Suggested Readings
Belisarius: "Flavius Belisarius (505-565) 
was one of the greatest generals of the Byzantine Empire and one of the greatest generals in history. Belisarius is not particularly well known today (certainly nowhere as near as well-known as Julius Caesar, or Alexander the Great), but this is due more to a lack of attention to Byzantine history than to his skill and accomplishments, which were matched by few, if any, military commanders."
Gaius Flavius Fimbria
Hannibal Barca: "When Hannibal was born in 247 BCE, his birthplace Carthage (the capital of what is now Tunisia) was a humiliated city: it had been the Mediterranean's most prosperous seaport and it had
possessed wealthy provinces, but it had recently been defeated by the Romans, who had stripped Carthage of most its overseas territories - Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica.
Hannibal was the oldest son of the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca, who took him to Spain in 237, where he was trying to conquer Andalusia, thus compensating for the loss of Carthage's provinces. When Hamilcar died (229), Hannibal's brother-in-law Hasdrubal took over command. The new governor secured the Carthaginian position by diplomatic means, among which was intermarriage between Carthaginians and Iberians. Hannibal married a native princess.
In 221, Hasdrubal was murdered and Hannibal was elected commander by the Carthaginian army in Spain. He returned to his father's military politics and attacked the natives again: in 220 he took Salamanca. The next year, he besieged Saguntum, a Roman ally."
Afranius Syagrius - "King" of the Romans: This Kingdom of Soissons, also called the Kingdom of Syagrius, is inaccurately named; it was neither ruled by a king, or even considered by its citizens as anything other than a separated province of the Western Roman
Empire.
Its origins were in the reign of the Western Emperor Majorian (457–461). During that time, Majorian appointed Aegidius to be magister militum of the Gallic provinces. The only remaining Roman territory in Gaul was in the northwest, with a small strip connecting it to Italy. During Majorian's reign, that corridor was annexed by the Germanic tribes now occupying Gaul, thus effectively cutting off Aegidius and his citizens from the Empire.
Aegidius was allied to Childeric I, King of the Salian Franks, and helped him defeat the Visigoths at Orleans in 463. The Romano-British, after the Roman withdrawal from Britain, may have requested military assistance from Aegidius (see Groans of the Britons). At any rate, the Romano-British settlements in Armorica bordered Soissons to the west, and there was certainly trade between them, especially as they were the last outposts of Roman civilization in that part of the world.
Aegidius continued to govern until his death in 464, which may have been murder at the hands of an agent of one of Childeric's enemies. At that point his son, Syagrius, took his place.
General Surena: " ... For Suren was no ordinary person; but in fortune, family and honour the first after the king; and in point of courage and capacity, as well as size and
beauty, superior to the Parthians of his time. If he went only on an excursion into the country, he had a thousand camels to carry his baggage and two hundred carriages for his concubines. He was attended by a thousand heavy-armed horse, and many more of the light-armed rode before him. Indeed his vassals and slaves made up a body of cavalry little less than ten thousand. He had the hereditary privilege in his family of putting the diadem upon the king's head, when he was crowned. When Orodes was driven from throne, he restored him; and it was he who conquered for him the great city of Selucia, being the first scale the wall, and beating off the enemy with his own hand. Though he was not then thirty years old, his discernment was strong, and his counsel esteemed the best."
was one of the greatest generals of the Byzantine Empire and one of the greatest generals in history. Belisarius is not particularly well known today (certainly nowhere as near as well-known as Julius Caesar, or Alexander the Great), but this is due more to a lack of attention to Byzantine history than to his skill and accomplishments, which were matched by few, if any, military commanders."Gaius Flavius Fimbria
Hannibal Barca: "When Hannibal was born in 247 BCE, his birthplace Carthage (the capital of what is now Tunisia) was a humiliated city: it had been the Mediterranean's most prosperous seaport and it had
possessed wealthy provinces, but it had recently been defeated by the Romans, who had stripped Carthage of most its overseas territories - Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica.Hannibal was the oldest son of the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca, who took him to Spain in 237, where he was trying to conquer Andalusia, thus compensating for the loss of Carthage's provinces. When Hamilcar died (229), Hannibal's brother-in-law Hasdrubal took over command. The new governor secured the Carthaginian position by diplomatic means, among which was intermarriage between Carthaginians and Iberians. Hannibal married a native princess.
In 221, Hasdrubal was murdered and Hannibal was elected commander by the Carthaginian army in Spain. He returned to his father's military politics and attacked the natives again: in 220 he took Salamanca. The next year, he besieged Saguntum, a Roman ally."
Afranius Syagrius - "King" of the Romans: This Kingdom of Soissons, also called the Kingdom of Syagrius, is inaccurately named; it was neither ruled by a king, or even considered by its citizens as anything other than a separated province of the Western Roman
Empire.Its origins were in the reign of the Western Emperor Majorian (457–461). During that time, Majorian appointed Aegidius to be magister militum of the Gallic provinces. The only remaining Roman territory in Gaul was in the northwest, with a small strip connecting it to Italy. During Majorian's reign, that corridor was annexed by the Germanic tribes now occupying Gaul, thus effectively cutting off Aegidius and his citizens from the Empire.
Aegidius was allied to Childeric I, King of the Salian Franks, and helped him defeat the Visigoths at Orleans in 463. The Romano-British, after the Roman withdrawal from Britain, may have requested military assistance from Aegidius (see Groans of the Britons). At any rate, the Romano-British settlements in Armorica bordered Soissons to the west, and there was certainly trade between them, especially as they were the last outposts of Roman civilization in that part of the world.
Aegidius continued to govern until his death in 464, which may have been murder at the hands of an agent of one of Childeric's enemies. At that point his son, Syagrius, took his place.
General Surena: " ... For Suren was no ordinary person; but in fortune, family and honour the first after the king; and in point of courage and capacity, as well as size and
beauty, superior to the Parthians of his time. If he went only on an excursion into the country, he had a thousand camels to carry his baggage and two hundred carriages for his concubines. He was attended by a thousand heavy-armed horse, and many more of the light-armed rode before him. Indeed his vassals and slaves made up a body of cavalry little less than ten thousand. He had the hereditary privilege in his family of putting the diadem upon the king's head, when he was crowned. When Orodes was driven from throne, he restored him; and it was he who conquered for him the great city of Selucia, being the first scale the wall, and beating off the enemy with his own hand. Though he was not then thirty years old, his discernment was strong, and his counsel esteemed the best."