Editing Sicily (section)

===Byzantine period (535–827)===
{{further|Byzantine Empire}}
[[File:Seal of Elpidios, patrikios of Sicily (Schlumberger, 1900).png|thumb|right|Seal of Elpidius as {{Transliteration|grc|patrikios}} and {{Transliteration|grc|strategos}} of Sicily]]
[[File:MadridSkylitzesFol100vDetail.jpg|thumb|right|The Saracen conquest of the Byzantine stronghold Syracuse, [[Siege of Syracuse (877–878)]]]]

After taking areas occupied by the Vandals in North Africa, [[Justinian I]] retook Italy as an ambitious attempt to recover the lost provinces in the West. The re-conquests marked an end to over 150 years of accommodating policies with tribal invaders. His first target was Sicily, leading to the [[Gothic War (535–554)]] between the Ostrogoths and the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the [[Byzantine Empire]]. Justinian's general [[Belisarius]] was assigned to the military task.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hearder|first=Harry|title=Italy: A Short History|date=25 January 1991|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://archive.org/details/italyshorthistor00hear|isbn=978-0-521-33719-9}}</ref> Sicily was used as a base for the Byzantines to conquer the rest of Italy, including [[Naples]], Rome, and [[Milan]]. It took five years before the Ostrogoth capital [[Ravenna]] fell in 540.<ref name="hisnet" /> However, the new Ostrogoth king [[Totila]] counterattacked, moving down the Italian peninsula, plundering and conquering Sicily in 550. Totila was defeated and killed in the [[Battle of Taginae]] by Byzantine general [[Narses]] in 552 but Italy was in ruins.<ref name="hisnet">{{cite news|url=http://www.historynet.com/magazines/military_history/3025271.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102223028/http://www.historynet.com/magazines/military_history/3025271.html|archive-date=2 November 2007|publisher=Historynet.com|title=Gothic War: Byzantine Count Belisarius Retakes Rome|date=7 October 2007}}</ref>

At the time of the reconquest Greek was still the predominant language spoken on the island. Sicily was invaded by the [[Rashidun army|Arab forces]] of [[Uthman Ibn Affan|Caliph Uthman]] in 652, but the Arabs failed to make permanent gains. They returned to Syria with their booty.<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Alexander|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-link=Alexander Kazhdan|title=Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1991|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|page=1892|title-link=Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium}}</ref> Raids seeking loot continued until the mid-8th century.<ref>{{Cite book|jstor=10.7591/j.ctt1qv5qfp|title=Where Three Worlds Met: Sicily in the Early Medieval Mediterranean|last=Davis-Secord|first=Sarah|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=2017|isbn=9781501704642|location=Ithaca|pages=79|chapter=Sicily in the Early Medieval Mediterranean}}</ref>

The Eastern Roman Emperor [[Constans II (Byzantine Empire)|Constans II]] moved from [[Constantinople]] to [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] in 660. The following year he launched an assault from Sicily against the [[Lombardy|Lombard]] [[Duchy of Benevento]], which occupied most of southern Italy.<ref name="travsyrac" /> Rumors that the capital of the empire was to be moved to Syracuse probably cost Constans his life, as he was assassinated in 668.<ref name="travsyrac">{{cite news|url=http://www.travelmapofsicily.com/syracuse.html|publisher=TravelMapofSicily.com|title=Syracuse, Sicily|date=7 October 2007|access-date=4 December 2007|archive-date=6 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606195458/http://www.travelmapofsicily.com/syracuse.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> His son [[Constantine IV]] succeeded him. A brief usurpation in Sicily by [[Mezezius]] was quickly suppressed by this emperor. Contemporary accounts report that the Greek language was widely spoken on the island during this period.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art165.htm|publisher=BestofSicily.com|title=Sicilian Peoples: The Byzantines|date=7 October 2007}}</ref> In 740 Emperor [[Leo III the Isaurian]] transferred Sicily from the jurisdiction of the church of Rome to that of Constantinople, placing the island within the eastern branch of the Church.<ref>Treadgold. History of the Byzantine State, pp. 354–355.</ref>

In 826 [[Euphemius (Sicily)|Euphemius]], the Byzantine commander in Sicily, having apparently killed his wife, forced a nun to marry him. Emperor [[Michael II]] caught wind of the matter and ordered general Constantine to end the marriage and cut off Euphemius' head. Euphemius rose up, killed Constantine, and then occupied Syracuse; he, in turn, was defeated and driven out to North Africa.<ref name="stan">{{cite news|url=http://archaeology.stanford.edu/MountPolizzo/handbookPDF/MPHandbook5.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609094555/http://archaeology.stanford.edu/MountPolizzo/handbookPDF/MPHandbook5.pdf|archive-date=9 June 2007|publisher=Archaeology.Stanford.edu|title=Brief history of Sicily|date=7 October 2007}}</ref> He offered the rule of Sicily to [[Ziyadat Allah I of Aghlabids|Ziyadat Allah]], the [[Aghlabid]] Emir of [[Tunisia]], in return for a position as a general and a place of safety. A [[Early Muslim conquests|Muslim army]] was then sent to the island consisting of [[Arab]]s, [[Berber people|Berbers]], [[Cretans]], and [[Persian people|Persians]].<ref name="stan" />

The [[Muslim conquest of Sicily]] was a see-saw affair and met with fierce resistance. It took over a century for Byzantine Sicily to be conquered; the largest city, Syracuse, held out until 878 and the Greek city of [[Taormina]] fell in 962. It was not until 965 that all of Sicily was conquered by the [[Arabs]].<ref name="stan" /> In the 11th-century Byzantine armies carried out a partial reconquest of the island under [[George Maniakes]], but it was their [[italo-Norman|Norman]] mercenaries who would eventually complete the island's reconquest at the end of the century.