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Totila, original name Baduila (died July 1, 552), was the penultimate
King of the Ostrogoths, reigning from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled
military and political leader,
Totila

Totila reversed the tide of Gothic War,
recovering by 543 almost all the territories in
Italy

Italy that the Eastern
Roman Empire had captured from his Kingdom in 540.
A relative of Theudis, sword-bearer of
Theodoric the Great
.png/440px-Teodorico_re_dei_Goti_(493-526).png)
Theodoric the Great and king of
the Visigoths,
Totila

Totila was elected king by Ostrogothic nobles in the
autumn of 541 after King
Witigis

Witigis had been carried off prisoner to
Constantinople.
Totila

Totila proved himself both as a military and political
leader, winning the support of the lower classes by liberating slaves
and distributing land to the peasants. After a successful defence at
Verona,
Totila

Totila pursued and defeated a numerically superior army at the
Battle of Faventia in 542 AD. Building on his victories, Totila
followed these victories by defeating the Romans outside
Florence

Florence and
capturing Naples. By 543, fighting on land and sea, he had reconqured
the bulk of the lost territory.
Rome

Rome held out, and
Totila

Totila appealed
unsuccessfully to the Senate in a letter reminding them of the loyalty
of the Romans to his predecessor Theodoric the Great. In the spring of
544 the
Eastern Roman emperor

Eastern Roman emperor
Justinian I
.jpg/440px-Mosaic_of_Justinianus_I_-_Basilica_San_Vitale_(Ravenna).jpg)
Justinian I sent his general Belisarius
to
Italy

Italy to counterattack, but
Totila

Totila captured
Rome

Rome in 546 from
Belisarius

Belisarius and depopulated the city after a yearlong siege. When
Totila

Totila left to fight the Byzantines in Lucania, south of Naples,
Belisarius

Belisarius retook
Rome

Rome and rebuilt its fortifications.
After
Belisarius

Belisarius retreated to
Constantinople

Constantinople in 549,
Totila

Totila recaptured
Rome, going on to complete the reconquest of
Italy

Italy and Sicily. By the
end of 550,
Totila

Totila had recaptured all but
Ravenna

Ravenna and four coastal
towns. The following year Justinian sent his general
Narses

Narses with a
force of 35,000 Lombards,
Gepids

Gepids and
Heruli

Heruli to
Italy

Italy in a march around
the
Adriatic

Adriatic to approach
Ravenna

Ravenna from the north. In the Battle of
Taginae, a decisive engagement during the summer of 552, in the
Apennines
.jpg/576px-Monte_Pollino_(P.N.P.).jpg)
Apennines near present-day Fabriano, the Gothic army was defeated, and
Totila

Totila was mortally wounded.
Totila

Totila was succeeded by his relative,
Teia, who later died at the Battle of Mons Lactarius. Pockets of
resistance, reinforced by
Franks

Franks and
Alemanni

Alemanni who had invaded
Italy

Italy in
553, continued until 562, when the Byzantines were in control of the
whole of the country. The country was so ravaged by war that any
return to normal life proved impossible, and only three years after
his death most of the country was conquered by
Alboin

Alboin of the Lombards,
who absorbed the remaining Ostrogothic population.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Initial victories
3 Taking Naples
4 Siege of Rome
5 Death
6 Aftermath
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links
Early life[edit]
Totila

Totila razes the walls of Florence: illumination from the Chigi ms of
Villani's Cronica
"Totila" was the nom de guerre of a man whose real name was Baduila,
as can be seen from the coinage he issued. "Totila" is the name used
by the
Byzantine

Byzantine historian Procopius, who accompanied the Byzantine
General
Belisarius

Belisarius during the Gothic War, and whose chronicles are the
main source of our information for Totila. According to Henry Bradley,
'Totila' and 'Baduila' are diminutives of 'Totabadws'.[1] Born in
Treviso,
Totila

Totila was a relative of Theudis, king of the Visigoths.
Elected king of the
Ostrogoths
.jpg/900px-Theodoric's_Palace_-_Sant'Apollinare_Nuovo_-_Ravenna_2016_(crop).jpg)
Ostrogoths in 541 after the death of his uncle
Ildibad, having engineered the assassination of Ildibad's short-lived
successor, his cousin
Eraric

Eraric in 541. The official
Byzantine

Byzantine position,
adopted by
Procopius

Procopius and even by the Romanized Goth Jordanes, writing
just before the conclusion of the Gothic Wars, was that
Totila

Totila was a
usurper: Jordanes' Getica (551) overlooks the recent successes of
Totila.[2]
Initial victories[edit]
Main article: Gothic War (535–554)
His life's work was the restoration of the Gothic kingdom in Italy,
and he entered upon the task from the very beginning of his reign,
collecting together and inspiring the Goths, defeating a poorly led
Byzantine

Byzantine attack on the Gothic stronghold of
Verona

Verona in the winter of
541, and scattering the stronger
Byzantine

Byzantine army at
Faenza

Faenza (Battle of
Faventia) in the spring of 542.[3]
Having gained another victory in 542,
Totila

