Here is a short piece that I have previously written in a Byzantine Studies online discussion group comparing and contrasting a Roman Republican general during the Second Punic War and a general during the Early Byzantine Period during the projected military campaigns of reconquest under the direction of Caesar Flavius Petrius Sabbatius Justinianus Augustus IV [Emperor Justinian].



I would choose Publius Cornelius Scipio 'Africanus' over Flavius Belisarius.


Scipio's campaign in the Iberian promontory was impressive: his swift capture of New Carthage; and his victories at the Battle of Baecula and at the Battle of Ilipa alongside with the capitulation of Gades are a masterpiece of warfare on the tactical and strategic levels.

His management of logistical issues, and diplomatic relations with the Celtiberians and other autochthonous or native Iberian tribes was impressive: he managed to render inimical or hostile tribes fissiparous or divisive and encircled by allied tribes, and he managed a combined campaign by land and sea as New Carthage was the center of his logistical concerns, supply routes and army routes during his Iberian campaign. His ruses and stratagems are to be admired and appreciated for their true value. In addition, Scipio's ability to mold his fighting forces as a worthy tool against asymmetrical and attritional means of warfare, and to garner support and aid from Celtiberian tribes is deserving of praise and admiration.

Scipio's African Campaign was instrumental in the defeat of the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War [219/218-201 B.C.E]; from his stratagems in dividing King Syphax of the Numidians, installing Massinisa as the monarch of the Numidians as an ally and supporter of the Roman Commonwealth after the defeat of Syphax, and in defeating Hannibal Barca himself at the battle of Zama on 202 B.C.E. Here, Publius Cornelius Scipio 'Africanus' maintained a combined sea and land assault on Carthaginian and Numidian holdings; rendered his enemies fissiparous; blocked the caravan routes, trade routes, and supply routes of the Numidians and Carthaginians; and achieved local superiority and a concentration of force at the decisive point at Zama in which Hannibal Barca was utterly defeated in battle.

Flavius Belisarius fought against the Sassanian Persians from 526-532 C.E. and 541-545 C.E.; against the Vandals from 533-534 C.E.; and against the Ostrogoths from 535-554 C.E. Belisarius incorporated the Vandal Kingdom to the Eastern Roman Empire [Byzantine Empire] that led to the creation of the "Exarchate of Carthage" with the main cities being Carthage and Hippo Regium; and defended the city of Rome successfully in its siege from 537-538 C.E from the Ostrogoths.

In conclusion, both Publius Cornelius Scipio 'Africanus' and Flavius Belisarius were similarly adept in poliorcetics or in siege warfare and in the general tenets of fortification, with Scipio's capture and consolidation of New Carthage and Flavius Belisarius' successful defense of the city of Rome from 537-538 C.E. However, I firmly maintain that Publius Cornelius Scipio 'Africanus' was a better field commander than Flavius Belisarius due to the above sections. In addition, Scipio 'Africanus' was moderate, benevolent, slow to amarulence and vehemence, and just whilst Flavius Belisarius though considerate with his soldiers was uxorious and avaricious; his blinding devotion to his wife and his voracious desire for wealth were stains on his otherwise noteworthy character.

1.) In the end, Scipio's Iberian Campaign and African Campaign led to Roman hegemony throughout the western side of the Mediterranean Sea through its complete control of the flow of commodities and with an ever increasing military presence.

2.) In the end, Flavius Belisarius' Ostrogothic Campaigns led to in a few years after his departure: the Lombard invasions of Italy from 568-572 C.E; the increased strain on the Byzantine "Exarchate of Ravenna"; the eventual alienation of the Papacy from the Byzantine Empire in which it would support Charlemagne in 800 C.E. as the "Emperor of the Romans" and the "Rex Francorum et Rex Langobardorum" as opposed to the Byzantine claim to the imperial heritage of the Roman state; and encourage the massed and concentrated invasion by the Sassanian Persians on Byzantine lands alongside Syria-Cilicia Phoenice, Anatolia and the Byzantine province of Egypt [Aegyptus] that were to be only fully repelled by Basileus Heraclius [610-641 C.E.] in the Byzantine-Persian Wars from 622-628 C.E.