Teia

Teia (died 552 or 553 AD), also known as Teja, Theia, Thila, Thela, and Teias, was the last Ostrogothic King of Italy. He led troops during the Battle of Busta Gallorum and had noncombatant Romans slaughtered in its aftermath. In late 552/early 553, he was killed during the Battle of Mons Lactarius. Archaeological records attesting to his rule show up in coinage found in former Transalpine Gaul.

Life

Teia (Teja) was a military officer serving under Totila, who was chosen as his successor by being raised over a shield after Totila was killed in the Battle of Taginae (also known as the ''Battle of Busta Gallorum'') in July 552. Teia vainly attempted to continue the battle by rallying the remaining troops, but these forces were ultimately vanquished. Byzantine historian Procopius regarded Teia's bravery during this otherwise futile event as equal to that of all the "heroes of legend."

After this major Gothic defeat Teia gathered together the remaining Goths. In an act of revenge for the losses at ''Busta Gallorum'', Teia ordered the death of all the Roman senators in Campania including Flavius Maximus, who had been exiled by Belisarius. He also had some 300 Roman children slaughtered, whom Totila had held hostage. Teia then made his way to Pavia, where he took possession of the available treasures and as the new king, made a pact with the Franks. Teia encouraged his erstwhile Frankish neighbors to mobilize themselves against the Romans, which they did by remaining a menace to Justinian for the remainder of his reign.

On his way fleeing to southern Italy, he gathered support from prominent figures within Totila's armies, including Scipuar, Gundulf (Indulf), Gibal and Ragnaris, to make his last stand against the Byzantine eunuch general Narses at the Battle of Mons Lactarius—south of present-day Naples near Nuceria Alfaterna—in late 552/early 553. Historian Guy Halsall called this battle, which occurred in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, a "cataclysmic showdown." The Ostrogothic army was defeated there and Teia fell during the fighting. His head was paraded around the battlefield by the Romans, but as Peter Heather relates, "the Goths kept on fighting until dusk on that day and all through the next." Other prominent Goths like Scipuar and Gibal were probably also killed during the fighting. Those Goths who survived the battle and remained, negotiated an armistice. Gundulf and Ragnaris escaped from the field. Ragnaris later met Narses to discuss peace terms; they could not agree. As they parted, Ragnaris shot at Narses with an arrow; Narses' bodyguards mortally wounded Ragnaris, who died two days later. With that defeat, organized Ostrogothic resistance ended and along with it the Gothic war, which is also where the eighth and final book of Procopius' ''Wars'' concluded. By 554, after twenty years of protracted war, the Ostrogothic Kingdom had faded into obscurity, and the Gothic people who remained began assimilating into the broader Italian population. Meanwhile, Justinian reasserted power across Italy by imposing his tax system and his ''Corpus'' along with other Byzantine legislation, with central power resting in Constantinople.

Although his reign was brief, silver coins in Teia's name circulated all the way from his capital at Pavia along the Alpine trade routes into Gaul.

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{{Antique Kings of Italy

550s deaths
Ostrogothic kings
6th-century kings of Italy
6th-century monarchs in Europe
Gothic warriors
People of the Gothic War (535–554)
Year of birth unknown
6th-century Ostrogothic people
Monarchs killed in action