The Life of Belisarius (Illustrated)

At the beginning of the sixth century of the Christian era, the empire of Constantinople was beset with enemies and sinking to decay. The tide of barbarian invasion had lately overwhelmed one half of the ancient provinces of Rome, and these conquests, both by their effect and their example, threatened speedy downfall to the rest. The emperors became either hated from their reforms, or despised from their incapacity, and in either case their fate was the same. Frequent insurrections wasted the resources of the state, and deprived the government of all energy and enterprise; while the armies, turbulent and feeble, had thrown off the restraints of military discipline. It is the purpose of my narrative, to show how the genius of one man averted these dangers, and corrected these defects; how the tottering empire was upheld; how the successors of Augustus were enabled, for a time, to resume their former ascendancy, and to wrest from the hands of the barbarians their most important possessions.... This is the story of Belisarius, the greatest general of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the man who almost wrested back the bones of the Western Empire from the Goths. Belisarius is presented in vivid detail, while the carnage of the Dark Ages and the struggle of the Eastern Romans to recover their lost territory is captured in a beautifully written narrative. . Contents include:. CHAPTER I. BIRTH OF BELISARIUS. JUSTINIAN AND THEODORACHAPTER II. THE PERSIAN WARSCHAPTER III. THE VANDAL WARSCHAPTER IV. THEODORIC, KING OF THE OSTROGOTHSCHAPTER V. THE GOTHIC WARSCHAPTER VI. BELISSARIUS AND ANTONINACHAPTER VII. TOTILACHAPTER VIII. BULGARIAN WARS AND DEATH OF BELISARIUS