The History Book

76

SEEK TO ENLARGE THE

EMPIRE AND MAKE IT

MORE GLORIOUS

BELISARIUS RETAKES ROME (536 ce)

O

n December 9, 536 ce, the

army of the Eastern Roman

(or Byzantine) Empire, led

by general Belisarius, entered the

city of Rome through the ancient

Porta Asinaria gate. The Byzantine’s

arrival forced the rapid departure of

the city’s current defenders, the

barbarian Ostrogoths, who were

fleeing northward through the

Porta Flaminia. Almost precisely

60 years after Italy had fallen out of

imperial hands, it appeared that the

empire’s ancient birthplace might

be restored to Roman rule.

The survival of Byzantium

While the Western Roman Empire

finally fell in 476 after a century of

barbarian invasions, the eastern

portion—the Byzantine Empire,

with its capital at Constantinople

(modern Istanbul)—weathered the

storm, its retention of rich provinces,

such as Egypt, enabling it to mount

a successful defense of its territory.

However, the loss of the empire’s

birthplace was a blow to the prestige

of the Byzantine emperors, who

refused to accept it. In 488, the

Emperor Zeno despatched one

tribe of Germanic barbarian

mercenaries, the Ostrogoths, to

remove another, led by Odoacer,

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

The Byzantine Empire

BEFORE

476 ce Barbarian general

Odoacer deposes the last

emperor of the Western

Roman Empire and rules

as independent king in Italy.

493 ce Ostrogothic ruler

Theoderic overthrows Odoacer

and becomes king, notionally

subject to Byzantine rule.

534 ce Byzantines end Vandal

rule in North Africa.

AFTER

549 ce Byzantines recapture

Rome from the Goths for the

third and final time.

568 ce Lombards (a barbarian

tribe) invade Italy and seize

land that Justinian had

recaptured for the Byzantines.

751 ce Lombards capture

Ravenna—the last remaining

major Byzantine holding in

nor t her n It a ly.

who had been responsible for

deposing the last Western Roman

emperor. In return the Ostrogoths

would be allowed to rule Italy as

subjects of the Byzantine Emperor.

Furthermore, the Goths had been

encroaching on imperial lands, and

so Zeno hoped their removal to Italy

would neutralize both problems.

The Gothic War

For the following 40 years, the

Goths’ rule of Italy was relatively

untroubled. However, the accession

of Justinian (c.482–565) as Byzantine

emperor in 527 changed things.

To find money in Italy

for the war is impossible,

since the country has

been largely reconquered

by the enemy.

Belisarius, 545

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77

See also: The Battle of Milvian Bridge 66–67 ■ The Sack of Rome 68–69 ■ The fall of Jerusalem 106–07 ■

The Great Schism 132 ■ The fall of Constantinople 138–41

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD

He was determined to restore

Roman dignity, and this meant

reconquering the lost Roman

provinces. He began in 533 by

despatching an army to North

Africa under general Belisarius,

who swiftly defeated the Vandals

(a Germanic people who had ruled

there since the 430s).

Emboldened by his success,

Justinian ordered an invasion of

Italy in 535. Belisarius’s army made

rapid progress and in 536 they

successfully recaptured Rome.

Byzantine euphoria at the recovery

of their ancient capital was rudely

shattered, however, when the

Gothic King Witigis counter-

attacked and subjected Rome

to a grinding, year-long siege.

Stalemate in Italy

Belisarius launched a fresh assault,

but he was recalled after Justinian

began to fear that he would set

himself up as an independent king

in Italy. The country passed back

and forth between the two sides

as the war in Italy dragged on for

almost 20 years.

Twice the Goths retook Rome

but, lacking the resources to hold

it, lost it again both times to the

Romans. Finally, the last major

Gothic army was defeated in 552.

The impact of the war

Although the Byzantines had won

the war, the victory was hollow.

Italy was devastated—the cities

had lost much of their population

and the rural economy was in

tatters. The traditional Latin-

speaking ruling classes found that

Greek-speakers from Constantinople

were given all the key positions.

Rome was treated as a provincial

outpost of the Byzantine Empire,

and hopes that the city might be

restored as the center of imperial

power were dashed.

The effects of the war, together

with a plague that killed one-third

of the empire’s inhabitants in 542,

made it hard to find troops that could

garrison Italy. The new province

provided little tax revenue and it

became a major financial drain

The optimism that greeted the

capture of Rome was replaced by a

profound gloom—a mood confirmed

when in 568 the Lombards, another

barbarian group, invaded Italy and

took most of the Byzantine land in

north and central Italy.

Although the Byzantine Empire

survived a further nine centuries,

it was never again able to make

another serious attempt to restore

the Roman Empire in the west.

Instead, it focused on defending

its Greek-speaking core in the east,

leaving the Germanic kingdoms in

Italy, France, and Spain free to

develop unhindered. ■

Emperor Justinian, a man of great

energy, set about an ambitious,

wide-ranging program of expansion

and reform in order to restore the

Roman Empire to its former glory.

Tensions between

Byzantine Empire

and unstable Gothic

Kingdom of Italy grow.

Byzantines

invade Italy and

capture Rome.

War devastates Italy,

making it harder to raise

tax revenues to fund

its defense.

New barbarian

invasions are able to

penetrate borders of

an empire crippled by

debt and effects of

the plague.

Byzantine

expansion in the

west stops and

the empire

turns inward.

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