The Siege of Ravenna

Ravenna, in the far north coast of Italy on the Adriatic, was the capital city of the Ostrogoths. Capturing it could bring the Gothic Wars to a happy conclusion for the Byzantines, whose emperor, Justinian, wanted to reunite the Western and Eastern halves of the old Roman Empire, with him as the ruler.

General Belisarius also needed a victory, especially after the disaster in Mediolanum (Milan). At least that outcome caused the recall of General Narses to Constantinople, so Belisarius no longer had an influential man disagreeing with strategy and diving the army's loyalty.

Two important cities on the way to Ravenna, Fiesole and Auximus, had to be dealt with first, lest they become a source of Gothic resistance behind the Byzantines around Ravenna. Divisions were dispatched, and each fell in about seven months due to lack of supplies.

It was late 539, and winter was setting in, but Belisarius did not want to wait for better weather that would be months away. Also, since Franks had arrived across the Alps to support the Goths at the request of King Vitiges, Belisarius wanted to act fast before they could come south from Mediolanum.

The River Po formed one side of Ravenna's defenses, the Adriatic another. Belisarius sent men along the Po to prevent supplies coming to Ravenna from north or south. The Po was at unseasonable low levels, preventing some ships from moving. Belisarius' man captured grain ships, which he sent to Belisarius for feeding the troops once the river levels were high enough.

The Frankish King Theudebert offered to help King Vitiges in exchange for part of Italy to rule. Belisarius learned of this offer, and sent his own messengers to Vitiges to remind him that Theudebert had helped during g the Siege of Mediolanum but had then betrayed Vitiges and started attacking northern Italy with an eye to acquiring territory for himself.

Vitiges decided to open negotiations with Belisarius. (The illustration shows the two men: Belisarius on the left from a mosaic in a church in Ravenna, Vitiges from the Nuremberg Chronicle.)

In Constantinople, however, a situation had arisen that made Justinian desperate to resolve the conquest of Italy: threats from the Persians to the east were motivating him to bring Belisarius and the army back.  Fortunately, Vitiges was not seen by his people as a great war leader, and they supported the idea of peace with Constantinople. The terms of that peace, the secret modification made between the Goths and Belisarius, the betrayal by Belisarius, and the elimination of Vitiges, will all be looked at tomorrow.

The Failure at Milan

The insubordination of John the Sanguinary that led to the division in the Byzantine army between the forces commanded by Belisarius and those commanded by Narses created further problems. The Siege of Milan was one example.

Then called Mediolanum, it was the second wealthiest city in Italy after Rome. Archbishop Dantius of Milan sent messages to Belisarius, asking him to come and free them from Ostrogothic rule. Belisarius sent a force of 1000 men to secure it under a man named Mundilas. After occupying Milan, the soldiers spread out to secure the smaller towns and forts.

King Vitiges of the Ostrogoths then sent for help from the Franks (although Byzantine Emperor Justinian had sent gifts to the Franks to get them to stay out of the conflict). A force of 10,000 Burgundians responded, surrounding Milan. (They were sent by Theudebert I, son of Theuderic I, who later explained to the emperor that, since they were Burgundians and not Franks, he had no control over them.) Since the Byzantine force had been dispersed to other towns, Mundilas could not attempt attacking the siege.

Belisarius ordered other divisions to go to Milan, but those divisions would not do so right away. They asked other nearby divisions for support. Those divisions, led by John the Sanguinary and General Justin, would not agree to help until they got advice from Narses.

The delays were making life in Milan difficult. They were not well provisioned, and starvation was becoming a real threat. Belisarius pleaded with Narses to tell the others to help Milan. Narses relented, but the delays in communication and disagreement proved fatal for Milan. Mundilas had taken the city in April 538. It was now March 539, and starvation forced him to accept the terms presented by the enemy: give over the city and your men's lives will be spared.

The soldiers were allowed to leave with their lives, but for the rebellion of the Milan townspeople, punishment was severe. Procopius reports that 300,000 men were slain, the women given to the Burgundians as payment for their service, and the city destroyed. (The illustration is of some of the remaining Roman walls.) One of the victims was Reparatus, brother of Pope Vigilius.

