Born circa 504; died Mar. 13, 565. Byzantine general and associate of Emperor Justinian I.
Belisarius was a native of Thrace. He distinguished himself during the war with Persia (527-32), and at age 25 he was appointed commander, which was the highest military position. In 530 he defeated the Persian army at Daras and in 532 crushed the Nika uprising in Constantinople. In 534 he destroyed the Vandal state in North Africa at the Battle of Ad Decimum, and in 535 he conquered Sicily for Byzantium and then seized Naples and Rome (536). Belisarius was unjustly accused of a plot against the emperor in 562 and fell into disgrace.
The chief tactical principle of Belisarius was “to avoid hand-to-hand combat and defeat the enemy through exhaustion” (F. Engels, Izbr. voen. proizv., 1956, p. 188) and maneuvers chiefly with cavalry. Detailed information about Belisarius is known from the works of the historian Procopius of Caesarea, who was his secretary.