Dattus (or Datto) was a Lombard leader from

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, the brother-in-law of

Melus of Bari {{Infobox noble , name = Melus , title = Duke of Apulia , image = , caption = {{longitem, Cape given to Holy Roman Emperor Henry II by Melus , alt = , CoA = , ...

. He joined his brother-in-law in a 1009 revolt against Byzantine authority in

southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

. In 1010, the rebels took Ascoli and Troia. In March 1011, the '' catepan'' Basil Mesardonites and Leo Tornikios Kontoleon, the ''

strategos ''Strategos'' (), also known by its Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized form ''strategus'', is a Greek language, Greek term to mean 'military General officer, general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term was also use ...

'' of

Cephalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia (), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallonia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th-largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It is also a separate regio ...

, disembarked with reinforcements from

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. Basil immediately besieged the rebels in Bari. The Greek citizens of the city negotiated with Basil and forced the Lombard leaders, Melus and Dattus, to flee. Basil entered the city on 11 June 1011 and reestablished Byzantine authority. He did not follow his victory up with any severe reactions. He simply sent the family of Melus, including his son Argyrus, to Constantinople. While Melus fled to

Guaimar III of Salerno Guaimar III (also ''Waimar'', ''Gaimar'', ''Guaimaro'', or ''Guaimario'' and sometimes numbered Guaimar IV) (c. 983 – 1027×31) was the Lombard prince of Salerno from around 994 to his death. Under his reign, Salerno entered an era of great sple ...

, Dattus looked to the protection of the Abbey of Montecassino, where he was aided by the Latin monks, and to

Pope Benedict VIII Pope Benedict VIII (; – 9 April 1024) was bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 18 May 1012 until his death. He was born Theophylact to the noble family of the counts of Tusculum. Unusually for a medieval pope, he had strong aut ...

, who loaned him papal troops to garrison a tower on the

Garigliano The Garigliano () is a river in central Italy. It forms at the confluence of the rivers Gari (also known as the Rapido) and Liri. Garigliano is actually a deformation of "Gari-Lirano" (which in Italian means something like "Gari from the Liri" ...

, in the territory of the

Duchy of Gaeta The Duchy of Gaeta () was an Early Middle Ages, early medieval state centered on the coastal Mezzogiorno, South Italian city of Gaeta. It began in the early ninth century as the local community began to grow autonomous as Byzantine Empire, Byzant ...

, then ruled by the anti-Byzantine Emilia. In 1016, Dattus rejoined Melus and his Norman mercenaries in

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

. They were moderately successful at first, but they were defeated at Cannae (1018) and Dattus fled back to Montecassino and thence to the old tower. In 1020, while Melus was conferencing with pope and the

German king This is a list of monarchs who ruled over East Francia, and the Kingdom of Germany (), from Treaty of Verdun, the division of the Francia, Frankish Empire in 843 and Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in ...

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

, the new ''catepan'', Basil Boioannes, and his new ally,

Pandulf IV of Capua Pandulf IVAlso spelled ''Randulf'', ''Bandulf'', ''Pandulph'', ''Pandolf'', ''Paldolf'', or ''Pandolfo''. (died 1049/50) was the Prince of Capua on three separate occasions. From February 1016 to 1022 he ruled in association with his cousin Pan ...

, marched on the tower and took it. At Bari on 15 June 1021, Dattus was tied up in a sack with a monkey, a rooster, and a snake and tossed into the sea (the so-called ', similar to the ancient Roma '' Poena cullei''). The atrocity prompted a quick Western response; a huge army under the Emperor Henry II marched south to besiege the new fortress of Troia.

Sources

* Norwich, John Julius. ''The Normans in the South 1016-1130''. Longmans:

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 1967. * Amatus of Montecassino. ''History of the Normans'
Book I
Translated by Prescott N. Dunbar. Boydell, 2004. {{ISBN, 1-84383-078-7 11th-century Lombard people 1021 deaths Lombard warriors Year of birth unknown People executed by drowning