Totila avoided stoutly defended
Florence, in the Mugello valley.
Totila

Totila treated his prisoners so well,
some served under his banner. He left well-defended
Tuscany

Tuscany with his
enlarged forces, while three
Byzantine

Byzantine generals withdrew from
Florence, dividing their forces to Perugia, Spoleto, and Rome, cities
which
Totila

Totila would have to take by siege.
In the meantime, instead of pursuing the conquest of central Italy,
where the Imperial forces were too formidable for his small army, he
decided to transfer his operations to the south of the peninsula.[4]
He captured Beneventum and received the submission of the provinces of
Lucania

Lucania and Bruttium,
Apulia

Apulia and Calabria, essentially the whole of
the Greek south; their imperial taxes were now diverted to his
benefit.
Totila's strategy was to move fast and take control of the
countryside, leaving the
Byzantine

Byzantine forces in control of well-defended
cities, and especially the ports. When
Belisarius

Belisarius eventually returned
to Italy,
Procopius

Procopius relates that "during a space of five years he did
not succeed once in setting foot on any part of the land … except
where some fortress was, but during this whole period he kept sailing
about visiting one port after another."[5]
Totila

Totila circumvented those
cities where a drawn-out siege would have been required, razing the
walls of cities that capitulated to him, such as Beneventum. Totila's
conquest of
Italy

Italy was marked not only by celerity but also by mercy,
and Gibbon says "none were deceived, either friends or enemies, who
depended on his faith or his clemency." After a successful siege of a
resisting city, such as at Perugia, however,
Totila

Totila could be
merciless, as
Procopius

Procopius recounts.
Procopius

Procopius left a written portrayal
of
Totila

Totila before his troops were drawn up for battle:
The armor in which he was clad was abundantly plated with gold and the
ample adornments which hung from his cheek plates as well as his
helmet and spear were not only purple, but in other respects befitting
a king … And he himself, sitting upon a very large horse, began to
dance under arms skillfully between the two armies. And as he rode he
hurled his javelin into the air and caught it again as it quivered
above him, then passed it rapidly from hand to hand, shifting it with
consummate skill.
Taking Naples[edit]
Totila

Totila in the 14th century Nuova Cronica
Main article: Siege of
Naples

Naples (542–43)
Procopius's picture is given an uncharacteristic setting, for Totila
generally avoided formal battles with opposing armies drawn up in
battle array and excelled at skirmishing. A siege was required at
Naples, however, where the report of Totila's courteous treatment of
Romans at
Cumae

Cumae and other surrounding towns undermined morale.
Justinian was alarmed, but jealousy kept his one brilliantly competent
general
Belisarius

Belisarius at Constantinople. An attempt to relieve
Naples

Naples by
sea was badly bungled when
Totila

Totila was informed during unnecessary
delays, and a storm dispersed a second attempt, delivering the
general, Demetrius, into Totila's hands.
Totila

Totila offered generous terms
and Conon's starving garrison at
Naples

Naples opened their gates in the
spring of 543.
On this occasion
Totila

Totila exhibited a considerable humanity which was
not to be expected, as the historian
Procopius

Procopius remarks, from an enemy
or a barbarian. He knew that if an abundance of food were at once
supplied, the famished inhabitants would gorge themselves to death. He
posted sentinels at the gates and in the harbor and allowed no one to
leave the city. Then he dealt out small rations, gradually increasing
the quantity every day until the people had recovered their strength.
The terms of the capitulation were more than faithfully observed.
Conon and his followers were embarked in ships with which the Goths
provided them, and when, deciding to sail for Rome, they were hindered
by contrary winds,
Totila

Totila furnished horses, provisions, and guides so
that they could make the journey by land.[6]
The fortifications were partly razed.
Totila

Totila spent the following
season establishing himself in the south and reducing pockets of
resistance, while the unpaid Imperial troops in central
Italy

Italy made
such poor reputations pillaging the countryside that when Totilas
turned his attention to taking Rome, he was able proudly to contrast
Goth and Greek behavior in his initial negotiations with the senate.
They were refused, however, and all the Arian priests were expelled
from the city, on suspicion of collaboration.
Siege of Rome[edit]
Main articles:
Sack of Rome (546)

Sack of Rome (546) and Siege of
Rome

Rome (549–50)
Towards the end of 545 the Gothic king took up his station at Tivoli
and prepared to starve
Rome

Rome into surrender, making at the same time
elaborate preparations for checking the progress of
Belisarius

Belisarius who was
advancing to its relief.
Pope Vigilius

Pope Vigilius fled to the safety of Syracuse;
when he sent a flotilla of grain ships to feed the city, Totila's navy
fell on them near the mouth of the
Tiber

Tiber and captured the fleet. The
imperial fleet, moving up the
Tiber

Tiber and led by the great general, only
just failed to relieve the city, which then was forced to open its
gates to the Goths.
It was plundered, although
Totila

Totila did not carry out his threat to make
it a pasture for cattle, and when the Gothic army withdrew into Apulia
it was from a scene of desolation. But its walls and other
fortifications were soon restored, and
Totila

