Gothic War (535–554)
Gothic War | |||||||||
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Part of Justinian's Renovatio Imperii | |||||||||
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The Gothic War between the
The war followed the Byzantine reconquest of the province of Africa from the Vandals. Historians commonly divide the war into two phases:
- From 535 to 540: ending with the fall of the Ostrogothic capital Ravenna and the apparent reconquest of Italy by the Byzantines.
- From 540/541 to 553: a Alamanni.
In 554, Justinian promulgated a
Background
Italy under the Goths
In 476
With the ascension of Emperor
Belisarius
In 533, using a dynastic dispute as a pretext, Justinian had sent his most talented general, Belisarius, to recover the North African provinces held by the Vandals. The Vandalic War produced an unexpectedly swift and decisive victory for the Byzantine Empire and encouraged Justinian in his ambition to recover the rest of the lost western provinces. As regent, Amalasuntha had allowed the Byzantine fleet to use the harbours of Sicily, which belonged to the Ostrogothic Kingdom. After her son's death in 534, Amalasuntha offered the kingship to her cousin Theodahad; Theodahad accepted, but had her arrested and, in early 535, killed.[6] Through his agents, Justinian tried to save Amalasuntha's life but to no avail and her death gave him a casus belli to go to war with the Goths. Procopius wrote that "as soon as he learned what had happened to Amalasuntha, being in the ninth year of his reign, he entered upon war".[7]
Belisarius was appointed commander in chief (
First Byzantine campaign, 535–540
Conquest of Sicily and Dalmatia
Belisarius landed at Sicily, between Roman Africa and Italy, whose population was well disposed toward the Empire. The island was quickly captured, with the only determined resistance, at Panormus (Palermo), overcome by late December. Belisarius prepared to cross to Italy and Theodahad sent envoys to Justinian, proposing at first to cede Sicily and recognise his overlordship but later to cede all of Italy.[9][10]
In March 536 Mundus overran Dalmatia and captured its capital, Salona, but a large Gothic army arrived and Mundus' son Mauricius died in a skirmish. Mundus inflicted a heavy defeat on the Goths but was himself mortally wounded in the pursuit. The Roman army withdrew and, except for Salona, Dalmatia was abandoned to the Goths. Encouraged, Theodahad imprisoned the Byzantine ambassadors. Justinian sent a new magister militum per Illyricum, Constantinianus, to recover Dalmatia and ordered Belisarius to cross into Italy. Constantinianus accomplished his task speedily. The Gothic general, Gripas, abandoned Salona, which he had only recently occupied, because of the ruined state of its fortifications and the pro-Roman stance of its citizens, withdrawing to the north. Constantinianus occupied the city and rebuilt the walls. Seven days later the Gothic army departed for Italy and by late June the whole of Dalmatia was in Roman hands.[11][12]
First siege of Rome
In the late spring of 536 Belisarius crossed into Italy, where he captured
Siege of Ariminum
As Vitiges marched to the northeast, he strengthened the garrisons of towns and forts along the way to secure his rear and then turned towards Ariminum. The Roman force of 2,000 horsemen occupying it comprised some of Belisarius' finest cavalry; Belisarius decided to replace them with an infantry garrison.[17] Their commander, John, refused to obey orders and remained at Ariminum. Shortly after the Goths arrived, an assault failed, but the city had few supplies with which to stand a siege.[18] A new force of 2,000 Herul foederati, under the Armenian eunuch Narses, arrived at Picenum.[19] Belisarius met Narses, who advocated a relief expedition to Ariminum, while Belisarius favoured a more cautious approach. The arrival of a letter from John, which illustrated the immediate danger of the city's fall, resolved the issue in favour of Narses.[20] Belisarius divided his army into three, a seaborne force under his capable and trusted lieutenant Ildiger, another under the equally experienced Martin which was to arrive from the south, and the main force under him and Narses, which was to arrive from the northwest. Vitiges learned of their approach and, faced with the prospect of being surrounded by superior forces, hurriedly withdrew to Ravenna.[21]
