History of Byzantium - Belisarius: The Italian Campaign 

The narrative of Justinian's Renovatio Imperii continues with the Italian campaign ! Hope you lovely people enjoy it and make sure to share on social media - its a great way for a podcast to grow!

Extremely underrated, it was a pleasure watching this series so far. Can't wait to binge watch the rest of the episodes. Keep up the great work!

Wow man thanks for this amazing video. This is by far the best documentary about the Eastern Roman Empire I’m ever seen. All this details and the calm way you talking is like a listen a very tale

I say this every time, but I’m always glad to see a new upload on this channel. Greatly enjoying the Byzantine deep dive!

I believe that byzantine civilisation is my favourite one. The Belisarius campaign are absolutely wonderful to watch ! I would have like to see the pale face of the Saracens in action (Nikephoros II) and his successor John Tzimiskes. There is a lot of action in the 10th century ! Though I believe there are much less sources for this period…

Man it's being a long long time since we talked, i was here with you in the original Islamic Spain videos, now i see that your channel has grown from couple 100 subs to 150K ! This is amazing news, and i am sure you're gonna grow even more ! The quality and content and improving on a steady pace. Wish you the best

Channels like this are the reason for the Internet (IMO) Great refresher on history and supreme narration ✌️

Watching this video as I play the song Gloria by Judicator in the background! That song is part of a whole metal album about the Roman General Flavis Belisarius! Love how my Boi Belisarius finally getting some attention recently great video as always!

Thx for this great Storys. I am very ill atm and this helps me with letting the boring times go by while i have to stay in bed. And your voice is so nice calm that i can also sleep to it in the evening.

Amazing video, as always! I've finally ordered my first book from our dear friend Procopius. Never would've done that without this particular series.

Agathias Scholasticos (530-582 AD) one of the principal historians of Justinian's reign between 552 and 558, at some point in his work compares the bravery of Belisarius and his soldiers with that of Leonidas and the 300. The historian borrows a piece from the history of the Laconians, as he refers to them, in order to praise the general and his deeds.

I've been waiting for this so excited

I love and respect all your hard work on this era and especially on Belasarius.He is so underrated he was a great general keep it up

​ Great synthesis, montage, narration and research work! ​

Well done! Belisarius is one Late Romes great generals. Who did more with less than any other General I can think of!

The interpretation from Justinians point of view is very helpful, and it undermine a bit the perfect general that Belisarius is thought to be. As you said, a big communication problem is all what is needed. But what do we know of the relationship between the emperor and his general when he returned ? Surely they explained themselves, especially Belisarius. I imagine that when you are the head of the most powerful empire and you have enemies everywhere, you must be a bit paranoid.

YESSS, I look forward to all these videos.

Amazing as always! cant wait for the next one

I've noticed that the Romans didn't call the Hunnic horse archers "Huns". They called them Massagetae. I would suggest to anyone interested in this series to purchase "The history of the Vandalic wars", and Gothic wars by Procopius. Love the video keep them coming.

Ahaha I just discovered this channel now, and therefore I have plenty to watch 😊😊😂 LUCKY ME 😊

Love this!! thanks for sharing I always love learning something new about this topic :)

Another amazing video flash point! Been sharing your videos w my friends. You deserve way more subs, I’ll be here through the come up keep up the good work!

Excellent, excellent videos. Can't wait for the next episode

The way this was delivered hit different

Excellent, thank you for this

Most Brilliant Introducing of Informative History Video Thanks

Absolutely amazing content once again!

A very fine presentation. I think you're a little hard on Belisarius. In the ages before instant communication, orders from a distant superior were often based on outdated or bad information. I think his ultimate loyalty to Justinian is admirable. It was always a challenge for a monarch to keep distant successful generals subordinate. The Spanish king routinely recalled conquistadores, often to put them on trial for cruelty. For the whole of Spanish rule, the viceroys only had limited terms--I think it was 3 years--and in this way, no viceroy had much opportunity to put together rebellion, even if his loyalty should falter.

Very Well Done 👍🏼

Amazing !

Great video!

Love this series!

Can't believe my man also pronounced Khosrow correctly. For real, you impress me more with every video, and it's always the tiny details. Can I ask you where you're from? I have trouble believing that anyone who can't read Arabic script could pronounce خسرو correctly. One note, the "kh" in Khusrow is a VERY hard and guttural "khhhhhh" noise, not the softer "khh" noise you made, apart from that you got it pitch perfect

Epic one 👍

Great video

I was not super into Byzantine history but now I'm hooked! I'm getting my post Roman fix. Thank you for uploading!

Your stuff is fantastic

Good stuff

Belisarius was phenomenal , what a genius general

So good so good 😁

where is mr usual voice ? its not the voice where is the voice ? i feel cheated 😢 but i still liked the video, like every single one u upload! (just missing the usual voice..

Awesome

Thank you for another great video. While I like your narration style more the overall quality was still top notch as usual.

Love video

I often ponder the possibilities of what could have been if Belisarius had been fortunate to have the troop numbers that his (Western) predecessors had at their disposal.

