Witiges

Timeline

1. c. 520–536Italy · Italian PeninsulaWitiges began as an ordinary Ostrogothic soldier, accumulating military merit and reputation in the early campaigns of the Gothic War. According to records he took part in early campaigns against Byzantium around 527 and was famed for his bravery. In 536 Theodahad, under pressure from Byzantine forces, fled in defeat, and the Ostrogothic army deposed him en route, instead raising Witiges to the throne.
2. 536–540Rome · LazioAfter acceding in 536 he married Matasuntha to secure his rule, then marched south with a large army. From March 537 he besieged Rome with tens of thousands of troops against Belisarius's force of fewer than ten thousand; over about a year (until March 538) repeated assaults all failed and his own losses were heavy. Belisarius continually received reinforcements and supplies, reversing the situation; Witiges was forced to raise the siege and withdraw north. Byzantine forces then advanced on several fronts and the Ostrogoths retreated step by step; in 540 Belisarius besieged Ravenna in force and Witiges surrendered under the pressure of starvation.
3. 540–542Constantinople · Byzantine EmpireAfter being taken to Constantinople, Witiges was granted the title of patrician by Justinian and treated with honor. Sources record that he spent the rest of his life in Constantinople, dying around 542. His wife Matasuntha later remarried the Byzantine noble Germanus (Justinian's nephew), and the Ostrogothic royal bloodline thus merged into the Byzantine nobility.