Justinian I launched the western reconquests with an expedition against the Vandal Kingdom. Belisarius departed for North Africa in June 533, beginning the campaign that aimed to restore imperial rule in the former western provinces.
Belisarius defeated King Gelimer’s forces at Ad Decimum, opening the road to Carthage and decisively shifting momentum in the Vandalic War.
Belisarius entered Carthage on 15 September 533, reestablishing imperial control over the Vandal capital and securing a strategic base for completing the conquest of North Africa.
At Tricamarum, Belisarius again defeated Gelimer, effectively ending organized Vandal resistance and making annexation of the Vandal Kingdom possible.
By March 534, the Vandal Kingdom had been eliminated and its territories annexed, creating a restored Byzantine province in North Africa that supported further western operations.
In 535, Justinian ordered an invasion of Ostrogothic Italy, beginning the Gothic War (535–554) that formed the centerpiece of the reconquest in the western Mediterranean.
Belisarius took Naples in October–November 536, a crucial step that opened the approach to Rome and expanded Byzantine control in southern Italy.
Belisarius entered Rome on 9 December 536, gaining a major political prize and prompting a large Ostrogoth counteroffensive to retake the city.
The Ostrogoths besieged Rome from 2 March 537 to 12 March 538, but Belisarius held the city, preserving the Byzantine foothold and prolonging the war for Italy’s control.
After a prolonged campaign culminating in the siege of Ravenna (late 539–May 540), Belisarius entered Ravenna in May 540, capturing the Ostrogoth capital and seemingly concluding the initial reconquest of Italy.
During the renewed Gothic counteroffensive, Totila besieged Rome and entered the city on 17 December 546, a major reversal that demonstrated the fragility of early Byzantine gains in Italy.
Totila besieged Rome again from June 549 to February 550 and captured it, further weakening Byzantine authority and setting the stage for Justinian’s decision to send a larger army under Narses.
At Taginae (Busta Gallorum) in summer 552, Narses decisively defeated the main Gothic field army; Totila was fatally wounded, enabling rapid Byzantine advances across Italy.
In 553 (often dated to late 552 or early 553), Narses defeated the remaining Gothic forces near Vesuvius at Mons Lactarius, where King Teia was slain—effectively ending the Ostrogothic kingdom as a military power in Italy.
Justinian’s Pragmatic Sanction (dated 15 August 554) reorganized civil administration and property issues in Italy after years of war, marking the legal consolidation of Byzantine reconquest under Narses’s authority.
Justinian's Wars of Reconquest in the West (533–554)
