Naval Battle of Sena Gallica

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Sea battle at Sena Gallica
Part of: Gotenkrieg
date Fall 551
place near Sena Gallica, today Senigallia , Italy
output Decisive Eastern Roman victory
Parties to the conflict

Eastern Roman Empire

Ostrogoths

Commander

Johannes ,
Valerian

Indulf
Gibal

Troop strength
50 warships 47 warships
losses

Low

36 ships sunk, the rest burned afterwards

The Battle of Sena Gallica was a naval battle off the Adriatic coast in autumn 551 between the Eastern Roman fleet and the Eastern Gothic fleet during the Gothic War . It marked the end of the Ostrogothic attempt to wrest sovereignty over the Mediterranean from the Eastern Romans and the beginning of the renewal of the Eastern Roman efforts to conquer Italy through Narses . It was also the last major sea battle to be fought in the Mediterranean until the Battle of Phoinix in 655.

background

In 550 the Gothic War went into its fifteenth year. In the first few years there were a number of quick victories by a small Eastern Roman expeditionary army under Belisarius , for example the fall of Ravenna . In 540, it looked like imperial rule over Italy had been restored. But Emperor Justinian I ordered Belisarius back. The commanders left behind soon got into an argument while the Goths gathered their strength. The tide soon began to turn under the leadership of the charismatic King Totila . Not even the return of Belisarius could do anything against the renewed Ostrogoth attack. In 550 the eastern Romans only had a few bases in Italy. Totila even reached into Sicily , the Roman base of operations. Totila also tried to bar the troops of the Eastern Empire from entering Italy and to deny them the opportunity to deliver unlimited supplies. For this he ordered the construction of 400 warships. At the same time, Justinian was preparing a final attempt to conquer Italy under the command of Narses .

Totila wanted with all his might to prevent the Eastern Romans from being able to supply their last bases on Italian soil, mainly Croton and Ancona , from the sea. He withdrew from Sicily, and while his troops besieged Ancona and blocked it from the seaside with 47 ships, he sent the rest of his fleet, about 300 ships, to Epirus to plunder its coast and the Ionian Islands . Ancona was about to fall, so Valerian, the commandant of Ravenna , called on Johannes , an experienced general stationed in Salona in Dalmatia , for help. Johannes immediately manned 38 ships with his veterans, later 12 more ships under Valerian were added. The fleet sailed to Sena Gallica, which is about 27 km north of Ancona.

Battle and aftermath

Since both fleets were almost equally strong, the two Gothic admirals Indulf and Gibal decided to attack the East Romans directly.

Unlike in classical antiquity , the warships of the 6th century had no rams ; the sea battles were thus dominated by volleys of arrows and boarding actions . In this type of naval warfare, experience and the ability to maintain a formation of ships decided what the Eastern Roman crews did better than the inexperienced Goths. Early in the battle, some Gothic ships drifted out of the main formation and were quickly destroyed, while others sailed too close to each other to be effectively maneuvered. In the end, the Ostrogoth ships fled. The Ostrogoths lost 36 ships and Gibal was captured while Indulf fled to Ancona. As soon as he got near the Gothic camp, he pulled his ships ashore and burned them.

The clear defeat discouraged the Goths; they gave up the siege and fled. The naval battle of Sena Gallica can thus be seen as the beginning of the final reconquest of Italy by the Eastern Romans.

Remarks

  1. a b c d e f g h i Bury, Ch.XIX, §9
  2. ^ Age of the Galley , p. 90
  3. a b c Bury, Ch.XIX, §8
  4. ^ Age of the Galley , p. 99

literature

  • John Bagnell Bury : History of the Later Roman Empire . Volume 2. Macmillan & Co., Ltd., London 1923 ( online ).
  • Robert Gardiner (Ed.): AGE OF THE GALLEY: Mediterranean Oared Vessels since pre-Classical Times . Conway Maritime Press, London 2004, ISBN 978-0-85177-955-3