Did Antonina Use Witchcraft to Enslave the Mighty Byzantine General Belisarius?
Flavius Belisarius (500 - 565 AD) personified the perfect example of what a general of a powerful empire ought to have been. He was almost invincible in battle as he restored the influence of the Byzantine Empire in North Africa and Italy during the reign of the 6th century Emperor Justinian I, who reigned from 527 to 565 AD. As a man, Belisarius also cut an impressive figure as he was dashing, energetic, decisive and resourceful. However, like many powerful men before and after him, Belisarius’ one weakness had the sway to destroy men and ruin empires. His Achilles’ heel was none other than his wife, Antonina.
The Gothic War, covering the period from the first Byzantine attacks in 535 AD until the fall of Ravenna in 540 and the recall of Belisarius. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Historian Procopius’ Secret History describes Belisarius and Antonina’s marriage as plagued not only by Antonina’s infidelities, but also Belisarius’ stubbornness and his deep love for her. While Procopius credited Belisarius and Antonina’s relationship to his downfall, historian Edward Gibbon (1737 - 1794) did not seem too certain of what to make of this. However, he was ready enough to accept the reliability of Procopius’ accounts as he noted that: "the unconquerable patience and loyalty of Belisarius appear either below or above the character of a man". From the popularity of both Procopius and Gibbon’s writings in their respective times, both historians may have condemned Belisarius and Antonina to being remembered in history as a weak husband and a witch who brought down one of the most powerful generals in Rome.
Dark Magic or Womanly Wiles?
Not much is known about Antonina in ancient records apart from her being mentioned in the rather sensational histories of Procopius. Antonina was born in the harsh world surrounding the Hippodrome in Constantinople and, due to her low birth, spent her childhood in poverty. Both Antonina’s father and grandfather were charioteers. Her mother, Procopius contemptuously wrote, was ‘one of the wenches of the theater’. When she was old enough, Antonina met a man of her own social standing, lived with him and bore him children - Procopius was not sure whether they were married or not. One of those children was Photius who later, as a young officer, would accompany his mother and Belisarius to Italy. After the death of the man she had lived with, Antonina and her young children were left to fend for themselves.
Depiction of the At Meydani square at the location of the Hippodrome of Constantinople. Also displayed is the Serpent Column and Obelisk of Theodosius by Aubry de la Mottraye (1727) (Public Domain)
By the time Antonina crossed the path of the young and dashing Belisarius, he was already a rising star in the empire and had captured the favor of the Emperor Justinian. The idea of Antonina being able to attract Belisarius by her own merit seemed impossible for Procopius to comprehend, as Antonina was already a mother, probably nearing 40 years old at that time, and a good five or ten years older than Belisarius when she met him. Procopius expressed his disbelief by writing that Antonina: “herself from the first led an utterly wanton life. Acquainted with magic drugs used by her parents before her, she learned how to use those of compelling qualities and became the wedded wife of Belisarius, after having already borne many children”. Nevertheless, the young general fell madly in love with her and they were married soon after.
In Antonina, Belisarius seemed to have met his intellectual equal. He treated her as his closest confidant and she accompanied him on all his campaigns including to North Africa, Italy and to the eastern frontier of the empire, thus making her privy to his military and political secrets. However, although Belisarius himself was faithful to her, Antonina had no qualms about having affairs. Her most memorable relationship was the illicit affair that she carried on with Theodosius. Theodosius was a young man of about more than half of Antonina’s age when she and Belisarius adopted him - thereby making him their son in the eyes of the law.
The Husband, the Wife and the Lover
During Belisarius’s North African Campaign, Belisarius, Antonina and Theodosius occupied the palace in Carthage. Procopius claimed that, one day, before Antonina and Theodosius could get dressed after their romantic interlude in a basement room in the palace, Belisarius came upon them and found them half-dressed. Antonina calmly explained to her furious husband that they were hiding the most valuable pieces of treasures that they had in the house, to prevent them from falling into Justinian’s hands. She then chided Belisarius for thinking lewd thoughts about her and their son, adding that she would ignore him forever if he persisted with such nonsense. Belisarius believed her and calmed down. Procopius did not specify exactly how she explained away her nakedness. After this incident, peace reigned once more in the great general’s household.
