Constantinianus (also Constantinian; , ''Kōnstantinianós'') was an

Eastern Roman The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

military commander during the reign of

Justinian the Great Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition w ...

who took part in the Justinian’s Gothic War. After the death of Mundus he was sent into

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

to defend

Salona Salona (, ) was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia and near to Split, in Croatia. It was one of the largest cities of the late Roman empire with 60,000 inhabitants. It was the last residence of the final western ...

. While he was still gathering his troops a Gothic force under Gripas captured Salona. Hearing of the approach of a large Byzantine force Gripas retreated when Constantinianus moved against him. Constantinianus immediately began rebuilding the crumbling fortifications. After this Constantinianus quickly gained control of Dalmatia and

Liburnia Liburnia () in ancient geography was the land of the Liburnians, a region along the northeastern Adriatic coast in Europe, in modern Croatia, whose borders shifted according to the extent of the Liburnian dominance at a given time between 11th ...

. Constantinianus’ strong position in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

In combination with the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

threat caused the Gothic king

Witigis Vitiges (also known as Vitigis, Vitigo, Witiges or Wittigis, and in Old Norse as Vigo) (died 542) was king of Ostrogothic Italy from 536 to 540. He succeeded to the throne of Italy in the early stages of the Gothic War of 535–554, as Belisa ...

to send only a small force to defend

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

from

Belisarius BelisariusSometimes called Flavia gens#Later use, Flavius Belisarius. The name became a courtesy title by the late 4th century, see (; ; The exact date of his birth is unknown. March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under ...

but instead position himself as such that he could move to counter threats from all directions. As the city of Rome surrendered to Belisarius without a fight, its garrison abandoning it, Witigis’ strategy failed. Later Constantinianus defeated a gothic force under

Uligisalus Uligisalus was a Gothic military commander during Justinian's Gothic War. Historical accounts cited him as one of the two commanders sent by Witigis to recover Dalmatia for the Goths. The other commander was Asinarius, who stopped to gather a b ...

, who was sent to attack him, at the Battle of Scardon. The Goths retreats to the city of Burnus. After

Asinarius Asinarius was an Ostrogothic military commander during the Justinian’s Gothic War.{{Cite book, url=https://archive.org/details/belisariuslastro00ianh, title=Belisarius : the last Roman general, last=Hughes, Ian (Historian), date=2009, publisher= ...

arrived with Suevic reinforcements Constantinianus noticed he couldn’t defeat the combined army and retreated. He ordered an extra ditch to be dug around Salona and prepared for a siege. The Gothic army under Uligisalus and Asinarius built a ditch and a stockade around the city to blockade it by land while the Gothic fleet moved to close the blockade by sea. In a sally the Gothic fleet was defeated allowing the Romans freedom of movement by sea but the siege continued on land.

References

{{reflist Generals of Justinian I