Byzantine Battles: Battle of Mucellium

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4 th century

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5 th century

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6 th century

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7 th century

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8 th century

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9 th century

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10 th century

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11 th century

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12 th century

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13 th century

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14 th century

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15 th century

Battle of Mucellium	year: 542
Defeat of the Byzantine army of Italy by the Ostrogoths	★ ★ ★ ★ ★

enemy: Ostrogoths	location: North of Florence, near the village Mucellium, pobably in modern region Mugello of central Italy.	accuracy: ●●●●●
battle type: Pitched battle	war: Gothic War in Italy	modern country: Italy

	▼ The Byzantines(emperor: Justinian I)	▼ The Enemies
Commander:	John, Bessas, Justin	Unknown (perhaps, Totila)
Forces:
Losses:

Background story:

After the departure of Belisarius from Italy in 540, the defeated Ostrogoths began to regroup and soon took control of the region north of the river Po. Without Belisarius, who had not been replaced, the Byzantine army was disbanded without a leader and without anyone responsible for coordinating the defense against the new offensive activity of the Ostrogoths.
In 542, after a failed attempt by the Byzantines against Verona, the new king of the Ostrogoths, Totila, scored an impressive victory at Faventia.
After that victory, Totila sent most of his army to besiege Florence.

The Byzantine ruler of Florence was Justin, nephew of Emperor Justinian, who did not have enough forces to defend the city and also was not properly prepared for a siege. So he sought help from other Roman generals in neighboring cities.

The Battle:

Generals John, Bessas and Cyprian gathered an army and rushed to the aid of Florence. The Goths, who were not very numerous, when they saw that reinforcements were coming, broke the siege of Florence and retreated north, “to the village of Mukellin” as Procopius writes, two days (60 miles, almost 100 kilometers) from Florence, in what is now the district of Mugello.
Justin's forces from Florence converged with the rest of the Byzantine army in this area.

As they approached the enemy, the Byzantine generals thought to send a unit ahead, as a vanguard, to pin down the Goths until the rest of the army could be deployed. To decide who will lead the vanguard they cast lots! (indicative of the leadership problem). The lot fell to John, who was in any case a risk-taker as he had proved in the siege of Ariminum.

John with his unit marched to the positions of the Ostrogoths, who, however, were waiting for him elsewhere, behind a hill, and suddenly attacked from the sides. A fierce fight ensued, during which one of John's bodyguards was hit. In the meantime, the rest of the army arrived from behind and lined up for battle.
The vanguard initially held, but soon a rumour spread that their general had fallen (while not him, but his bodyguard was killed), and they broke and fled towards the oncoming main Byzantine force. Their panic was caught by the rest of the army as well, and they all dispersed without a fight.
The Ostrogoths chased them, killed many and captured more.
Totila treated the prisoners well and suggested that they join his own army. Most of them accepted. The generals of the Byzantines each took refuge in their own city where they prepared for a siege.

Noteworthy:

The other generals learned that John had survived many months later.
John fled to Rome where he remained governor for two years. He was later replaced by Bessas.

Aftermath:

The morale of the Byzantine army at all levels had collapsed and discipline had been lost.
Totila conquered fortresses in Tuscany and then bypassed Rome and went south to occupy Benevento (destroyed it) and Naples, prevailing in southern Italy and slowly throughout Italy. The Ostrogothic kingdom was reborn. The Gothic War resumed and took the Byzantines 10 years to (re)conquer Italy.