Question

What was the ultimate impact of the exploits or feats of Belisarius for the Byzantine Empire?

A) Re-institution of Rome as the empire's capital

B) Weakening of the army from being spread out

C) Re-conquering of the old western Roman provinces

D) Long-term dominance of the Byzantine Empire

Answer 1

If you are using FLVS and you don't understand this, then look at the 1.07 Introduction.

It says:
"The Byzantine Empire was supreme for many years... During the reign of Justinian I, the Byzantine Empire reached the height of its power. After Justinian's death, however, the empire began a gradual decline that lasted for nearly 900 years."

Look at:
"During the reign of Justinian I, the empire reached the height of its power," and it was all because of who? Belisarius. If it wasn't for his "exploits," or what I consider to be killing sprees, under the rule of Justinian I, the Byzantine empire wouldn't have lasted as long as it did.

The answer is
D) long-term dominance of the Byzantine Empire.

Answer 2

The ultimate impact of the exploits or feats of Belisarius for the Byzantine Empire was : *weakening of the army from being spread out*. Because, In the end, that was the "ultimate" result of what he was asked to do for his emperor. [ Yet with so much territory taken, it also required a sufficiently large force to hold what was gained. Unfortunately, all of that fighting and the monument building by Justinian had wrecked its finances in the end. The army actually shrank down to a little over 150,000 (because of that shortage) who were expected to try and hold lands surrounding the Mediterranean. So ultimately, in the end, as great as Belisarius was in expanding the empire's borders, the empire itself couldn't hold on to its gains for long. After his death and that of Justinian, a number of these lands would fall back into "barbarian" hands.

Answer 3

It was what he was asked to do, making "weakening of the army from being spread out" their goal.

However, that was not what they accomplished overall. If it wasn't for Belisarius extreme tactics in taking back the western Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, wouldn't have been able to last. Why? Because they would have been the next logical place to take over. That was the outcome of all of his efforts. That accomplishment was making sure the empire lasted as long as possible.

It was implied in the text.

It was never stated directly.I got confused with that as well.

Answer 4

But Justinian never gave Belisarius the order to 'weaken his army as much as possible' as an actual objective. That just doesn't make sense. What he did task Belisarius to do was to reclaim the lost territories of the Western Empire. Weakening the army was the ultimate result of Justinian's wishes, not a goal.

Spreading the army thin and leaving the treasury destitute afterward was what had ultimately weakened the empire, setting it up for a slow decline over the next few centuries. Never would the Byzantines be as dominant as they were under Justinian or Belisarius again, making the argument for (D) hard to justify from that perspective. That's why I'd probably lean more towards linda3's answer of (B).

Pretty much everything that Belisarius had won for Justinian was lost in a century and half after their deaths, putting the Byzantines almost back where they had started and perhaps in an even worse position than before, surrounded by enemies who would slowly whittle away at what they had left.

Answer 5

D IS INCORRECT. I GOT IT WRONG SO DONT USE D!!!!!