The Battle of Sena Gallica, was a naval battle fought off the Italian

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

coast in the autumn of 551 between an East Roman (Byzantine) and an

Ostrogoth The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...

fleet, during the

Gothic War (535–554) The Gothic War between the Eastern Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Justinian I and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy took place from 535 to 554 in the Italian Peninsula, Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily and Corsica. It was one of the last o ...

. It marked the end of the Goths' brief bid to deny the seas to the Romans, and the beginning of the Byzantine resurgence in the war under the leadership of

Narses , image=Narses.jpg , image_size=250 , caption=Man traditionally identified as Narses, from the mosaic depicting Justinian and his entourage in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna , birth_date=478 or 480 , death_date=566 or 573 (aged 86/95) , allegi ...

. It was also the last major sea battle fought in the Mediterranean for more than a century, until the

Battle of the Masts The Battle of the Masts ( ar, معركة ذات الصواري, Ma‘rakat Dhāt al-Ṣawārī) or Battle of Phoenix was a crucial naval battle fought in 654 (A.H. 34) between the Muslim Arabs led by Abu al-A'war and the Byzantine fleet under th ...

in 654.

Background

In 550, the Gothic War was in its fifteenth year. The first years of the war had seen a series of successes for the relatively small Byzantine invasion force under

Belisarius Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean terri ...

, which had led to the fall of

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

and the apparent restoration of Imperial rule over Italy by 540. Subsequently, Emperor

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

recalled Belisarius. The commanders left behind soon started squabbling with each other, while the Goths rallied their forces. Under the leadership of their charismatic new king,

Totila Totila, original name Baduila (died 1 July 552), was the penultimate King of the Ostrogoths, reigning from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of the Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the t ...

, they soon reversed the situation, overrunning the Imperial forces. Not even the return of Belisarius could stem the Ostrogothic tide: by 550, the East Romans were left with a handful of coastal strongholds in the mainland, and in the spring of that year, Totila even invaded

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, the Romans' strategic base. Wishing to deny the Imperials easy access to Italy and the ability to land fresh troops or reinforce their outposts, Totila had also created a navy of 400 warships to contest the seas with the Empire. At the same time, Justinian prepared one last major effort to reclaim Italy, under the eunuch

. Totila, aware of the looming threat, was determined to deny his enemies their last important bases on Italian soil, most prominently Croton and

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

.Bury (1923), Vol. II, pp. 258–259 After withdrawing from Sicily laden with spoils, Totila sent his troops to besiege Ancona. 47 ships blockaded it from the sea, and the rest of the Gothic fleet, 300 ships strong, was sent to raid the coast of

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

and the Ionian Islands. Ancona was likely to fall soon, and therefore the Roman general Valerian, commander of

, called upon

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, a very experienced general who was stationed at

Salona Salona ( grc, Σάλωνα) was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. Salona is located in the modern town of Solin, next to Split, in Croatia. Salona was founded in the 3rd century BC and was mostly destroyed in t ...

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

awaiting the arrival of Narses and his army, to send a relief force. John immediately manned 38 ships with his veterans, and was soon joined by 12 more ships from Ravenna under Valerian himself. The joint fleet set sail for Sena Gallica, some north of Ancona.Bury (1923), Vol. II, p. 259

Battle and aftermath

As the two fleets were almost equal, the two Gothic commanders,

Indulf Ildulb mac Causantín, anglicised as Indulf or Indulph, nicknamed An Ionsaighthigh, "the Aggressor" (died 962) was king of Alba from 954 to 962. He was the son of Constantine II; his mother may have been a daughter of Earl Eadulf I of Bernicia, ...

and Gibal (the former a renegade retainer of Belisarius), resolved to meet the Romans in battle immediately, and sailed to meet them. Unlike in

classical Antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

, the warships of the 6th century did not feature

rams In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)boarding actions. In this form of combat, experience and the ability to maintain a formation of ships was essential, and the Byzantine crews held the advantage over the inexperienced Goths. Soon, in the heat of battle, some Gothic ships drifted off the main body and were easily destroyed, while others sailed too close together and were unable to maneuver. In the end, the weary Gothic fleet disintegrated and their ships fled as best as they could. They lost 36 ships, and Gibal was captured, while Indulf with the remainder fled towards Ancona. As soon as he came close to the Gothic army's camp, he beached his ships and set them on fire. This staggering defeat disheartened the Gothic force, which immediately abandoned the siege of Ancona and withdrew. Followed soon after by a series of Roman successes, the battle of Sena Gallica marked the beginning of the turn of the tide of the Gothic War in the Empire's favour.Bury (1923), Vol. II, pp. 260ff.

References

Sources

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gener ...

''De Bello Gothico'' IV.23 (= ''Wars'' VIII.23)
* * {{cite book , editor-first = Robert , editor-last = Gardiner , title = AGE OF THE GALLEY: Mediterranean Oared Vessels since pre-Classical Times , publisher = Conway Maritime Press , year = 2004 , isbn = 978-0-85177-955-3 551

Sena Gallica Sena may refer to: Places * Sanandaj or Sena, city in northwestern Iran * Sena (state constituency), represented in the Perlis State Legislative Assembly * Sena, Dashtestan, village in Bushehr Province, Iran * Sena, Huesca, municipality in Hues ...

History of the Adriatic Sea 550s in the Byzantine Empire

Background

Battle and aftermath

See also

References

Sources