Siege of Panormus 535
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 535 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Italy | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Gothic War of 535–554 | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Byzantine Empire, Ostrogothic Kingdom | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 38.1164, 13.3633 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Panormus or siege of Palermo took place in late 535 AD, where the Byzantine forces captured the city controlled by the Ostrogoths. It was the first engagement of the Gothic War (535–554).
Part of the Byzantine plan to reclaim the Italian Peninsula from Gothic control was to open with a sudden two-front attack, one in Dalmatia and one in Sicily. The Byzantine general Belisarius arrived in Sicily and swiftly took control of major towns due to a lack of resistance. Panormus refused to surrender because the Gothic garrison had confidence in the strength of the city's fortifications. Belisarius laid siege to the city, but did not approach by land as the defenses were strong. Instead, he noticed that the masts overtopped the parapet, and this prompted Belisarius to send the fleet into the city harbor with small boats filled with archers, hoisted at the masts, which surpassed the height of the parapet. The Goths tried to protect the walls, but they had little protection against the archers, which led to their surrender. The fall of Palermo completed the conquest of Sicily.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Panormus (revision 1370251862), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Palermo 1860 · 0 km
- Battle of Panormus 251 BC · 0 km
- Battle of Palermo 1676 · 2 km
- Battle of Himera (409 BC) 409 BC · 33 km
- Battle of Himera (480 BC) 480 BC · 42 km
- Siege of Segesta (397 BC) 397 BC · 50 km
Other battles of the Gothic War of 535–554
- Siege of Naples (536) 536
- Siege of Rome (537–538) 537
- Siege of Ariminum (538) 538
- Siege of Milan (538–539) 538
- Siege of Urbinus 538
- Siege of Auximus 539
- Siege of Ravenna (539–540) 539
- Battle of Treviso 541
- Siege of Verona 541
- Battle of Faventia 542
All 20 battles of the Gothic War of 535–554 →
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