Siege of Ariminum (538)

The Siege of Ariminum (Assedio di Ariminum), also known as the siege of Rimini (Assedio di Rimini), was an encounter in the Gothic War between Byzantine forces under Belisarius and John and an Ostrogothic force in 538 AD.

In March 538, John captured Ariminum (present-day Rimini) to entice the Goths to lift the Siege of Rome. Fearing for their capital in Ravenna, the Goths retreated from Rome to Ariminum. After unsuccessfully attempting to use a siege ladder, Vitiges began to starve the town.

Encouraged by Narses, Belisarius sent three groups to Ariminum: Belisarius and Narses passed through the Apennines, while Ildiger and Martinus led their troops along the Adriatic coast, Ildiger by sea and Martinus on land. An encounter between Belisarius' army and the Goths led the Goths to believe that the Byzantines were approaching from the north, while Martinus' army, approaching from the south, lit campfires to exaggerate its size. After seeing Ildiger's fleet, the Goths lifted their siege on 24 July 538, and withdrew to Ravenna. The siege further ruptured unity among the Byzantine leadership.

Capture of Ariminum
When the Siege of Rome was in its final stages, Belisarius sent John, nephew of Vitalianus into Picenum to occupy the region. The Roman population of Ariminum (present-day Rimini) invited John to take the town; John estimated that the position of Ariminum between Rome and the Gothic capital of Ravenna would cause Vitiges to lift Rome's siege and retreat if it were occupied. John defeated the Gothic commander Ulitheus in battle and took Ariminum, ignoring other Gothic garrisons in the region. According to Procopicus, the Goths retreated from Ariminum to Ravenna "as soon as they learned that [John's] army was approaching", and Mataswintha, Vitiges' wife, opened negotiations to betray Ariminium and marry John, whose reputation was bolstered by the town's capture.

As expected, the Goths retreated from Rome, at the March equinox, one year after the start of its siege. Predicting that the Goths would attempt to besiege John at Ariminum, Belisarius sent Ildiger and Martinus to replace John, dispatching them along the Via Flaminia with a thousand horsemen to arrive in Ariminum before the retreating Goths, who, travelling with a larger army, required detours and avoided the Roman fortresses at Narnia, Spoletium, and Perusia. Belisarius' order was motivated by two reasons: firstly, the Goths would be less likely to see them as a threat than the renowned John with his cavalry and as such might avert their attention to somewhere else; secondly, John's cavalry would not be as effective in a siege as it was at harassing the Goths in the open. John refused to leave, staying in Ariminum with the infantry reinforcement. Ildiger and Martinus left for Belisarius, leaving their troops with John.

Siege
Shortly afterwards, Vitiges besieged the town. Vitiges quickly built a siege tower which, unlike during the siege of Rome, was not pulled by oxen, but moved by men stationed inside. The tower was placed close to the wall guarded from Byzantine attack by a contingent of troops. During the night, the Byzantines moved out of the town to dig a trench in front of the siege tower. When the Goths found out, they attacked the Byzantines, who retreated as soon as the trench was deep enough. Vitiges had the trench filled with faggots before moving over it. The weight of the tower caused it to sink slightly into the trench as the faggots were crushed and the earthwork, made of the dirt out of the trench, which was built behind it, stopped the advance entirely.

Vitiges decided to withdraw, taking the tower with him. John wanted to prevent this and sallied out, but was unsuccessful at destroying the siege tower. Having suffered many casualties, Vitiges decided against storming Ariminum and began starving it out. Needing fewer men for this, he also sent men to attack Ancon.

John sent a letter to Belisarius informing him that John was about to run out of supplies, and would need to surrender in seven days. Belisarius decide to lift the siege by deception. He split his army into four groups, three of which were sent to the vicinity of Ariminum. One force, led by Ildiger, was to move by sea, accompanied by Martinus' force, which would follow the fleet on land, and was ordered to light many extra campfires to exaggerate its size. This way, the Byzantines would appear to have a huge force. Meanwhile, Belisarius and Narses came through the Apennines, passing Urbisaglia. In reality, the Goths outnumbered the Byzantines, so Belisarius wanted to avoid actual fighting.

On his march, Belisarius’ encountered a force of Goths who were heavily defeated and fled back to the Gothic camp. They claimed that the Byzantines approached with a large force from the north, leading the Goths to move their camps "to that side of Ariminum that faces sunset". At night, however, they observed Martinus' many campfires, which were sixty stadia (approximately 10 km) away, likely near present-day Riccione. The Goths' fright strengthened when the Byzantine fleet appeared in the morning; it was now 24 July 358. The Goths lifted their siege soon afterwards, escaping to Ravenna. Belisarius entered Ariminum around noon.

Aftermath
After the siege, John said that his gratitude laid solely with Narses as he supposedly forced Belisarius to make the attempt: whereas Belisarius wanted to besiege Osimo and Ancon, leaving John to defend Ariminum alone, Narses insisted that it would be a mistake to lose Ariminum simply to punish John. The Byzantine leadership would grow more divided and ineffective as a result.