John (nephew of Vitalian)

Last updated
John
Pesaro - Mosaico Duomo - Giovanni sanguinario.jpg
Mosaic dedicated to John in the Pesaro Cathedral
Allegiance Eastern Roman Empire
Rank magister militum
Relations Bouzes, Coutzes and Venilus (cousins or brothers)
Vitalian (uncle or father)

John (Latin: Ioannes, Greek: Ίωάννης, fl. 537–553), also known as John the Sanguinary, was the nephew of the rebel Vitalian and was an Eastern Roman general under Justinian I (r. 527–565), who was active in the Gothic War in Italy and against the Gepids in the western Balkans. He was married to Justina, the daughter of Justinian's cousin Germanus.

Contents

Biography

Origins and family

John was the nephew of Vitalian, consul for 520 and magister militum praesentalis of Emperor Justin I, who was assassinated, probably at the instigation of Justinian, the powerful nephew and later successor of Justin. [1]

Gothic War

In 537 John sailed from Constantinople to Italy with 8,000 Thracian troops to reinforce the army of Belisarius who engaged in the Gothic War against the Ostrogoths of King Vitiges. After landing in Taranto, he reached Rome and was besieged by the Goths in December 537. He had brought with him men and supplies essential to continue to resist the siege for a long time. [2]

When the Siege of Rome was in its final stages, Belisarius sent John to occupy Picenum. [3] The Roman population of Ariminum (present-day Rimini) invited John to take the town; John estimated that the position of Ariminum between Rome and the Gothic capital of Ravenna would cause Vitiges to lift Rome's siege and retreat if it were occupied. [3] [4] Therefore, John took Ariminum, [3] ignoring other Gothic garrisons in the region. [5] According to Procopicus, the Goths retreated from Ariminum to Ravenna "as soon as they learned that [John's] army was approaching", [4] and Mataswintha, Vitiges' wife, opened negotiations to betray Ariminium and marry John, whose reputation was bolstered by the town's capture. [6] As expected, the Goths retreated from Rome. Predicting that the Goths would attempt to besiege John at Ariminum, [3] Belisarius sent Ildiger and Martinus to replace John, [3] [7] but once they arrived, John refused to leave, staying in Ariminum with the infantry reinforcement. Shortly afterwards, Vitiges besieged the town, in an encounter known as the Siege of Ariminum. [3] [8] After unsuccessfully attempting to use a siege ladder, Vitiges began to starve the town. [3] [9] John sent a letter to Belisarius informing him that his army would need to surrender in seven days. [5] Belisarius split his army into four groups, [3] three of which [10] [3] were sent to the vicinity of Ariminum, approaching from different angles. [3] Deceived into believing the size of the Byzantine army was much larger han it actually was, the Goths lifted their siege on 24 July 358. [5] After the siege, John said that his gratitude laid solely with Narses as he supposedly forced Belisarius to relieve him: [3] whereas Belisarius wanted to besiege Osimo and Ancon, leaving John to defend Ariminum alone, Narses insisted that it would be a mistake to lose Ariminum simply to punish John. [5] The Byzantine leadership would grow more divided and ineffective as a result. [3]

When the rivalry between Narses and Belisarius and their disagreement on how to wage the war generated divisions in the army, John sided with Narses, following him in Emilia, which the eunuch intended to conquer even without Belisarius's authorization. John contributed to the conquest of Emilia along with other supporters of Narses, but the divisions of the army that had formed due to the discord between Belisarius and Narses contributed to the fall of Milan to the Goths, persuading Justinian to recall Narses and give back the unitary command to Belisarius (539).

After the conquest of Ravenna and the recall of Belisarius to Constantinople (540), John remained in Italy. Due to a unitary command after the recall of Belisarius, the Goths were able to recover under the leadership of their new king Totila. When the latter arrived to besiege Florence, the general at the head of the garrison of Florence, Justinus, asked for help from the imperial commanders in Ravenna, who intervened in force forcing Totila to lift the siege by retreating in the direction of Mugello, where he routed the imperial army due to the false news of the killing by one of its bodyguards of John, which panicked the Byzantine army. John fled to Rome, where he took refuge and remained for the next two years, until 544, when he was replaced by Bessas by order of Belisarius, who had returned to Italy. While in Rome, John expelled the Arian priests, fearing that they might conspire something for the benefit of the Goths.

In 545 he was sent by Belisarius to Constantinople to ask for reinforcements, but John lingered a long time, marrying Justina, the daughter of Germanus. According to the Secret History of Procopius, Theodora did not want Justina to marry so John, by marrying her, would have attracted the hatred of the empress, to the point that John, fearing that Theodora could order Antonina (Belisarius's wife) to kill him, when he returned to Italy he was careful not to reach Belisarius and his wife in Rome. [11] On the other hand, John managed to recover Lucania and Bruzio for the Empire.

In 550, when Narses obtained the command of the Roman troops, John joined him to balance the elderly eunuch's lack of experience. Narses reached Ravenna in the summer of 552, and within a year was able to break the resistance of the last Ostrogothic king, Teia, and to put an end to the war (late 552 or early 553). [12]

In fiction

John appears as a character in the time travel novel Lest Darkness Fall , by L. Sprague de Camp.

Related Research Articles

The 530s decade ran from January 1, 530, to December 31, 539.

