The murder of Amalasuntha in early 535 provided Emperor Justinian I with the perfect pretext to launch a war that would ultimately destroy Italy. As regent for her ten-year-old grandson Athalaric, Amalasuntha had attempted to bridge the widening gap between the Gothic rulers and the Byzantine Empire, even allowing Byzantine fleets to use Sicilian harbors. When her cousin Theodahad arrested and killed her, Justinian, who had tried in vain to save her life through his agents, declared war. This was not merely a dynastic dispute but the opening salvo of a campaign to recover the lost provinces of the former Western Roman Empire. The death of a woman who sought peace became the catalyst for a conflict that would last nearly two decades, transforming the Italian peninsula from a prosperous province into a devastated wasteland.
The General Who Refused A Crown
Belisarius, the most talented general of the age, landed in Sicily in 535 with only 7,500 men, a fraction of the force he had commanded against the Vandals. His rapid advance through Italy took the Goths by surprise, capturing Rhegium and entering Rome unopposed in December 536. Yet, the war was far from over. When the Gothic king Vitiges was deposed and replaced by a more aggressive leader, the conflict escalated into a brutal siege of Rome that lasted from March 537 to March 538. The turning point came when the Goths, desperate to end the war, offered Belisarius the crown of the Western Roman Empire. He feigned acceptance to enter Ravenna in May 540, securing the city without a fight, but then refused to sign a treaty that would partition Italy. Instead, he sailed back to Constantinople, leaving the conquest incomplete and the Gothic resistance alive.The Plague And The King
The Gothic revival began in 541 when Totila, a nephew of the previous king Ildibad, seized the throne after the murder of Eraric. Totila possessed a strategic genius that Belisarius had lacked, exploiting the chaos caused by the Plague of Justinian, which devastated the Eastern Empire and sapped its manpower. While the Byzantine generals quarreled over booty and delayed attacks, Totila marched south, bypassing Rome to secure the countryside. He razed the walls of captured cities to prevent their use by the enemy, yet treated his captives with surprising humanity, nursing the famished citizens of Naples back to health. His campaign of rapid movement left the Byzantines clinging to isolated coastal strongholds, and by 546, he had reoccupied Rome, tearing down one-third of its walls before leaving to pursue the retreating imperial forces.