The Gothic War

by Jacobsen, Torsten Cumberland

• ISBN13: 9781594161698
• ISBN10: 1594161690
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-09-16
• Publisher: Westholme Pub Llc

Summary

A period of stability in the early sixth century A.D. gave the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian an opportunity to recapture parts of the Western Empire which had been lost to invading barbarians in the preceding centuries. The climactic conflict over Italy between 535 and 554-the Gothic War-decided the political future of Europe, holding in its balance the possibility that the Roman Empire might rise again. While large portions of the original territory of the ancient Roman Empire were recaptured, the Eastern Empire was incapable of retaining much of its hard-won advances, and soon the empire once again retracted. As a result of the Gothic War, Italy was invaded by the Lombards who began their important kingdom, the Franks began transforming Gaul into France, and without any major force remaining in North Africa, that territory was quickly overrun by the first wave of Muslim expansion in the ensuing century. Written as a general overview of this critical period, The Gothic War: Justinian's Campaign to Reclaim Italy opens with a history of the conflict with Persia and the great Roman general Belisarius's successful conquest of the Vandals in North Africa. After an account of the Ostrogothic tribe and their history, the campaigns of the long war for Italy are described in detail, including the three sieges of Rome, which turned the great city from a bustling metropolis into a desolate ruin. In addition to Belisarius, the Gothic War featured many of history's most colorful antagonists, including Rome's Narses the Eunuch, and the Goths' ruthless and brilliant tactician, Totila. Two appendices provide information about the armies of the Romans and Ostrogoths, including their organization, weapons, and tactics, all of which changed over the course of the war. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Torsten Cumberland Jacobsen is a former curator of the Royal Danish Arsenal Museum. He is the author of A History of the Vandals, also available from Westholme Publishing.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Prelude	p. 1
The Ostrogoths	p. 24
Theodoric in Italy	p. 65
The First Stages	p. 75
The First Siege of Rome	p. 92
Famine and Pestilence	p. 133
The Campaign for Ravenna	p. 151
The Capture of Ravenna	p. 181
Affairs in Africa and the East	p. 192
The Rise of Totila	p. 209
The Return of Belisarius	p. 227
The Second Siege of Rome	p. 235
The Third Siege of Rome	p. 261
The Return of Narses	p. 275
Aftermath and Conclusions	p. 293
	p. 303
	p. 327
	p. 345
	p. 349
	p. 359
	p. 371
Europe and North Africa in 535	p. 12-13
The Roman Empire in 350	p. 34-35
The wars in southeastern Europe, 376-382	p. 49
Northern Italy at the time of Theodoric's campaigns	p. 69
Italy and Sicily in the sixth century	p. 79
Rome during the first siege in 537-538	p. 97
Rome and its surroundings	p. 119
Battle of Rome, 537: initial deployment	p. 125
Battle of Rome, 537	p. 127
The operations of John, nephew of Vitalianus	p. 149
Ravenna and vicinity	p. 157
The battle of Scalae Veteres	p. 195
Mesopotamia in the sixth century	p. 205
Italy during the campaigns of Totila and Teias	p. 223
The battle of Taginae	p. 283
The Roman Empire in 565	p. 300-301
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