Latest / The Story of Italy: Rome, Renaissance, and the Birth of Modern Europe — Fexingo History / The Siege of Rome 537-538: Belisarius vs the Goths
Transcript
- Luna: So, we've talked about the Sack of Rome 410, the Lombard League, even Otranto. But what about the time Rome was besieged by Goths again, centuries later? Lucas: Ah, you're thinking of the Gothic War of 535 to 554 AD. That's the one where the Byzantine general Belisarius tried to reconquer Italy for Emperor Justinian. And yes, the siege of Rome from 537 to 538 is one of the most dramatic episodes of that war, and it's often overshadowed by the earlier sack by Alaric. Lucas: So, a bit of context. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Italy was ruled by the Ostrogoths under Theodoric the Great. He was a pretty capable ruler, kept the Roman administration mostly intact. But after his death, things got messy, and Justinian saw an opportunity to bring Italy back into the imperial fold. Luna: Right, and he sent Belisarius, his best general. Lucas: Exactly. Belisarius had already crushed the Vandals in North Africa. Now he landed in Sicily, took Naples, and then marched on Rome. The Ostrogothic king Vitiges was in Ravenna, but when he heard Belisarius was approaching, he left a garrison in Rome and retreated north to gather a larger army. Lucas: Belisarius entered Rome unopposed in December 536. He found the city in a sorry state — the population had dwindled, the aqueducts were broken, the walls were crumbling in places. But he immediately set to work repairing the defenses, stockpiling grain, and preparing for a siege he knew was coming. Luna: How long did the siege last? Lucas: Almost a year — from late February 537 to March 538. Vitiges arrived with an army that Procopius, the historian traveling with Belisarius, claimed numbered over 150,000. That's probably exaggerated, but it was certainly a huge force, maybe 30 to 40 thousand. Belisarius had maybe 5,000 men at the start. Lucas: Vitiges tried a direct assault first. He had siege towers, battering rams, and even tried to fill in the ditches. But the Romans were ready. They used a weapon called 'Greek fire' — though it's not the same as the famous Byzantine flamethrower on ships. This was more like pots of burning sulfur and naptha thrown from the walls. Luna: Wait, Greek fire on land? I thought that was a naval weapon. Lucas: You're right to be cautious. The classic Greek fire, the one that burned on water, was a state secret and probably didn't see much use on land. But Procopius describes Belisarius's men using something similar — they projected fire against the Gothic siege engines. It sounds like a primitive flamethrower, maybe using a pump. Lucas: The Goths also tried to cut off Rome's water supply. The Aqua Virgo aqueduct still brought water to the city, and they damaged it. But Belisarius had already secured the main grain supply from Sicily, and he had wells inside the walls. So they didn't starve, but they were on short rations. Luna: And the Senate? Did they still function? Lucas: Barely. The Roman Senate was a shadow of its former self, but it still existed. Belisarius co-opted them, used their authority to keep the population in line. Some senators were suspected of plotting with the Goths, and Belisarius had to be ruthless. He expelled the entire Senate from the city at one point, or at least the ones he didn't trust. Lucas: The siege became a war of attrition. The Goths couldn't breach the walls, but they could ravage the countryside. Belisarius sent out sorties, small raids to harass the Gothic camps. There's a famous incident where he rode out with just a few hundred bucellarii — his personal bodyguards — and defeated a Gothic force ten times larger. Procopius makes him sound like a demigod. Luna: So what finally broke the siege? Lucas: Reinforcements from the east. Justinian sent reinforcements under a eunuch general named Narses, who would later become famous in his own right. But the arrival of Narses caused friction — he had his own command, and he didn't always agree with Belisarius. Still, the combined army forced the Goths to lift the siege in March 538. Lucas: But the war wasn't over. Belisarius and Narses quarreled, and the Goths regrouped. They captured Milan, sacking it and massacring the population. That was a huge blow. Eventually, Belisarius took Ravenna in 540 by a ruse — he pretended to accept the Gothic offer to become emperor of the West, then arrested the Gothic leaders. Luna: Wait, so Belisarius actually pretended to be emperor? Lucas: Yeah, it's a controversial episode. The Goths, fed up with Vitiges, offered the crown to Belisarius. He pretended to accept, and once inside Ravenna, he seized control. But that made Justinian suspicious. Belisarius was recalled to Constantinople, and the war dragged on for another decade and a half. Lucas: The siege of Rome itself is a fascinating microcosm of the whole conflict. It showed that Rome was still a prize worth fighting for, but also that the old city was a shell of its former self. The aqueducts were never fully repaired after the siege, and the population never recovered. It was a turning point that led to the city's medieval decline. Luna: And it set the stage for the Lombard invasion a few decades later, which we might cover in another episode. Lucas: Exactly. The Gothic War exhausted Italy. When the Lombards arrived in 568, there was little resistance. But that's a story for another day. For now, I think we've given the siege of Rome its due.