Paolo Belzoni Belisarius: The First Shall Be Last

Belisarius: The First Shall Be Last

Paolo Belzoni

Arx, Jan 2007, $14.95

ISBN: 1889758787

The once invincible Roman Empire has been collapsing from within as much as from the barbarians attacking at the edges. Most citizens regardless of locale feel strongly that the great state is going in the wrong direction with little hope for the future. That changes when war hero Justin is offered the throne and accepts after rejecting the emperor position in the past. His rise from common birth to soldier to leader to emperor brings new hope of a cleansing. His heir nephew Justinian rules the kingdom in Justin's name, but though all know this no one cares as a rebirthing of optimism is everywhere.

Justinian wants real leaders to take charge of the legions not noble connections. Soldiers like Belisarius in Thrace join with a chance to make their mark after learning to fight by defeating looters. He and his friends join Justin's military and quickly become part of the Imperial household guard. With trouble on the eastern flank from the Persians, the competent Belisarius is sent to Constantinople to battle the enemy where he meets his assertive future spouse Antonina. He moves up the ranks as the Persian Wars occupy the eastern legions.

BELISARIUS, Liber 1 of a biographical fiction saga, is a superb Ancient Rome tale that brings to life one of the last great generals of the empire focusing on the Persian Wars; thus the story line reads for the most part as a fictionalization of military history. Told almost exclusively from the Roman perspective especially that of the lead hero; his side in the conflict comes across as honorable while the enemy consists of murderous thugs; to the victors go the fictionalized history books. Although readers will have to overcome the tiny font size, teens and adults will appreciate this spotlight into sixth century Rome at a time when the empire and in some chronicles of the time the world was on the brink of collapse as cultures collide.

Harriet Klausner