@History Marche directed me here

Belisarius’ defiance of Justinian is ironic considering it’s something Belisarius dealt with so much with his subordinates. It’s easy to criticize in hindsight of course, but as a General, Belisarius knew the importance of “big picture” situations so his decision was almost uncharacteristic.

Byzantium was colonized by the Greeks from Megara in 657 BC, and remained primarily Greek-speaking until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in AD 1453. Also look up the ancient Anatolian Kingdom of Pontus, Greeks from the Black sea. A blend of Greek and Persian influences. Yes, Greek identity can challenge any Ukrainian Ethnic groups and prove Greeks were in the Black sea far before any Slavic ethnic group existed. What is commonly called the kingdom of Pontos flourished for over 200 years in the coastal regions of the Black Sea. At its peak in the early first century BC, it included much of the southern, eastern, and northern littoral, becoming one of the most important Hellenistic dynasties founded before a successor of Alexander the Great. It also posed one of the greatest challenges to Roman imperial expansion in the East. Not until 63 BC, after many violent clashes, was Rome able to subjugate the kingdom and its last charismatic ruler Mithridates VI, who proved to be as formidable a foe to Rome as Hannibal. He has been called the greatest ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus. He cultivated an immunity to poisons by regularly ingesting sub-lethal doses; this practice, now called mithridatism, is named after him. After his death, he became known as Mithridates the Great. And after the full of Rome by the Germanic tribes and mercenaries from the far East of Asia that murdered most of the Romans and destroyed and looted Rome. Some Romans managed to flee to Byzantium and were saved by the Greek Royal Guards of Byzantium. The same Greek Royal Guards of Byzantium who trained the Anglo-Saxons from England, after they fled England from the Normans. The popes are not even Roman, that's why popes don't have last names. Poverty-stricken like one of many barbarians that invaded Europe was Odoacer, the Germanic king of the Torcilingi, and he self-proclaimed himself as the new Roman emperor and he embraced everything Roman and Greek. So the Roman state continued and some of its traditions were maintained, modern historians distinguish Byzantium from ancient Rome insofar as it was centred on Constantinople, oriented towards Greek rather than Latin culture and characterised by Orthodox Christianity. And Greek history records show that the Germanic tribe's were given the Netherlands and not Europe. Germanic peoples are nomadic like the Turks and British. There's an intelligent documentary in English to be made about Byzantium culture, and this isn't it. History is way more clear with a Hellenic classical education, and someone who speaks like a native Greek and not as an outsider/foreigner who learned Greek. Dionysius Pyrrhus requests the exclusive use of Hellene in his Cheiragogy: "Never desire to call yourselves Romans, but Hellenes, for the Romans from ancient Rome enslaved and destroyed Hellas." And George Gemistus Plethon pointed out to Constantine Palaeologus that the people he leads are "Hellenes, as their race and language and education testifies". Ducas Vatatzes, wrote in a letter to Pope Gregory IX about the wisdom that "rains upon the Hellenic nation". He maintained that the transfer of the imperial authority from Rome to Constantinople was national and not geographic, and therefore did not belong to the Latins occupying Constantinople: Constantine's heritage was passed on to the Hellenes, so he argued, and they alone were its inheritors and successors. His son, Theodore II Lascaris, was eager to project the name of the Greeks with true nationalistic zeal. He made it a point that "the Hellenic race looms over all other languages" and that "every kind of philosophy and form of knowledge is a discovery of Hellenes […]. What do you, O Rome, have to display?" No other small country can compare with Greece in terms of impact on human benefit. In the beginning... God created the Earth, and in the light blue waters, put a small ship to travel forever, in order not only to give birth but also to transfer great ideas all over the world ... He called that ship...HELLAS! The Greeks created it, the Germans copy it, and the English exploit it. The only good is knowledge, and the only evil is ignorance. Herodotus

1:33:40 is the moment, as the ditches finished taking shape on the map the first time I watched this, that I was gob smacked in several ways I suddenly grasped the basics of what he was going to do. It's similar or the same, just upside-down, to some ancient traps found all over the world that Hunter Gatherer groups/tribes would create by building up stones, logs, and or earth while sometimes incorporating some available geological feature to make an area to spook a heard of animals into in order to make it easier to kill more animals at a time or bigger animals easier with less chance of getting injured themselves.

0:13 Chapter 10 29:00 Chapter 11

As a knight of Holy Roman Empire, i approve your chronicles

Good video, but are you mentioning that they milled corn, at 16:00? I thought corn was only introduced to Europe 1000 years later.

Belisarius one of the best Roman generals ever !

Love U!

O I missed this

Ye yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!!!

Great content, but I miss the original narration voice :-/

Still waiting for that Cortez and the Azteca video.....

My day was shit until five seconds ago

Did you use anything by J>B> Bury

Justinian's reprimanding of Belisarius really was just politics. Strong commenders weren't just a risk of betrayal, they were an alternative decenters could rally around. The challenges to the empire, much of it out of the Roman's control created instability. Justinian managed to successfully run the empire, push architecture and law that inflected Europe all without being a general. Without the climate and plague he'd arguably be behind Augustus in terms of achievement

What is the music in the outro? It's stunning!

