History Literature / BelisariusSeries

* AdaptedOut: A number of RealLife people were left out of the series, presumably to keep the cast from becoming any more massive than it already is. Among the most noticeable is Comito, who was Sittas's wife and Theodora's older sister. Theodora's illegitimate daughter (whose name has been lost) also suffered a kind of DeathByAdaptation, as it's mentioned in the series that Theodora nearly died in childbirth and her baby didn't make it—in real life, her daughter survived to adulthood, married a relative of the late emperor Anastasius, and had at least one child of her own. Justinian's relatives—namely, his sister Vigilantia, his cousin Germanus, and his various nieces and nephews—are also absent, allowing Belisarius's adopted son Photius to inherit the purple when Justinian is [[EyeScream incapacitated]] (granted, the OneSteveLimit might have contributed to this, too, as his family included another Justinian, multiple Justins, and a Justina.) Antonina also had several other children from previous relationships, none of whom appear in the series, plus she and Belisarius had a daughter called Joannina, who is similarly missing.

* MyDadCanBeatUpYourDad: Rajiv is ''very'' proud of how great a warrior Rana Sanga is.

* AncientAfrica: The African empire of Axum is a major player, as befitting its historical status. While its warriors bear a resemblance to the ones in ''Film/{{Zulu}}'' they are also capable of building palaces, ships, and cities, forming an elaborate system of political checks and balances, dominating the trade in the Indian Ocean, and negotiating as equals with great empires. In the altered timeline of the series, Axum ends up a key ally to a resurgent Byzantine Empire and expands across the Red Sea into Arabia, and is on track to remain a world power into whatever the “modern era” of the timeline will look like.

* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: Shakuntala always tries her best to be a dignified ruler by hiding her emotions in public.

* AnimalMetaphor: Valentinian is compared with both a mongoose and weasal, Belisarius a couple times with a mongoose, Michael of Macedonia with a hawk, his friend Bishop Cassian with an owl, both Ousanus and Rao with panthers, Sanga with a tiger, Sittas with a wild boar. Antonina is compared with a shark once.

* BavarianFireDrill: When Belisarius and Shakuntala are trapped in Kausambi, Belisarius escapes by killing a member of the imperial bodyguard, taking his uniform, and doing a DrillSergeantNasty routine on any Malwa troops who get in his way, which was easy enough for him as he is already an experienced and charismatic military officer and the Malwa common troops have been harshly conditioned to never question orders from their superiors. So the soldiers judged that ignoring any suspicions they had would allow them to remain safely inconspicuous while bringing them up was much more likely to get them punished for insubordination then rewarded for alertness.

** Throughout the series, Belisarius himself reins other characters in (including Aide) when he feels they are aiming too high with the advanced technology: he wants equipment the Romans and their allies can produce and field ''now'' instead of better weapons that would take too long to manufacture. Though he also admits it's a balancing act; the Malwans -- having started earlier ''and'' an actual power-behind-the-throne capable of demonstrating the manufacturing techniques -- begin the series with a significant technological advantage. Belisarius ''has'' to focus on Boring, but Practical stuff he can implement quickly -- making up the difference with cunning battle strategies -- but he also has to develop the advanced stuff as quickly as possible or he'll lose the whole game once the Malwans develop it first.

* Saris are noted as being feminine but not particularly vulgar when worn by prostitutes. What marks a prostitute in India is the addition of an orange waist-scarf and large bangles worn on the ankle.
* Irene, when she visits India, is advised to wear a midriff-baring sari for the sake of comfort. She declines, continuing to wear hot and uncomfortable Roman robes to mark her status as the envoy from the Roman Empire.
* Anna feels tempted when she sees another woman wearing a midriff-baring sari, but it's not until she reunites with her husband and is told by him to do so that she starts wearing them herself.