Narses received some blame for this disaster; it led to his recall (mentioned yesterday). Belisarius, now reconfirmed as supreme commander, prepared to go after the capital city of the Ostrogoths, Ravenna.

See you tomorrow.

Belisarius and Narses

The outcome of the insubordination of John the Sanguinary created a dangerous precedent. General Narses disagreed with General Belisarius' approach to the conquest of Italy from the Ostrogoths, and was motivated to disobey the orders from the man who was supposed to be sole commander of the Byzantine forces. Procopius wrote "And from that time both these men began to regard each other with great suspicion." (The illustration shows mosaics of the two generals; Belisarius is on the left.)

One example of the army splitting was at a siege of Urbino. Originally a united army, at one point John's opinion was that the siege would not work. Narses agreed, and John and Narses withdrew their divisions despite Belisarius pleading for them to stay. Belisarius stayed, and Urbino did succumb (after the failure of their water reserves).

John's impatience with sieges worked against him when he tried and failed to besiege Caesena. Abandoning that goal, he got lucky by taking another town by surprise.

The fall and winter of 538 saw the Byzantine army working under two different commanders. Narses even ignored the letter from Emperor Justinian stating that Belisarius was in charge. Narses was recalled to Constantinople, where he remained secure in the emperor's good graces. (Years later he would help the Empress Theodora and Belisarius' wife, Antonina, in a major coup.)

Jumping ahead a little: Narses returned to Italy and the ongoing Gothic Wars in 551 with Justinian's cousin Germanus. Germanus, however, died on the way, and Narses was given supreme command of the army. Belisarius had at this time occupied Rome (after another siege), but was ready to retire from many years of war. (The retirement was temporary.)

Narses later fought a battle against the Goths that made him regarded as Belisarius' equal as a general and strategist. But let's return to the earlier part of the wars and see what Belisarius was doing when some of his commanders would not follow orders.

John and Narses

I thought we'd elaborate a little on the conflict mentioned yesterday about the taking of Ariminum (modern Rimini) by a Byzantine force under a general called John the Sanguinary. Emperor Justinian I was invading Italy to take control of the Western Roman Empire from the Ostrogoths, and John was part of that plan.

Originally tasked by Justinian to bring supplies to Rome, where General Belisarius was surrounded by the forces of King Vitiges, John decided to raid other Ostrogothic territory and capture Ariminum, close to the Gothic capital of Ravenna. That action caused Vitiges to pull his army away from Rome and move back north to protect Ravenna and re-capture Ariminum. Belisarius sent a message to John to pull the army away from Ariminum, but John decided to stay and hold the town.

This meant John and his army were now under siege. A gathering of Byzantine commanders discussed the situation. There was some discussion that John should be taught a lesson for insubordination. Into this discussion came General Narses, who arrived with Byzantine reinforcements.

Narses, at one time Justinian's chamberlain, was considered just as good a general as Belisarius. He argued that a defeat of John by the Goths would embolden them and demoralize the Byzantines. Belisarius created a plan (see illustration) that would give Vitiges an escape route rather than trying to defeat him in battle. As Belisarius' forces approached and camped, they would light far more campfires than needed to give the impression of superior numbers.

The plan worked, Vitiges withdrew the Goth army to Ravenna, and John and Ariminum were saved. John refused to show gratitude to Belisarius, however, and gave credit for the victory to Narses. Belisarius called a meeting of officers to caution that the Goths still were in command of a larger army than the Byzantines. Belisarius wanted a slower approach, securing towns that were favorable to Byzantium.

Narses argued for an attack on Ravenna itself. Opinions and sentiment about leadership were becoming divided, but Belisarius held a trump card. He had a document from Justinian, which he revealed, that stated:

We have not sent our steward Narses to Italy in order to command the army; for we wish Belisarius alone to command the whole army in whatever manner seems to him to be best, and it is the duty of all of you to follow him in the interest of our state.

