title: Belisarius

text: Following Justin's death in 527, the new emperor, Justinian I, appointed Belisarius to command a Roman army in the east, despite earlier defeats. In June/July 530, during the Iberian War, he led the Romans to a stunning victory over the Sassanids in the Battle of Dara. This victory caused the Persian king Kavad I to open peace negotiations with the Byzantines. At the battle Belisarius had dug trenches in order to direct the more mobile Sassanian force to a location where he could attack them from the rear, this was adopted from the Sasanians at Tanurin two years earlier.


title: Belisarius

text: On other fronts, the Byzantine forces were also winning. The Persians and their Arab allies, with a mobile force of 15,000 high-quality cavalries, invaded Byzantine lands again, now via Euphratensis, a route they had never taken before. Belisarius was taken by surprise and was unsure whether this was a feint or a real attack, so at first, he did not move. He called upon Roman-allied Arab tribes for help and received 5,000 troops. He forced the Persians to retreat with a successful strategic maneuver but he kept pursuing the fleeing Persians, reportedly because his soldiers threatened mutiny if no battle was fought. With 20,000 Byzantines and 5,000 Arabs he moved against the Persians, but he was defeated by Callinicum (modern Raqqa) despite heavy numerical superiority, as the opposing commander, Azarethes, was a tactician as good as himself. Belisarius fled the field probably long before the fighting was over. This setback cost Justinian a chance to sign an early peace treaty as the shah regained confidence in the war effort. While the war went on after Dara and Callinicum, the death of the Persian shah, Kavad I, soon led to a peace treaty. The new shah, Khosrow, saw Justinian was anxious to sign for peace and thought he could quickly reach a favorable peace, such as the so-called eternal peace which heavily favored the Persians. Belisarius was recalled to Constantinople and charged with incompetence and responsibility for the defeats at Thannuris and Callinicum, but after an investigation, he was cleared of the charges against him.


title: Belisarius

text: In Constantinople, Justinian had been carrying out reforms of the empire. In this, he had been assisted by John the Cappadocian and Tribunianus, who were corrupt. The corruption of John and Tribunianus; the curbing of corruption of other influential figures; loss of influence and employment because of a decrease in funding for the civil service; Justinian's low birth; extremely high taxes; cruel methods of tax collection; the curbing of the power of the chariot racing factions; and the execution of rioters led to great anger among the population, culminating in the Nika riots of 532. The riots were led by the chariot racing factions—the blues and the greens. At the time the riots broke out, Belisarius was in Constantinople. Belisarius, Mundus—the "magister militum per Illyricum"—renowned as a great commander, and Narses, a eunuch and confidant of Justinian who would later also be known as a great commander, were called upon to suppress the revolt. At this point, much of the city had been burned by the rioters, but the blue faction began to calm down, and after Narses distributed gifts to them, many returned home while others began spreading moderate views among the other rebels. Belisarius tried to enter the hippodrome, where the rioters were gathered, through the emperor's box but was blocked by its guards. Belisarius was surprised and informed Justinian, who ordered him to enter from another direction. Entering the hippodrome, he wanted to arrest Hypatius, who was declared emperor by the rioters. Hypatius was defended by guards who Belisarius would first need to eliminate, but if he attacked, the rioters would be at his rear. Belisarius decided to deal with the rioters and, bypassing the door to Hypatius' location, charged into the crowd. Mundus, hearing the sound of battle, also charged while Narses blocked the other exits in order to trap the rioters. Thus the revolt ended in a massacre. At least 30,000 and up to 60,000 died, mostly unarmed civilians.


title: Belisarius

text: In 533, Belisarius began a campaign against the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa. The Byzantines had political, religious, and strategic reasons for such a campaign. The Vandals, being Arians, persecuted Nicene Christians, refused to mint coins with depictions of the emperor on them, and had banished the Roman nobility, replacing them with a Germanic elite. The recent Byzantine emperors had spent much effort on reunifying pro-Chalcedonian and anti-Chalcedonian Christians and uniting the eastern and western parts of the church, so the prosecution of "good" Christians by Arian heretics was an especially big issue. The persecution had started after the popular and successful Vandal military leader Gelimer had overthrown his cousin, the king, Hilderic, a childhood friend of Justinian, in the year 530. In a recent war against the native Berbers, the Vandals had lost 5,000 men in two decisive defeats; only when Gelimer was appointed commander did the tide shift. As king, Gelimer acquired a reputation for greed and cruelty and became unpopular with the people and nobility. Two revolts broke out at nearly exactly the same time, probably orchestrated by Justinian. With a large number of Vandals killed by the Berbers, and the Ostrogoths still angry because of the actions of Hilderic, the Vandals were perceived to be weak. Using the fact that Gelimer had defied him, and the pleas of African Catholics as justification, Justinian sent an invasion force.


title: Belisarius

text: There were multiple reasons to choose Belisarius to lead such an expedition. He had shown military competence at Dara, been cleared of incompetence in his other battles by an inquiry, and was a friend to the emperor and thus obviously loyal to him. As an inhabitant of Germana, which was in or near Illyricum and west-oriented, and a "native" speaker of Latin, he wasn't considered an untrustworthy Greek by the natives. Belisarius was reappointed Magister Militum per Orientem and given command of the expedition. This time Belisarius would be free from dual command for the duration of the war.


title: Belisarius

text: The expedition consisted of 5,000 high quality Byzantine cavalry under multiple commanders, 10,000 infantry under overall command of John of Epidamnus, Belisarius' guard, mercenaries (including 400 Heruls led by Pharas, noted by Procopius for their excellence, and 600 Huns under multiple commanders) and finally a contingent of foederati of unknown size led by Dorotheus, Magister Militum per Armeniam, and Solomon, Belisarius' "domesticus". As praetorian prefect, in charge of the logistics of the army, Belisarius got Archelaus, an extremely experienced officer, in order to lighten the burden of command. In total the force is estimated to have been around 17,000 strong, while 500 transport ships and 92 warships crewed by 30,000 sailors and 2,000 marines were also put under Belisarius' command. While it is the view of many that Belisarius set sail for North Africa with "only" 15,000 soldiers to conquer the region, his force included more troops and many sailors. It was a well balanced force with quite possibly a larger percentage of high-quality troops than the armies facing Persia. Gelimer probably had only 20,000 men at his disposal at this time and his force had no horse archers or units fit to fight them, and he had fewer and lower-quality officers.


title: Belisarius

text: In June 533, the army embarked from Constantinople. On the expedition alcohol was forbidden. When on the way two drunken Huns killed another soldier, Belisarius had them executed to reinforce discipline. Such a cruel measure might have undermined his authority and given him the reputation of a cruel leader, but he prevented negative repercussions with a speech. Belisarius had the staff-ships marked and lanterns put up so that they would always be visible. The use of signals kept the fleet organized and sailing close together, even at night, and was praised heavily by Procopius. By the time they arrived at Sicily, 500 men had died after eating improperly prepared bread. Belisarius quickly acquired fresh bread from the locals. He would make several extra stops during his journey to acquire extra bread during the voyage. In Methone he also organized his forces. Before the Byzantines could cross over to Gothic Sicily, where they were allowed to stop on their way to Africa by the pro-Byzantine, anti-Vandal queen Amalasuntha, they had to cross the Adriatic Sea. Despite acquiring fresh water, the weather caused the water supply to spoil before arrival, and only Belisarius and a select few others had access to unspoiled water. In Sicily Procopius was sent to acquire supplies from Syracuse and gather intelligence about the Vandals' recent activities. There he found out that the Vandals had taken no measures to defend against a Byzantine invasion, and in fact were unaware one was coming. Procopius also found out that most of the Vandal fleet was occupied around Sardinia. At this point Dorotheus died and Belisarius and his troops were demoralized, but when they heard Procopius' discovery they quickly left for Africa. In total, unfavorable winds had protracted their journey to 80 days. Despite the long duration, the journey went better than that of any other Roman invasion of Vandal Africa; all three others ended before reaching the coast. During and before the journey to Africa, Belisarius had no chance to personally train his units, which would make his campaign in Africa more difficult. This was in contrast to his campaign in the east; unit cohesion was especially lacking during this invasion.


title: Belisarius

text: While the full conquest of Africa is often portrayed as the original objective of the campaign, it is unlikely this was actually the case. Belisarius had the full authority to act in any way he saw fit. Only when Belisarius was already in Sicily was the choice made to sail straight for the Vandal heartland. If the Vandal fleet had been ready, such an operation would have been unlikely to succeed. When information arrived in Constantinople it was already weeks, if not months, old, so it seems unlikely that Justinian in Constantinople would have made the decision on whether to move on the area at all. Only at Sicily would one be in any kind of position to decide on how to proceed. Since Justinian had been reluctant to launch a campaign in the first place and Hilderic was still alive at this point, conquest seems not to have been the absolute intention. On the other hand, Justinian had lost almost all of his prestige and much of his power through defeat by Persia, the Nika riots, the slow progress of the current legal reforms and the failure of his quest for reconciliation in the church. He would need some kind of victory to repair his prestige. Capturing the undefended region of Tripolitania, which lacked Vandal settlement almost entirely, was currently rebelling, and whose vulnerability could be detected from Constantinople, would be such a victory. As such, this seems likely to have been his minimal demand. If successful, the Byzantines could use this region as a springboard to conquer the entire country later on, giving an extra reason to make it the minimal demand of the campaign. As such, it is Belisarius' decision at Sicily that initiated Justinian's reconquest.


title: Belisarius

text: With Gelimer being four days inland and his troops scattered, Belisarius could have taken Carthage before the Vandals even knew he was coming and certainly before they were in a position to react. Archelaus argued in favor of this approach, pointing out that Carthage was the only place in the Vandal Kingdom which had a fortified harbor. Belisarius considered potentially being cornered in Carthage, with the Vandals holding a superior naval position, his forces vulnerable to attack when landing, and no information on the position of the Vandals to be too dangerous. There also was the risk of unfavorable winds which had led to disaster in 468; they might be trapped in an unfavorable situation before even reaching Carthage. Instead the Byzantines landed at Caput Vada, away from Carthage. Belisarius ordered fortification to be constructed, guards to be posted and a screen of lightships to be deployed to defend the army and fleet, so that this invasion would not be a repeat of the Battle of Cape Bon where the Byzantines were defeated by fire ships. During the construction of the base, a spring was found, which Procopius called a good omen from God.


