But it was Justinian’s Gothic Wars and attempts at reconquest that left Italy in ruins, open to invaders from all directions and massively reduced in population.
if not the greatest, political and cultural powers in history. O’Donnell argue, Italy was still a fairly rich and prosperous place under the Ostrogoths and had recovered well from the upheavals of the fifth century. In the east, it continued as the Byzantine Empire until the death of Constantine XI (r. When the Lombards invaded in 568, the Romans gave up most of their territory, keeping only the narrow strip of the Exarchate of Ravenna and Sicily and eventually losing those territories to new invaders as well. The long Gothic Wars had wrecked Italy, contributing to the depopulation of vast areas and leaving the peninsula greatly impoverished and former cities, buildings, and monuments ruined for centuries to come.
He could no longer afford to keep sufficient troops in Italy and Africa, and he needed his armies closer to home to fend off other invaders. Despite nearly 20 years of fighting, numerous battles, massive casualties, and huge expense, Justinian was simply not able to hold the territory he had reconquered.
0 kommentar(er)