The bloodless victory at Ariminum strengthened Narses against Belisarius, with many Roman generals, including John, turning their allegiance to him. In the council after the relief of Ariminum, Belisarius was in favour of reducing the strong Gothic garrison of Auximum, modern Osimo, in their rear and relieving the siege of Mediolanum; Narses favoured a less concentrated effort, including a campaign in Aemilia.[22] Belisarius did not allow matters to fester and marched with Narses and John against Urbinum. The two armies encamped separately and shortly afterwards, Narses, convinced that the town was unassailable and well supplied, broke camp and departed for Ariminum. From there he sent John to Aemilia, which was quickly subdued. Aided by the fortunate drying up of Urbinum's only water spring, the town fell to Belisarius soon after.[23]
Mediolanum
In April 538 Belisarius, petitioned by representatives from Mediolanum (Milan), the second most populous and wealthy city in Italy after Rome, had sent a force of 1,000 men under Mundilas to the city. This force secured the city and most of Liguria, except Ticinum (Pavia), with ease. Vitiges called upon the Franks for help and a force of 10,000 Burgundians unexpectedly crossed the Alps. Combining with the Goths under Uraias they laid siege to the city. Mediolanum was ill-provisioned and under-garrisoned; the already small Roman force had been dispersed to garrison the neighbouring cities and forts.[24] A relief force was dispatched by Belisarius but its commanders, Martin and Uliaris, did not make any effort to help the besieged city. Instead, they asked for further reinforcements by the forces of John and the magister militum per Illyricum Justin, which were operating in the nearby province of Aemilia.[25]
Dissension in the Roman chain of command exacerbated the situation, as John and Justin refused to move without orders from Narses. John fell ill and the preparations were halted. The delays proved fatal for the city, which, after many months of siege, was close to starvation. The Goths offered Mundilas a guarantee that the lives of his soldiers would be spared if he surrendered the city but no guarantee was offered for the civilians and he refused. By the end of March 539, his starving soldiers forced him to accept the terms. The Roman garrison was spared but the inhabitants were subjected to a massacre and the city was razed.[26][Note 1]
Frankish invasion
After this disaster Narses was recalled and Belisarius confirmed as supreme commander with authority throughout Italy. Vitiges sent envoys to the
Capture of Ravenna
Troops from Dalmatia reinforced Belisarius and he moved against Ravenna. Detachments moved north of the Po and the imperial fleet patrolled the Adriatic, cutting the city off from supplies. Inside the Gothic capital, Vitiges received a Frankish embassy looking for an alliance but after the events of the previous summer no trust was placed in Frankish offers. Soon afterwards an embassy came from Constantinople, bearing surprisingly lenient terms from Justinian. Anxious to finish the war and concentrate against the impending Persian war, the emperor offered a partition of Italy; the lands south of the Po would be retained by Constantinople, those north of the river by the Goths. The Goths readily accepted the terms, but Belisarius, judging this to be a betrayal of all he had striven to achieve, refused to sign even though his generals disagreed with him.[30]
Disheartened, the Goths offered to make Belisarius, whom they respected, the western emperor. Belisarius had no intention of accepting the role but saw how he could use this situation to his advantage and feigned acceptance. In May 540 Belisarius and his army entered Ravenna; the city was not looted, while the Goths were well treated and allowed to keep their properties. In the aftermath of Ravenna's surrender, several Gothic garrisons north of the Po surrendered. Others remained in Gothic hands, among which were Ticinum, where Uraias was based and Verona, held by Ildibad. Soon after, Belisarius sailed for Constantinople, where he was refused the honour of a triumph. Vitiges was named a patrician and sent into comfortable retirement, while the captive Goths were sent to reinforce the eastern armies.[31]
Gothic revival, 541–551
Reigns of Ildibad and Eraric
If Belisarius had not been recalled, he would probably have completed the conquest of the peninsula within a few months. This, which would have been the best solution, was defeated by the jealousy of Justinian; and the peace proposed by the Emperor, which was the next best course, was defeated by the disobedience of his generals. Between them they bear the responsibility of inflicting upon Italy twelve more years of war. |