title: Belisarius

text: When he heard of the Byzantine landing, Gelimer rapidly moved to consolidate his position. He had Hilderic and other captives executed, ordered his treasury to be put on a ship ready for evacuation to Visigothic Iberia if necessary, and began gathering his troops. He had already made a plan to ambush and encircle the Byzantines at Ad Decimum. Gelimer had instantly recognized that the Byzantines would move to Carthage via the coastal road, but still sent garrisons to guard other roads.


title: Belisarius

text: At the same time that Gelimer was preparing his ambush, Belisarius was gathering information on the local inhabitants and preparing to move to Carthage via the coastal road, as Gelimer expected. During the first night on African soil, some Byzantine soldiers had picked some fruit without asking the locals for permission, and Belisarius had them put to death. Only after he had already ordered the soldiers to be executed did Belisarius gather his men and tell them how to behave. He warned his men that if they didn't have the support from the locals, the expedition would end in defeat. Next, he sent a unit of his personal guards under Boriades to the town of Syllectus (Salakta) to test the willingness of the locals to join his side. Boriades was denied entry to the town, but after three days eventually gained entry by joining a group of wagons entering the town. When the locals found out the Byzantines were in the town, they submitted without a fight. The Byzantines also captured a Vandal messenger who Belisarius decided to release. The messenger was paid to spread the message that Justinian was only waging war on the man who had imprisoned their rightful king, and not against the Vandal people. The messenger was too afraid of the possible repercussions to tell it to anyone but close friends. Even though this early attempt failed, Belisarius made it well known throughout the campaign that he was only there to restore the rightful king.


title: Belisarius

text: When Belisarius advanced again, he positioned his troops in such a way that he and his guards could rapidly reinforce any position that could be attacked, especially the flank, as the last known Vandal position was to the south and the army moved north. He also sent 300 guards ahead to scout while the 600 Huns guarded his left flank, and the fleet his right flank. When the army arrived in Syllectus, their civilized behavior caused the city to give their full support to the Byzantines. This positive reputation of the Byzantine army began immediately spreading, causing much of the population to support the Byzantines. Marching at the speed of around to a day, the Byzantines advanced on Carthage, their speed dictated by the need to build a fortified camp every day.


title: Belisarius

text: When Belisarius was away from Carthage, he knew the Vandals would be near at this point and that they would act before he could reach Carthage, but he was not aware of the location and wanted to gather information of his situation first. Part of the rearguard encountered a Vandal force sent ahead by Gelimer, which gave Belisarius the knowledge that at least some Vandal troops were behind his own force. His journey now became increasingly dangerous as the fleet had to sail around Cape Bon and the road curved inland so it became impossible to rapidly evacuate, which he could have done at any time he wanted until this point. Belisarius ordered Archelaus and the naval commander Calonymus remain at a distance of at least from Carthage. He advanced on land with about 18,000 men himself. Soon he would encounter Gelimer at Ad Decimum.


title: Belisarius

text: The Byzantines were located in between the Vandal forces in the north and the south. Gelimer needed a victory at Ad Decimum to unite his forces. Numbering about 10,000–12,000, the Vandals were outnumbered. The valley in which the ambush was to take place was narrow, and as two of the three roads to Carthage became one in the valley, it seemed like a great spot for an ambush to Gelimer. Ammatus, with 6,000–7,000 men, was ordered to block the northern exit and attack the Byzantines head-on, then drive them further back into the valley and cause disorder. Meanwhile, 5,000–6,000 Vandals under Gelimer were already advancing towards Belisarius from the south as the earlier clash showed; these would be in the near vicinity when Belisarius entered the valley and would attack them from behind, after all the Byzantines had moved into the valley. Brogna states that this plan was doomed to fail, as coordination over dozens of miles was needed, however, Hughes disagrees and calls the plan "elegant and simple", but does state that the plan relied too much on hard to pull off timing and synchronization.


title: Belisarius

text: The battle consisted of four separate stages. Four miles (6.5 km) from Ad Decimum, Belisarius found an ideal spot to camp. Leaving the infantry behind to build a camp, he rode out with his cavalry to meet the Vandals who he suspected were nearby. This way he left his infantry, baggage, and wife in a secure position. Unlike the large infantry force, he would easily be able to control this small force of cavalry, which was the main strength of the Byzantine army. When Belisarius arrived at the battlefield, the first three stages of the battle had already taken place. The Byzantines sent ahead to scout and the Huns guarding the flank had routed the numerically superior forces opposing them. Before Belisarius arrived at the field of battle, he encountered some units routed by Gelimer's army, who informed him of the situation in the third stage, when Gelimer himself arrived. As Belisarius arrived, Gelimer saw his brother Ammatus killed in combat. Mourning, he remained idle and allowed Belisarius to attack his force while it was in a disorganized state in the fourth and last stage of the battle.


title: Belisarius

text: After this victory, Belisarius marched on Carthage. He arrived at nightfall. He then camped outside the city as he was afraid of a Vandal ambush in its streets and of his troops sacking the city under the cover of darkness. When Calonymus heard of the victory, he used part of his fleet to rob a number of merchants. Belisarius ordered him to give everything back, even though Calonymus secretly managed to keep it. The Vandals hiding in Carthage and the surrounding area were gathered in Carthage by Belisarius, who guaranteed their safety. When Tzazo, the Vandal commander fighting the rebellion on Sardinia, sent a message of his victory to Carthage, the messenger was captured, providing Belisarius with intelligence on the strategic situation. Belisarius also had Carthage's wall repaired. The news of the capture of Carthage had reached Iberia by then, and its king refused to make an alliance with the envoy Gelimer had sent earlier. Due to Belisarius' benevolence, many cities of Africa changed sides, so it became impossible for Gelimer to fight a protracted campaign. Before making his next move, Gelimer had received reinforcements under Tzazo and tried to convince some of Belisarius' forces to desert. Belisarius prevented their desertion, but for example, the Huns would not take part in the battle until after the winner had been practically decided. When a Carthaginian civilian was caught working for the Vandals, Belisarius had him publicly executed.


title: Belisarius

text: Later a second battle was fought at Tricamarum. In this battle, Belisarius played only an advisory role to John the Armenian as he arrived at the battlefield later on. After winning that battle, Belisarius sent John the Armenian to chase Gelimer. John was killed by accident and Gelimer managed to escape to Medeus, a town on Mount Papua (probably part of Mount Aurasius) The 400 Heruls under Pharis were to besiege it. Gelimer's treasure failed to depart and was captured and the king of the Visigoths, Theudis, refused an alliance with Gelimer. After a failed assault in which Pharis lost 110 men, Gelimer surrendered. Meanwhile, Belisarius himself had been reorganizing the captured territory and had sent Cyril on a mission to capture Sardinia which would capture that island, and later also Corsica. The effort to locate and gather Vandal soldiers was still going on; in this way, the class on which the entire Vandal military and political systems were based could be wholly deported to the east and Vandal power forever broken. Jealous subordinates now contacted Justinian and claimed Belisarius wanted to rebel. Belisarius was presented with a choice by Justinian: he could either continue governing the new territory as its official governor or return to Constantinople and get a triumph. If he wanted to rebel he was sure to choose the governorship, but instead he chose the triumph, convincing Justinian of his loyalty once again. The entire war was over before the end of 534.


title: Belisarius

text: Sometime after Belisarius left, a mutiny broke out in Africa. Soldiers angry about religious persecution by the Byzantines, and the inability of the empire to pay them, rose up en masse and nearly broke Byzantine rule in the area. Belisarius would return for a short while, just before the Gothic War, to help fight the revolt. When the rebels heard of his arrival, they lifted the siege of Carthage, which at the beginning of the siege had numbered 9,000 plus many slaves. Belisarius attacked them with just 2,000 troops, winning a victory in the Battle of the River Bagradas. During the battle, Stotzas, the rebel leader, tried to move his army into a new position in front of the Byzantine force. When the units moved, Belisarius took advantage of their temporary disarray and launched a successful attack against them, which caused the entire rebel army to panic and flee. The rebels' power was broken and Belisarius left for Italy.


title: Belisarius

text: In 535, Justinian commissioned Belisarius to attack the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy. The Ostrogothic king Theodahad had gained the throne by marriage. Power had been held, however, by the pro-Byzantine queen Amalasuintha, until Theodahad had her imprisoned and then killed. Seeing internal division similar to that in Africa, Justinian expected the Goths to be weak. Belisarius assembled 4,000 troops, which included regular troops and possibly foederati, 3,000 Isaurians, 300 Berbers and 200 Huns. In total, including his personal guards, his force numbered roughly 8,000. Belisarius landed in Sicily and took the island in order to use it as a base against Italy, while Mundus recovered Dalmatia. Justinian wanted to pressure Theodahad into relinquishing his throne and to then annex his kingdom through diplomacy and limited military action. This worked at first, but the army in the Balkans retreated. and the war continued. Belisarius pushed on in Sicily. The only Ostrogothic resistance came at Panormus, which fell after a quick siege. Here Belisarius used archer fire from the top of the masts of his ships to subdue the garrison. He made a triumphal entry to Syracuse on 31 December 535. The preparations for the invasion of the Italian mainland were interrupted in Easter 536 when Belisarius sailed to Africa to counter an uprising of the local army (as described above). His reputation made the rebels abandon the siege of Carthage, and Belisarius pursued and defeated them at Membresa.


