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Belisarius: The Last Roman General Kindle Edition

by Ian Hughes (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 301 ratings
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A military history of the campaigns of Flavius Belisarius, the greatest general of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Emperor Justinian.

Back in the 6th century, Belisarius twice defeated the Persians and reconquered North Africa from the Vandals in a single year at the age of 29, before going on to regain Spain and Italy, including Rome (briefly), from the barbarians. This book discusses the evolution from classical Roman to Byzantine armies and systems of warfare, as well as those of their chief enemies: the Persians, Goths, and Vandals. Belisarius: The Last Roman General reassesses Belisarius’s generalship and compares him with the likes of Caesar, Alexander, and Hannibal. It is also illustrated with line drawings and battle plans as well as photographs.
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  1. Print length
    481 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Pen & Sword Military
  5. Publication date
    January 15, 2009
  6. File size
    12859 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"competing military systems, weapons, tactics, and leaders, and includes considerable background material, to help explain the “why” of various political and even strategic decisions. Although marred by a lack of footnoting, Belisarius is an excellent work, useful for the serious student of the period, and a valuable introduction to the times for the novice."
The NYMAS Review

About the Author

Ian Hughes, trained in classics at Cardiff University, Wales, is currently teaching in England.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0091WB5X4
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pen & Sword Military; Reprint edition (January 15, 2009)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 15, 2009
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 12859 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 481 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 301 ratings

About the author

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Ian Hughes MA

Ian Hughes MA

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Ian Hughes was born in Burnley, Lancashire, and attended Heasandford Junior School, Barden High School, and Burnley Grammar School.

He worked as a garage mechanic and librarian before entering the Fitted Kitchen Industry. Leaving work to study full time, he attended Cardiff University. After gaining an MA in Ancient History and Society he became a teacher. Following the birth of his son he gave up teaching and became a writer.

For more information go to: http://www.ianhughesma.com/

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
301 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

EdP
5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of detail
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2023
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Lots of detail (some times more than I wanted). The strength of this book is that Belisarius' life is put in political, strategic, historical and social context.
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Florentius
4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable bio of a great general
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2009
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Belisarius is a fascinating historical figure--a virtuous man in an age of strife, corruption, and transition--and the right hand man of the last great Roman Emperor, Justinian. Often compared to the greatest generals in history, Belisarius achieved more militarily, with fewer resources, than any general in history.

When I saw this new biography, I snapped it up immediately. Having read the previous biography by Lord Mahon written over 150 years ago, as well as the complete works of Procopius, the History of Agathias, the Chronicle of John Malalas, the Paschal Chronicle, etc., I was impressed with how Hughes made use of the considerable primary source material at his disposal. Most heartening of all, he does not rely overmuch on the scandalous "Secret History" and does not spend more time than is warranted on the supposed sexual escapades of Belisarius's wife, Antonina. To his further credit, Hughes avoids a particular bugbear of mine--blaming Pope Silverius for attempting to betray Rome to the Goths during the first siege. His overall historical grasp of the period seemed very impressive indeed.

Though Hughes's scholarship is not up to the level of Lord Mahon's encyclopedic 19th century standards, it is more than adequate to his purpose. He offers archaeological detail not available in Mahon's day, as well as a detailed look at the arms and armaments of the Persian, Vandalic, and Gothic antagonists of Belisarius. He does succumb to the modern tendency to disbelieve the numbers of troops given by the ancient historians and adjust them so that the victor is invariably shown to have an equal or greater number of troops on hand than the defeated party--a trend popularized by Hans Delbruck in the 19th century. Suffice it to say that I disagree strongly with this method of computation which is often done on the flimsiest of pretenses.

The book itself is an attractive artifact. The writing is good and the numerous illustrations are well placed and help bring the text to life. The inclusion of battle maps is a great boon and allows the reader to better visualize how the various actions developed. I felt that the work ended somewhat abruptly, and Hughes's cursory and dismissive treatment of the legend of the blind Belisarius begging for his bread was unwarranted, particularly considering the amount of effort his predecessor, Lord Mahon, took to prove the veracity of the legend.

Over all, I was well satisfied with this fair and even-handed treatment of Belisarius and recommend it to anyone interested in the man or his times. If this one piques your curiosity, you might also enjoy Lord Mahon's much denser  Life of Belisarius , or the historical fiction biography of the general's early life,  Belisarius: The First Shall Be Last . Or, you might just dive into the original histories written by Belisarius's secretary, Procopius, which make for great reading in their own right and are readily available in English translation. Start with  History of the Wars, The Persian War  and go on from there.
37 people found this helpful
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Stone Dog
3.0 out of 5 stars The last Roman general?
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2011
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"Belisarius: The Last Roman General" by Ian Hughes is a competent retelling of Belisarius' battles and campaigns. I am still wondering about the subtitle "The Last Roman General" since Belisarius was a "Roman" only in the sense that he was a Roman citizen and served an empire which still thought of itself as Roman. The author makes no attempt to tell us *why* he was the "last Roman general".

