Word: belisarius
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...When Belisarius and the Eunuch Narses conquered Italy for Justinian in 540, they re-established Ravenna as the Western capital of the Byzantine empire. Justinian and Theodora, his empress, ordered it suitably adorned. The rendering of Christ in armor for the Archbishop's Chapel, a rare phenomenon in art, may reflect the warlike nature of the Byzantines, who held the view that Christianity could and should be spread by the sword. But the Ravenna Christ looks more loving than awesome. A beardless youth, He lightly treads the lion and the serpent while presenting His eternal promise...
...their story, the peasant emperor loses in stature and the prostitute empress takes on a regal aspect. Justinian is seen as a dull, lifelong scholar, a grubber for facts, a physical coward with an insatiable lust for power. He seldom left his palace, and depended on his great commander, Belisarius, to defend the empire. Of his many great projects, only two fully succeeded: the Justinian Code and the building of the magnificent Church of St. Sophia...