title: Belisarius

text: Afterwards he returned to Sicily and then crossed into mainland Italy, where he captured Naples in November and Rome in December 536. Before reaching Naples, he had met no resistance as the troops in southern Italy were disgusted by Theodahad and switched sides. At Naples a strong Gothic garrison resisted the Byzantines using its strong fortifications. Belisarius could not operate safely at Rome with such a strong garrison in his rear. He could neither storm the strong fortifications nor conduct a lengthy siege which could be interrupted by Gothic reinforcements, while bribery and negotiation attempts also failed. He couldn't use his fleet either as there was artillery on the wall. Then Belisarius cut the aqueduct, but the city had enough wells, so he resorted to making many costly, failed assaults. After their failure, Belisarius planned on abandoning the siege and marching on Rome. By chance, however, an entrance to the city via an aqueduct was found and a small Byzantine force entered the city. When this force had entered the city, Belisarius launched an all-out assault so the Goths couldn't concentrate against the intruders. Despite having taken the city by force, he showed leniency to the city and garrison, so as to entice as many other Goths to join his side or surrender later on; this way he would avoid costly action as much as possible and preserve his small force. The failure to reinforce the city caused Theodahad to be deposed. While the new Gothic king, Vitiges, had sent a garrison to Rome, the city was left undefended as the troops fled after noticing the pro-Byzantine attitude of the population. Much of Tuscany submitted willingly to Belisarius' troops at this point. Belisarius garrisoned towns on the supply lines from the Gothic heartland in the north to Rome, forcing Vitiges to besiege these towns before he could march on Rome.


title: Belisarius

text: From March 537 to March 538 Belisarius successfully defended Rome against the much larger army of Vitiges. He inflicted heavy casualties by launching many successful sorties. While the range of the horse archers Belisarius used has often been credited with the success of these raids in the terrain around Rome, this wouldn't make sense. Instead, it was the Gothic unpreparedness and the command expertise of Byzantine officers which made sure the Goths were unable to respond. When Vitiges tried to post units to prevent these raids, Belisarius sent out bigger units that encircled them; the Gothic officers proved unable to counter this. Eighteen days into the siege, the Goths launched an all-out assault, and Belisarius ordered a number of archers to shoot at the oxen pulling the siege equipment. As a result, the assault failed with heavy casualties. When the Goths retreated from a certain section of the wall, Belisarius launched an attack on their rear, inflicting extra casualties. However, when he tried to end the siege by sallying out with a large force, Vitiges used his numbers to absorb the attack and then to counter-attack, winning the battle. Regardless, Vitiges was losing the siege, so he decided to make one last attempt on the wall which ran along the Tiber, where the wall was much less formidable. He bribed men to give the guards drugged wine, but the plot was revealed and Belisarius had a traitor tortured and mutilated as a punishment. An armistice had been signed shortly before, but with both the Goths and the Byzantines openly breaking it, the war continued. By then Byzantine forces had captured Ariminum (Rimini) and approached Ravenna, so Vitiges was forced to retreat. The siege had lasted from March 537 to March 538.


title: Belisarius

text: Belisarius sent 1,000 men to support the population of Mediolanum (Milan) against the Goths. These forces captured much of Liguria, garrisoning the major towns in the region. Belisarius captured Urbinum (Urbino) in December 538, when the Gothic garrison ran out of water after a three-day siege.


title: Belisarius

text: During the siege of Rome, an incident occurred for which the general would be long condemned: Belisarius, a Byzantine Rite Christian, was commanded by the monophysite Christian Empress Theodora to depose the reigning Pope, who had been installed by the Goths. This Pope was the former subdeacon Silverius, the son of Pope Hormisdas. Belisarius was to replace him with the Deacon Vigilius, Apocrisarius of Pope John II in Constantinople. Vigilius had in fact been chosen in 531 by Pope Boniface II to be his successor, but this choice was strongly criticised by the Roman clergy and Boniface eventually reversed his decision.


title: Belisarius

text: In 537, at the height of the siege, Silverius was accused of conspiring with the Gothic king and several Roman senators to secretly open the gates of the city. Belisarius had him stripped of his vestments and exiled to Patara in Lycia in Asia Minor. Following the advocacy of his innocence by the bishop of Patara, he was ordered to return to Italy at the command of the Emperor Justinian, and if cleared by investigation, reinstated. However, Vigilius had already been installed in his place. Silverius was intercepted before he could reach Rome and exiled once more, this time on the island of Palmarola (Ponza), where by one account he is said to have starved to death, while others say he left for Constantinople. However that may be, he remains the patron saint of Ponza today.


title: Belisarius

text: Belisarius, for his part, built a small oratory on the site of the present church of Santa Maria in Trivio in Rome as a sign of his repentance. He also built two hospices for pilgrims and a monastery, which have since disappeared.


title: Belisarius

text: Belisarius ordered the cavalry garrison of Ariminum to be replaced by infantry. In this way the cavalry could join with other cavalry forces and use their mobility outside of the city, while the infantry under some obscure commander guarding the city would draw less attention to the city than a strong cavalry force under John. Vitiges sent a large army to retake Mediolanum while he moved to besiege Ariminum himself. Vitiges tried to hinder the Byzantine movement by garrisoning an important tunnel on the road to Ancona. This garrison was defeated, while Vitiges had to maneuver himself around a number of Byzantine garrisons to avoid losing time in fighting useless engagements. Ultimately, the Byzantines were successful in reinforcing Ariminum, however, John refused to leave the city. John managed to prevent the siege tower used by the Goths from reaching the walls which caused Vitiges to withdraw. John wanted to prevent this withdrawal and sallied out but was, like Belisarius at Rome, defeated, which caused Vitiges to keep besieging the now weakened garrison. Needing fewer men, as no assault was to be made, Vitiges sent troops against Ancona and reinforced Auximus. Belisarius could either take Auximus and move on Ariminum with a secure rear, or bypass Auximus to save time. If it took too long to get there, Ariminum might fall. The Byzantines were divided into two groups; one led by Narses wanted to move on Ariminum immediately, while the other wanted to first take Auximus. A message from John eventually convinced Belisarius to move to Ariminum. During this operation Belisarius would station a part of his forces near Auximus to secure his rear. The arrival of a Byzantine relief force under Belisarius and Narses compelled the Ostrogoths to give up the siege and retreat to their capital of Ravenna. The force had been too small to actually challenge the Goths, but through deception, Belisarius had managed to convince the Goths otherwise. Belisarius had approached from multiple sides including over the sea, which convinced the Goths they faced a huge force. The troops were also ordered by Belisarius to light more campfires than necessary to strengthen the deception.


title: Belisarius

text: John made it a point to thank Narses for his rescue instead of Belisarius or Ildiger, the first officer to reach the city. This might have been to insult Belisarius or to avoid being indebted according to the Roman patronage tradition of which some remnants were probably still part of Byzantine culture. John (and Narses) might not have been convinced of Belisarius' competence, as the Vandals and Goths were by then perceived as weak, while he had been relatively unsuccessful against the Persians.


title: Belisarius

text: Narses' supporters tried to turn Narses against Belisarius, claiming that a close confidant of the emperor should not take orders from a "mere general". Belisarius, in turn, warned Narses that his followers were underestimating the Goths. He pointed out that their current position was surrounded by Gothic garrisons, and proposed to relieve Mediolanum and besiege Auximus simultaneously. Narses accepted the plan, with the provision that he and his troops would move into the region of Aemilia. This would pin down the Goths at Ravenna, and as such put Belisarius' forces in a secure position, as well as preventing the Goths from reclaiming Aemilia. Narses claimed that if this wasn't done, the rear of the troops besieging Auximus would be open to attack. Belisarius ultimately decided against this, as he was afraid this would spread his troops too thin. He showed a letter from Justinian that said that he had absolute authority in Italy to act "in the best interests of the state" to force Narses into accepting the decision. Narses replied that Belisarius wasn't acting in the best interests of the state.


title: Belisarius

text: From the later part of the siege of Rome onwards, reinforcements had arrived in Italy; during the siege of Ariminum, another 5,000 reinforcements landed in Italy, close to the siege where they were needed, clearly by design. The last group of reinforcements was 7,000 strong and led by Narses. After these arrived, the Byzantines had around 20,000 troops in Italy in total. John claimed that about half of the troops were loyal to Narses instead of Belisarius.


title: Belisarius

text: Belisarius gave up his original plan and instead of sending forces to besiege Urviventus (Orvieto) and himself besieging Urbinus. Narses refused to share a camp with Belisarius and he and John claimed the city could not be taken by force and abandoned the siege. As Belisarius sent the assault forwards, the garrison surrendered, as the well in the city stopped working. Narses reacted by sending John to take Caesena. While that attack failed miserably, John quickly moved to surprise the garrison at Forocornelius (Imola), and so secured Aemilia for the Byzantines. Shortly after Belisarius' arrival, the Urviventus garrison ran out of supplies and surrendered.


title: Belisarius

text: In late December, shortly after the siege of Urbanus and Urviventus, Belisarius sent troops to reinforce Mediolanum. Unsure of the Gothic numbers, they requested aid from John and other troops under Narses. John and the other commanders refused to follow Belisarius' order to assist, stating that Narses was their commander. Narses repeated the order but John fell ill and they paused for him to recover. Meanwhile, the revolt at Mediolanum was bloodily suppressed by the Goths. The desperate garrison had been promised safety in return for abandoning the city, which they subsequently did. As the population had revolted, they were considered traitors and many were slaughtered. Subsequently, the other cities in Liguria surrendered to avoid the same fate. Narses was subsequently recalled.


title: Belisarius

text: In 539, Belisarius set up siege forces around Auximum and sent troops to Faesulae, starving both cities to submission by late 539. He led the siege of Auximum himself; knowing he couldn't storm the city, he tried to cut the water supply but this failed. When the captured leaders from the Faesulae garrison were paraded in front of the city, its garrison too surrendered. If he moved on Ravenna his rear would now be secure. Vitiges hadn't been able to reinforce these places, as there was a food shortage throughout Italy and he couldn't gather enough supplies for the march. Belisarius stationed his army around the Ostrogothic capital of Ravenna in late 539. The grain shipment to the city hadn't been able to proceed to the city, so when the Byzantines advanced on Ravenna, the grain was captured. Ravenna was cut off from help on its seaward side by the Byzantine navy patrolling the Adriatic Sea. When Belisarius besieged Ravenna, the Gothic nobles, including Vitiges, had offered the throne of the "western empire" to him. Belisarius feigned acceptance and entered Ravenna via its sole point of entry, a causeway through the marshes, accompanied by a "comitatus" of "bucellarii", his personal household regiment (guards). He also prepared a grain shipment to enter the city when it surrendered. Soon afterward, he proclaimed the capture of Ravenna in the name of the Emperor Justinian. The Goths' offer raised suspicions in Justinian's mind and Belisarius was recalled. He returned home with the Gothic treasure, king and warriors.