Narses replied that Belisarius' plan was not, in fact, "in the interests of the state" and Narses would not accept that plan.

The plan to re-assert imperial control over Italy and reunite the Roman Empire could start falling apart. Let's see how these conflicts played out, starting tomorrow.

The First Siege of Rome

King Vitiges of the Ostrogoths besieged Rome, that had been taken and inhabited by the Byzantine forces of Justinian I, led by General Belisarius. Rome had not even put up a fight against Belisarius, so there had been no attack and no damage to the walls.

The Ostrogoth forces besieged Rome for an entire year without success, from March 537 to March 538. They couldn't take down the walls, and Belisarius did not have enough soldiers to leave Rome and attack the army surrounding them.

In April 537, an army of 1600 Huns and Slavs hired by Constantinople approached, capturing towns behind the Goths' siege. An additional 5000 men in November gave the Byzantine army the advantage of numbers. The Byzantine navy prevented the Goths from getting more supplies by sea.

Additionally, 2000 Byzantine cavalry had attacked and captured the town of Ariminum (modern Rimini), which was so near the Gothic capital of Ravenna that Vitiges abandoned the siege of Rome to head back north to protect the seat of his power.

On the way north, he reinforced towns and forts. Belisarius had sent word to John, his commander at Ariminum, to replace the cavalry with infantry, thinking they would be sufficient to hold the town, and bring the cavalry elsewhere. John refused the order, but did not have enough supplies to withstand a long siege, which Vitiges' forces set up.

A meeting of Belisarius with his other commanders who brought reinforcements discussed the Ariminum situation. There was debate about allowing John to fail due to his insubordination. Belisarius and others were willing to allow John to suffer, but General Narses pointed out that a Gothic victory would be bad for morale, so the Byzantine army in two parts moved to surround the Gothic siege of Ariminum. Vitiges saw that he might be surrounded by the enemy, and chose to abandon Ariminum and retreat to Ravenna.

Things looked good for the Byzantine reconquest of Italy, but the Ariminum incident caused a rift in the army between Belisarius and Narses. Before we continue with the Gothic Wars, let's look at a problem that might have led to failure.

The Gothic Wars

Whatever the catalyst was—murder of his friend Amalasuintha, or just a desire to avenge Rome and Romans against the Goths—Byzantine Emperor Justinian I decided it was time to re-assert control over the western provinces of the once-mighty Roman Empire.

Justinian had recently recovered much of North Africa from the Vandals. That military action in 533 had been swift under his general Belisarius, and he hoped for a similar outcome in Italy. He also prepared by sending gifts of gold to the Frankish rulers, hoping they would not interfere.

Justinian sent Belisarius to Sicily. He also sent Mundus to the Gothic province of Dalmatia. Mundus was a Gothic military commander who had been allied with Theodoric the Great. After Theodoric's death he allied himself with the Byzantine Empire. Mundus was mortally wounded when a large Gothic army arrived in Dalmatia. Theodahad, the current ruler of the Ostrogoths in Italy, emboldened by this victory, imprisoned the Byzantine ambassadors. Justinian sent a new leader and army that did manage to conquer Dalmatia. The Gothic army then went from Dalmatia to Italy.

Belisarius had landed with an army and navy in Sicily in 535. The conquest of Sicily was quick and easy, and Belisarius was ready to cross to Italy. Theodohad sent an offer to Justinian: have Sicily, recognize me as the ruler in Italy, and later you can have Italy.

Belisarius made good progress, heading northward and taking Naples after only three weeks, then Rome, entering through the Porta Asinaria (see illustration). Theodahad's inability to stem this tide angered his people, who deposed him and made Vitiges king in 536. Vitiges abandoned Rome for the Gothic capital of Ravenna, married Amalasuintha's daughter Matasuntha to tie himself more closely to the lineage of Theodoric the Great, and gathered a large army to march back to Rome.

Vitiges besieged Rome and the Byzantines, who did not have enough soldiers to exit the city and drive the Goths away. The siege of Rome lasted from March 537 until March 538. How it was finally broken will be told tomorrow.