Emperor Belisarius

For the sake of ending the Byzantine invasion of Italy to conquer the Ostrogoths and unify the old Western Roman Empire with the Eastern Byzantine Empire, King Vitiges of the Ostrogoths agreed to terms with General Belisarius.

The Goths at Ravenna had little choice. A fire destroyed the granaries inside Ravenna. This may have been sheer accident, but Procopius offers two theories: Vitiges' queen, Matasuntha, may have caused it herself, angry at her forced marriage to Vitiges, or citizens were bribed by Belisarius to cause Ravenna's fall. (There's no evidence forefather conspiracy.)

The Byzantine navy was preventing supplies from reaching Ravenna along the Adriatic coast. Belisarius had succeeded in capturing major towns in northern Italy, so. no relief was forthcoming.

Emissaries from Emperor Justinian arrived to be part of the negotiations, with orders to speed up a resolution. They were willing to accept an offer made by Vitiges a couple years earlier: allow the Goths to keep the extreme northern parts of Italy and have some treasure as tribute.

Belisarius, however, wanted a complete victory, and refused to sign the treaty. Vitiges worried that there was something wrong with the arrangement and became suspicious. The dragging out of a resolution made the Goths start to question Vitiges' leadership. A plan was formed that seemed acceptable to all: all fighting would cease and Ravenna would be opened to the invaders if Belisarius—whom the Goths had come to respect as a war leader and a person—would accept the throne of the Ostrogoths himself.

Everyone agreed to the plan, but Belisarius said he would not accept the rule unless he could do so in the presence of all the Goth nobles. Belisarius sent any of his commanders who were likely to object to this plan in different directions to secure other parts of the country. He also sent ships to bring grain to Ravenna to feed the citizens.

Ravenna opened its gates to Belisarius and the Byzantine force in May 340, With the Byzantines inside the gates, and no chance of the Goths to save Ravenna, Belisarius reneged on the deal, refused the crown offered to him (see illustration), and claimed Ravenna as part of the Byzantine Empire.

That summer, Belisarius returned to Constantinople with Witiges and the treasury of Ravenna. Justinian, because of the rumors of Belisarius almost accepting the crown, did not celebrate his triumph.

Still, things were looking up for Justinian: Italy was under his rule, and the army was free to go to the eastern front and brace for Persian attack. Then, in 541, an uncontrollable problem struck, and ran through the empire for years.

Tomorrow we'll learn about the Plague of Justinian.