1 - The Careers of Justinian's Generals

Summary

From A.D. 545 to 546, Totila, the king of the Ostrogoths, besieged the city of Rome. The general in charge of the Byzantine garrison in Rome was Bessas, himself a Goth born in Thrace. The historian Procopius of Caesarea tells us that Bessas was lethargic in the defense of Rome and, more than that, used his powers as a general to extort money from the populace by selling the scarce grain within the city at enormously inflated prices. When Rome fell to Totila in 546, Bessas fled the city. The fall of Rome just six years after the general Belisarius had apparently pacified Italy was with good reason seen as a disaster. Bessas was in disgrace. Yet less than four years later, he again received a major appointment, as the general of Armenia, and was sent to Lazica in the Caucasus to take charge of operations against the Persians. Once there he acted vigorously and apparently with immense personal valor, leading his troops in capturing the city of Petra in 551. This restored his reputation so much that Procopius reported that by this one act he salvaged his reputation as a general and “became once more an object of respectful admiration among all men.” Yet three years later, facing new military reverses in Lazica through his own neglect, Bessas was dismissed from the service, deprived of his property, and exiled to live in Abasgia in the Caucasus.