Bel riose

Bel Riose is one of the characters in the science fiction saga The Foundation, by Isaac Asimov.

Riose, Commander of the Twentieth Fleet and known as the 'Last of the Imperials,' was the last prominent General of the Galactic Empire to stand against the Foundation. His tactical genius was compared to that of Admiral Puerifoy. He was a man of great military genius, being himself the brave, competent, good military man, not too young, not too old, who took deliberate risks, and was a popular general.

Unfortunately for him, he lived in the final decadent stage of the Galactic Empire. Riose longed for the great days of the old Empire, when generals proved their worth in order to annex new planets to the Empire. Riose got the chance of him when he heard the rumors of 'magicians'. by Ducem Barr and others, referring to Foundation scientists. At that time, the Foundation financially controlled much of the Milky Way Periphery. The Foundation's economic influence had reached as far as the outer borders of the decaying Empire, which held its ground in the Galactic Center.

As a loyal and patriotic defender of the original Galactic Empire, Riose was impressed by the legend of Hari Seldon's Plan to create a Second Foundation-built Empire, making the Foundation a real threat. With several of the last "ships of the line", the pinnacles of the Empire's technological and military value (of which few remained intact in that time of decline), which were arranged by Riose in the Galactic Periphery with the purpose of conquering the Foundation in the name of the Empire and the Emperor.

Seldon had predicted that the Foundation would survive all tests and Bel Riose knew this, but he bets his life against the "dead hand" of Seldon's psychohistory. In combat, Riose repeatedly defeats the Foundation for brilliant tactical and strategic planning. Riose penetrated into the Four Kingdoms, the political core of the Foundation, coming dangerously close to Terminus, the Foundation's capital. However, before he could complete his conquest of it, he was arrested and executed by Emperor Cleon II, who feared that Riose would betray him and occupy the throne of the Galactic Empire.

Ironically, Riose never claimed to occupy the imperial throne and only sought to serve his emperor faithfully. In later years, Riose was forgotten by the Foundation people, as his national mythology required that the Mule become the exclusive threat central to the Foundation's construction of the Second Empire.

Isaac Asimov was based on the figure of the Byzantine general Belisarius, under the command of Emperor Justinian I, to compose the character of Foundation and Empire. Like Riose, Belisarius served a strong Emperor, Justinian I, in an Empire that retained only its former eastern half; and he had reconquered much of the old Western Empire; and he was summoned on the unfounded suspicion that he was coveting the imperial throne. Unlike Riose, Belisario was not executed, but rather removed (and, according to legend, blinded and exiled as a beggar).