John Bagnell Bury History of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. II, Ch. XIX |
Belisarius' departure left most of Italy in Roman hands, but north of the Po,
Early Gothic successes
Totila enjoyed several advantages: the outbreak of the
Southern Italy
Totila marched south, where Roman garrisons were few and weak, bypassing Rome. The provinces of southern Italy were forced to recognise his authority. This campaign was one of rapid movement to take control of the countryside, leaving the Byzantines in control of isolated strongholds, mostly on the coast, which could be reduced later. When a fortified location fell, its walls were usually razed so that it would no longer be of any military value. Totila followed a policy of treating his captives well, enticing opponents to surrender rather than resist to the end. He also tried to win over the Italian population, exemplified by Totila's behaviour during the Siege of Naples, where he allowed the city to surrender on terms in 543 and displayed, in the words of J. B. Bury, "considerable humanity" in his treatment of the defenders. He nursed the famished citizens back to strength after allowing the Byzantine garrison safe departure. Having captured Naples, Totila attempted to broker a peace with Justinian. When this was refused he had copies of his appeal posted throughout Rome; despite the disfavour in which the Byzantines were held, there was no uprising in Totila's favour, which disgusted him. He marched north and besieged the city.[39][40]
Taking advantage of a five-year truce in the East, Belisarius was sent back to Italy with 200 ships in 544.[41] He successfully reoccupied much of southern Italy, but, according to Procopius, he was starved of supplies and reinforcements by a jealous Justinian and so felt unable to march to Rome's relief. Procopius describes famine during the siege, in which the ordinary Romans, who were not rich enough to buy grain from the military, were reduced to eating bran, nettles, dogs, mice and finally "each other's dung".[42] Pope Vigilius, who had fled to the safety of Syracuse, sent a flotilla of grain ships, but Totila's navy intercepted them near the mouth of the Tiber and captured them. A desperate attempt by Belisarius to relieve Rome came close to success but ultimately failed.[43] According to Procopius, the plan involved sailing a force up the river Tiber, destroying the temporary bridge and watchtowers constructed by Totila's forces by dropping a boat filled with flammable materials onto a watchtower from a makeshift tower built on top of two fastened skiffs, which succeeded. Afterwards, his subordinate Isaakes, ordered to remain in the city of Portus, heard of his early successes and took a cavalry force to attack the Gothic stockade, eager to share the glory. This resulted in his capture and, once the news of this reached Belisarius, he interpreted the news as Portus had been captured by the Goths, meaning he had lost the only allied settlement close by, and that his wife, present in the city, was now a hostage of the Goths. Said to have been struck with a bout of aphasia, he called for a retreat to immediately retake Portus, only to discover that it remained under Roman control.[44] After more than a year Totila finally entered Rome on 17 December 546,[43] when his men scaled the walls at night and opened the Porta Asinaria. Procopius states that Totila was aided by some Isaurian troops from the imperial garrison who had arranged a secret pact with the Goths. Rome was plundered and Totila, who had expressed an intention to completely level the city, satisfied himself with tearing down about one third of the walls. He then left in pursuit of the Byzantine forces in Apulia.[45]
On Belisarius' absence during the reoccupation of Rome by the Goths, there are two opposing accounts: Procopius states that, upon discovering his mistake regarding Portus, he was overcome with a bout of depression and severe sickness which nearly resulted in his death.[46] Jordanes, on the other hand, claims that he was recalled to Rome due to the death of the empress Theodora, and cites his absence as having emboldened Totila to recapture the city.[47] Belisarius successfully reoccupied Rome four months later in the spring of 547 and hastily rebuilt the demolished sections of wall by piling up the loose stones "one on top of the other, regardless of order".[48] Totila returned, but was unable to overcome the defenders.[49] Belisarius did not follow up his advantage. Several cities, including Perugia, were taken by the Goths, while Belisarius remained inactive and was then recalled from Italy.
