Editing Narses (section)

==Final battles==
After the final defeat of the Goths, the [[Franks]], led by the brothers Leutharis and Buccillinus, attempted to invade the recently reconquered lands. From the ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'': "They (The Franks) in like manner wasted Italy. But with the help of the Lord they too were destroyed by Narses. And all Italy rejoiced."<ref>''The Book of the Popes (Liber Pontificalis)''. Trans. L.R. Loomis. (Merchantville, NJ: Evolution Publishing, 2006) 164.</ref> For the next year or two, Narses crossed the countryside, reinstituting Byzantine rule and laying siege to towns that resisted. But as more and more Franks poured over the Alps, Narses regrouped in Rome, and once spring came, marched his army against them.<ref>Fauber. ''Narses''. 119.</ref> The Franks, led by the two brothers, were pursuing separate routes, but plundering the whole time.

At the [[Battle of the Volturnus (554)|Battle of Casilinum]], Narses put true heavy infantry in the centre, instead of dismounted cavalry. These were hand picked troops, "Ante-signani", who wore long clad coats of mail that went down to their feet.<ref>Fauber. ''Narses''. 125.</ref> Highly trained cavalry were on the flanks, armed with everything that the army carried. On the opposing side, [[Agathias]] describes the Franks as, "Very rude and without cavalry. Their swords were worn on the left leg, and their main weapons were the throwing ax and hooked javelins."<ref>Agathias, ''The Histories'', Book II. Translated by Joseph D. Frendo. (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1975) 36–38.</ref> The Franks attacked Narses' centre, which was initially pushed back but was reinforced by the [[Heruli]], who slowed the attackers.<ref>Oman, C. W. C. ''The Art of War In the Middle Ages''. (New York: Cornell University Press, 1953), p. 18.</ref>

At this point Narses had the cavalry wheel in from the flanks, but without directly engaging the Franks. Instead, he had them unleash an enormous number of arrows into the half-naked barbarians.<ref>Bury. ''History of the Later Roman Empire''. 280.</ref> Finally the Franks became disorganized and their tightly held formations broke down. Narses sounded a general charge that blasted their ranks, and mowed them down.<ref>Liddell Hart. ''Strategy''. 71.</ref> The Franks were massacred and Agathias claimed that only five of them escaped from Narses that day.<ref>Fauber. Narses. 128.</ref> All three of Narses' major victories can be credited to his skillful use of combined tactics involving cavalry and archers to create and exploit disorder in his enemies. Afterwards, in the autumn of 554, the triumphant Narses returned to Rome, possibly to celebrate a formal [[Roman Triumph|Triumph]]; but Agathias, the sole source for the possibility, "does not provide even a rhetorical account of this", and gives no further detail.<ref>DeForest, Dallas, "Agathias on Italy, Italians and the Gothic War." ''Estudios Bizantinos'' 8, no. 1 (2020): p. 71. {{doi|10.1344/EBizantinos2020.8.2}}. DeForest is citing Agathias, ''Histories'',  2.10.7</ref>