The Bust of Belisarius

Via Campania

The Bust of Belisarius

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On March 13th 565, Flavius Belisarius, the greatest of all Byzantine generals, who served under Emperor Justinian I (r. 527-65), died. 

A stone's throw from Porta Pinciana, there is a huge bust of Belisarius that once graced the extensive gardens of Villa Boncampagni Ludovisi, which occupied much of the area between Porta Pinciana and Porta Salaria.

​Most of the villa was destroyed in the 1880s to make way for housing; all that remains is the Casino dell' Aurora. Its destruction led the American novelist Henry James (1843-1916) to comment in a letter to a friend: 'one’s stomach is really turned ... by the accounts of the hideous things that are being wrought upon the helpless seven hills. Destruction and vulgarization everywhere—and the Villa Ludovisi cut up into building lots. The Villa Ludovisi--je ne vous dis que cela!'

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Bust of Belisarius in Villa Ludovisi-Boncompagni