title: Belisarius

text: For his next assignment, Belisarius went to the east to fight the Persians. Unlike during the Gothic and Vandalic wars, he wasn't accompanied by his wife. The Byzantines expected that Khosrow, like in the previous year, would move through Mesopotamia, but instead, Khosrow attacked Lazica, where the population was treated poorly by the Byzantines. The Lazicans had invited Khosrow, who concealed his movement by claiming he was going to fight the Huns in the north while instead, the Huns assisted Khosrow. When Belisarius arrived in the east he sent spies to gather information. He was told that the Persians were moving north to fight the Huns. Meanwhile, Belisarius had trained and organized his troops who had been terrified of the Persians before his arrival. He decided he could attack Persia in relative safety. Some of Belisarius' officers protested, as staging an offensive would leave the Lakhmids free to raid the eastern provinces. Belisarius pointed out that the Lakhmids would be filling the next months with religious celebrations and that he would be back within two months.


title: Belisarius

text: With the same reasoning he used in Italy for the siege of Auximus and other sieges and the marching column in Africa, he determined that Nisibis had to be taken first to secure his rear if he moved further into Persia. Meanwhile, the war was going poorly for the Byzantines to the north, Lazica was taken and a significant Byzantine garrison changed sides, possibly not having been paid for years.


title: Belisarius

text: When Belisarius approached Nisibis he ordered a camp to be set up at a significant distance from the city. His officers protested at this, but he explained to them that this was so that if the Persians sallied out and were defeated, the Byzantines would have more time to inflict casualties during the retreat. At the battle of Rome, during the siege of Rome, Belisarius had been defeated, but much of his army was able to retreat the short distance back to the city, something which he did not want to occur when the roles were reversed. Some of his officers disagreed so vehemently that they left the main force and camped close to the city. Belisarius warned them that the Persians would attack just before the first Byzantine meal, but the officers still sent their men to get food at this time and as a result, were caught in disorder by an attack. Belisarius observed what was going on and was already marching to their aid before messengers requesting aid even arrived. He turned the tide and won the battle. Having defeated the garrison but still being not being in a strong enough position to storm the fortifications, he moved past the city. He didn't fear being attacked from the rear by the garrison anymore, mostly because their confidence was broken. While he besieged Sisauranon, he sent troops to raid the rich lands beyond the Tigris. While Belisarius' assaults on the city were repulsed by its 800-strong garrison and suffered heavy losses, the city ran out of supplies and the garrison changed sides. At this point, the troops raiding Persia returned home without informing Belisarius. At this point, up to a third of Belisarius' forces had caught a fever, and the Lakhmids were about to take up arms again. As he did with other major decisions, Belisarius asked his officers' opinions; they concluded they should retreat. Procopius heavily criticized this, claiming that Belisarius could have marched on and taken Ctesiphon. He disregarded the fact that no information on Persian dispositions was available and Belisarius hadn't been able to take Sisauranon by force, making it unlikely he could have stormed Ctesiphon.


title: Belisarius

text: In the campaign of 542, Belisarius got the Persians to call off their invasion using trickery. Khosrow had wanted to raid Byzantine territory again but Belisarius moved to the area. When Khosrow sent an ambassador, Belisarius took 6,000 of his best men with him for a meeting. Taking only hunting equipment with them, it seemed like it was a hunting party from a larger equally high-quality force. Fooled by the deception, the Persians, knowing that if they were defeated they would be trapped in Byzantine territory, retreated. Belisarius also sent 1,000 cavalry into the Persian retreat route; if an engagement was fought this might have pointed out Byzantine weakness. During the retreat, Belisarius constantly kept the pressure on, preventing Khosrow from raiding. In return for the Persian withdrawal from imperial lands, the Byzantines sent ambassadors, as the Persian ambassador had requested from Belisarius at their meeting. The meeting had been just a ruse to spy on the Byzantine troops, and as such, when Belisarius took the pressure off, Khosrow attacked some Byzantine towns. Sacking Callinicum, Khosrow could claim success. Some claimed that by not harassing Khosrow, Belisarius had made a serious error, but this view was not brought up in court. Despite Callinicum, Belisarius was acclaimed throughout the East for his success in repelling the Persians. Crucial to the success of Belisarius' deception had been Khosrow's fear of catching the plague if he remained in Byzantine territory for too long, which made maintaining a tactical position in Byzantine territory highly dangerous. By showing his best troops in the open, Belisarius made clear that his army was not weakened by the plague and seemingly not afraid to catch it.


title: Belisarius

text: While Belisarius was in the east, the situation in Italy had vastly deteriorated. The governor sent to the area, a man named Alexander, was corrupt. He trimmed the edges of coins and kept the trimmings of precious metal to increase his own wealth. He charged many soldiers with corruption and demanded they pay fines, and he decreased military spending and demanded that tax withheld from the Goths would be instead paid to the Byzantines. As a result, many Byzantine soldiers defected or mutinied. The command of the troops in Italy was divided by Justinian to prevent any commander from becoming too powerful. Most of the time these commanders refused to work together as Justinian's plague made it dangerous to leave the base. Meanwhile, the Goths under the brilliant and energetic leadership of Ildibad and Totila went on the offensive and recaptured all of northern Italy and parts of the south. Apparently Totila considered the opportunity to win an easy victory greater than the risk of losing his force due to plague. As a result, they won many engagements against the uncoordinated Byzantines including the Battle of Treviso, the siege of Verona, the Battle of Faventia, the Battle of Mucellium and the siege of Naples. But by now they weren't powerful enough to capture Rome.


title: Belisarius

text: In 544, Belisarius was reappointed to hold command in Italy. Before going to Italy, Belisarius had to recruit troops. When he finished his force numbered roughly 4,000 men. Justinian wasn't able to allocate significant resources, as most troops were still needed in the east and the plague had devastated the empire.


title: Belisarius

text: During the upcoming campaign, Totila mostly wanted to avoid sieges. The Byzantines had proven themselves adept at sieges, but he had proven multiple times he could defeat them in open battle. Therefore, he razed the walls of towns he took; he wanted neither to be besieged there nor to have to besiege them later. Belisarius, on the other hand, wanted to avoid battle; he had entirely avoided battle after the battle of Rome. With forces as small as his, he wanted to avoid losing too many men and instead avoid the Goths from making progress through other means.


title: Belisarius

text: In Italy, many soldiers were mutinous or changed sides, which Belisarius hoped would stop when he was reappointed; it didn't. The Byzantine garrison at Dryus were running out of supplies and made plans to surrender, but when Belisarius arrived, he quickly arranged for supplies to be sent by ship. The Goths failed to notice the ships until it was too late and abandoned the siege. Now Belisarius himself sailed to Italy, landing at Pola. Totila quickly heard of this and sent spies pretending to be Byzantine messengers. Belisarius fell for the ruse, so Totila immediately knew the state of his army; he wouldn't be deceived like Khosrow. Belisarius himself didn't remain idle and went to Ravenna to recruit extra troops. While people respected Belisarius, they were smart enough to notice that a fair deal made with Belisarius would be ruined by his often corrupt and incompetent successors. As a result, not a single man enlisted. This also meant that Belisarius' normal strategy of winning over the people through benevolence wouldn't work.


title: Belisarius

text: Not wanting to remain idle, Belisarius sent troops into Aemilia. This was successful until the Illyrian troops went home to deal with a Hunnish incursion. The remaining Byzantines successfully ambushed a significant Gothic force, and the incursion ended in a victory. Next, Belisarius sent some men to assist the besieged Auximus, they succeeded but they were defeated while moving back. Still wanting to retain some initiative, Belisarius sent men to rebuild some nearby forts. Belisarius undertook no other operations, so despite winter arriving, Totila started the sieges of some towns, secure from the Byzantine threat.


title: Belisarius

text: When requesting reinforcement, Belisarius asked for barbarian horse archers, as he knew the Goths were unable to counter these. Justinian was fighting wars on many fronts and the plague was devastating Constantinople for a second time; he was thus unable to provide even the equipment and money needed to re-equip and pay the forces already in Italy.


title: Belisarius

text: Totila was enjoying great success in his recent sieges. Herodian, commander of a garrison, surrendered very quickly to the Goths, having seen the unfavorable treatment Justinian had given Belisarius after his recent Persian campaign. By now the Goths had acquired enough strength to move on Rome. Like Herodian, the commander of the Roman garrison, Bessas, was afraid of poor treatment or even being prosecuted after the siege was lifted. As a result, he remained idle when Belisarius ordered him to assist in the relief of the city. When Belisarius attempted to assist the city with supplies, he came up against a blockade on the Tiber. He overcame this using a siege tower with a boat on top. The boat was filled with burnable materials, so when it was thrown into one of the Gothic towers in the middle of the blockade, the entire garrison died either on impact or because of the fire. Belisarius had left a force under Isaac the Armenian to guard Portus with orders not to leave the city under any circumstances. Now Belisarius heard he had been captured and rushed back to Portus. Isaac had left the city and was captured outside its walls, and the city was safe. With surprise lost, no assistance from Bessas or John, who was blocked off in Calabria, and with little resources, Belisarius wasn't able to prevent Totila from eventually capturing the city. However, it is worth noting a letter that Belisarius wrote to Totila, according to Procopius, reportedly prevented Totila from destroying Rome:While the creation of beauty in a city which has not been beautiful before could only proceed from men of wisdom who understand the meaning of civilization, the destruction of beauty which already exists would be naturally expected only of men who lack understanding, and who are not ashamed to leave to posterity this token of their character.


