Battle of Sena Gallica ( 551 ) The Battle of Sena Gallica , was a naval battle fought off the Italian Adriatic coast in the autumn of 551 between an East Roman ( Byzantine ) and an Ostrogoth fleet , during the Gothic War ( 535 – 554 ) . It marked the end of the Goths ' brief bid to deny the seas to the Romans , and the beginning of the Byzantine resurgence in the war under the leadership of Narses . It was also the last major sea battle fought in the Mediterranean for more than a century , until the Battle of the Masts in 655 . Background . In 550 , the Gothic War was in its fifteenth year . The first years of the war had seen a series of successes for the relatively small Byzantine invasion force under Belisarius , which had led to the fall of Ravenna and the apparent restoration of Imperial rule over Italy by 540 . Subsequently , Emperor Justinian I recalled Belisarius . The commanders left behind soon started squabbling with each other , while the Goths rallied their forces . Under the leadership of their charismatic new king , Totila , they soon reversed the situation , overrunning the imperial forces . Not even the return of Belisarius could stem the Ostrogothic tide : by 550 , the East Romans were left with a handful of coastal strongholds in the mainland , and in the spring of that year , Totila even invaded Sicily , the Romans ' strategic base . Wishing to deny the Imperials easy access to Italy and the ability to land fresh troops or reinforce their outposts , Totila had also created a navy of 400 warships to contest the seas with the Empire . At the same time , Justinian prepared one last major effort to reclaim Italy , under the eunuch Narses . Totila , aware of the looming threat , was determined to deny his enemies their last important bases on Italian soil , most prominently Croton and Ancona . After withdrawing from Sicily laden with spoils , Totila sent his troops to besiege Ancona . 47 ships blockaded it from the sea , and the rest of the Gothic fleet , 300 ships strong , was sent to raid the coast of Epirus and the Ionian Islands . Ancona was likely to fall soon , and therefore the Roman general Valerian , commander of Ravenna , called upon John , a very experienced general who was stationed at Salona in Dalmatia awaiting the arrival of Narses and his army , to send a relief force . John immediately manned 38 ships with his veterans , and was soon joined by 12 more ships from Ravenna under Valerian himself . The joint fleet set sail for Sena Gallica , some north of Ancona . Battle and aftermath . As the two fleets were almost equal , the two Gothic commanders , Indulf and Gibal ( the former a renegade retainer of Belisarius ) , resolved to meet the Romans in battle immediately , and sailed to meet them . Unlike in classical Antiquity , the warships of the 6th century did not feature rams ; naval combat was therefore dominated by missile exchanges and boarding actions . In this form of combat , experience and the ability to maintain a formation of ships was essential , and the Byzantine crews held the advantage over the inexperienced Goths . Soon , in the heat of battle , some Gothic ships drifted off the main body and were easily destroyed , while others sailed too close together and were unable to maneuver . In the end , the weary Gothic fleet disintegrated and their ships fled as best as they could . They lost 36 ships , and Gibal was captured , while Indulf with the remainder fled towards Ancona . As soon as he came close to the Gothic army ' s camp , he beached his ships and set them on fire . This staggering defeat disheartened the Gothic force , which immediately abandoned the siege and withdrew . Followed soon after by a series of Roman successes , the battle of Sena Gallica marked the beginning of the turn of the tide of the Gothic War in the Empire ' s favour .