30 Facts About John Troglita

John Troglita was a 6th-century Byzantine general.

In summer 546, Justinian chose John Troglita to assume overall command of Byzantine forces in Africa, where a succession of revolts by the indigenous Moorish tribes and within the imperial army itself had seriously reduced the Byzantine position.

John Troglita reorganized his army and secured the assistance of some tribal leaders, and confronted and decisively defeated the tribal coalition at the Fields of Cato in summer 548.

John Troglita was involved in the Gothic War, twice sending some of his troops to Italy to assist against the Ostrogoths.

John Troglita himself married a "daughter of a king", probably a barbarian chieftain, and had a son, Peter.

John Troglita fought against the rebel Stotzas' army, participating in the first victory under Belisarius at Membresa in 536, and then, under Solomon's successor Germanus, in the decisive battle at Scalas Veteres in spring 537.

In 538, John Troglita distinguished himself in the Battle of Autenti, probably in the Byzacena.

At some point after 538, John Troglita was sent to the Eastern frontier, where by 541 he was appointed dux Mesopotamiae, one of the most important military commands of the region.

When war broke out, according to Corippus John Troglita scored a number of successes against the Persian army: he defeated the general Nabedes near Nisibis, led his army in a successful night attack against the Persian force besieging Theodosiopolis, and then defeated another Persian army besieging Dara, capturing its general, Mihr-Mihroe.

Procopius gives a different account of the first battle, indicating that John Troglita had to be saved from a sudden Persian attack by Belisarius, and does not mention the other two incidents at all.

Nevertheless, Corippus maintains that John Troglita was congratulated for his performance by Urbicius, one of Emperor Justinian's advisors who had been sent to supervise the war.

John Troglita was succeeded by Solomon, who began his second tenure with great success, defeating the Moors of the Aures Mountains and establishing control over Numidia and Mauretania Sitifensis.

John Troglita was defeated by the Moors, recalled and replaced with the senator Areobindus, who was murdered in spring 546 in another military revolt led by the general Guntharic.

In late 546, when John Troglita reached Carthage, the situation was dire: the imperial troops, under Marcentius the dux of Byzacena and Gregory the Armenian in Carthage, were few in number and demoralized.

At Antonia Castra, emissaries from Antalas presented themselves, but John Troglita rejected their terms and imprisoned them.

John Troglita encamped near the Moorish positions and dispatched an envoy, Amantius, to bring Antalas his terms: the general offered amnesty in exchange for submitting to imperial authority again.

The Byzantine army had been weakened in the meantime by the need to reinforce Belisarius against the Goths in Italy: of the nine regiments John Troglita had brought with him from Constantinople, three were dispatched to Italy.

The Moors initially withdrew into the arid interior, hoping to shake him off, but John Troglita's army, accompanied by a caravan with water and provisions, followed them into the desert.

Finally, a near mutiny erupted when an epidemic killed off a large part of the army's horses, forcing John Troglita to turn again north towards the coast.

John Troglita sent for ships to bring supplies, but adverse winds made this impossible.

John Troglita's army pursued them at some distance, only exchanging a few blows with the tribes' rearguard.

Nevertheless, discontent grew among the soldiers, who did not understand their leader's reluctance to fight: the army mutinied and attacked the tent of John Troglita, who was barely able to escape.

Thanks to the allied Moorish contingents, who remained steadfast, John Troglita was able to reimpose control over his men.

John Troglita now moved his army to confront the enemy, who were encamped at a plain called the Fields of Cato.

The Moorish camp had been heavily fortified, and John Troglita was reluctant to launch a direct assault.

John Troglita's plan worked: encouraged by sacrifices to their gods and hoping to catch the imperial army unprepared, the Moors attacked the Byzantine camp on a Sunday.

At about this time, John Troglita seems to have been promoted to the honorific court rank of patricius, as attested by the 6th-century historian Jordanes.

John Troglita remained in command in Africa for at least another four years, beginning the difficult work of reconstruction.

John Troglita re-established the civil administrative apparatus as originally envisaged by Emperor Justinian in 533, sharing his authority with the prefect Athanasius.

The exact date of John Troglita's death is unknown, but it is most likely that he died in 552 or soon after.