''Bélisaire'' is a banned 1767 French novel on the life of the Byzantine general

Belisarius BelisariusSometimes called Flavia gens#Later use, Flavius Belisarius. The name became a courtesy title by the late 4th century, see (; ; The exact date of his birth is unknown. March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under ...

Jean-François Marmontel Jean-François Marmontel (; 11 July 1723 – 31 December 1799) was a French historian, writer and a member of the Encyclopédistes movement. Biography He was born of poor parents at Bort, Limousin (today in Corrèze). After studying wi ...

. It popularised the apocryphal tale of his being reduced to beggary by

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

despite his great services to the empire, citing it as an example of the ingratitude of those in power towards their faithful servants and indicting the French king

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

by proxy as another such ungrateful monarch.

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''Bélisaire''
on Gallica 1767 novels 18th-century French novels French historical novels Novels set in the 6th century Novels set in the Byzantine Empire Novels set in the Middle Ages Cultural depictions of Belisarius Louis XV {{hist-novel-stub