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Justinian & Theodora - VIII: Bad Faith - Extra History (Patreon)

Published:
2016-01-29 11:56:29
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

At last Belisarius has victory in his grasp, and the only thing that stands in his way... is Justinian.

Files

Previews only

Justinian & Theodora - VIII: Bad Faith - Extra History

Support us on Patreon! http://bit.ly/EHPatreon Grab your Extra Credits gear at the store! http://bit.ly/ExtraStore Subscribe for new episodes every Saturday! http://bit.ly/SubToEC --- (Episode details below) Watch the Justinian and Theodora series! http://bit.ly/1J89hPd Play games with us on Extra Play! http://bit.ly/WatchEXP Talk to us on Twitter (@ExtraCreditz): http://bit.ly/ECTweet Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/ECFBPage Get our list of recommended games on Steam: http://bit.ly/ECCurator ____________ Mediolanum had fallen. Belisarius wrote a furious letter to Justinian explaining what happened, and the emperor immediately recalled Narses and reaffirmed Belisarius's leadership. His army tore through the Ostrogothic territory and soon laid siege to Ravenna, which they brought to the brink of surrender. But the Ostrogothic King Vitiges had written to the Persian Empire urging them to take advantage of Rome's distraction. Sure enough, Justinian found himself faced with a Persian army in the East, and he sent orders to Belisarius to leave Ravenna and return to defend Constantinople. Belisarius hated seeing his victory snatched from him, however, and almost refused to do it. Hearing of his displeasure, the Ostrogoths reached out to him and offered to make him their new king - no surrender necessary. Belisarius accepted their proposal, then immediately turned on them and declared the city for Justinian. Still, his greed cost the empire time. Justinian was furious that Belisarius had disobeyed his orders to return and wasted precious months solidifying control over the Ostrogoths while Persia threatened to overrun the heart of the empire. He could no longer trust his most valued general. ____________ ♫ Get the intro music here! http://bit.ly/1EQA5N7 *Music by Demetori: http://bit.ly/1AaJG4H ♫ Get the outro music here! http://bit.ly/23isQfx *Music by Sean and Dean Kiner: http://bit.ly/1LBy9zh

Comments

RMS Oceanic

Nitpick: Early in the video you say Justinian stands atop Rome, then talk about its founding by Constantine. Did you mean he stood atop Constantinople? Speaking of, name trivia: The earliest known settlement in what is now Istanbul was Byzantium, a Greek Settlement which according to legend was founded by a king called Byzas. When Constantine noted its strategically invaluable location, he indeed had the city rebuilt into a mighty capital. However he did not have it named Constantinople ("City of Constantine"). His intent was to name it Nova Roma, or "New Rome". Constantinople was actually a nickname that eventually took hold. Oaths are serious business. Just ask Harold Godwinson. Meanwhile the Sassanids once again cause grief for Rome, as they've done ever since the Crisis of the Third Century. This warring will catch up to them eventually, but at quite the cost to Rome.

Michael Waisfeld

How does a letter from the "king" of Italy get all the way to Persia? It couldn't get through Africa, or the Balkans or the Mediterranean in general ... through Scythia?

Wesley Wu

It's amazing how fast a game of CK2 can collapse on you.

The Cayute

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Poor, prideful, but loyal Beli looks like he's gonna learn that the hard way.... By the way, did Justinian thrash Narses when he got home for causing so much stress on the war effort?

Kieran Elliott

A surprisingly canny move from the Ostrogoths, offering Belisarius the crown

barefoot James
>>1286965

Narses was an able politician and remained a confidant of Justinian. About 12 years after his recall Narses was again given military command in order to crush barbarian raiders in the Balkans. Later Narses was sent to Italy to crush the Ostrogoths. He outlived both Justinian and Belisarius.

Trevor Sullivan

Hey guys, there's an error in there. At 1:15, Dan says "back in Rome", you mean "back in Constantinople". I'm 99% sure the Hagia Sophia isn't in Rome.

