Regno dei goti, teia, emissione bronzea, 552-553

Teia (died 552 or 553 AD), also known as Teja, Theia, Thila, Thela, and Teias, was the last

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 ...

King of Italy King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader, ...

. He led troops during the

Battle of Busta Gallorum At the Battle of Taginae (also known as the Battle of Busta Gallorum) in June/July 552, the forces of the Byzantine Empire under Narses broke the power of the Ostrogoths in Italy, and paved the way for the temporary Byzantine reconquest of the It ...

and had noncombatant Romans slaughtered in its aftermath. In late 552/early 553, he was killed during the

Battle of Mons Lactarius The Battle of Mons Lactarius (also known as Battle of the Vesuvius) took place in 552 or 553 AD during the Gothic War (535–552), Gothic War waged on behalf of Justinian I against the Ostrogoths in Italy. After the Battle of Taginae, in which t ...

. Archaeological records attesting to his rule show up in coinage found in former

Transalpine Gaul Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the ...

Life

Teia (Teja) was a military officer serving under

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 ...

, who was chosen as his successor and raised over a shield after Totila was killed in the

Battle of Taginae At the Battle of Taginae (also known as the Battle of Busta Gallorum) in June/July 552, the forces of the Byzantine Empire under Narses broke the power of the Ostrogoths in Italy, and paved the way for the temporary Byzantine reconquest of the It ...

(also known as the ''Battle of Busta Gallorum'') in July 552. After this major Gothic defeat Teia gathered together the remaining Goths. In an act of revenge for the losses at ''Busta Gallorum'', Teia ordered the death of all the Roman senators in

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

including Flavius Maximus, who had been exiled by

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 ...

. He also had some 300 Roman children slaughtered, whom Totila had held hostage. Teia then made his way to

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

, where he took possession of the available treasures and as the new king, made a pact with the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

. On his way fleeing to southern Italy, he gathered support from prominent figures within Totila's armies, including

Scipuar Scipuar ( el, Σκιποῦαρ, ) was a commander of the Ostrogoths in the final stages of the Gothic War against the Eastern Roman Empire. Procopius mentions Scipuar along with Gibal and Indulf (Gundulf) as "the most notable among the Goths." T ...

, Gundulf (Indulf),

Gibal Gibal ( el, Γίβαλ, ) was a commander of the Ostrogoths in the final stages of the Gothic War against the Eastern Roman Empire. Procopius mentions Gibal along with Indulf (Gundulf) and Scipuar as "the most notable among the Goths" under Totil ...

and

Ragnaris Ragnaris (Greek spelling died 555) was a Hunnic warlord who fought for the Ostrogoths in the final stages of the Gothic War against the Eastern Roman Empire. Procopius calls him a Goth, but the better informed Agathias records that he was of the ...

, to make his

last stand A last stand is a military situation in which a body of troops holds a defensive position in the face of overwhelming and virtually insurmountable odds. Troops may make a last stand due to a sense of duty; because they are defending a tactic ...

against the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

eunuch general

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 ...

at the

—south of present-day

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

near

Nuceria Alfaterna Nocera Superiore ( nap, Nucèrë or ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. It was the core of the ancient city of ', later known as ', ' and then ' ( it, Nocera dei Pagani), which al ...

—in late 552/early 553. Historian Guy Halsall called this battle, which occurred in the shadow of

Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of s ...

, a "cataclysmic showdown." The Ostrogothic army was defeated there and Teia fell during the fighting. His head was paraded around the battlefield by the Romans, but as Peter Heather relates, "the Goths kept on fighting until dusk on that day and all through the next." Other prominent Goths like Scipuar and Gibal were probably also killed during the fighting. Those Goths who survived the battle and remained, negotiated an armistice. Gundulf and Ragnaris escaped from the field; the latter was later mortally wounded after a failed assassination attempt by an agent of Narses. With that defeat, organized Ostrogothic resistance ended. By 554, the

Ostrogothic Kingdom The Ostrogothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of Italy (), existed under the control of the Germanic peoples, Germanic Ostrogoths in Italian peninsula, Italy and neighbouring areas from 493 to 553. In Italy, the Ostrogoths led by Theodoric the ...

had faded into obscurity, and the Gothic people who remained began assimilating into the broader Italian population. Although his reign was brief, silver coins in his name circulated all the way from his capital at Pavia along the Alpine trade routes into Gaul.

References

Sources

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{{Antique Kings of Italy 550s deaths Ostrogothic kings 6th-century kings of Italy 6th-century monarchs in Europe Gothic warriors People of the Gothic War (535–554) Year of birth unknown 6th-century Ostrogothic people Monarchs killed in action