title: Belisarius

text: Now among all the cities under the sun, Rome is agreed to be the greatest and the most noteworthy. For it has not been created by the ability of one man, nor has it attained such greatness and beauty by a power of short duration, but a multitude of monarchs, many companies of the best men, a great lapse of time, and an extraordinary abundance of wealth have availed to bring together in that city all other things that are in the whole world, and skilled workers besides. Thus, little by little, have they built the city, such as you behold it, thereby leaving to future generations memorials of the ability of them all, so that insult to these monuments would properly be considered a great crime against the men of all time; for by such action, the men of former generations are robbed of the memorials of their ability, and future generations of the sight of their works. Such then, is the facts of the case, be well assured of this, that one of two things must necessarily take place: either you will be defeated by the emperor in this struggle, or, should it so fall out, you will triumph over him. Now, in the first place, supposing you are victorious, if you should dismantle Rome, you would not have destroyed the possession of some other man, but your own city, excellent Sir, and, on the other hand, if you preserve it, you will naturally enrich yourself by a possession the fairest of all; but if in the second place, it should perchance fall to your lotto experience the worse fortune, in saving Rome you would be assured of abundant gratitude on the part of the victor, but by destroying the city you will make it certain that no plea for mercy will any longer be left to you, and in addition to this you will have reaped no benefit from the deed. Furthermore, a reputation that corresponds with your conduct will be your portion among all men, and it stands to wait for you according to you decide either way. For the quality of the acts of rulers determines, of necessity, the quality of the repute which they win from their acts.Meanwhile, Totila had also been very successful in his other efforts. Famine had spread throughout much of Italy and as he did not have to fear Belisarius sending aid to besieged towns, he could take full advantage. Belisarius had spent the winter in Epidamnus and when he sailed back (before attempting to relieve Rome) to Italy, he did so with reinforcements from Justinian. He split his force in two, one part successfully campaigning in Calabria under John nephew of Vitalianus, the other part, under Belisarius' command, tried to lift the siege of Rome but failed. A force sent by Totila prevented John from leaving Calabria. After capturing Rome, Totila sought peace, sending a message to Justinian. He received the reply that Belisarius was in charge of Italy.


title: Belisarius

text: Belisarius decided to march on Rome himself after Totila left the area. On the way, however, he marched into an ambush. Despite successfully ambushing Belisarius, the fighting eventually turned in favor of the Byzantines. Belisarius retreated, as it was obvious he wouldn't be able to surprise the city, but later marched on Rome again and took it. Totila marched on the city again but quickly abandoned the siege. Rome remained in Byzantine hands until after Belisarius left.


title: Belisarius

text: Following this disappointing campaign, mitigated by Belisarius' success in preventing the total destruction of Rome, in 548–49, Justinian relieved him. In 551, after economic recovery (from the effects of the plague) the eunuch Narses led a large army to bring the campaign to a successful conclusion; Belisarius retired from military affairs. At the Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople (553), Belisarius was one of the Emperor's envoys to Pope Vigilius in their controversy over The Three Chapters. The Patriarch Eutychius, who presided over this council in place of Pope Vigilius, was the son of one of Belisarius' generals.


title: Belisarius

text: The retirement of Belisarius came to an end in 559, when an army of Kutrigur Bulgars under Khan Zabergan crossed the Danube River to invade Roman territory and approached Constantinople. Zabergan wanted to cross into Asia Minor as it was richer than the often ravaged Balkans. Justinian recalled Belisarius to command the Byzantine army. Belisarius got only 300 heavily armed veterans from the Italian campaign and a host of civilians, including or entirely consisting of 1,000 conscripted refugees fleeing from the Huns, to stop the 7,000 Huns. These were probably retired soldiers living in the region. Belisarius camped close to the Huns and had the civilians dig a trench for protection, and lit many torches to exaggerate their numbers. Determining the path the Hunnish advance would take, he stationed 100 veterans on each side and another 100 to block their advance. In the narrow defile the Huns wouldn't be able to maneuver, exploit their greater numbers. and use their arrow fire effectively. When 2,000 Huns attacked, Belisarius had his 100 veterans who were blocking the path charge, while the civilians made a lot of noise behind him. This confused the Huns, and when he struck their rear they were pressed together so tightly that they could not draw their bows. The Huns fled in disorder, and Belisarius applied so much pressure to them during the retreat that they didn't even use the Parthian shot to harass their pursuers. After the defeat the Huns fled back over the Danube. In Constantinople Belisarius was once again referred to as a hero.


title: Belisarius

text: In 562, Belisarius stood trial in Constantinople, having been accused of participating in a conspiracy against Justinian. His case was judged by the prefect of Constantinople, named Prokopius, and this may have been his former secretary Procopius of Caesarea. Belisarius was found guilty and imprisoned but not long after, Justinian pardoned him, ordered his release, and restored him to favor at the imperial court, contrary to a later legend that Belisarius had been blinded.


title: Belisarius

text: In the first five chapters of his "Secret History", Procopius characterizes Belisarius as a cuckolded husband, who was emotionally dependent on his debauched wife, Antonina. According to the historian, Antonina cheated on Belisarius with their adopted son, the young Theodosius. Procopius claims that the love affair was well known in the imperial court and the general was regarded as weak and ridiculous; this view is often considered biased, as Procopius nursed a longstanding hatred of Belisarius and Antonina. Empress Theodora reportedly saved Antonina when Belisarius tried to charge his wife at last.


title: Belisarius

text: Belisarius and Justinian, whose partnership had increased the size of the empire by 45 percent, died within a few months of each other in 565. Belisarius owned the estate of Rufinianae on the Asiatic side of the Constantinople suburbs. He may have died there and been buried near one of the two churches in the area, perhaps Saints Peter and Paul.


title: Belisarius

text: During his first Persian campaign, Belisarius was on the winning side once, at Dara. In his first few battles he didn't hold overall command and as he was promoted soon after these defeats, his performance was probably positive. At Dara, he won a resounding victory by predicting and influencing enemy movement. When the enemy concentrated and broke through, he moved against their rear and defeated them. At the next battle, at Callinicum, he probably tried to copy his own success at Dara. However, he positioned himself at the low ground and was not able to see it when the enemy concentrated to breakthrough. He had created no reserve at all, so he was not able to plug the gap, despite superior numbers. Belisarius' failure to position himself properly, make a cohesive plan, take advantage of the terrain, and plug the created gap caused a disastrous defeat. Once the Persians had concentrated for a decisive attack, they held numerical superiority at the point of pressure, despite inferior numbers overall.


title: Belisarius

text: In Africa, he walked accidentally into the battle of Ad Decimum. His ability to see an opportunity to gain the advantage and to take it contrasts positively with Gelimer's inactivity. As such, Hughes judges his generalship during that battle to be superior.


title: Belisarius

text: In Italy, he mostly relied on sieges to defeat the Goths. At this he was so efficient that Totila refused to engage in them until Belisarius was unable to take the initiative due to supply shortages.


title: Belisarius

text: In Italy, to deal with a changing situation, he made multiple strategies inside the span of a year. Meanwhile, his opponent Vitiges had no coherent strategy after the failure of the siege of Rome.


title: Belisarius

text: Belisarius tried to keep his strategic rear secure, besieging, for example, Auximus so he could safely move on Ravenna. When he saw fit, he sometimes did operate with a force in his strategic rear, like at the siege of Ariminum, or when he planned to move on Rome without having taken Naples. In the east, he understood that the Persian garrison of Nisibis would be afraid to give the battle a second time after being defeated in the open earlier. Here too, Belisarius operated with a force in his strategic rear.


title: Belisarius

text: He wanted not to split his forces into two small contingents, like Gelimer had been forced to do at Ad Decimum, so when Narses proposed a plan to operate with a secure strategic rear, Belisarius refused it with the reason that he would divide his forces too much.


title: Belisarius

text: In Belisarius' campaigns, Brogna sees the overarching theme of the strategic offensive then tactical defense followed by offense. This forced his enemy to attack strong defensive positions, like the walls of Rome, suffering horrendous losses. Belisarius could then finish off the enemy with the main strength of his force, his cavalry, which contained horse archers to which the Goths and Vandals had no effective response. Helmuth von Moltke the Elder would come up with the idea to use so-called offensive-defensive campaigns to defend Germany centuries later. In these he would also go on a strategic offensive, take up defensive positions on enemy supply lines, and have the larger Russian and French forces attack his strong position. In both cases, the purpose of this kind of strategy was to defeat larger enemy forces effectively. When using such tactics, the higher quality of Byzantine troops, compared to the "barbarians", was exploited to the fullest, as wave after wave of Goths, relying on brute force to win, was defeated.


title: Belisarius

text: In his assessment of the commander, Hughes concludes that Belisarius' strategic abilities were unrivaled.


title: Belisarius

text: At both Thannuris and Callinicum, he fled before the battle was over. While not improving the battlefield situation, this did prevent his own troops from being destroyed. At the battle of Dara, he refused to duel with a Persian champion, and instead sent a champion of his own. At Rome, however, he fought at the frontline with his soldiers. While he was not willing to take an unnecessary risk in the form of a duel, he wanted, and was able, to inspire his men in combat, and seems not to have lacked bravery. Procopius' portrayal of Belisarius being weak-willed can often also be explained with a good understanding of politics; taking action against his wife, for example, would not have been appreciated by empress Theodora at all. Just like the weak-mindedness in relation to his wife, the influence his soldiers had on him was probably not enough to convince him to move out of Rome. Instead, it was probably overconfidence on his own part. For the rest of his career, he became a cautious commander, which is in line with the notion that Belisarius knew his limits and tried to act within them. He often moved out with only a small force, with which he would have no control and communication problems. Another example of this is when at the battle of Tricamerum he merely advised John, not taking full command. He recognized John was competent and knew more about the situation, and as such John remained in overall command, winning a great victory.


title: Belisarius

text: One of the attributes of Belisarius' campaigns was his benevolence towards soldiers and civilians alike. This caused the local population to support him, which was vital to winning, for example, the battle of Ad Decimum. Many enemy garrisons also changed sides, as they could expect leniency. It also put Gelimer under time constraints, and as such forced him to fight the battle of Tricamerum.


