The Battle of Mucellium was an engagement in 542 near

Mugello The Mugello is a historic region and valley in northern Tuscany, in Italy, corresponding to the course of the River Sieve. It is located to the north of the city of Florence and includes the northernmost portion of the Metropolitan City of Fl ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, between

Ostrogoths 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 ...

and Byzantines during the Gothic War. Having lifted a siege of

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, the Ostrogoths led by

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 ...

turned on the pursuing Byzantines, defeating their numerically superior force. Following his success against the Byzantines in the

Battle of Faventia In the spring of 542, at the Battle of Faventia (modern Faenza), an Ostrogothic army under king Totila scattered the larger Roman forces of generals Constantian and Alexander, beginning the resurgence of Gothic resistance to the Roman reconquest ...

in spring 542, Totila sent part of his troops to attack

Justin Justin may refer to: People * Justin (name), including a list of persons with the given name Justin * Justin (historian), a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire * Justin I (c. 450–527), or ''Flavius Iustinius Augustus'', Eastern Rom ...

, the Byzantine commander of Florence, had neglected to adequately provision the city against a siege, and hurriedly sent for aid to the other Byzantine commanders in the area:

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 ...

Bessas Bessas is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardèche department The following is a list of the 335 communes of the Ardèche department of France. The communes cooperate in t ...

and Cyprian. They gathered their forces and came to the relief of Florence. At their approach, the Goths raised the siege and retreated north, to the region of Mucellium (modern

). The Byzantines pursued them, with John and his troops leading the chase and the rest of the army following behind. Suddenly, the Goths rushed upon John's men from the top of a hill. The Byzantines initially held, but soon a rumour spread that their general had fallen, and they broke and fled towards the oncoming main Byzantine force. Their panic however was caught by the latter as well, and the entire Byzantine army dispersed in disorder. The Goths took many captives, who were treated well and even induced to join the Gothic army, while the Byzantine generals fled to isolated strongholds (Bessas to

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Spolet ...

, Justin back to Florence, Cyprian to

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

and John to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

), and henceforth failed to cooperate against the Goths.

Sources

{{coord, 43.95, N, 11.3833, E, source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title 542 Mucellium Mucellium Mucellium Mucellium Mucellium 540s in the Byzantine Empire