TEIA. - Last king of the Ostrogoths in Italy. When the energetic and fortunate king Totila, who had recovered almost all of Italy from Byzantine rule, fell killed in the battle of Gualdo Tadino (year 552), the victor Narses was able freely to advance toward central and southern Italy, receiving the surrender of many Italian cities.
In Pavia, meanwhile, there remained some of the army defeated at Gualdo and the garrison of the city, and they elected as king T., a valiant general who had given good proof of himself in warlike actions and in the governance of cities. T., after having sought in vain the help of the Franks, decided with those troops that he could gather to follow Narses, who had laid siege to Cumae, another stronghold remaining in the hands of the Goths, and where a great part of their treasure was kept. The strategic skill of Narses and the numerical superiority of his forces succeeded, without interrupting the siege of Cumae, in driving T. back into the Sarno Valley and then among the Lattari Mountains above Castellammare di Stabia, where it was not possible for the Goths to maneuver their excellent cavalry, and where they ended up finding themselves without supplies. They then had to come to battle, which was fought with great stubbornness, but which turned out disastrous for the Goths. T. died fighting in 553.
Bibliography3 works
Roberto Paribeni