In 549, Totila advanced again against Rome. He attempted to storm the improvised walls and overpower the small garrison of 3,000 men, but was beaten back. He then prepared to blockade the city and starve out the defenders, although the Byzantine commander Diogenes had previously prepared large food stores and had sown wheat fields within the city walls. However, Totila was able to suborn part of the garrison, who opened the Porta Ostiensis gate for him. Totila's men swept through the city, killing all but the women, who were spared on the orders of Totila, and looting what riches remained. Expecting the nobles and the remainder of the garrison to flee as soon as the walls were taken, Totila set traps along the roads to neighboring towns that were not yet under his control and many were killed while fleeing Rome.[50]
Byzantine reconquest, 551–554
During 550–51, the Byzantines assembled a large expeditionary force of 20,000 or 25,000 men at Salona on the Adriatic, including regular Byzantine units and a large contingent of foreign allies, notably Lombards, Heruls and Bulgars. Narses, the imperial chamberlain (cubicularius) was appointed to command in mid-551. The following spring, Narses led this Byzantine army around the coast of the Adriatic to Ancona and then turned inland, intending to march down the via Flaminia to Rome. Near the village of Taginae, the Byzantines encountered the Ostrogothic army, commanded by Totila, who had been advancing to intercept Narses. Finding himself considerably outnumbered, Totila ostensibly entered into negotiations while planning a surprise attack, but Narses was not fooled by the ruse and deployed his army in a strong defensive position. Reinforcements having arrived, Totila launched a sudden attack at the Battle of Taginae, with a mounted assault on the Byzantine centre. The attack failed and, by evening, the Ostrogoths had broken and fled; Totila was killed in the rout. The Goths holding Rome capitulated and, at the Battle of Mons Lactarius in October 553, Narses defeated Teias and the last remnants of the Gothic army in Italy.[51]
Though the Ostrogoths were defeated, Narses soon had to face other barbarians who invaded Byzantine northern Italy and southern Gaul. In early 553, an army of about thirty thousand
Aftermath
The Gothic War is often viewed as a pyrrhic victory, which drained the Byzantine Empire of resources that might have been employed against more serious threats in western Asia and the Balkans. In the east, pagan Slavs and Kutrigurs raided and devastated the Byzantine provinces south of the Danube from 517. A century later Dalmatia, Macedonia, Thrace and most of Greece were lost to Slavs and Avars.[54] Some recent historians have taken a different view of Justinian's western campaigns. Warren Treadgold placed greater blame for the vulnerability of the Empire in the late 6th century on the Plague of Justinian in 540–541, which is estimated to have killed up to a quarter of the population at the height of the Gothic War, sapping the Empire of manpower and tax revenues needed to complete the campaign more swiftly. No ruler, no matter how wise, could possibly have anticipated the plague, he argues, which would have been disastrous for the empire and Italy, regardless of the attempt to reconquer Italy. However, as a result of Rome having been under attack constantly during the war, the deaths not caused by the plague continued to rise.
In Italy, the war devastated the urban society that was supported by a settled hinterland. The great cities were abandoned as Italy fell into a long period of decline. The impoverishment of Italy and the drain on the empire made it impossible for the Byzantines to hold their gains. Only three years after the death of Justinian in 565, the mainland Italian territories fell into the hands of the Germanic Lombards. The Exarchate of Ravenna, a band of territory that stretched across central Italy to the Tyrrhenian Sea and south to Naples, along with parts of southern Italy, were the only remaining imperial holdings. After the Gothic Wars, the Empire would entertain no more serious ambitions in the West. Rome remained under imperial control until the Exarchate of Ravenna was conquered by the Lombards in 751. Byzantine influence persisted in some coastal areas of southern Italy until the late 11th century, while the interior was ruled by Lombard dukes based at Benevento and later also at Salerno and Capua.[55]
The widespread destruction of Italy in the war, harsh Gothic and Byzantine reprisals of their opponents' supporters, and heavy Byzantine taxation led the Italian populace to shift allegiances: instead of loyalty to Empire, their identities were increasingly tied to religion, family and city instead.[56] In the long sweep of Italian history, the unified Italy of the Romans, and later the Goths, was broken up permanently; this remained the case until the unification of Italy in the 19th century.[57]
Notes
- ^ Procopius gives the number of adult males slain as 300,000 but this is improbably high. Many thousands were killed, the rest taken as slaves and the city destroyed. (Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, p. 205)
References
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XIII, pp. 453–454
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XIII, pp. 454–455
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XIII, pp. 456–457
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XIII, p. 459
- ^ Bury, pp. 157–161
- ^ a b Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, pp. 159–165
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, p. 164; Procopius, De Bello Gothico I.V.1
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, pp. 170–171
- ^ Procopius, De Bello Gothico I.VI
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, pp. 172–173
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, p. 174
- ^ Procopius, De Bello Gothico I.VII
- ^ Norwich, p. 217
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, p. 194
- ^ Norwich 1988, p. 218.
