In the sixth century, Emperor Justinian I of the Eastern Roman Empire sought to restore the Roman world, with Rome itself as his ultimate prize. Beginning in 533 CE with the swift reconquest of the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa, Justinian unleashed his brilliant general Belisarius on the Ostrogoth-controlled Italian Peninsula. After taking Sicily and Naples, Belisarius entered an undefended Rome in 536, only to face a massive year-long Gothic siege that he repelled through ingenuity and discipline. The wider Gothic War dragged on for years, culminating in Belisarius's capture of Ravenna in 540 and the brief illusion of total victory.

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