In the 6th century AD, during the reign of Emperor Justinian, the Roman Empire experienced an extraordinary resurgence, reconquering lands - including Italy, North Africa and Rome itself - that had been lost to the 'barbarians' a century before. Leading these campaigns, a brilliant Roman general named Flavius Belisarius - a skilled tactician, inspirational leader, pragmatic and humane. This is the story of those campaigns, as recorded by Procopius, an eyewitness to many of them, as well as other ancient historians, texts, and archaeological remains.

Big thanks to Legendarian for 'Total War: Attila' gameplay footage, check out his YouTube channel here:    / @legendarian4690  

'Total War: Attila' gameplay footage used with kind permission of Creative Assembly - buy the game here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Total-War-At...

Thanks also to the 555 mod crew for modding support, find out more about their mods here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...

🎨 Original artwork by Miłek Jakubiec https://www.artstation.com/milek
🎨 Thanks to Igor Dzis for permission to use his painting, 'Battle of Dara'.
📷 Thanks to Dr Hugh Willmott, Sheffield University for permission to use photographs of plague burial

Creative Commons images:
Basilica San Marco by Gary Ullah via WM Commons
Dara fortifications by Procopius via Flickr
Dara photographs by Nevit Dilmen via Flickr
Mosaic of Theodora by Petar Milošević via WM Commons
Porta Asinaria by Mikhail Malykh via WM Commons
Windrow by Christian Collins via Flickr
Stag Heads Free Vector by misfitblue via vecteezy.com
Winter Sun by It's No Game via Flickr
Beach video by Ruvim Miksanskiy via Pexels

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📚Recommended reading:
📖Procopius, History of the Wars US: https://bookshop.org/a/99532/97806749... / UK: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12275/97806...
📖 The Wars of Justinian by Michael Whitby US: https://bookshop.org/a/99532/97815267... / UK: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12275/97815...
📖 Rome Resurgent by Peter Heather US: https://bookshop.org/a/99532/97801975... / UK: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12275/97801...
📖The Armies of Ancient Persia: the Sassanians by Kaveh Farrokh US: https://bookshop.org/a/99532/97818488... / UK: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12275/97818...
📖Late Roman Cavalryman AD 236–565 (Osprey) by Simon MacDowall https://www.ospreypublishing.com/uk/l...

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