In the sixth century, the Gothic War takes place between the Ostrogoths and the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire.

Sicily is the first part of Italy to be taken by general Belisarius, commissioned by the Eastern Emperor Justinian I as part of an ambitious attempt to restore the whole Roman Empire, thereby uniting the Eastern and the Western halves.

Sicily is used as a base for the Empire to conquer the rest of Italy, with Naples, Rome, Milan and the Ostrogoth capital Ravenna falling within five years.