"Bravery cannot be victorious unless it is arrayed along with justice." ~ Belisarius's speech at Abydos, AD 533

Gloria Romanorum ^ | August 9, 2024 | Florentius

[Antoninus]

This quote is taken from an exhortation by the Roman general Belisarius in AD 533 to his troops as they set out on the great campaign to wrest north Africa from the Vandals. The setting is the beach at Abydos, a city set on a promontory projecting into the Hellespont between the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara.

Having left Constantinople by ship shortly before, Belisarius and his army had landed at Abydos to collect an additional load of cavalry mounts. Before they could set sail again, however, the wind died and left the fleet becalmed. Several days of inactivity while they waited for a fresh breeze soon created disorder in the army, and two of the federated Hun soldiers, in a state of inebriation, murdered one of their comrades.

Annoyed at the disorder, and seeking to set a strong example for the rest of the expedition, Belisarius had the offenders impaled on a hill outside the camp. Some of his troops were incensed by what they considered an overly harsh punishment. Particularly upset were the Hun federates who argued that the drunken state of the malefactors should have mitigated their punishments.

Click for more info. Belisarius disagreed. Here is the speech he gave to his army to settle the issue. It was recorded by Procopius of Caesarea, Belisarius's secretary, who was an eye-witness.

This scene is portrayed in detail in my book, Belisarius: Glory of the Romans

"If my words were addressed to men now for the first time entering into war, it would require a long time for me to convince you by speech how great a help justice is for gaining the victory. For those who do not understand the fortunes of such struggles think that the outcome of war lies in strength of arm alone. But you, who have often conquered an enemy not inferior to you in strength of body and well endowed with valor, you who have often tried your strength against your opponents, you, I think, are not ignorant that, while it is men who always do the fighting in either army, it is God who judges the contest as seems best to Him and bestows the victory in battle. Now since this is so, it is fitting to consider good bodily condition and practice in arms and all the other provision for war of less account than justice and those things which pertain to God. For that which may possibly be of greatest advantage to men in need would naturally be honored by them above all other things.

Now the first proof of justice would be the punishment of those who have committed unjust murder. For if it is incumbent upon us to sit in judgment upon the actions which from time to time are committed by men toward their neighbors, and to adjudge and to name the just and the unjust action, we should find that nothing is more precious to a man than his life. And if any barbarian who has slain his kinsman expects to find indulgence in his trial on the ground that he was drunk, in all fairness he makes the charge so much the worse by reason of the very circumstance by which, as he alleges, his guilt is removed. For it is not right for a man under any circumstances, and especially when serving in an army, to be so drunk as readily to kill his dearest friends; nay, the drunkenness itself, even if the murder is not added at all, is worthy of punishment; and when a kinsman is wronged, the crime would clearly be of greater moment as regards punishment than when committed against those who are not kinsmen, at least in the eyes of men of sense. Now the example is before you and you may see what sort of an outcome such actions have.

But as for you, it is your duty to avoid laying violent hands upon anyone without provocation, or carrying off the possessions of others; for I shall not overlook it, be assured, and I shall not consider anyone of you a fellow-soldier of mine, no matter how terrible he is reputed to be to the foe, who is not able to use clean hands against the enemy. For bravery cannot be victorious unless it be arrayed along with justice."

Source: Procopius, History of the Wars, Book III, Chapter 12.

[Antoninus]

Was the late Roman (Christian Roman) ideal of justice better or worse than our own?

[BenLurkin]

“Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.”

[blueunicorn6]

There are two kinds of bravery in the military.

The first kind of bravery is moving out under fire to take the enemy’s position.

This is physical courage.

This comes from training and discipline.

Extreme physical courage is usually a reaction. It is not thought out.

The second kind of courage is telling the General that he is wrong.

This is moral courage.

This comes from rewarding telling the truth and not punishing people who sincerely tell the truth for the unit’s benefit.

Moral courage is becoming rare in our people and thus, our military.

[Antoninus]

The second kind of courage is telling the General that he is wrong. This is moral courage.

If you read late Roman history, you'll quickly see that telling the General that he's wrong was a regular occurrence. Worse than that, Roman armies often had multiple generals, all at cross purposes, with the inferior in rank refusing to obey the superior both over trivial matters and in critical, dangerous situations.

The moral courage in this particular incident was Belisarius deciding to go ahead with the execution despite rumblings of mutiny from his troops. Standing before a mutinous army and convincing them to obey orders takes courage.

[blueunicorn6]

Yep.