Siege of Naples (536)

The siege of Naples in 536 was a successful siege of Naples by the Eastern Roman Empire under Belisarius during the Gothic War. The Byzantine army under Belisarius, having subdued Sicily with ease, landed on mainland Italy in late spring 536, and advanced along the coast on Naples. The citizens of Naples, after being roused by two pro-Gothic orators named Pastor and Asclepiodotus, decided to resist, even though Belisarius presented the city with very favorable conditions for surrender. The citizens of Naples were also under the impression that Theodahad, king of the Ostrogoths, would send an army to relieve them.

However, the siege dragged on for twenty days with numerous Byzantine casualties, and Belisarius was preparing to abandon it, until an Isaurian soldier under his command discovered an entrance into the city through its disused aqueduct. Belisarius sent engineers to widen the hole in the aqueduct while sending some soldiers to clear out the noise of the engineers working by banging their shields together. After giving the city a final chance to surrender, Belisarius launched his troops in a brutal sack.The gold and silver are the just rewards of your valour, but spare the inhabitants, they are Christians, they are suppliants, they are now your fellow subjects. Restore the children to their parents, the wives to their husbands; and shew them by your generosity, of what friends they have obstinately deprived themselves. According to John Julius Norwich: "Belisarius had warned the Neapolitans at the beginning of the siege that if they put up any resistance he would be unable to restrain his army - which, he reminded them, was largely composed of semi-savage barbarians - from the murder, rapine and pillage which they would consider their just reward after the capture of the city. But the warning had been ignored, and the miserable citizens now paid the price of their heroism. It was many hours before Belisarius was able to persuade his motley hordes of Alans and Isaurians, Herulians and Huns - these last the most terrifying of all time, being pagans, they had no compunction in burning down the churches in which their intended victims had sought asylum - to put up their swords and spears and return to their various camps." The Ostrogothic garrison of 800 men was taken prisoner and treated well. The citizens of Naples, meanwhile, angrily killed Asclepiodotus for convincing them to reject Belisarius's demands, while Pastor committed suicide as the city fell.