Justinian I was the last great conquering Roman emperor, who dramatically increased the size of his realm although he never actually led an army in person. His long reign (527-565) was devoted to the challenging project of renovatio imperii , that is the renovation of Empire. His was the will and vision behind campaigns that saw the reconquest of Rome itself and Italy from the Ostrogoths, North Africa from the Vandals, and parts of Spain from the Visigoths. These grand schemes were largely accomplished through the services of two talented generals, Belisarius and Narses, and in spite of the distractions of wars against the Persians in the east for most of his reign and the devastation caused by bubonic plague. This is the only book available devoted to analysing all of Justinian’s campaigns on the basis of the full range of sources. Besides narrating the course and outcome of these wars, Michael Whitby analyses the Roman army of the period, considering its equipment, organization, leadership, strategy and tactics, and considers the longer-term impact of Justinian’s military ventures on the stability of the empire. AUTHOR: Michael Whitby studied Classics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he also completed his doctoral research before enjoying a Junior Research Fellowship at Merton. He taught Ancient History at St Andrews, where he became professor in 1995 before moving to Warwick in 1996 as Professor of Classics and Ancient History, where he was appointed Chair of Faculty (2001) and then Pro-Vice-Chancellor (2003). In 2010 he moved to Birmingham as Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Arts & Law. Michael was co-editor of Cambridge Ancient History XIV (425-600) and of The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare, as well as founder editor of the Brill series on The Medieval Mediterranean; he currently sits on the editorial board of the Liverpool series Translated Texts for Historians. He was awarded a D.Litt. by the University of Warwick for his work on Late Roman history. He has written or edited a dozen books, and numerous articles or book chapters.
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