Romanus (exarch)

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Romanus (died 596 or 597) was Exarch of Ravenna (589-596/7).

In 589 he became Exarch in place of the discredited Smaragdus, and in his first year of as Exarch recovered the cities of Modena, Reggio, Parma, Piacenza, Altinum, and Mantua from the Lombards. In 592 Pope Gregory I appealed to Romanus for help in assisting Naples, then under Lombard attack, but Romanus thought it more prudent to remain in central Italy. The pope made peace with the Duchy of Spoleto to relieve Naples. Shortly afterwards, the Lombards occupied Perugia, causing Romanus to send an army to retake Umbria. The Lombard King Agilulf, noticing this, crossed into central Italy and even threatened Rome. Seeing that the exarch was unwilling to make peace, the pope tried to circumvent his authority by appealing to the Byzantine Emperor Maurice in 595, but this proved fruitless. Romanus died around the end of 596, to be succeed by Callinicus, who proved to be more conciliatory.