Justinian's eunuch general Narses has long earned historians’ respect. He deserves this acclaim since his key victories over the Goths in 552 and versus the Franks and Alamanni in 554 helped to secure Justinian's defeat of the Goths in Italy after an arduous nineteen-year struggle. So too did Narses perform admirably for twelve years in his role as prefect of Italy. Of course, it has always been important to highlight that Narses was a eunuch. Indeed, for many modern historians, Narses’ identity as a castrate is more important for study than his military deeds and political achievements, which proved ephemeral. For some, the presence of a eunuch in such an essential military role indicates a turn away from codes of generalship based on traditional martial courage and manliness. This chapter questions this view, suggesting that Byzantines like Procopius had more flexible notions of eunuchs’ gender status than some recent scholarship allows. By comparing Procopius and other Byzantine writers’ presentation of these eunuch generals, with Procopius’ highly gendered portrait of Belisarius in the Secret History, I will argue that Narses and the other chief eunuch general, Solomon, fit into a continuing hegemony of traditional masculine values based on the supremacy of Byzantine men's martial virtues. Moreover, this two-part chapter examines the significance of eunuchs taking on powerful political and military roles in the newly ‘reconquered’ territories in North Africa and Italy. As symbols of Byzantine imperial power and otherness, influential eunuchs like Solomon and Narses offer a stimulating instrument to examine how Byzantine culture was translated and transported to North Africa, Italy, and post-Roman Europe.

The Blame Game

Superficially, the argument that eunuchs’ increased military role marks a turn away from martial masculinity as a part of Byzantine ideology appears attractive. The Byzantine period saw eunuchs playing important roles at all levels of court society. Although their primary function throughout the Byzantine era remained service within the imperial palace, Narses was one of three eunuchs to command Byzantine armies during Justinian's reign. The eunuch Solomon was magister militum and praetorian prefect of Africa. Another castrate, Scholasticus, served as commander of an army sent against the Sklavenoi in 551. The number of eunuch generals only grew larger in later centuries.