Editing Justinian I (section)

====War in Italy, second phase, 541–554====
[[File:Spanish Visigothic gold tremisses in the name of emperor Justinian I with cross on breast 7th century.jpg|thumb|[[Visigothic Kingdom|Spanish Visigothic]] gold [[Tremissis]] in the name of emperor Justinian I, 7th century. The [[Christian cross]] on the breast defines the Visigothic attribution. [[British Museum]].]]

While military efforts were directed to the East, the situation in Italy took a turn for the worse. Under their respective kings [[Ildibad]] and [[Eraric]] (both murdered in 541) and especially [[Totila]], the Ostrogoths made quick gains. After a [[Battle of Faventia|victory]] at [[Faenza]] in 542, they reconquered the major cities of Southern Italy and soon held almost the entire Italian Peninsula. Belisarius was sent back to Italy late in 544 but lacked sufficient troops and supplies. Making no headway, he was relieved of his command in 548. Belisarius succeeded in defeating a Gothic fleet of 200 ships.<ref>{{Cite book |last=D’Amato |first=Raffaele |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9aRWDgAAQBAJ |title=Imperial Roman Warships 193–565 AD |date=23 February 2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-1827-0 |pages=44 |language=en}}</ref> During this period the city of Rome changed hands three more times, first [[Sack of Rome (546)|taken and depopulated]] by the Ostrogoths in December 546, then reconquered by the Byzantines in 547, and then again by the Goths in January 550. Totila also plundered [[Sicily]] and attacked Greek coastlines.{{sfn|Bury|1958|pp=233–238}}

Finally, Justinian dispatched a force of approximately 35,000 men (2,000 men were detached and sent to invade southern Visigothic Hispania) under the command of Narses.<ref name="Nor3">J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Early Centuries'', 251</ref> The army reached Ravenna in June 552 and defeated the Ostrogoths decisively within a month at the [[battle of Busta Gallorum]] in the [[Apennine Mountains|Apennines]], where Totila was slain. After a second battle at [[Battle of Mons Lactarius|Mons Lactarius]] in October that year, the resistance of the Ostrogoths was finally broken. In 554, a large-scale [[Franks|Frankish]] invasion was defeated at [[Battle of Casilinum|Casilinum]], and Italy was secured for the empire, though it would take Narses several years to reduce the remaining Gothic strongholds. At the end of the war, Italy was garrisoned with an army of 16,000 men.<ref name="Nor">J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Early Centuries'', 233</ref> The recovery of Italy cost the empire about 300,000 pounds of gold.<ref name="tulane.edu"/> Procopius estimated 15,000,000 Goths died.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g1YBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA82|title=Universal history, ancient and modern|date=1 March 1802|via=Google Books|last1=Mavor|first1=William Fordyce}}</ref>