title: Belisarius

text: He is also noted for his calmness in danger. At Rome, when a rumor spread that the Goths were already in the city, and his men begged him to flee, he instead sent men to verify whether the claim was true and made clear to the officers that it was his job and his alone to deal with such a situation.


title: Belisarius

text: Belisarius is generally held in extremely high regard among historians. This is mostly because of the victories at Dara, Ad Decimum and Tricamarum. Little attention has been paid to his defeats in the east and at the Battle of Rome. Brogna puts him among the best commanders in history, Hughes says of him that he remains behind Alexander the Great and Caesar, but not by much.


title: Belisarius

text: According to a story that gained popularity during the Middle Ages, Justinian is said to have ordered Belisarius' eyes to be put out, and reduced him to the status of a homeless beggar near the Pincian Gate of Rome, condemned to asking passers-by to "give an obolus to Belisarius" (), before pardoning him. Most modern scholars believe the story to be apocryphal. Philip Stanhope, a 19th-century British philologist who wrote "Life of Belisarius", believed the story to be true, based on his review of the available primary sources.


title: Belisarius

text: After the publication of Jean-François Marmontel's novel "Bélisaire" (1767), this account became a popular subject for progressive painters and their patrons in the later 18th century, who saw parallels between the actions of Justinian and the repression imposed by contemporary rulers. For such subtexts, Marmontel's novel received a public censure by Louis Legrand of the Sorbonne, which contemporary theologians regarded as a model exposition of theological knowledge and clear thinking.


title: Belisarius

text: Marmontel and the painters and sculptors depicted Belisarius as a kind of secular saint, sharing the suffering of the downtrodden poor—for example, the bust of Belisarius by the French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Stouf. The most famous of these paintings, by Jacques-Louis David, combines the themes of charity (the alms giver), injustice (Belisarius), and the radical reversal of power (the soldier who recognizes his old commander). Others portray him being helped by the poor after his rejection by the powerful.


title: Belisarius

text: Belisarius was featured in several works of art before the 20th century. The oldest of them is the historical treatise by his secretary, Procopius. The "Anecdota", commonly referred to as the "Arcana Historia" or "Secret History", is an extended attack on Belisarius and Antonina, and on Justinian and Theodora, indicting Belisarius as a love-blind fool and his wife as unfaithful and duplicitous. Other works include:


title: Tire

text: A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which the wheel travels. Most tires, such as those for automobiles and bicycles, are pneumatically inflated structures, which also provide a flexible cushion that absorbs shock as the tire rolls over rough features on the surface. Tires provide a footprint, called a contact patch, that is designed to match the weight of the vehicle with the bearing strength of the surface that it rolls over by providing a bearing pressure that will not deform the surface excessively.


title: Tire

text: The materials of modern pneumatic tires are synthetic rubber, natural rubber, fabric, and wire, along with carbon black and other chemical compounds. They consist of a tread and a body. The tread provides traction while the body provides containment for a quantity of compressed air. Before rubber was developed, the first versions of tires were simply bands of metal fitted around wooden wheels to prevent wear and tear. Early rubber tires were solid (not pneumatic). Pneumatic tires are used on many types of vehicles, including cars, bicycles, motorcycles, buses, trucks, heavy equipment, and aircraft. Metal tires are still used on locomotives and railcars, and solid rubber (or other polymers) tires are still used in various non-automotive applications, such as some casters, carts, lawnmowers, and wheelbarrows.


title: Tire

text: The word "tire" is a short form of "attire", from the idea that a wheel with a tire is a dressed wheel.


title: Tire

text: The spelling "tyre" does not appear until the 1840s when the English began shrink-fitting railway car wheels with malleable iron. Nevertheless, traditional publishers continued using "tire". "The Times" newspaper in Britain was still using "tire" as late as 1905. The spelling "tyre" began to be commonly used in the 19th century for pneumatic tires in the UK. The 1911 edition of the "Encyclopædia Britannica" states that ""The spelling 'tyre' is not now accepted by the best English authorities, and is unrecognized in the US"", while Fowler's "Modern English Usage" of 1926 says that "there is nothing to be said for 'tyre', which is etymologically wrong, as well as needlessly divergent from our own [sc. British] older & the present American usage". However, over the course of the 20th century, "tyre" became established as the standard British spelling.


title: Tire

text: The earliest tires were bands of leather, then iron (later steel) placed on wooden wheels used on carts and wagons. A skilled worker, known as a wheelwright, would cause the tire to expand by heating it in a forge fire, placing it over the wheel and quenching it, causing the metal to contract back to its original size so that it would fit tightly on the wheel.


title: Tire

text: The first patent for what appears to be a standard pneumatic tire appeared in 1847 lodged by Scottish inventor Robert William Thomson. However, this never went into production. The first practical pneumatic tire was made in 1888 on May Street, Belfast, by Scots-born John Boyd Dunlop, owner of one of Ireland's most prosperous veterinary practices. It was an effort to prevent the headaches of his 10-year-old son Johnnie while riding his tricycle on rough pavements. His doctor, John, later Sir John Fagan, had prescribed cycling as an exercise for the boy and was a regular visitor. Fagan participated in designing the first pneumatic tires. Cyclist Willie Hume demonstrated the supremacy of Dunlop's tires in 1889, winning the tire's first-ever races in Ireland and then England. In Dunlop's tire patent specification dated 31 October 1888, his interest is only in its use in cycles and light vehicles. In September 1890, he was made aware of an earlier development but the company kept the information to itself.


title: Tire

text: In 1892, Dunlop's patent was declared invalid because of the prior art by forgotten fellow Scot Robert William Thomson of London (patents London 1845, France 1846, USA 1847), although Dunlop is credited with "realizing rubber could withstand the wear and tear of being a tire while retaining its resilience". John Boyd Dunlop and Harvey du Cros together worked through the ensuing considerable difficulties. They employed inventor Charles Kingston Welch and also acquired other rights and patents which allowed them some limited protection of their Pneumatic Tyre business's position. Pneumatic Tyre would become Dunlop Rubber and Dunlop Tyres. The development of this technology hinged on myriad engineering advances, including the vulcanization of natural rubber using sulfur, as well as by the development of the "clincher" rim for holding the tire in place laterally on the wheel rim.


title: Tire

text: Rubber shortages in the United Kingdom during WWII prompted research on alternatives to rubber tires with suggestions including leather, compressed asbestos, rayon, felt, bristles and paper.


title: Tire

text: In 1946, Michelin developed the radial tire method of construction. Michelin had bought the bankrupt Citroën automobile company in 1934, so it was able to fit this new technology immediately. Because of its superiority in handling and fuel economy, use of this technology quickly spread throughout Europe and Asia. In the US, the outdated bias-ply tire construction persisted, until the Ford Motor Company adopted radial tires in the early 1970s, following a 1968 article in an influential American magazine, "Consumer Reports", highlighting the superiority of radial construction. The US tire industry lost its market share to Japanese and European manufacturers, which bought out US companies.


title: Tire

text: Tires may be classified according to the type of vehicle they serve. They may be distinguished by the load they carry and by their application, e.g. to a motor vehicle, aircraft, or bicycle.


title: Tire

text: Light-duty tires for passenger vehicles carry loads in the range of on the drive wheel. Light-to-medium duty trucks and vans carry loads in the range of on the drive wheel. They are differentiated by speed rating for different vehicles, including (starting from the lowest speed to the highest): winter tires, light truck tires, entry-level car tires, sedans and vans, sport sedans, and high-performance cars. Apart from road tires, there are special categories:


title: Tire

text: Heavy-duty tires for large trucks and buses come in a variety of profiles and carry loads in the range of on the drive wheel. These are typically mounted in tandem on the drive axle.


title: Tire

text: Tire construction spans pneumatic tires used on cars, trucks, and aircraft, but also includes non-automotive applications with slow-moving, light-duty, or railroad applications, which may have non-pneumatic tires.


title: Tire

text: Following the 1968 "Consumer Reports" announcement of the superiority of the radial design, radial tires began an inexorable climb in market share, reaching 100% of the North American market in the 1980s. Radial tire technology is now the standard design for essentially all automotive tires, but other methods have been used.


title: Tire

text: Radial tire construction utilizes body ply cords extending from the beads and across the tread so that the cords are laid at approximately right angles to the centerline of the tread, and parallel to each other, as well as stabilizer belts directly beneath the tread. The belts may be cord or steel. The advantages of this construction include longer tread life, better steering control, fewer blowouts, improved fuel economy, and lower rolling resistance. Disadvantages of the radial tire are a harder ride at low speeds on rough roads and in the context of off-roading, decreased "self-cleaning" ability, and lower grip ability at low speeds.


title: Tire

text: A belted bias tire starts with two or more bias-plies to which stabilizer belts are bonded directly beneath the tread. This construction provides a smoother ride that is similar to the bias tire, while lessening rolling resistance because the belts increase tread stiffness. The design was introduced by Armstrong, while Goodyear made it popular with the "Polyglas" trademark tire featuring a polyester carcass with belts of fiberglass. The "belted" tire starts two main plies of polyester, rayon, or nylon annealed as in conventional tires, and then placed on top are circumferential belts at different angles that improve performance compared to non-belted bias tires. The belts may be fiberglass or steel.


title: Tire

text: Semi-pneumatic tires have a hollow center, but they are not pressurized. They are lightweight, low-cost, puncture-proof, and provide cushioning. These tires often come as a complete assembly with the wheel and even integral ball bearings. They are used on lawn mowers, wheelchairs, and wheelbarrows. They can also be rugged, typically used in industrial applications, and are designed to not pull off their rim under use.


title: Tire

text: An airless tire is a non-pneumatic tire that is not supported by air pressure. They are most commonly used on small vehicles, such as golf carts, and on utility vehicles in situations where the risk of puncture is high, such as on construction equipment. Many tires used in industrial and commercial applications are non-pneumatic, and are manufactured from solid rubber and plastic compounds via molding operations. Solid tires include those used for lawnmowers, skateboards, golf carts, scooters, and many types of light industrial vehicles, carts, and trailers. One of the most common applications for solid tires is for material handling equipment (forklifts). Such tires are installed by means of a hydraulic tire press.


