Late Roman TFD (Topic For Discussion): Justinian I

[Timotheus]

As far as the small number of troops involved, I would like to bring up two points. First, if Procopius can be believed on this point (most scholars seem to think so), Justinian was hesitant in placing too many troops under Belisarius. And even though good ol' Belisarius would probably have not acted in a rebellious manner, one can easily understand the emperor's recalcitrance on the matter. Much more can be said about this, but I'll let you guys roll it over a bit. Second, Justinian seems to have been - how to put it - a cheapskate when it came to the military. 'As few as can do the job',seems to have been the mantra. He put very few soldiers into the area of operations, considering how many he could have used. This does not include mention of the Persian front, nor of the plague. But just a couple ideas.

Keep'em coming!

Name me an Emperor Eastern or Western who trusted large numbers of troops to a talented general and did not live to regret that choice.

[Ioannes_Ahenobarbus]

Define the term "trusted"...
I'm kidding of course! Well, Augustus began the tradition, and pretty much every emperor after him left legions and groups of legions under the leadership of someone else. Whether or not these men were talented is another matter, as well as if the emperor lived to regret it. There are numerous examples of both extremes.
But nevertheless, you bring up a good point. I do not wish to single out Justinian for this. After all, similar situations still occur in some places today.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

There were enough troops but too many generals.

I wonder which is worse, what you said, or too many troops and not enough generals? :lol:

But yes, the Balkans were regarded as sort of a backwater, at least as much as we can tell. Athens is not really included in the Balkan area. It was included in Greece, which the Romano-Byzantines differentiated from the Balkans. I guess the appropriate modern description for the "backward" area would be (approximately) everything west of Thrace to the Adriatic, and north of Macedonia to the Danube.

I see. Thanks for pointing that out... o

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

As far as the small number of troops involved, I would like to bring up two points. First, if Procopius can be believed on this point (most scholars seem to think so), Justinian was hesitant in placing too many troops under Belisarius. And even though good ol' Belisarius would probably have not acted in a rebellious manner, one can easily understand the emperor's recalcitrance on the matter. Much more can be said about this, but I'll let you guys roll it over a bit. Second, Justinian seems to have been - how to put it - a cheapskate when it came to the military. 'As few as can do the job',seems to have been the mantra. He put very few soldiers into the area of operations, considering how many he could have used. This does not include mention of the Persian front, nor of the plague. But just a couple ideas.

Keep'em coming!

Name me an Emperor Eastern or Western who trusted large numbers of troops to a talented general and did not live to regret that choice.

Vespasian.... :wink: True the general was his son....but they have been known to be nasty too! :wink:

[sonic]

As far as the small number of troops involved, I would like to bring up two points. First, if Procopius can be believed on this point (most scholars seem to think so), Justinian was hesitant in placing too many troops under Belisarius. And even though good ol' Belisarius would probably have not acted in a rebellious manner, one can easily understand the emperor's recalcitrance on the matter.
Second, Justinian seems to have been - how to put it - a cheapskate when it came to the military. 'As few as can do the job',seems to have been the mantra. He put very few soldiers into the area of operations, considering how many he could have used. This does not include mention of the Persian front, nor of the plague. But just a couple ideas.

Actually, he gave Belisarius quite a large army, and we shouldn't be too willing to accept Procopius' statements - or later scholars' interpretations of those statements - at face value.

Name me an Emperor Eastern or Western who trusted large numbers of troops to a talented general and did not live to regret that choice.

Vespasian.... :wink: True the general was his son....but they have been known to be nasty too! :wink:

Justinian. The troops he gave to Belisarius and, especially, to Narses the Eunuch, could easily have allowed them to claim/nominate somebody for the throne ahead of Justinian.

[Sardaukar]

As far as the small number of troops involved, I would like to bring up two points. First, if Procopius can be believed on this point (most scholars seem to think so), Justinian was hesitant in placing too many troops under Belisarius. And even though good ol' Belisarius would probably have not acted in a rebellious manner, one can easily understand the emperor's recalcitrance on the matter.
Second, Justinian seems to have been - how to put it - a cheapskate when it came to the military. 'As few as can do the job',seems to have been the mantra. He put very few soldiers into the area of operations, considering how many he could have used. This does not include mention of the Persian front, nor of the plague. But just a couple ideas.

Actually, he gave Belisarius quite a large army, and we shouldn't be too willing to accept Procopius' statements - or later scholars' interpretations of those statements - at face value.

Name me an Emperor Eastern or Western who trusted large numbers of troops to a talented general and did not live to regret that choice.

Vespasian.... :wink: True the general was his son....but they have been known to be nasty too! :wink:

Justinian. The troops he gave to Belisarius and, especially, to Narses the Eunuch, could easily have allowed them to claim/nominate somebody for the throne ahead of Justinian.

Justinianus would have been in deep trouble if Belisarius had accepted the offer from Osthrogoths for throne... (IIRC. they offered him rule of Italy).

[sonic]

Justinianus would have been in deep trouble if Belisarius had accepted the offer from Osthrogoths for throne... (IIRC. they offered him rule of Italy).

Yes, he would have been in trouble: but then again, any Emperor that allowed a general to have a large number of troops would have been in trouble if that general had decided to rebel.

However, I don't really think that there was ever any real danger of Belisarius accepting the offer. It would have meant an immediate war with the Empire and Belisarius did not have the resources to fight Justinian - especially as some of the commanders in Italy would not have supported his cause. Belisarius knew that any rebellion would have aroused the full might of the empire (compare the resources that Narses was later able to command to destroy the Goths) and Belisarius didn't have the troops available to win.

[Ioannes_Ahenobarbus]

Can we all agree that Justinian gave Belisarius 10,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry for the Vandalic expedition? This does not count Belisarius' rather large bodyguard, or the Huns and Heruli, nor sailors/marines.