Narses

Narses (478–573) was one of the great generals in the service of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I during the Roman reconquest that took place during Justinian's reign. A Romanized Armenian, Narses spent most of his life as an important eunuch in the palace of the emperors in Constantinople.

Narses achieved his greatest victories in Italy in 551. Germanus, a cousin of the Emperor, was appointed by Justinian to finish what Belisarius had started in the mid-sixth century. However, on his way to Italy in 550, Germanus fell ill and “abruptly reached the term of life.”[21] Narses was appointed the new commander of the army, given supreme command and returned to Italy.…more