of Italy AND receiving money for the expenses. “They had such terrible experience at the desperate valour of the goths that they felt compelled to accept the conditions”

    The Goths were finally driven out of Italy.

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  45. Try something that's not done 100x, We want the God kings of Cambodia or the other 40 places the English enslaved & Forced Religion on.. White history isnt historically accurate representation of the facts.. Look at Easter island, They would try and ask how you must of felt cutting down the last tree. What a Crock!! You lot enslaved & then rebuilt the statue's, plus stole one that you have now…
    Leaning the truth is why different & Demented.. That's Religion & Narrsasst people for ya..

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  46. Pricopious states in his ‘secret histories’ that Theodora had Amalasuntha killer by a diplomat named Peter, as a pretext for the invasion of Italy and because she had a strong personal dislike for her. This should be taken with a grain of salt but it’s certainly plausible

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