The part of the map that details the distribution of peoples north of the Danube is grossly inaccurate, the Proto-Bulgars would've still resided in what is known as "Old Great Bulgaria", whereas the Avars would arrive in Europe only two decades later at the behest of the Roman emperor Tiberius who had invited them as Rome's Foederati against the Slavs and the Kutrigurs. During the 6th and 7th centuries, the most numerous and the most dangerous enemies to the ERE at the Danube were the Slavs - the Sclavenes and the Antes. Menander Protector: "(...) About the fourth year of the reign of Caesar Tiberius Constantine, some hundred thousand Slavs broke into Thrace and pillaged that and many other regions. As Greece was being laid waste by the Slavs, with trouble liable to flare up anywhere, and as Tiberius had at his disposal by no means sufficient forces, he sent a delegation to the Khagan of the Avars. (...)"

Just a thing, by 15:57 you mean grain, right?

See. I am here. Hello! 👋

The new Roman going for old Rome. What’s better than watching that?

Love your stuff, But Honestly Hopeful you're going to do something we haven't seen before.. Only have seen one deal on the Cambodian & Hendo/ India God Kings .. Have been researching an Its so Crazy Interesting, Iv lost my crusader spirit 🙈🙊

its almost like belisarius reminds me of aurelian

How was it possible that byzantian strenghth was reduced after the victory in Tunesia ? Shouldnt this have been a huge new source of income for the empire while losing next to nothing in terms of ressources invested ?

How did Belisarius mill corn on the Tiber river? Isn't the new world still 1000 years in the future? ;p

This narrator isn't the quality I'm use to from the channel. Seems a bit labored or bored. When you had done them, your voice has excitement about what you are teaching which makes it exciting to learn. That's just me. Still... great work. I mean really great. I've learned so much from this channel, watched for 2.5 yrs now.

What happen to the spanish history you left us right the edge of the age of exploration and the conquesta?

Wasn't this at the time of the supervolcanoes that caused cold climate and global famines?

47:00 Belacarious should have brought the goths to fight on the east

Did you get a new narrator?

👍👍👍...😁

there is no explaination why Belisarius arrived and invaded Italy with a smaller army than the one in North Afrika. He would have enough recruits and money from local taxes to build even a bigger army.

Corn? 🤔 In Rome at this time?

Nawet na to Słowianie mieli wpływ XD

Belisarius was a seriously lucky mf

Hmmm corn in 536 in Europe. They discovered America?

It's the Roman empire

There is an intelligent documentary to be made in English about Constantinople culture, and this isn't it. Byzantium was colonized by Greeks from Megara in the 7th century BC and remained primarily Greek-speaking until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in AD 1453. The most interesting things about Constantinople culture are Greek and ignored in this documentary. And the Eastern Roman Empire was Constantinople Greek and Greek orthodox Byzantine. Some Romans mostly peasants managed to flee to Constantinople from the Germanic people and were Saved by Greek Soldiers. The same Greek Soldiers that trained and Saved what was left of the Anglo-Saxons, after the Norman Conquest of England. Anglo-Saxons also fled to Constantinople because the kingdom of Byzantine became a popular destination for many Anglo-Saxon soldiers, as it was in need of mercenaries. Constantinople were Greek-speaking throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The Greeks were the main inhabitants of the lands of the Byzantine or (Eastern Roman Empire), of Constantinople and Asia Minor (modern Turkey), not Romans. The Crusader's were Latin Catholic and Germanic peoples, not even Romans. Germanic peoples Murdered , most of the Romans in Rome. So it was the Germanic Murderers, thieves, rapist who invaded Constantinople. The Catholic Church had no authority over Constantinople, because Rome was captured and destroyed and looted by the Germanic peasants. Germanic peasants were never even Christian. History of Constantinople is way more clear with a Hellenic education, and someone who speaks like a native Greek and not as an outsider/foreigner who learned Greek. Greece has more information than the internet. Fall Of Rome was the best thing that ever happened to humanity. It's just ashamed the Greeks didn't defeat the Germanic peasants and the Seljuk Turks. The world would have been far more advanced and peaceful today. No other small country can compare with Greece in terms of impact on human benefit. And that's a fact, indeed. The Greek emperor Alexios of Constantinople was appalled, indeed. Eventually the Islamic conquest got to undo all that the Latin crusaders had fought so hard for. what a lost for everybody even the lost of the Seljuk dynasty. The crusaders were just a bunch of unholy professional mercenaries that slaughtered people for money. Meaningless.

The maps of the balcans it’s not right. Macedonia? You maybe are totally ignorant or perhaps ignoring purposely the ilyria or albania of today. So sad that very important points off history are left aside even when ilyria was a very important maybe a major factor in the balcans during this time. Shame

Catholicism didn't exist in the times of Justinian.