(505?–65), Byzantine general, one of the great military leaders of history, born in Illyria. He was given command by Emperor Justinian I and first distinguished himself in action against the Sassanids of Persia in 530, when he defeated an army that vastly outnumbered his own. In 532, when strife between factions in Constantinople (the so-called Nika riots) endangered the throne, Belisarius led the lifeguards in quelling the insurrection. In 533 he was sent to North Africa to fight the Vandals, who had ruled the area for a century, spreading terror throughout the Mediterranean. Belisarius conquered their kingdom in a year and brought their king back to Constantinople as a prisoner. He next took Sicily and fought on the Italian peninsula against the Ostrogoths, whose ruler he captured at Ravenna in 540. Except for 541–42, when he again went to war against the Persians, he continued to press the campaign in Italy. In 548, owing to intrigues at court and Justinian’s jealousy, his command was transferred to his rival, Narses (480–574). Belisarius was recalled to service in 558 and repelled a Bulgarian invasion that threatened Constantinople. After a brief imprisonment on a charge of conspiracy in 562, he retired and lived his last years in peace.