Siege of Ravenna
539 CE.
Shown on the map at 44.418°, 12.199°.
The siege of Ravenna took place in late 539 – May 540 during the Gothic War of 535 to 554 between the Byzantine forces against the besieged Ostrogoths (Goths). The capture of Ravenna concluded the first phase of the Gothic War. Since the start of the Gothic War, Byzantine general Belisarius had conquered the southern and central Italian Peninsula, and his aim was to capture Ravenna, the capital of the Goths. After securing key strongholds, such as Auximus and Fiesole, he moved to isolate Ravenna by cutting off supplies by land and sea. Within the city, food shortages and declining morale weakened Gothic resistance under King Witigis. Despite a Frankish offer of assistance, the Goths were skeptical in view of recent Frankish betrayals and preferred to negotiate surrender. Byzantine Emperor Justinian offered a peace treaty on generous terms for the Goths, as the empire was under imminent Sasanian threat from the east. However, Belisarius refused to ratify the treaty. The Gothic aristocracy proposed in secret to make Belisarius the Western Roman emperor in exchange of their safety.
Text from the Wikipedia article Siege of Ravenna (539–540), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.