Useful by Nature, Defensive on Demand: Topography and Sieges of Rome in the Gothic War

This project shows how the use of topographical elements impacted the development of siege warfare during the Gothic Wars in the 6th century A.D. Scholars studied topography and archaeology within the context of warfare in Late Antique Italy but they omit non-natural topographical features such as tombs, bridges, and aqueducts. Analyses undertaken include comparison and contrast of the sieges that the city of Rome endured during the Gothic Wars of a contemporary eye-witness, the Greek historian Procopius of Caesarea. The analysis includes other sieges such as Ravenna and Rimini. Christopher Lillington-Martin’s essay Procopius on the Struggle for Dara in 530 and Rome in 537-38: Reconciling Texts and Landscapes (2013) is a critical source because it sets the framework for the role of topography during the wars. Use of topography created different outcomes for the various sieges of the Gothic Wars and can be expressed in a narrative history