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| Battle of Ancona | |
|---|---|
| Conflict | Battle of Ancona |
| Date | ca. 726–731 (disputed) |
| Place | Ancona, Adriatic coast, Italy |
| Result | Defeat of besieging forces; Byzantine retention of Ancona (traditional) |
| Combatant1 | Byzantine Empire Exarchate of Ravenna Longobards |
| Combatant2 | Lombards Duchy of Benevento Duchy of Spoleto |
| Commander1 | Exarch Paul Emperor Leo III the Isaurian Pope Gregory II |
| Commander2 | King Liutprand Duke Thrasimund II of Spoleto Duke Transamund I of Spoleto |
Battle of Ancona The Battle of Ancona was a military engagement around the port city of Ancona on the Adriatic coast during the early 8th century, often dated to the 720s–730s in sources related to the Lombard Kingdom and the Byzantine Empire. Contemporary and near-contemporary chronicles associate the action with the campaigns of King Liutprand of the Lombards against the Exarchate of Ravenna and with interventions by the papacy under Pope Gregory II and later Pope Gregory III. Medieval narratives connect the fighting to the shifting fortunes of the Duchy of Spoleto, the Duchy of Benevento, and the imperial policies of Emperor Leo III the Isaurian.
Ancona, a prominent Adriatic port on the Marche coast, featured in the contest between the Byzantine Empire's Exarchate of Ravenna and the expansionist Lombard Kingdom after the Lombard invasion of Italy in 568. The city had strategic significance for the Exarchate of Ravenna, the papal patrimony centered in Rome, and maritime routes linking to Ravenna and Venice. The rise of King Liutprand produced renewed Lombard offensives that affected the balance among the Duchy of Spoleto, the Duchy of Benevento, and imperial holdings. Papal correspondence with Constantinople and appeals to the Franks and other powers are recorded in the chronology of Paul the Deacon and the letters compiled in collections associated with Pope Gregory II.
Sources give commanders on the Byzantine-papal side such as the exarchs in Ravenna and imperial agents representing Emperor Leo III the Isaurian, with ecclesiastical involvement from Pope Gregory II and later Pope Gregory III. Lombard leaders include King Liutprand and regional dukes of Spoleto and Benevento like Thrasimund II and Transamund I in some accounts. Naval elements linked to Venice and to the Byzantine Adriatic fleet are occasionally mentioned alongside troops raised by the Exarchate of Ravenna and contingents from loyal Italian magnates chronicled by Paul the Deacon and in the Liber Pontificalis.
Tensions rose as Liutprand pursued consolidation of Lombard control in central Italy, pressing against the territories of the Exarchate of Ravenna and contested papal patrimonies. A sequence of sieges and border raids involving the Duchy of Spoleto and the Duchy of Benevento preceded an operation focused on Ancona, where control of port facilities threatened maritime supply lines to Ravenna and influence over the Adriatic corridor towards Dyrrhachium and Constantinople. Appeals recorded in the Liber Pontificalis and references in the annals attributed to Paul the Deacon indicate papal efforts to secure assistance from Frankish and other western rulers while imperial edicts from Constantinople under Leo III the Isaurian sought to shore up defenses.
Medieval chroniclers describe a combined operation in which Lombard siege forces invested Ancona while Byzantine and papal-aligned forces attempted relief operations, with sporadic naval sorties reported by sources tied to Venice and the Adriatic fleet. Accounts vary on tactical details: narratives in the Liber Pontificalis and the Lombard histories of Paul the Deacon emphasize sallies from Ancona and counterattacks led by exarchal commanders, while later annals attribute decisive action to alliances brokered by Pope Gregory II and local magnates in Ravenna, including surprise engagements that forced the besiegers to lift the siege. Some historians correlate the engagement with wider operations involving Spoleto and Benevento and with contemporaneous events in Naples and Bologna.
After the fighting, Ancona is traditionally recorded as remaining under Byzantine-papal influence, though control of adjacent territories shifted between Lombard dukes and the Exarchate of Ravenna. Casualty figures are not preserved in reliable contemporary numerical form; chronicles focus instead on political outcomes, treaty adjustments, and troop movements involving Liutprand's court and exarchal administrations documented in later compilations. The episode heightened papal concerns addressed in the Liber Pontificalis and in correspondence that survives in manuscripts tied to Saints Boniface and to clerical networks of the period.
The contest around Ancona illustrates the contested nature of Italian sovereignty during the 8th century among the Byzantine Empire, the Lombard Kingdom, and the Papacy. Control of Ancona affected maritime communications between Ravenna, Venice, and Constantinople, and influenced Lombard designs in central Italy that engaged the Duchy of Spoleto and the Duchy of Benevento. The engagement forms part of the sequence leading to later diplomatic realignments involving the Franks and papal overtures that culminated in shifting alliances documented in Carolingian and Byzantine sources.
Category:Battles involving the Byzantine Empire Category:Battles involving the Lombards Category:8th-century conflicts