หะะพฟ่างภีๆพั

<span class="mw-page-title-main">537</span> Calendar year

Year 537 (DXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Second year after the Consulship of Belisarius. The denomination 537 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">540</span> Calendar year

Year 540 (DXL) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iustinus without colleague. The denomination 540 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Year 538 (DXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iohannes without colleague. The denomination 538 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narses</span> 6th-century Byzantine general

Narses was, with Belisarius, one of the great generals in the service of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I during the Roman reconquest that took place during Justinian's reign. Narses was a Romanized Armenian. He spent most of his life as an important eunuch in the palace of the emperors in Constantinople.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Totila</span> King of the Ostrogoths from 541 to 552

Totila, original name Baduila, 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 territories in Italy that the Eastern Roman Empire had captured from his Kingdom in 540.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gothic War (535–554)</span> Byzantine–Gothic war in Italy (535–554)

The Gothic War between the Byzantine 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 of the many Gothic Wars against the Roman Empire. The war had its roots in the ambition of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I to recover the provinces of the former Western Roman Empire, which the Romans had lost to invading barbarian tribes in the previous century, during the Migration Period.

<i>A Struggle for Rome</i> Multi-volume novel by Felix Dahn

A Struggle for Rome is a historical novel written by Felix Dahn.

The First Siege of Rome during the Gothic War lasted for a year and nine days, from 2 March 537 to 12 March 538. The city was besieged by the Ostrogothic army under their king Vitiges; the defending East Romans were commanded by Belisarius, one of the most famous and successful Roman generals. The siege was the first major encounter between the forces of the two opponents, and played a decisive role in the subsequent development of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Sena Gallica (551)</span> Naval battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy

The Battle of Sena Gallica, was a naval battle fought off the Italian Adriatic coast in the autumn of 551 between an East Roman (Byzantine) and an Ostrogoth fleet, during the Gothic War (535–554). 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belisarius</span> 6th-century Byzantine general

Belisarius was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Justinian I. Belisarius was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean territory belonging to the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century prior. Belisarius is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history and the greatest of all Byzantine generals.

(Anicius) Maximus was a Roman senator and patrician during the Ostrogothic kingdom, who celebrated the last games in the Flavian Amphitheater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Rome (549–550)</span> Siege of Rome during Gothic War

The city of Rome was besieged in AD 549–550 by the Ostrogoths, led by Totila, during a campaign to recapture Italy from the Byzantine Empire. After Totila imposed a blockade, soldiers from the city's garrison opened the gates to the Ostrogothic army. Many of Rome's male inhabitants were killed in the city or while attempting to flee—further reducing Rome's population which had collapsed in recent decades.

Justin was a 6th-century East Roman (Byzantine) general, who was active in the Gothic War in Italy under Justinian I.

Bessas was an Eastern Roman general of Gothic origin from Thrace, primarily known for his career in the wars of Justinian I. He distinguished himself against the Sassanid Persians in the Iberian War and under the command of Belisarius in the Gothic War, but after Belisarius' departure from Italy he failed to confront the resurgent Goths and was largely responsible for the loss of Rome in 546. Returning east in disgrace, despite his advanced age he was appointed as commander in the Lazic War. There he redeemed himself with the recapture of Petra, but his subsequent idleness led Justinian to dismiss him and exile him to Abasgia.

The siege of Auximus was a siege during Justinian’s Gothic War which took place in the year 539. It ended with Belisarius’ Byzantine force victorious. The Gothic garrison surrendered the town and joined the Byzantines after negotiations. The siege lasted 7 months.

The Siege of Ariminum, also known as the siege of Rimini, was an encounter in the Gothic War between Byzantine forces under Belisarius and John and an Ostrogothic force in 538 AD.


The siege of Urbinus also called siege of Urbino or siege of Urbinum took place in the year 538 during Justinian's Gothic War. Earlier, when John took Ariminum, he had bypassed Auximus and Urbinus which would have to be taken now to secure the road to Ravenna. The Gothic king, Witigis, had sent a man called Moras with 2.000 troops to defend the city. In the year 538, the Byzantine commander, Belisarius went to besiege the town while another strong Byzantine contingents besieged Urviventus. The forces of Narses and John, other Byzantine commanders, who were undermining Belisarius' authority, joined him in this venture. Thinking the defenders would be terrified on seeing the Byzantine army, Belisarius sent envoys offering the garrison a chance to surrender. Narses and John set up camp separately form Belisarius, on the other side of the town, and, after negotiations with the garrison failed, totally abandoned the siege. They declared taking the town impossible and moved to capture Aemilia but while Belisarius was preparing to assault the town surrendered due to the failure of its spring. Astonished by such success, Narses sent John to capture Caesena but this assault failed. John then moved to and managed to capture Forocornelius. After this siege Belisarius moved to support in the siege of Urviventus, also capturing that city shortly after.

The siege of Ravenna of 539-540 took place during Justinian’s Gothic War.

References

  1. ↑ Procopio attribuisce la tempestiva morte di Vitaliano, il più forte rivale di Giustiniano per la porpora imperiale, a un ordine di Giustiniano stesso (Procopio, Storia segreta, VI.xxvi-xxviii).
  2. ↑ Procopio, DBG, II,5-7.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Hughes, Ian (2009). Belisarius: The Last Roman General . Yardley, PA: Westholme. ISBN   9781594160851. OCLC   294885267.
  4. 1 2 Procopicus 1919 , pp. 373–4
  5. 1 2 3 4 "24 luglio 538 – Belisario libera Rimini dall'assedio dei Goti" [24 July 538 – Belisarius frees Rimini from the siege of the Goths]. Chiamami Città (in Italian). 24 July 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  6. ↑ Procopicus 1919 , pp. 375–7
  7. ↑ Procopicus 1919 , pp. 379–81
  8. ↑ Procopicus 1919 , pp. 385–7
  9. ↑ Procopicus 1919 , pp. 393–5
  10. ↑ Heather, Peter J. (2018). Rome Resurgent: War and Empire in the Age of Justinian. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780199362745. OCLC   1007044617.
  11. ↑ Procopio, Storia Segreta, V.
  12. ↑ Evans.

Sources

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