There are things the author does well. He does a fairly good job of chronicling campaigns and battles. Mr. Hughes does a very good job of explaining the differences in weapons and tactics between the "roman" forces and their opponents the Persians and the Germanic peoples. He makes the reader aware of the nature and biases of those who left written records of this time period. A careful reader will also get a sense of the ramshackle nature of the later Roman or Byzantine empire. It is a far cry from the Roman empire at its peak with disciplined, well organized and supplied armies of heavy infantry and instead consists of irregularly-paid levies of poorly motivated infantry, elite cavalry and mercenaries.

There were things the author did not do well. We learn very little about Belisarius the man. We read nothing about his early life, where he came from, the circumstances of his political marriage to Antonina and other things that give us insight into this man and the world he lived in. I feel the author did a poor job of making the story interesting. At various points, I dropped the book in favor of another and then came back to it. For me, that's a sign of what another reviewer referred to as "lackluster writing" and I agree with him.

As a biography, this book is very poor. As an effective (but, sometimes a tad dry) history of campaigns and battles, it does a fairly good job. It does a good job of looking at how the roman forces, as well as their opponents, were organized and equipped for battle.

On the whole, it's just okay and I give it three stars.
9 people found this helpful
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Martin Everse
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2023
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Great book in great shape. Arrived promptly.
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Top reviews from other countries

Andy McCoy
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on December 20, 2017
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Very good book, would recommend
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Mikhail
3.0 out of 5 stars Not well written.
Reviewed in the Netherlands on August 6, 2019
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The book is filled with very good assessments and lots of information. It is filled however with descriptions, were basic concepts of the Byzantine army are explained for example, where references are are made to other historical terms and concepts that not explained and other, in my opinion, poorly written out text which could confuse me at times.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent
Reviewed in Australia on November 8, 2018
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detailed review of one of Rome’s greatest generals; the best in the later eastern empire. Gives a careful and balanced reading of the sources and presents a convincing portrait of Belisarius.
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Jefferson Medeiros
5.0 out of 5 stars Belisarius,a crucial general at both sides of the Empire
Reviewed in Brazil on March 28, 2015
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Very well written and very detailed.
The author describes the life of Belisarius as bizantine general with much caution and partiality.His failures and successes are
shown in the same proportion ,giving credibility to this book.Highly recommended for those who are looking for more information about this
underrated general that achieved so many crucial victories on the battlefield that just his presence was enough to control the enemy.Respected by the enemies and feared by his countrymen.
What would be of the Empire (both sides) without such talented man commanding the army?
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J. J. Bradshaw
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific introduction to a fascinating and sadly neglected period of history.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 20, 2014
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Well written and very engaging book on a fascinating subject. Most histories of Rome end with the fall of the Western Empire and forget that the Eastern Empire which became the Byzantine Empire lasted for hundreds of years after this fall. Belisarius is often considered the last great Roman General and in the time of Belisarius the Eastern Empire despite its increasingly Greek character was still recognisably the Eastern Empire of Rome. After the era of Justinian and Belisarius it would assume its own independent identity as Byzantium. Whilst perhaps not a general of the callibre of Alexander, Julius Caesar or Hannibal Belisarius nevertheless deserves his reputation as one of the great generals of antiquity. This book is quite narrow in considering his military career and whilst the book touches on the politics of the Eastern Empire and the complex relationships between Justinian and his empress along with the wife of Belisarius these are tangential to the main story. This does mean that the book lacks a certain depth in some areas. However the engaging style and the authors ability to present complex events in a logical and easy to follow manner make the book a joy to read. Something that may be a surprise to those who have been brought up on the idea of a dark age falling over Europe following the fall of Rome (usually it is not presented as the fall of the West but the fall of Rome) is the sophistication and richness of the Gothic and Vandalic Kingdoms which followed, they were very far from being barbarian hordes devoid of qualities as often considered. The Kindle edition is a bargain and at this price even the annoying typo errors are not enough to prevent 5 stars. Yes, the book could do with more depth but it is a fantastic introduction to a sadly neglected subject and will hopefully inspire readers to discover more about this fascinating era.
4 people found this helpful
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