More history as promised:
The Gothic War was fought between the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) and the Ostrogothic Kingdom, and took place over the course of nearly two decades (535-554 AD). Before Eastern Roman emperor Justinian's reconquests, all of what had been the former Western Roman Empire had fallen under the control of barbarian Germanic kingdoms in the previous century, including Rome and all of Italy.
In 493 AD the Ostrogoths and their leader King Theodoric had conquered Italy from its first post-Roman barbarian king, Odoacer. Like the other major barbarian groups occupying former Roman lands, the Ostrogoths were Romanized to some extent, and Theodoric knew that to successfully control Italy, he had to maintain Roman government and civilization, as Odoacer had done (Theodoric had learned much of the Romans and their ways from his time as a child hostage in Constantinople).
Eventually, in 526, Theodoric the Great died, leaving the kingdom to his grandson Athalaric, who was still a minor and so needed to have his mother Amalasuntha to rule until he reached his majority. Her pro-Roman attitude and policies alienated many of the leading Goths, and so she came to be unpopular. Athalaric would not live long however, dying in 534 AD at the age of 18. Amalasuntha held on to power, but soon handed the throne to her cousin Theodahad, who later had her executed.
Roman emperor Justinian watched these events unfold with great interest. He had a dream of taking back the lost western provinces of the Roman Empire, and with his empire fresh from the reconquering of North Africa from the Vandals, Justinian saw an opportunity in the Ostrogoths' problems to further fulfill his dream. Amalasuntha was a friend of Justinian, so he used her death as a pretext for the invasion of Italy in 535 AD, using troops fresh from the campaign in North Africa.
What followed was almost 20 years of constant fighting that transformed Italy from a relatively prosperous land to a ravaged and depopulated backwater. The first few years of the war saw great success for the Romans under their lead general Belisarius, with nearly all of Italy brought back under imperial rule, including the city of Rome, and also Ravenna, capital of the old Western Roman Empire and later the center of power of the Ostrogothic Kingdom. The Romans would have easily and quickly won the Gothic War had their generals been more united and had some of them not been more interested in lining their own pockets than fighting the enemy. Justinian's reluctance in sending more money and troops also contributed to the undermining of Roman success (he was more concerned about the simultaneous war with Persia at the time).
In 541 AD, the weakened Ostrogoths found a strong and capable leader in Totila ("Baduila" on his coins), who reversed the Goths' fortunes and over the next several years retook most of Italy from the Romans. Rome fell to the Goths in 546, and despite a few Roman victories during 547-548, the Goths seemed poised to drive the Roman forces out of Italy and claim victory in the war.
The year 551 saw a new, organized effort to take back Italy by the Romans under the general Narses. A year later Narses and his large army managed to engage Totila and his forces at the Battle of Taginae. The battle ended in a decisive Roman victory, with Totila being killed during the Goths' rout.
Hearing of the disasterous defeat of their countrymen at Taginae, Gothic garrisons all over Italy surrendered to the Romans. What remained of the Gothic army turned to the general Teias for leadership, but he and his remaining forces were defeated at Mons Lactarius. This ended the Ostrogoths' struggle against the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Romans spent the last year of the war moping up resistance by other barbarians who had taken advantage of the fighting by invading northern Italy.
German-language map of the course of the Gothic War (from Wikipedia)
Ostromisches Reich: Eastern Roman Empire
Reich der Ostgoten: Ostrogothic Kingdom
Reich der Franken: Frankish Kingdom
Posted 07/02/2015 10:48 pm
