Gothic War (535-554) in the context of Gothic wars

⭐ Core Definition: Gothic War (535-554)

The Gothic War between the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Emperor Justinian I and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy took place from 535 to 554 in the Italian peninsula, Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily, and Corsica. It was one of the last of the many Gothic wars against the Roman Empire. The war had its roots in the ambition of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I to recover the provinces of the former Western Roman Empire, which the Romans had lost to invading barbarian tribes in the previous century, during the Migration Period.

The war followed the Roman reconquest of the diocese of Africa from the Vandals. Historians commonly divide the war into two phases. The first phase lasts from 535 to the fall of the Ostrogothic capital Ravenna in 540, and the apparent reconquest of Italy by the Byzantines. The second phase from 540/541 to 553 featured a Gothic revival under Totila, which was suppressed only after a long struggle by the Roman general Narses, who also repelled an invasion in 554 by the Franks and Alamanni.

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Gothic War (535-554) in the context of Battle of Mucellium

The Battle of Mucellium was an engagement in 542 near Mugello, Italy, between Ostrogoths (Goths) and Byzantines during the Gothic War.

Byzantine forces advanced against the Goths, who had recently lifted the siege of Florence and camped in Mugello. Although the Byzantines outnumbered the Goths, Totila's forces routed the Byzantine detachment on a hillside, triggering panic that spread to the rest of the army leading to a complete collapse. The Goths captured prisoners, while the surviving Byzantine commanders fled to isolated strongholds. The lack of coordination by the remaining Byzantine forces allowed Totila to launch a successful campaign in southern Italy and eventually advance against Rome in 544.

View the full Wikipedia page for Battle of Mucellium

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