title: Tire

text: Wooden wheels for horse-drawn vehicles usually have a wrought iron tire. This construction was extended to wagons on horse-drawn tramways, rolling on granite setts or cast iron rails.


title: Tire

text: The wheels of some railway engines and older types of rolling stock are fitted with railway tires in order to prevent the need to replace the entirety of a wheel. The tire, usually made of steel, surrounds the wheel and is primarily held in place by interference fit.


title: Tire

text: Aircraft tires may operate at pressures that exceed . Some aircraft tires are inflated with nitrogen to "eliminate the possibility of a chemical reaction between atmospheric oxygen and volatile gases from the tire inner liner producing a tire explosion".


title: Tire

text: Pneumatic tires are manufactured in about 450 tire factories around the world. Tire production starts with bulk raw materials such as rubber, carbon black, and chemicals and produces numerous specialized components that are assembled and cured. Many kinds of rubber are used, the most common being styrene-butadiene copolymer.


title: Tire

text: In 2004, $80 billion of tires were sold worldwide, in 2010 it was $140 billion (approximately 34% growth adjusting for inflation), and is expected to grow to $258 billion per year by 2019. In 2015, the US manufactured almost 170 million tires. Over 2.5 billion tires are manufactured annually, making the tire industry a major consumer of natural rubber. It is estimated that by 2019, 3 billion tires will be to be sold globally every year.


title: Tire

text: As of 2011, the top three tire manufacturing companies by revenue were Bridgestone (manufacturing 190 million tires), Michelin (184 million), Goodyear (181 million); they were followed by Continental, and Pirelli. The Lego group produced over 318 million toy tires in 2011 and was recognized by Guinness World Records as having the highest annual production of tires by any manufacturer.


title: Tire

text: The tread is the part of the tire that comes in contact with the road surface. The portion that is in contact with the road at a given instant in time is the contact patch. The tread is a thick rubber, or rubber/composite compound formulated to provide an appropriate level of traction that does not wear away too quickly.


title: Tire

text: The tread pattern is characterized by a system of circumferential grooves, lateral sipes, and slots for road tires or a system of lugs and voids for tires designed for soft terrain or snow. Grooves run circumferentially around the tire, and are needed to channel away water. Lugs are that portion of the tread design that contacts the road surface. Grooves, sipes, and slots allow tires to evacuate water.


title: Tire

text: The design of treads and the interaction of specific tire types with the roadway surface affects roadway noise, a source of noise pollution emanating from moving vehicles. These sound intensities increase with higher vehicle speeds. Tires treads may incorporate a variety of distances between slots ("pitch lengths") to minimize noise levels at discrete frequencies. Sipes are slits cut across the tire, usually perpendicular to the grooves, which allow the water from the grooves to escape sideways and mitigate hydroplaning.


title: Tire

text: Different tread designs address a variety of driving conditions. As the ratio of tire tread area to groove area increases, so does tire friction on dry pavement, as seen on Formula One tires, some of which have no grooves. High-performance tires often have smaller void areas to provide more rubber in contact with the road for higher traction, but may be compounded with softer rubber that provides better traction, but wears quickly. Mud and snow (M&S) tires employ larger and deeper slots to engage mud and snow. Snow tires have still larger and deeper slots that compact snow and create shear strength within the compacted snow to improve braking and cornering performance.


title: Tire

text: Wear bars (or wear indicators) are raised features located at the bottom of the tread grooves that indicate the tire has reached its wear limit. When the tread lugs are worn to the point that the wear bars connect across the lugs, the tires are fully worn and should be taken out of service, typically at a remaining tread depth of .


title: Tire

text: The tire bead is the part of the tire that contacts the rim on the wheel. The bead is typically reinforced with steel wire and compounded of high-strength, low-flexibility rubber. The bead seats tightly against the two rims on the wheel to ensure that a tubeless tire holds air without leakage. The bead fit is tight to ensure the tire does not shift circumferentially as the wheel rotates. The width of the rim in relationship to the tire is a factor in the handling characteristics of an automobile because the rim supports the tire's profile.


title: Tire

text: The sidewall is that part of the tire, or bicycle tire, that bridges between the tread and bead. The sidewall is largely rubber but reinforced with fabric or steel cords that provide for tensile strength and flexibility. The sidewall contains air pressure and transmits the torque applied by the drive axle to the tread to create traction but supports little of the weight of the vehicle, as is clear from the total collapse of the tire when punctured. Sidewalls are molded with manufacturer-specific detail, government-mandated warning labels, and other consumer information, and sometimes decorative ornamentation, like whitewalls or tire lettering.


title: Tire

text: The shoulder is that part of the tire at the edge of the tread as it makes the transition to the sidewall.


title: Tire

text: Plies are layers of relatively inextensible cords embedded in the rubber to hold its shape by preventing the rubber from stretching in response to the internal pressure. The orientations of the plies play a large role in the performance of the tire and is one of the main ways that tires are categorized.


title: Tire

text: The materials of modern pneumatic tires can be divided into two groups, the cords that make up the ply and the elastomer which encases them.


title: Tire

text: The cords, which form the ply and bead and provide the tensile strength necessary to contain the inflation pressure, can be composed of steel, natural fibers such as cotton or silk, or synthetic fibers such as nylon or kevlar. Good adhesion between the cords and the rubber is important. To achieve this the steel cords are coated in a thin layer of brass, various additives will also be added to the rubber to improve binding, such as resorcinol/HMMM mixtures.


title: Tire

text: The elastomer, which forms the tread and encases the cords to protect them from abrasion and hold them in place, is a key component of pneumatic tire design. It can be composed of various composites of rubber material – the most common being styrene-butadiene copolymer – with other chemical compounds such as silica and carbon black.


title: Tire

text: Optimizing rolling resistance in the elastomer material is a key challenge for reducing fuel consumption in the transportation sector. It is estimated that passenger vehicles consume approximately 5~15% of their fuel to overcome rolling resistance, while the estimate is understood to be higher for heavy trucks. However, there is a trade-off between rolling resistance and wet traction and grip: while low rolling resistance can be achieved by reducing the viscoelastic properties of the rubber compound (low tangent (δ)), it comes at the cost of wet traction and grip, which requires hysteresis and energy dissipation (high tangent (δ)). A low tangent (δ) value at 60 °C is used as an indicator of low rolling resistance, while a high tangent (δ) value at 0 °C is used as an indicator of high wet traction. Designing an elastomer material that can achieve both high wet traction and low rolling resistance is key in achieving safety and fuel efficiency in the transportation sector.


title: Tire

text: The most common elastomer material used today is a styrene-butadiene copolymer. It combines the properties of polybutadiene, which is a highly rubbery polymer ("Tg" = -100 °C) having high hysteresis and thus offering good wet grip properties, with the properties of polystyrene, which is a glassy polymer ("Tg" = 100 °C) having low hysteresis and thus offering low rolling resistance in addition to wear resistance. Therefore, the ratio of the two monomers in the styrene-butadiene copolymer is considered key in determining the glass transition temperature of the material, which is correlated to its grip and resistance properties.


title: Tire

text: Non-exhaust emissions of particulate matter, generated by the wearing down of brakes, clutches, tires, and road surfaces, as well as by the suspension of road dust, constitute a little-known but rising share of emissions from road traffic and significantly harm public health.


title: Tire

text: Associated components of tires include the wheel on which it is mounted, the valve stem through which air is introduced, and, for some tires, an inner tube that provides the airtight means for maintaining tire pressure.


title: Tire

text: The interactions of a tire with the pavement are complex. A commonly used (empirical) model of tire properties is Pacejka's "Magic Formula". Some are explained below, alphabetically, by section.


title: Tire

text: Tire wear is a major source of rubber pollution. A concern hereby is that vehicle tire wear pollution is unregulated, unlike exhaust emissions.


title: Tire

text: Automotive tires have a variety of identifying markings molded onto the sidewall as a tire code. They denote size, rating, and other information pertinent to that individual tire.


title: Tire

text: The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is a U.S. government body within the Department of Transportation (DOT) tasked with regulating automotive safety in the United States. NHTSA established the Uniform Tire Quality Grading System (UTQG), is a system for comparing the performance of tires according to the Code of Federal Regulations 49 CFR 575.104; it requires labeling of tires for tread wear, traction, and temperature. The DOT Code is an alphanumeric character sequence molded into the sidewall of the tire and allows the identification of the tire and its age. The code is mandated by the U.S. Department of Transportation but is used worldwide. The DOT Code is also useful in identifying tires subject to product recall or at end of life due to age. The "Tire and Rim Association" (T&RA) is a voluntary U.S. standards organization that promotes the interchangeability of tires, rims, and allied parts. Of particular interest, they publish key tire dimensions, rim contour dimensions, tire valve dimension standards, and load/inflation standards.


title: Tire

text: The National Institute of Metrology Standardization and Industrial Quality (INMETRO) is the Brazilian federal body responsible for automotive wheel and tire certification.


title: Tire

text: The European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO) is the European standards organization "to establish engineering dimensions, load/pressure characteristics and operating guidelines". All tires sold for road use in Europe after July 1997 must carry an E-mark. The mark itself is either an upper case "E" or lower case "e" – followed by a number in a circle or rectangle, followed by a further number. An (upper case) "E" indicates that the tire is certified to comply with the dimensional, performance, and marking requirements of ECE regulation 30. A (lowercase) "e" indicates that the tire is certified to comply with the dimensional, performance, and marking requirements of Directive 92/23/EEC. The number in the circle or rectangle denotes the country code of the government that granted the type approval. The last number outside the circle or rectangle is the number of the type approval certificate issued for that particular tire size and type.


title: Tire

text: The British Rubber Manufacturers Association (BRMA) recommended practice, issued June 2001, states, "BRMA members strongly recommend that unused tires should not be put into service if they are over six years old and that all tires should be replaced ten years from the date of their manufacture."


