On This Day In Roman History, March 12
The First Siege of Rome, which took place during the Gothic War, comes to a conclusion on March 12, 538 CE. 10 days ago, I talked about this very siege (http://onthisdayinromanhistory.blogspot.com/2017/03/march-2.html) which started on March 2, 537. The failure of the Goths was ultimately at the hands of the Gothic king, Vitiges, who was captured by Belisarius in Ravenna and sent as a captive to Constantinople. He would die there without an heir or child which left a power vacuum at home. At this time, a Gothic officer by the name of Ildibad negotiated terms with the Romans. He did not submit, however, and proved to be a competent leader who came to power at the direction of Vitiges' nephew, Uraias. He would reign as the Ostrogothic king in Italy from 540 to 541. Following Ildibad's murder in May of 541, a Rugini official briefly took power in 541 but soon fell to the power of a skilled military leader by the name of Totila. This king would go on to re-siege Rome in 546 and this time the Goths would succeed in sacking the city.
Did you know?
Concentrated Gothic political power would come to an end in 553, shortly after the death of Totila at the Battle of Taginae in 552. During this battle, it was written that Totila was killed by a Gepid Lancer by the name of Asbad. The final Ostrogothic king also died in quick succession during this series of conflicts. This would ultimately mark the end of Gothic power forever.
Pictured: The Porta Asinaria or Asinarian Gate, through which Totila entered Rome. Photo by Wikipedia user Lalupa, via Wikimedia Commons.
This gate belongs to the set of walls known as the Aurelian Walls, which encircled Rome after its completion in 273. This is the same gate that Belisarius entered into the city through in 536. By the 16th-century an increase in traffic and new technologies, which rendered the walls somewhat useless, caused a breach to be made by the city's inhabitants near the Port San Giovanni.
Opinion
Welcome to my daily opinion! I guess I should have started this post off with "on this day in Gothic history". Seriously though, it is important to see what type of pressures Belisarius faced from the Goths. These peoples were adopting late western-Roman culture and practices. Many even considered themselves patricians and Roman citizens. This type of cultural adaptation happens at other times in history, wherein a conquered peoples culture is altered and adopted by the conquerors. Different peoples throughout Europe would be influenced by past western-Roman culture, and its profound effects on those peoples can still be seen today in many areas. It's also a nice change of pace to see the Goths had as many internal quarrels, deceptions, and assassinations among their rulers as the Romans did. It wasn't easy being king.
Sources
Barnsley: Belisarius: the last roman general. (2014). Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military.
Gibbon, E., & Womersley, D. (2005). The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. London: Penguin Books.
Weir, W. (2005). 50 battles that changed the world: the conflicts that most influenced the course of history. New York: Barnes & Noble.
Further Reading:
No comments:
Post a Comment