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33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Perfect, But the Best Biography Available on a Great Man, July 25, 2009
This review is from: Belisarius: The Last Roman General (Hardcover)
First off, this book is a military history. Viewing it as anything else is going to be counterproductive. If you want a straight biography then you're just going to have to wait, or else you can read Lord Mahon's biography from the 1820s. So, the good points first. As a military biography it works. It works quite well in fact. Thanks to Procopius we have a great deal more information on Belisarius' career than on anyone else in that century. Certainly more than we have for any non-Emperor. And Hughes understanding of the military aspect of his career is almost flawless. I don't know what the other reviewer was talking about, I thought his enthusiasm for the era came through quite well. The book progresses in chronological order starting with a chapter on the political situation in Western Europe at the time. It details what little is known about Belisarius' past and private life as well as the lives of the other major players in the book. Some of this information is really thrust at you. A rather longer introduction would probably have been advisable. This section is definitely the weakest in the book. Once it gets onto his battles though, things start to pick up. Each battle has a diagram of the troop formations which is immensely helpful in following what happens during battles. The battle descriptions are easy to understand and the author makes clear their context in the whole war. Throughout Belisarius comes across as an inspired military leader and an expert strategist, although Hughes believes that his tactical ability was not as great as some of Rome's early generals. There are a number of rather nice illustrations, but several of them are reconstructions and several more are taken from other books. It gives the book a hastily thrown together look and I wonder if there was a deadline involved. The weaknesses of this book come about where it tries to be anything other than a military history. The political situation is rather rushed through (Although he does have interesting thoughts about Belisarius' wife Antonia and where she fit in) and the economic and social conditions are barely mentioned. This is the only reason I rate this book as less than five stars. If it had billed itself as a purely military biography I'd have given it that extra one. The other issue in terms of the Italian war is that it only covers the section where Belisarius is directly involved. There is an obvious reason for that, but it does make it confusing when he goes back. I'd recommend this book be read in conjunction with The Gothic War to get the full picture. I'd also recommend Hughes' other book Stilicho: The Vandal Who Saved Rome. It deals with a somewhat earlier period but it covers the material in a similar way.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An enjoyable bio of a great general, August 21, 2009
This review is from: Belisarius: The Last Roman General (Hardcover)
Belisarius is a fascinating historical figure--a virtuous man in an age of strife, corruption, and transition--and the right hand man of the last great Roman Emperor, Justinian. Often compared to the greatest generals in history, Belisarius achieved more militarily, with fewer resources, than any general in history.
When I saw this new biography, I snapped it up immediately. Having read the previous biography by Lord Mahon written over 150 years ago, as well as the complete works of Procopius, the History of Agathias, the Chronicle of John Malalas, the Paschal Chronicle, etc., I was impressed with how Hughes made use of the considerable primary source material at his disposal. Most heartening of all, he does not rely overmuch on the scandalous "Secret History" and does not spend more time than is warranted on the supposed sexual escapades of Belisarius's wife, Antonina. To his further credit, Hughes avoids a particular bugbear of mine--blaming Pope Silverius for attempting to betray Rome to the Goths during the first siege. His overall historical grasp of the period seemed very impressive indeed.
Though Hughes's scholarship is not up to the level of Lord Mahon's encyclopedic 19th century standards, it is more than adequate to his purpose. He offers archaeological detail not available in Mahon's day, as well as a detailed look at the arms and armaments of the Persian, Vandalic, and Gothic antagonists of Belisarius. He does succumb to the modern tendency to disbelieve the numbers of troops given by the ancient historians and adjust them so that the victor is invariably shown to have an equal or greater number of troops on hand than the defeated party--a trend popularized by Hans Delbruck in the 19th century. Suffice it to say that I disagree strongly with this method of computation which is often done on the flimsiest of pretenses.
The book itself is an attractive artifact. The writing is good and the numerous illustrations are well placed and help bring the text to life. The inclusion of battle maps is a great boon and allows the reader to better visualize how the various actions developed. I felt that the work ended somewhat abruptly, and Hughes's cursory and dismissive treatment of the legend of the blind Belisarius begging for his bread was unwarranted, particularly considering the amount of effort his predecessor, Lord Mahon, took to prove the veracity of the legend.
Over all, I was well satisfied with this fair and even-handed treatment of Belisarius and recommend it to anyone interested in the man or his times. If this one piques your curiosity, you might also enjoy Lord Mahon's much denser Life of Belisarius, or the historical fiction biography of the general's early life, Belisarius: The First Shall Be Last. Or, you might just dive into the original histories written by Belisarius's secretary, Procopius, which make for great reading in their own right and are readily available in English translation. Start with History of the Wars, The Persian War and go on from there.
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19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but a small disappointment, May 17, 2009
This review is from: Belisarius: The Last Roman General (Hardcover)
There not being a full accounting of the life of the underappreciated Belisarius since that of Lord Mahon over 150 years ago, I was eagerly awaiting publication of this book. I really wanted to like it but it fell just short.
To be charitable, this book did not flow for me - you want the author's enthusiasm for the subject to pick you up and carry you through the narrative, but "Belisaurius, The Last Roman General" was somewhat flat. While not as dry as some books meant only a scholarly audience, neither does it soar like so many popular biographies.
On the plus side, Hughes does an excellent job interpreting the meager and contradictory primary sources. He presents all sides of any historical argument fairly and reaches rationale and compelling conclusions. Hughes does an excellent job of setting the scene of battle and describing the military capacities of each side. He finishes every campaign with a solid summary and evaluation of Belisauius' actions. For that alone, this book is well worth the price. I rated it three stars for average, but probably should have said three and a half stars for slightly above average.
Hughes convincingly makes the case that Belisarius was that rare blend of strategical and tactical genius, combined with a strong force of character. I think this book is not for the casual reader of biography, but will be of interest to those who love reading Roman and Byzantine history. To those readers, I would recommend this book.
The test of any biography is whether you feel as if you know and understand that person better after reading the book - unfortunately, I did not. I blame this as much on the dearth of good primary sources as anything else. But I fear poor unsung Belisarius will have to continue to wait for his consummate biography a little while longer.
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