When the energetic and fortunate King Totila, who had retaken almost all of Italy from Byzantine rule, fell slain in the Battle of Gualdo Tadino (A.D. 552), the victor Narses was able to advance freely into central and southern Italy, receiving the surrender of many Italian cities.
Meanwhile, at Pavia, remnants of the army defeated at Gualdo and the city’s garrison elected T. as king, a valiant general who had proven himself in military actions and in the governance of cities. After vainly seeking the aid of the Franks, T. decided with the troops he could gather to pursue Narses, who had laid siege to Cumae, another stronghold still held by the Goths and where much of their treasure was kept. Narses’ strategic skill and the numerical superiority of his forces enabled him, without lifting the siege at Cumae, to drive T. back into the Sarno Valley and then into the Monti Lattari above Castellammare di Stabia, where the Goths could not maneuver their excellent cavalry and where they ultimately found themselves without supplies. They were then forced into battle, which was fought fiercely but ended disastrously for the Goths. T. died fighting in 553.