The “New Scipio”; Emperor Heraclius leads his troops further east than any Roman general had ever penetrated – The Nemesis of Chosroes’ blasphemous vanity

Heraclius took over the empire in a state of disorder and confusion. It seemed almost impossible to get things into better order, for resources were wanting. Save Africa and Egypt and the district immediately around the capital, all the provinces were overrun by the the Persian, the Avar, and the Slav. The treasury was empty, and the army had almost disappeared owing to repeated and bloody defeats in Asia Minor. Continue reading “The “New Scipio”; Emperor Heraclius leads his troops further east than any Roman general had ever penetrated – The Nemesis of Chosroes’ blasphemous vanity”

The last years of Justinian’s reign: Antioch sacked by Chosroes’ Persians – The Plague irreversibly weakens the Empire

The slackness with which the generals of Justinian prosecuted the Gothic war in the period between the triumph of Belisarius at Ravenna in A. D. 540, and the final conquest of Italy in A. D. 553, is mainly to be explained by the fact that, just at the moment of the fall of Ravenna, the empire became involved in a new struggle with its great Eastern neighbour. Continue reading “The last years of Justinian’s reign: Antioch sacked by Chosroes’ Persians – The Plague irreversibly weakens the Empire”

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