Totila again marched against
it. He was defeated by Belisarius, who, however, did not follow up his
advantage. Several cities including
Perugia

Perugia were taken by the Goths,
while
Belisarius

Belisarius remained inactive and then was recalled from Italy.
In 549
Totila

Totila advanced a third time against Rome, which he captured
through the treachery of some of its starving defenders.
Totila's meeting with
Benedict of Nursia

Benedict of Nursia at
Monte Cassino
.jpg)
Monte Cassino is preserved
in Pope Gregory I's Dialogues (ii.14–15). It occurred either before
or soon after the siege of Naples; the Benedictines' traditional date
is March 21, 543. It includes a telling of the abbot's discernment of
an aide of Totila's, his sword-bearer Riggio, dressed in royal robes,
as an impostor, and also his predictions for Totila, who knelt to him.
This event was a favorite subject for Italian painters.
Death[edit]
Totila

Totila in the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493
His next exploit was the conquest and plunder of Sicily, after which
he subdued
Corsica

Corsica and
Sardinia

Sardinia and sent a Gothic fleet against the
coasts of Greece. By this time the emperor
Justinian I
.jpg/440px-Mosaic_of_Justinianus_I_-_Basilica_San_Vitale_(Ravenna).jpg)
Justinian I was taking
energetic measures to check the Goths. The conduct of a new campaign
was entrusted to the eunuch Narses;
Totila

Totila marched against him and was
defeated and killed at the Battle of
Taginae

Taginae (also known as the Battle
of Busta Gallorum) in July 552, which brought an end to the long
struggle between Byzantium and the
Ostrogothic Kingdom

Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy, and
left the Eastern Emperor for the time being in control of Italy.
Aftermath[edit]
Totila

Totila was succeeded by his relative Teia, who later died at the
Battle of Mons Lactarius. The
Goths
.jpg/440px-Tomb_of_Theodoric_the_Great_Ravenna_(cropped).jpg)
Goths were later absorbed into the
Lombard Kingdom.
Notes[edit]
This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain
unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to
improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February
2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
^ Henry Bradley, The story of the Goths: from the earliest times to
the end of the Gothic dominion in Spain, p. 280 (G.P. Putnam's Sons,
1903).
^ Croke, Brian (April 1987). "Cassiodorus and the Getica of Jordanes".
Classical Philology. 82 (2): 117–134. doi:10.1086/367034.
^ Heather, Peter (1998). The Goths. Malden: Blackwell.
p. 268.
^ J.B. Bury, 1923. History of the Later Roman Empire chapter xix
^ Anecdota, ch. V
^ Bury, Later Roman Empire, ch. xix.
References[edit]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in
the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Totila".
Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Totila.
Encyclopædia Britannica 1911: Totila
Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: vol 4.xliii.3
(
Totila

Totila takes Rome)
(in Italian) La guerra gotico-bizantina
(in Italian) Le sepolture regie del regno italico (secoli VI-X) –
Totila

Totila (541–552)
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Eraric
King of the Ostrogoths
541–552
Succeeded by
Teia
v
t
e
Kings of
Italy

Italy between 476 and 1556
Non-dynastic
Odoacer

Odoacer (476–493)
Ostrogoths
Theoderic (493–526)
Athalaric

Athalaric (526–534)
Theodahad

Theodahad (534–536)
Vitiges

Vitiges (536–540)
Ildibad

Ildibad (540–541)
Eraric

Eraric (541)
Totila

Totila (541–552)
Teia

Teia (552–553)
Lombards
Alboin

Alboin (568–572)
Cleph

Cleph (572–574)
Interregnum (574–584)
Authari

Authari (584–590)
Agilulf

Agilulf (590–616)
Adaloald

Adaloald (616–626)
Arioald

Arioald (626–636)
Rothari

Rothari (636-652)
Rodoald

Rodoald (652–653)
Aripert I

Aripert I (653–661)
Godepert

Godepert (661–662)
Perctarit

Perctarit (661–662)
Grimoald (662–671)
Garibald

Garibald (671)
Perctarit

Perctarit (671–688)
Cunipert

Cunipert (688–689)
Alahis

Alahis (689)
Cunipert

Cunipert (689–700)
Liutpert

Liutpert (700–702)
Raginpert

Raginpert (701)
Aripert II

Aripert II (702–712)
Ansprand

Ansprand (712)
Liutprand (712–744)
Hildeprand

Hildeprand (744)
Ratchis

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Aistulf

Aistulf (749–756)
Desiderius

Desiderius (756–774)
Carolingians
Charles I (774–814)
Pepin (781–810)
Bernard (810–818)
Lothair I

Lothair I (818–855)
Louis I (855–875)
Charles II (875–877)
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Non-dynastic
(title disputed 887–933)
Unruochings: Berengar I (887–924)
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Welfs: Rudolph (922–933)
Bosonids: Louis II (900–905)
Hugh (926–947)
Lothair II (945–950)
Anscarids: Berengar II (950–963)
Adalbert (950–963)
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Italy

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the Holy Roman Empire
(962–1556)
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Authority control
WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 58456297
LCCN: n2003077