Customer Reviews

Belisarius: The First Shall Be Last

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Belisarius: The First Shall Be Last by Paolo Belzoni is a first novel and Book I in a trilogy about the famed Byzantine general who briefly expanded the Roman Empire again. The eminent historian Procopius was attached to Belisarius as legal secretary when the latter got his first major command, and the author follows the "Histoy of the Wars" closely, and most likely also the highly libelous "Secret History".

The Persian wars take up much of the story, and military history buffs will enjoy the depictions of the various campaigns and the battle scenes.

Life in Constantinople, at the imperial court, and in the army, is imaginatively handled. Belisarius and most other major characters in the story are well-developed. On the down side, the prose is often awkward, and irksome modern colloquialisms creep in. The book cries out for a good, old-fashioned editor.

The intended readership is Adult/Young Adult.

The once invincible Roman Empire has been collapsing from within as much as from the barbarians attacking at the edges. Most citizens regardless of locale feel strongly that the great state is going in the wrong direction with little hope for the future. That changes when war hero Justin is offered the throne and accepts after rejecting the emperor position in the past. His rise from common birth to soldier to leader to emperor brings new hope of a cleansing. His heir nephew Justinian rules the kingdom in Justin's name, but though all know this no one cares as a rebirthing of optimism is everywhere.

Justinian wants real leaders to take charge of the legions not noble connections. Soldiers like Belisarius in Thrace join with a chance to make their mark after learning to fight by defeating looters. He and his friends join Justin's military and quickly become part of the Imperial household guard. With trouble on the eastern flank from the Persians, the competent Belisarius is sent to Constantinople to battle the enemy where he meets his assertive future spouse Antonina. He moves up the ranks as the Persian Wars occupy the eastern legions.

BELISARIUS, Liber 1 of a biographical fiction saga, is a superb Ancient Rome tale that brings to life one of the last great generals of the empire focusing on the Persian Wars; thus the story line reads for the most part as a fictionalization of military history. Told almost exclusively from the Roman perspective especially that of the lead hero; his side in the conflict comes across as honorable while the enemy consists of murderous thugs; to the victors go the fictionalized history books. Although readers will have to overcome the tiny font size, teens and adults will appreciate this spotlight into sixth century Rome at a time when the empire and in some chronicles of the time the world was on the brink of collapse as cultures collide.

Harriet Klausner

Belisarius Liber I is a decent read. the author manages to make dry history very entertaining. The author keeps an ugly world at a PG level and disallows boredom. Belzoni portrays even an empathy for the Persians and I like that. He is not a historian with xenophobic intent and that is what really brings my high rating along with the readability. I hope that this book interests young adults in Byzantine history and makes readers sorrowful of the iconoclasm.

I truly enjoy discovering new authors and books. I just finished reading Belisarius: The First Shall Be Last by Paolo A. Belzoni (Kindle version).

In a nutshell, I loved it. This is a great one to read yourself, especially if you like historical fiction. You can also give it to just about any high school student. You could give it to a middle school student but know ahead of time that there are graphic war scenes and it does touch on the fact that some characters, well, lack character. That is to say some of the males are womanizers and some of the females have a past.

However, a book written with only perfect characters is worthless. How do we learn from their mistakes if they don't make them? How do we learn that we too can be heroes if the book's hero is far beyond our grasp?

I have to admit that Belisarius does possess great humility and piety with just a few stumbles. However, he is not without trials. He rises up from a simple farm boy to a great general in the Roman army. He meets failure on the battle field but perseveres and learns from his mistakes. He is met with temptations but stands strong. He is a model for us and for our children that with tenacity, hard work and dedication combined with strong principles you can achieve greatness.

In addition to being a good, uplifting story, Belisarius can be tied into your history studies. The book begins in 504 AD. Throughout the story, the Roman Empire is struggling with the Barbarians on one front and the Persians attacking on another. We follow Belisarius from childhood to manhood and we see how he changes history through his skill and dedication. He is considered by historians to be "The Last of the Romans".

In our homeschool, we'll be studying the Middle Ages in the upcoming school year. We'll begin in September with the 6th Century. We plan to read a large variety of historical fiction to accompany our studies, and Belisarius: The First Shall Be Last is, fittingly enough by it's title, shall be first on the reading list.

I do have one quibble and it isn't even about the story. The cover of the book is quite nice but to me it says, "This is a book for younger children." In my opinion, this is a book for high school to adult. Other than that, and a few minor editing errors, I truly loved this book. It's a story worth reading.

Note that this is the first in a series of two books so you don't get a nice clean ending. I hope to get to Belisarius: Glory of the Romans (Belisarius Series) soon. Very soon.

All I can say is Wow!

This story has something for everyone: swashbuckling adventure; palace intrigue; faith; politics; battle strategy; true history; and much, much more. Advertised as a story for "young adults", or "young males", I enjoyed every word of it, and I am a female enjoying her 70th decade. The images of these historical figures just jumped off of the pages and burned themselves firmly into into my imagination. The helpful glossary in the back kept me on track through events in a period that I previously had known little about.

Skeptic that I am, I looked up many of the characters and was delighted to learn that these people really existed and really led these adventurous lives. It was a real page turner. I finished Book I of this series this afternoon and can hardly wait to start Book II. I understand that Belzoni has promised Book III, and I hope that it hits the shelves soon. I'd love to see these stories transmitted to the movies.

This is the 1st book of a trilogy being written by Paolo A.Belzoni. Do no let the cover fool you, it is not as childish as it misleads it to be. I must admit that I wasn't expecting it to be satisfying, but was I in for a surprise.

This is a tale of coming to manhood with ancient warfare, political intrigue at Byzantine court, and a tinge of a romance brewing in the background. I recommend it to all, old and young especially to military buffs.

The main character, Belisarius, is a devout Orthodox Christian, but the book would still appeal to people with other beliefs. Although the book is only 248 pages, the print is smaller than the norm and the pages are used to their fullest capacity.

Recommended

Very well done dramatization of the early life of Belisarius. Look forward to Volume II.

My high school age son recently finished this book. As he was reading it, he repeatedly said "this is really a good book". I take such comments seriously as he is a rather discerning reader. He doesn't often comment so profusely and so favorably when reading assigned material. Granted, this book will have more appeal to males overall due to the subject matter.

He is a quite advanced reader for a young man of almost seventeen. This book is likely not a good choice for younger than 7th or 8th grade and I would revise that upward for struggling readers.