Sean Sarff
>>1287678

You forget that Constantine claimed his country was the Roman Empire. So the statement is accurate without too much stretching. But you are right. He was referring to Constantinople in the Roman Empire.

Robbie the Gnome

You think that Justinian would see that Belisarius has no interest and indeed no capacity to run a country. An army yes, a political machine not so much. But here I am with a hindsight of over a 1000 years. It's really a strange idea that they would just make Belisarius their king. I mean it does seem like a trap from every angle. Although I guess it makes sense seeing as Belisarius is basically an unstoppable steam roller with a massive army. I can't wait to see what happens next is suspect "Mostly Bad Things" for Belisarius and Justinian both.

RMS Oceanic
>>1289142

For the whole of "traditional" Imperial History (30BC - 476AD), I can think of maybe one single time a man who claimed the title of Augustus out of turn was able to walk away from it intact. And "walk away" is the phrase, for he was still kept well away from even the authority he had before as a precaution. In that context, a man who even pretends to accept the title of Augustus will always be seen as a threat by someone at court, regardless of the Emperor's disposition. Puppet emperors aren't unusual either. The last half dozen or so Western Emperors after Majorian were puppets for Ricimer or Orestes or the Eastern Emperor. The Ostrogoths were basically appealing to Belisarius' ego, the perks of the title while they got on with ruling Italy, not realising his ego had other ideas.

ExtraCredits
>>1285806

I think the original script referred to it as back in the "Roman Empire" or something like that, but I guess it got cut down too much during editing and so the reference became unclear! Ah well. Always gotta one strand askew.

ExtraCredits
>>1286748

As far as I know there's no specific record of how this particular message arrived, but the Ostrogoths did have trade connections with the rest of the world so their messenger likely tagged along with whatever caravans were heading in the right direction.

ExtraCredits
>>1286965

Pretty much as James said - Narses and Belisarius couldn't get along, but Narses was still a valued member of Justinian's court and served well in other areas.

ExtraCredits
>>1287678

As Sean guessed, we were talking about the "Roman Empire" but at some point the line got edited down too mcuh and it became "Rome." Good attention to detail all the same!

ExtraCredits
>>1287039

Much as Roman accounts like to depict the Ostrogoths and other folks who took over the Western Empire's former holdings as barbarians, they were well-steeped in the traditions of Roman culture and just as capable of playing politics to their advantage.

ExtraCredits
>>1289142

RMS has nailed it again. I'll only add that whether or not Justinian felt he could trust Belisarius not to try and take control from him, the fact that Belisarius had accepted imperium in the West added more momentum to an undercurrent of opinion that felt he should be Justinian's heir, at the very least. We will, indeed, see some consequences of that later on!

Hung Nguyen

I am conflicted. On one hand, Belisarius has fought for so much to take Italy, a cause he has shed blood, sweat and tears that he couldn't simply abandon the campaign. On the other, he left his homeland vulnerable and exposed against a mightier enemy. It seems no matter what he chose to do, he would be damned either way.

ExtraCredits
>>1290690

Sometimes, there's no good way out... but what you choose when it comes to a hard decision tells a lot about what you value most. In Belisarius's case, as loyal as he was to Justinian in so many other situations, he definitely put his victory first. Remember, he was ready to refuse what he knew to be a direct order from Justinian until his generals objected and forced his hand, so this entire sequence of events was a very deliberate choice on his part.

Daikaiju

Roman history is RIFE, RIFE I SAY, with someone immediately suspecting an associate could be corrupted by power, even if they're still loyal.

Robbie the Gnome
>>1290690

Well he could have wrapped things up in Italy before it came to if it weren't for Narces and John and their tomfoolery. He could have taken the enemy before Persia ever threatened the Byzantium.

Stephen
>>1290690

So this is a case of "Justinian will remember this" while a white butterfly icon appears in the upper left hand corner of his screen?

Sean Sarff
>>1286965

Rome's definition of a barbarian was anyone that didn't speak latin. in fact, they called them barbarians because they the typical Roman believed they made Bar bar bar noises as their language which is where the word comes from.