NARSE, the eunuch who rivalled Belisarius in heroism under the reign of the emperor Justinian, emerged from obscurity A. D. 538. From the domestic service of the palace, and the administration of the private revenue, he was suddenly exalted to the head of an army. He is ranked among the few eunuchs who have rescued that unhappy name from the contempt and hatred of mankind. A feeble diminutive body concealed the soul of a statesman and a warrior. His youth had been employed in the management of the loom and distaff, in the cares of the household, and the service of female luxury; but, while his hands were busy, he secretly exercised the faculties of a vigorous and discerning mind. A stranger to the schools and the camp, he studied in the palace to dissemble, to flatter, and to persuade; and as soon as he approached the person of the emperor, Justinian listened with surprise and pleasure to the manly counsels of his chamberlain and private treasurer. The talents of Narces were tried and improved in frequent embassies; he led an army into Italy, acquired a practical
tical knowledge of the war and the country, and presumed to strive with the genius of Belisarius. Twelve years after his return, the eunuch was chosen to achieve the conquest which had been left imperfect by the first of the Roman generals. Instead of being dazzled by vanity or emulation, he seriously declared, that unless he were armed with an adequate force, he would never consent to risk his own glory and that of his sovereign. Justinian granted to the favourite what he might have denied to the hero: the Gothic war was kindled from its ashes, and the preparations were not unworthy of the ancient majesty of the empire.
Nafes defeated the Goths, the Franks, and the Alemanni; the Italian cities opened their gates to the conqueror; he entered the capital in triumph; and having established the seat of his government at Ravenna, continued 15 years to govern Italy under the title of Exarch.
His virtues, we are told, were stained with avarice; and in this provincial reign he accumulated a treasure of gold and silver which surpassed the modesty of a private fortune. His government was oppressive or unpopular; and the general discontent was expressed with freedom by the deputies of Rome. Before the throne of Justinian they boldly declared, that their Gothic servitude had been more tolerable than the despotism of a Greek eunuch; and that unless their tyrant were instantly removed, they would consult their own happiness in the choice of a master. Thus was his disgrace the effect of the people's disaffection; and his death, though in the extreme period of old age, was unseasonable and premature, since his genius alone could have repaired the last and fatal error of his life. He died about the year 567, and, as some say, at the advanced age of 95; but this does not appear very probable. See Gibbon's Rom. Hist. vol. iv. 410 edit. p. 194, 298, &c.