Ragnaris

Ragnaris (Greek spelling died 555) was a Hunnic warlord who fought for the Ostrogoths in the final stages of the Gothic War against the Eastern Roman Empire. Procopius calls him a Goth, but the better informed Agathias records that he was of the Hunnic tribe of the Vittores or Vitgores (possibly the Bittugures mentioned in Jordanes).

==History== Ragnaris is first mentioned as the commander of the Ostrogothic garrison of Taranto in 552. According to Procopius, he began negotiations with the Eastern Roman general Pacurius for surrendering the city and entering imperial service with his men, but when he learned of the accession of Teia to the Ostrogothic throne he changed his mind. He took fifty Roman soldiers hostage so as to secure the release of his own men held by Pacurius, but the latter marched against him and he had them executed. Ragnaris did not await Pacurius behind his walls, but sallied forth to meet him in open battle, in which he was defeated. The Tarentines then refused to allow him to enter the city, forcing him to flee to nearby Acheruntia.