Everyone Attacked Rome At The Same Time

TL;DR

Justinian's costly over-expansion left Rome's frontiers dangerously undermanned, triggering simultaneous invasions by Lombards, Visigoths, Avars, Moors, and Persians under his successor Justin II.

Key Points

• 1.Lombard invasion (568 AD): With Italy's garrison heavily reduced after the Gothic War, the Lombards swept through the Po Valley, eventually fracturing into independent duchies but permanently splitting Italy between Lombard and Roman control.
• 2.Visigoth and Moorish attacks: Simultaneously, the Visigoths under King Leovigild attacked Roman Spain, capturing Málaga, Acedona, and Córdoba, while Moors renewed war in Africa — Rome was fighting on three western fronts at once.
• 3.Avar pressure on the Balkans: Justin II refused to continue paying Avar subsidies, triggering attacks on the key strategic city of Sirmium, where Roman commander Bonus was wounded before a peace was negotiated in 571 AD.
• 4.Persian War (572 AD): Justin also refused to pay Persia's treaty subsidy, triggering a major eastern war. Persia raided Syria and besieged Dara, capturing it in 573 AD — the first time Persians had taken the city.
• 5.Justin II's mental collapse: The fall of Dara accelerated Justin's descent into madness, requiring physical restraint; his wife Empress Sophia effectively co-ruled while Justin appointed commander Tiberius as Caesar in 574 AD to manage the empire.
• 6.Rome's survival: Despite the chaos, southern Italy remained among the wealthiest parts of the former Roman West, Rome itself recovered commercially by the 7th century, and Tiberius's general Maurice successfully pushed back Persia by 577 AD.