title: Tire

text: The "Japanese Automobile Tire Manufacturers Association" (JATMA) is the Japanese standards organization for tires, rims, and valves. It performs similar functions as the T&RA and ETRTO.


title: Tire

text: The "China Compulsory Certification" (CCC) is a mandatory certification system concerning product safety in China that went into effect in August 2002. The CCC certification system is operated by the State General Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ) and the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China (CNCA).


title: Tire

text: To maintain tire health, several actions are appropriate, tire rotation, wheel alignment, and, sometimes, retreading the tire.


title: Tire

text: Inflation is key to proper wear and rolling resistance of pneumatic tires. Many vehicles have monitoring systems to assure proper inflation.


title: Tire

text: Tire hazards may occur from failure of the tire, itself, or from loss of traction on the surface over which it is rolling.


title: Tire

text: Once tires are discarded, they are considered scrap tires. Scrap tires are often re-used for things from bumper car barriers to weights to hold down tarps. Tires are not desired at landfills, due to their large volumes and 75% void space, which quickly consumes valuable space. Rubber tires are likely to contain some traces of heavy metals or other serious pollutants, but these are tightly bonded within the actual rubber compound so they are unlikely to be hazardous unless the tire structure is seriously damaged by fire or strong chemicals. Some facilities are permitted to recycle scrap tires through chipping, and processing them into new products, or selling the material to licensed power plants for fuel. Some tires may also be retreaded for re-use.


title: Tire

text: Americans generate about 285 million scrap tires per year. Many states have regulations as to the number of scrap tires that can be held on-site, due to concerns with dumping, fire hazards, and mosquitoes. In the past, millions of tires have been discarded into open fields. This creates a breeding ground for mosquitoes, since the tires often hold water inside and remain warm enough for mosquito breeding. Mosquitoes create a nuisance and may increase the likelihood of spreading disease. It also creates a fire danger, since such a large tire pile is a lot of fuel. Some tire fires have burned for months, since water does not adequately penetrate or cool the burning tires. Tires have been known to liquefy, releasing hydrocarbons and other contaminants to the ground and even groundwater, under extreme heat and temperatures from a fire. The black smoke from a tire fire causes air pollution and is a hazard to downwind properties.


title: Tire

text: The use of scrap tire chips for landscaping has become controversial, due to the leaching of metals and other contaminants from the tire pieces. Zinc is concentrated (up to 2% by weight) to levels high enough to be highly toxic to aquatic life and plants. Of particular concern is evidence that some of the compounds that leach from tires into water, contain hormone disruptors and cause liver lesions.


title: Tire

text: Tires that are fully worn can be retreaded, re-manufactured to replace the worn tread. This is known as retreading or recapping, a process of buffing away the worn tread and applying a new tread. There are two main processes used for retreading tires, called mold-cure and pre-cure methods. Both processes start with the inspection of the tire, followed by non-destructive inspection method such as shearography to locate non-visible damage and embedded debris and nails. Some casings are repaired and some are discarded. Tires can be retreaded multiple times if the casing is in usable condition. Tires used for short delivery vehicles are retreaded more than long haul tires over the life of the tire body. Casings fit for retreading have the old tread buffed away to prepare for retreading.


title: Tire

text: During the retreading process, retread technicians must ensure the casing is in the best condition possible to minimize the possibility of a casing failure. Casings with problems such as capped tread, tread separation, irreparable cuts, corroded belts or sidewall damage, or any run-flat or skidded tires, will be rejected. The mold cure method involves the application of raw rubber on the previously buffed and prepared casing, which is later cured in matrices. During the curing period, vulcanization takes place and the raw rubber bonds to the casing, taking the tread shape of the matrix. On the other hand, the pre-cure method involves the application of a ready-made tread band on the buffed and prepared casing, which later is cured in an autoclave so that vulcanization can occur.


title: Tire

text: Tires can be recycled into, among other things, the hot melt asphalt, typically as crumb rubber modifier—recycled asphalt pavement (CRM—RAP), and as an aggregate in portland cement concrete. Shredded tires can create rubber mulch on playgrounds to diminish fall injuries. There are some "green" buildings that are being made both private and public buildings that are made from old tires.


title: Tire

text: The tire pyrolysis method for recycling used tires is a technique that heats whole or shredded tires in a reactor vessel containing an oxygen-free atmosphere and a heat source. In the reactor, the rubber is softened after which the rubber polymers continuously break down into smaller molecules.


title: Barranquilla

text: Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Colombia's fourth-most populous city after Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali.


title: Barranquilla

text: Barranquilla lies strategically next to the delta of the Magdalena River, (originally before rapid urban growth) from its mouth at the Caribbean Sea, serving as a port for river and maritime transportation within Colombia. It is also the main economic center of Atlántico department in Colombia. The city is the core of the Metropolitan Area of Barranquilla, with a population of over 2 million, which also includes the municipalities of Soledad, Galapa, Malambo, and Puerto Colombia.


title: Barranquilla

text: Barranquilla was legally established as a town on April 7, 1813, although it dates from at least 1629. It grew into an important port, serving as a haven for immigrants from Europe, especially during and immediately following World War I and World War II, when waves of additional immigrants from the Middle East and Asia arrived. Barranquilla became Colombia's main port, and with its level of industrialization and modernity earned the nickname "Colombia's Golden Gate" (Spanish: "La Puerta de Oro de Colombia"). In the 1940s, Barranquilla was the second-largest city in Colombia and one of the most modern cities in the Caribbean and in South America; later local administrations, due to widespread corruption in their ranks, brought about a decline in the standard of living. As government investment increased in other Colombian cities, Barranquilla's national position was eclipsed.


title: Barranquilla

text: Barranquilla has hosted the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games and will host the 2027 Pan American Games. The city is home to one of the most important folk and cultural festivals of Colombia, the Carnival of Barranquilla, which was declared a National Cultural Heritage by the Congress of Colombia in 2001 and recognized by UNESCO in 2003.


title: Barranquilla

text: Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport, built in Barranquilla in 1919, was the first airport in South America. The city is served by domestic and international flights.


title: Barranquilla

text: Barranquilla's name refers to the canyons that existed in the area adjacent to the Magdalena, where the city arose. During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the name "barranca" was common in coastal communities (Barrancabermeja, Barranca Nueva, Barranca Vieja etc.). This name was probably derived from an alteration of Aragon. During Spanish colonization, the area was known as Camacho or Kamash Indian site and San Nicolás de la Barranquilla (patron saint of San Nicolás de Tolentino) began to develop the area with the estates of Barrancas de Camacho, Barrancas de San Nicolás, Barranquilla de Camacho and Barranquilla de San Nicolás from which the city name is derived.


title: Barranquilla

text: In 1921, President Marco Fidel Suárez called the city the "Pórtico Dorado de la República" (Golden Gate of the Republic) in recognition of its economic importance as a port since the late 19th century. In 1946, opening the 5th Central American and Caribbean Games, President Mariano Ospina Pérez reaffirmed the nickname of the city as the "Golden Gate".


title: Barranquilla

text: Barranquilla is also known as "La Arenosa" (meaning "The Sandy"), so named by the president of New Granada, Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, during his stay in Barranquilla in 1849. "Curramba, la Bella" was also used to refer to Barranquilla by journalist Juan Eugenio Cañavera in Bogotá in the mid-twentieth century. The "la Bella" part was assigned by fellow journalist Roger Araújo as a counterweight to the word Curramba, which is seen as derogatory, derived from adjective "currambero". The thinker Agustín Nieto Caballero called Barranquilla "Ciudad de los Brazos Abiertos" ("City of the Open Arms") and Enrique Ancízar, president of the Colombian Society of Agriculture, called it "Faro de América" ("Beacon/Lighthouse of America.").


title: Barranquilla

text: In 1811, the patriots who won the Independence of the Cartagenas adopted the current flag. It consists of three rectangles, red being the outermost, then yellow, and green in the center. Red symbolizes the blood of patriots; yellow, the sun of freedom and hope; and green, a proud home. In the centre, there is an eight-pointed silver star which symbolizes the eight provinces of the confederacy. The flag was carried by Simon Bolívar during the campaign of Lower Magdalena in 1812. In 1814, the Congress of Tunja adopted it as the emblem of the United Provinces of New Granada. In 1910, the Council approved the flag for Barranquilla.


title: Barranquilla

text: The seal of the city was mentioned in the decree that granted Barranquilla the status of a city by Manuel Rodríguez Torices, the then President of the Sovereign State of Cartagena de Indias, as a reward for the determined and courageous patriots who participated in the defense of the independence of Cartagena de Indias against Santa Marta in 1813.


title: Barranquilla

text: The music and lyrics of Himno de Barranquilla were chosen in competition by the Sociedad de Mejoras Públicas and officially adopted as the anthem of the city by the Municipal Council in a meeting on 19 October 1942. The lyrics were written by the poet Amira de la Rosa (winner of the contest in 1942) and the music is of Panama, by Simón Urbina (1928).


title: Barranquilla

text: The flowers Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, and Tabebuia rosea, and the animals Volatinia jacarina and iguana are used as other symbols of the city.


title: Barranquilla

text: Unlike other cities in Colombia such as Cartagena or Bogotá D.C., Barranquilla was not founded during the Spanish colonial period and it was not founded on a pre-Columbian site. The first mention of the current territory of Barranquilla dates back to 1533 and was written by Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés. He describes the route of Pedro de Heredia, founder of Cartagena, just weeks before he founded that city, and says that this was a point of landing of canoes for the Indians of Santa Marta within the interior. They had two canoes full of dried shrimp as merchandise and went to the Magdalena River to trade with this commodity, salt and other things. However, the Kamash Indians were known to occupy the area and the settlement itself was established in about 1629. For this reason the city does not celebrate its foundation, but rather the date in which it was declared a town on April 7, 1813.


title: Barranquilla

text: Barranquilla is best known as The Golden Gate of Colombia (La Puerta de Oro de Colombia) because its location north of Colombia and it is the most important maritime port of The Republic of Colombia. Barranquilla is honored as the origination of the aviation and airport. The first airline in South America was born in Barranquilla with the name of SCADTA which is today Avianca.