The Battle of Taginae occurred in July 552 during the Gothic War between the Byzantine Empire and the Ostrogothic Kingdom. The Byzantine general Narses' army battled with the Ostrogothic king Totila's army while marching on Rome from Ancona, and Totila was slain in the ensuing battle, allowing for the Byzantines to recapture Rome.
Background[]
In 549, Emperor Justinian I decided to send a Byzantine reinforcement army to conclude the protracted war with the Ostrogothic Kingdom initiated in 535. From 550 to 551, a large expeditionary force of 20,000 troops (including 5,000 Lombards, 3,000 Heruli, and 400 Gepids) under Narses was assembled at Salona on the Adriatic Sea, and, in the spring of 552, Narses invaded Italy from the north, marching on Rome from Ancona. The Byzantines marched down the Via Flaminia, and the Ostrogothic king Totila marched north with 15,000 troops to meet them. Narses ignored Totila's attempts to negotiate, which he knew were part of a ploy, and he met Totila's army in battle at Gualdo Tadino in Umbria.
Battle[]
The melee at Taginae
Narses deployed his army in a strong defensive position, with his dismounted Germanic mercenaries forming the center of his army, and on both wings he stationed 4,000 foot-archers. Totila attempted to outflank the Byzantines by seizing a small hill on the Byzantine left, but the Byzantines repelled the Ostrogothic cavalry attacks. Totila, expecting 2,000 reinforcements from Teia, then attempted to delay the Byzantine army. After Teia's reinforcements arrived, Totila launched an all-out assault on the Byzantines as they refreshed themselves, but the Ostrogothic cavalry were caught on both sides by enfilading arrow fire and were slaughtered. Narses then ordered a general advance as a counterattack, and Totila was killed in the subsequent rout. Narses then proceeded to Rome, which fell with limited resistance, and the Goths would finally be defeated at the Battle of Mons Lactarius a year later, after which the Goths were absorbed by the Lombards.