Battle of Taginae
Battle of Taginae | |||||||
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Part of the Gothic War | |||||||
Totila, King of the Ostrogoths At Taginae, Totila was slain by the Gepid Lancer Asbadus.[2] | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Byzantine Empire Mercenaries: | Ostrogothic Kingdom | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Narses[2][4] | Totila †[2][4] | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
20,000 men[5] 5,000 Lombards[1] 3,000 Heruli[1] 400 Gepids[1] | 15,000 men[5] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown, Minimal | 6,000 Killed[2][4] | ||||||
At the Battle of Taginae (also known as the Battle of Busta Gallorum) in June/July 552, the forces of the Byzantine Empire under Narses broke the power of the Ostrogoths in Italy, and paved the way for the temporary Byzantine reconquest of the Italian Peninsula.
Prelude
From as early as 549 the Emperor
Deployment
At a place known as Busta Gallorum (
Although he enjoyed superiority in numbers, Narses deployed his army in a strong defensive position. In the centre he massed the large body of Germanic mercenaries dismounted in a dense formation and placed the Byzantine troops to either side. On each wing he stationed 4,000 foot-archers.
Battle
Totila initially attempted to outflank his opponent by seizing a small hill on the Byzantine left which dominated the only route to the rear of the Byzantine line, but some of the Byzantine infantry deployed in a compact well-shielded formation managed to beat off successive attacks of the Ostrogothic cavalry.
Having failed to turn Narses' position, and expecting 2,000 reinforcements from Teia, Totila used various expedients to delay the battle, including disingenuous offers of negotiation and duels enacted between the battle-lines. In one such occasion, Totila sent a Byzantine deserter named Coccas out to challenge any Byzantine to single combat. Coccas was large and immensely strong. He had a reputation among the Goths as a ruthless and powerful fighter. An Armenian named Anzalas, one of Narses' bodyguards, answered the challenge. Coccas charged at Anzalas, but at the last moment, Anzalas swerved his horse and stabbed the Gothic champion in the side. It was not the most auspicious omen for the Ostrogoths.
However, the Ostrogothic king had another delaying tactic. Both armies watched as Totila, dressed in shining purple and gold armor, and riding a huge stallion, cantered out towards the space between the two large armies. His horse went circles, reared, pirouetted, and ran backwards as Totila tossed his lance into the air and caught it. At last, he rode back to his own army and changed into battle armor. Teia had arrived.
His reinforcements having arrived, Totila broke formation and retired for lunch. Narses, wary of a possible ruse, permitted his troops to refresh themselves without leaving their positions. Totila, apparently hoping to take his enemy by surprise, launched a sudden large-scale mounted assault upon the Byzantine center. Ancient and modern authors have accused him of folly, but Totila probably sought to close with the enemy as fast as possible in order to avoid the effects of the formidable Byzantine archers. The Byzantines were prepared for such a move, however, and the archers massed on the flanks to incline their front towards the center so that his battle-line became crescent-shaped. Caught in the
Aftermath
Narses proceeded to Rome which fell with limited resistance. The Ostrogoths regrouped under Totila's successor Teia, but suffered a final defeat at the
References
- ^ a b c d Helmolt, Hans Ferdinand (1907). Battles The World's History: Central and northern Europe. London.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c d Gibbon, Edward (1830). The history of the decline and fall of the Roman empire, Volume 3. Philadelphia.
- ^ Pütz, Wilhelm (1849). Handbook of mediæval geography and history. London.
- ^ a b c Encyclopædia Britannica (1823). Encyclopædia Britannica: Vol. XI. London.
- ^ a b Richard Ernest Dupuy, Trevor Nevitt Dupuy (1970). The encyclopedia of military history. New York.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ J. Norwich, Byzantium: The Early Centuries, p. 251
- ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
Sources
- Roisl, H.N. (1981). "Totila und die Schlacht bei den Busta Gallorum, Ende Juni/Anfang Juli 552". Jahrbuch der österreichischen Byzantinistik (30): 25–50.
- Boss, Roy (1993). Justinian's Wars: Belisarius, Narses and the Reconquest of the West. Stockport.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Haldon, John (2008). The Byzantine Wars. The History Press.
- Rance, Philip (2005). "Narses and the Battle of Taginae (Busta Gallorum) 552: Procopius and sixth century warfare". Historia (54): 424–472.
- Weir, William (2004). 50 Battles That Changed the World: The Conflicts That Most Influenced the Course of History. Savage, Md: Barnes and Noble Books. ISBN 0-7607-6609-6.
- Treadgold, Warren (1997). A History of the Byzantine State and Society. The Stanford Press.
- Norwich, John J. (1989). Byzantium: The Early Centuries. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.