From Today I Found Out.

If you told a general of the Roman Republic or early Imperial Rome that one of their most successful generals, indeed some historians argue the greatest Roman general of all time, would be a eunuch, they would have been horrified. However, by Narses’ time in the 5th and 6th centuries, Roman attitudes towards eunuchs had evolved quite a bit. Eunuchs were now expected to play such roles as chamberlains, but many illustrious eunuchs made their way through the imperial households and the Christian church to higher offices. That said, a eunuch in Rome was usually imported from the outside due to an earlier Roman law that held that males could not be castrated within the borders of the Roman empire (no doubt much to the relief of men throughout the empire). One popular source for eunuchs was Persian held Armenia, or Persarmenia, where the man of the hour, Narses, himself came from. As for that man, it isn’t known exactly when he was born, simply sometime around 479, give or take a few years. On this note, later in life, it was known that he would often help defecting Persian Armenians settle in the Roman empire. He was able to do this because of his role as Emperor Justinian’s Chamberlain.

Earning considerable favor as a servant to Justinian, Narses moved up the ranks rapidly in the palace hierarchy, eventually making it up to grand chamberlain and entrusted with civil duties as a treasurer for Justinian. Little is known about Narses’ time in other positions, though it’s clear from all of this and what came after that he had a particular talent as an administrator. This brings us to his rise to military excellence, which is really just administration on a different kind of battlefield.

Author: Yehia Amin
Editor: Daven Hiskey
Host: Simon Whistler
Producer: Samuel Avila