The
Battle of Mons Lactarius (also known as
Battle of the Vesuvius) took place in
553-Europe:*The Ostrogoth Kingdom is conquered by the Byzantines after the Battle of Mons Lactarius.-Deaths:* Gelimer, last King of the Vandals and Alans* Hou Jing* Xiao Ji
...
during the
Gothic WarSee Gothic War for the war on the Danube.The Gothic War was a war fought in Italy and the adjoining regions of Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily and Corsica from 535 until 554 between the forces of the Eastern Roman Empire and the forces of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy...
waged on behalf of
Justinian IFlavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus ; AD 483 – 13 or 14 November 565, known in English as Justinian I or Justinian the Great, was the second member of the Justinian Dynasty and Eastern Roman Emperor from 527 until his death...
against the Ostrogoths in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
.
After the
Battle of TaginaeAt the Battle of Taginae in June/July 552, the forces of the Byzantine Empire under Narses broke the power of the Ostrogoths in Italy, and paved the way for the complete Byzantine conquest of the Italian Peninsula...
, in which the Ostrogoth king
TotilaTotila was king of the Ostrogoths from 541 until his death. He waged the Gothic War against the Byzantine Empire for the mastery of Italy...
was killed, the
ByzantineThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
general
NarsesNarses was, with Belisarius, one of the great generals in the service of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I during the so-called "Reconquest" that took place during Justinian's reign....
captured
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
and besieged
CumaeCumae is an ancient Greek settlement lying to the northwest of Naples in the Italian region of Campania...
.
TeiaTeia , also known as Teja, Theia, Thila, Thela, Teias, was the last Ostrogothic king in Italy.Apparently a military officer serving under Totila, Teia was chosen as successor after Totila was slain in the Battle of Taginae in July 552...
, the new Ostrogothic king, gathered the remnants of the Ostrogothic army and marched to relieve the siege, but in October of 552 Narses ambushed him at
Mons Lactarius (modern
Monti Lattarithumb|280px|View of the Monti Lattari from the Gulf of [[Salerno]].The Monti Lattari are a mountain range in Campania, southern Italy, which constitutes the backbone of the Sorrentine peninsula and of the Amalfi Coast.-Geography:...
) in
CampaniaCampania is a region of southern Italy in Europe. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,595 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
, near Mt. Vesuvius and Nuceria Alfaterna. The battle lasted two days, and Teia was killed in the fighting. Ostrogothic power in Italy was eliminated, but Narses allowed the few survivors to return to their homes as subjects of the empire. The absence of any real authority in Italy immediately after the battle led to an invasion by the
FranksThe Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic tribal confederation first attested in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul...
, but they too were defeated and the peninsula was, for a short time, reintegrated into the empire.