Teia

Little is known about the early life of Teia, other than he was the elder brother of Aligernus.^[1] Teia was a military officer serving under Totila, who was successful in rekindling the Gothic resistance against the Byzantine Empire and within a decade had recovered much of the Italian Peninsula from the Byzantines. Contemporary historian Procopius mentions Teia during the later stages of the war, when Byzantine emperor Justinian I sent his chamberlain (cubicularius), Narses, with an army to conclude the war. Totila sent Teia, along with a 2,000-strong cavalry, to guard the River Po and prevent any crossings by the Byzantines. However, Narses was able to cross the river and avoid any engagements with Teia, and swiftly marched south toward Rome. Totila recalled Teia as he was compelled to intercept Narses' army. The two armies engaged in the Battle of Taginae in July 552, right after the reinforcements led by Teia arrived. The Goths were defeated and Totila was mortally wounded.^[a][3]

After this defeat, Teia assembled the remaining Gothic forces in Ticinum (modern-day Pavia), where they chose him as their king.^[4][5] At Ticinum, Teia took possession of the available treasury to continue the war. Teia encouraged his erstwhile Frankish neighbors to mobilize themselves against the Byzantines.^[6] However, the Franks refused, preferring to let the Goths and Byzantines wear each other down, thereby easing their eventual conquest of Italy.^[5] In the meantime, Narses captured Rome with little resistance. Upon this news, Teia ordered the death of all Roman senators and their families held as hostages in Campania and 300 children of prominent Italian families, whom Totila had collected.^[7][8]

Narses then besieged Cumae, compelling Teia to march south to relieve the city, as it held Totila's war chest and his brother was the garrison leader.^[8] To avoid contact with Byzantine forces, Teia made several lengthy detours during his advance, which took nearly thirty days of marching. Historian JB Bury argues that Teia anticipated that the land routes to Cumae, north of Naples, would be guarded, and he probably intended to embark his troops near Sorrento and reach Cumae by sea using the Gothic supply fleet.^[9] However, Narses learned of his movements and intercepted the Gothic army near Mount Vesuvius (because of the route Teia chose), blocking its path to Cumae.^[10] At the time, Narses did not have a fleet to confront the Gothic navy or prevent the resupply of the opposing army, but the Byzantine army was able to prevent such a transport taking place.^[11]

Al llegar, Teia estableció sus fuerzas cerca de Pompeya, al pie del Vesubio, frente a los bizantinos al otro lado del río Sarno . Los godos fortificaron el único puente con torres y balistas . Los dos ejércitos permanecieron en un punto muerto durante dos meses, marcado por escaramuzas menores. El estancamiento terminó cuando el almirante godo desertó al enterarse de la llegada de una armada bizantina , cortando los suministros godos y obligando a Teia a actuar antes de que su ejército muriera de hambre. ^{[ 12 ] [ 11 ]} Teia se retiró al monte Lactarius , atrayendo a los bizantinos a un terreno difícil. El 1 o el 30 de octubre, los godos lanzaron un ataque sorpresa . Existe un desacuerdo en las fuentes respecto a la fecha de la batalla. Bury señala que este desacuerdo se refiere a la fecha del 1 de octubre proporcionada por el historiador del siglo VIII Andreas Agnellus en su obra Liber Pontificalis . Bury considera que Teia llegó a Campania a finales de agosto y no antes, y por lo tanto, si los dos ejércitos pasaron dos meses estancados según Procopio , entonces la fecha de Agnellus probablemente sea errónea. ^{[ 13 ]} El historiador Ilkka Syvänne considera ambas fechas. ^{[ 12 ]} Ambos ejércitos lucharon a pie en formaciones de falange . Teia dirigió personalmente repetidos asaltos para romper las líneas de infantería bizantina. Los soldados bizantinos intentaron matar a Teia arrojándole lanzas mientras sus compañeros reemplazaban continuamente sus escudos destrozados. Finalmente, una lanza mató a Teia, lo que desencadenó una feroz batalla por su cuerpo. Los bizantinos capturaron el cuerpo de Teia y exhibieron su cabeza en una lanza para desmoralizar a los godos, pero estos continuaron luchando durante dos días más. ^{[ 12 ] [ 14 ]} El historiador Guy Halsall llamó a esta batalla un "enfrentamiento cataclísmico". ^{[ 15 ]} Procopio escribió sobre Teia durante esta conflagración: «Aquí se describirá una batalla de gran importancia y el heroísmo de un hombre inferior, creo, al de ninguno de los héroes de la leyenda, a saber, el que Teias demostró en la presente batalla». ^{[ 16 ]} Finalmente, los godos restantes negociaron una retirada de Italia, conservando su dinero para el viaje. Narses aceptó la rendición con la condición de que los godos abandonaran Italia (según Procopio), o permanecieran como súbditos leales del Imperio bizantino (según el historiador contemporáneo Agatías ). ^{[ 17 ] [ 12 ]}