- ^ Procopius BG II.VII
- ^ J. Norwich, Byzantium: The Early Centuries, p. 219
- ^ Procopius, De Bello Gothico I.XI; Norwich, pp. 119–220
- ^ Procopius, De Bello Gothico I.XIII
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, p. 198
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, pp. 198–199
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, p. 200
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, p. 201
- ^ Procopius, De Bello Gothico I.XII
- ^ Norwich, pg. 223
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, pp. 203–205
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, pp. 205–206
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, p. 207
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, p. 209
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XVIII, p. 211
- ^ Norwich, pp. 224–27
- ^ "Théâtre de tous les peuples et nations de la terre avec leurs habits et ornemens divers, tant anciens que modernes, diligemment depeints au naturel par Luc Dheere peintre et sculpteur Gantois". lib.ugent.be (in French). Retrieved 25 August 2020.
- ISBN 9780299087005.
- ^ "Pavia Royal town". Monasteri Imperiali Pavia. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XIX, p. 227
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XIX, p. 228
- ^ Bury (1923), Vol. II, Ch. XIX, p. 229
- ^ Bury, p. 230
- ^ Bury pp. 231–233
- ^ Norwich, pp. 238–39
- ^ J. Norwich, A Short History of Byzantium, 77
- ^ Procopius, translation by Dewing, H B (1914) History of the Wars: Book VI (continued) and Book VII, William Heinemann Limited, London (pp. 299–301)
- ^ a b Barker, John W (1966) Justinian and the Later Roman Empire Archived 10 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine, University of Wisconsin Press (p. 160)
- ISBN 978-1-62466-173-0.
- ^ Procopius (pp. 345–349)
- ^ Procopius (2014), p. 609
- ISBN 9781837643967.
- ^ Procopius p. 359
- ^ Barker. p. 161
- ^ Norwich, pp. 240–44
- ^ Norwich, pp. 251–53
- ^ Bury pp. 275–80
- ^ De Bello Gothico IV 32, pp. 241–45
- ^ Vlasto, pp. 155–226
- ^ Norwich, p. 265
- ISBN 9780521526357.
- ^ "risorgimento". 3 June 2002. Archived from the original on 3 June 2002. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Procopius, De Bello Gothico, Volumes I–IV
- Jordanes, De origine actibusque Getarum ("The Origin and Deeds of the Goths"), translated by Charles C. Mierow.
- Cassiodorus, Variae epistolae ("Letters"), at the Project Gutenberg
Secondary sources
- ISBN 978-1-4021-8368-3.
- Fauber, Lawrence H. (1991). Hammer of the Goths: The Life and Times of Narses the Eunuch. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-04126-7.
- OCLC 856929460
- Hughes, Ian (2009). Belisarius:The Last Roman General. Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-59416-528-3.
- Jacobsen, Torsten Cumberland (2009). The Gothic War. Yardley: Westholme. ISBN 978-1-59416-084-4.
- Norwich, John Julius (1988). Byzantium: The Early Centuries. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-670-80251-7.
- Treadgold, Warren (1997). A History of the Byzantine State and Society. ISBN 978-0-8047-2630-6.
- Vlasto (1970). The Entry of the Slavs into Christendom: An Introduction to the Medieval History of the Slavs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. OCLC 838383098.
Further reading
- Lin, Sihong (2021). "Justinian's Frankish War, 552–ca. 560". Studies in Late Antiquity. 5 (3): 403–431.