Siege of Naples (542–43)

Siege of Naples

Date	542 – March/April 543 AD
Location	Naples, Italy
Result	Ostrogothic victory

Belligerents

Eastern Roman Empire

Ostrogoths

Commanders and leaders

Conon

Totila

Strength

1,000 men

Unknown

Wars of Justinian I

Iberian War Dara Satala Callinicum Vandalic War Ad Decimum Tricamarum Gothic War 1st Naples 1st Rome Treviso Verona Faventia Mucellium 2nd Naples 2nd Rome 3rd Rome Sena Gallica Taginae Mons Lactarius Volturnus Conquest of Spania Moorish Wars Mammes and Bourgaon Babosis and Zerboule Cillium Marta Fields of Cato Lazic War Phasis

The Siege of Naples was a successful siege of Naples by the Ostrogothic leader Totila in 542–543 AD. After crushing the Byzantine armies at Faventia and Mucellium, Totila marched south towards Naples, held by the general Conon with 1,000 men. A large-scale relief effort by the newly appointed magister militum Demetrius from Sicily was intercepted and almost entirely destroyed by Gothic warships. A second effort, again under Demetrius, likewise failed when strong winds forced the fleet's vessels to beach, where they were attacked and overcome by the Gothic army. Knowing the dire situation of the city's defenders, Totila promised the garrison safe passage if they surrendered. Pressed by famine and demoralized by the failure of the relief efforts, Conon accepted, and in late March or early April 543, Naples surrendered. The defenders were well treated by Totila, and the Byzantine garrison was allowed safe departure, but the city walls were partly razed.

Sources

Bury, John Bagnell (1958). History of the Later Roman Empire: From the Death of Theodosius I to the Death of Justinian, Volume 2. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc. pp. 231–233. ISBN 0-486-20399-9.

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