Uraias or Uraïas ( grc-gre, Οὐραΐας) was an

Ostrogothic 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 ...

general during the Gothic–Roman War of 535–540. Uraias was a nephew of King

Witiges Vitiges or Vitigis or Witiges (died 542) was king of Ostrogothic Italy from 536 to 540. He succeeded to the throne of Italy in the early stages of the Gothic War of 535–554, as Belisarius had quickly captured Sicily the previous year and w ...

. Although probably of humble origins, he rose through the military ranks to become a ''

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux' ...

'' (duke). The Roman historian

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 ...

calls him an ''

archon ''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...

'' (ruler), which in his vocabulary means "military commander". In 538, the Romans landed forces at

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

and retook

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

at the request of its population. Uraias was tasked with recovering it. He besieged the city over the winter of 538–39. When the city capitulated, he allowed his Burgundian allies to seize the women for slaves and his own men to slaughter the male inhabitants because they had requested Roman assistance. A strong Roman force remained at

Dertona Tortona (; pms, Torton-a , ; lat, Dhertona) is a ''comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. History ...

after the loss of Milan, preventing Uraias from relieving the besieged garrison of

Fiesole Fiesole () is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a scenic height above Florence, 5 km (3 miles) northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times. Sin ...

in the summer of 539. After the fall of Fiesole, Witiges ordered Uraias to relieve the garrison at

Osimo Osimo is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche region of Italy, in the province of Ancona. The municipality covers a hilly area located approximately south of the port city of Ancona and the Adriatic Sea. , Osimo had a total population of 35,037. ...

, but he was again unable to leave because of a

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

invasion. By the end of 539, he had expelled the Romans from

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

and recovered it for the Ostrogothic Kingdom, which was on the verge of collapse. He was the most powerful and successful commander on the Ostrogothic side in early 540, but he was unable to relieve

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 ...

, the capital, which his uncle was defending, because his army had suffered severe desertions in the

Cottian Alps The Cottian Alps (; french: Alpes Cottiennes ; it, Alpi Cozie ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between France (Hautes-Alpes and Savoie) and Italy (Piedmont). The Fréjus Road Tunnel and Fréjus Rai ...

, including that of one of his subordinate commanders, Sisigis. When Witiges surrendered Ravenna to the Romans in May 540, Uraias was in command in

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 ...

. He was offered the kingship, but declined it. According to Procopius, he claimed on the basis of Witiges' ignominious end that his family lacked "fortune" (''

tyche Tyche (; Ancient Greek: Τύχη ''Túkhē'', 'Luck', , ; Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity who governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. In Classical Greek mythology, she is the daughter of Aphrodite a ...

''). He instead suggested

Ildibad Ildibad (sometimes rendered Hildebad or Heldebadus) (died 541) was a king of the Ostrogoths in Italy in 540–541. Biography Ildibad was a nephew of Theudis, an Ostrogoth king of the Visigoths in Spain. This relationship led Peter Heather to sugges ...

as king. Ildibad was a nephew of

Theudis Theudis (Spanish: ''Teudis'', Portuguese: ''Têudis''), ( 480 – June 548) was king of the Visigoths in Hispania from 531 to 548. Biography An Ostrogoth, he was the sword-bearer of Theodoric the Great, who sent him to govern the Visigothic king ...

, king of the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

, and Uraias expected that the latter would come to the aid of his nephew. In fact, Theudis remained neutral throughout the war. Shortly after acceding to the throne, Ildibad's wife convinced her husband that Uraias was plotting with the Romans to overthrow him. According to Procopius, the wife of Uraias wore more expensive clothes than the queen and refused to acknowledge her presence in the public baths one day. This was reported to the king as suspicious behaviour and Ildibad ordered Uraias' murder. Uraias' unusual name has led to some speculation. He may be named after Uriah, the prophet of ''

Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...

'' 26, whose name is spelled ''Urias'' in some versions (''Oureias'' in the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

). On the other hand, the continuator of the chronicle of Marcellinus gives his name as ''Oraio'' or ''Orai'', which has been taken for Germanic.

Notes

Sources

* * * *{{cite book , first=J. A. S. , last=Evans , title=The Age of Justinian: The Circumstances of Imperial Power , publisher=Routledge , year=1996 Year of birth unknown 540s deaths People of the Gothic War (535–554) 6th-century Ostrogothic people Gothic warriors Assassinated Gothic people