Teia also known as Teja, Theia, Thila, Thela, Teias, was the last Ostrogoth

Ostrogoth

The Ostrogoths were a branch of the Goths , a Germanic tribe who developed a vast empire north of the Black Sea in the 3rd century AD and, in the late 5th century, under Theodoric the Great, established a Kingdom in Italy....

ic king in Italy

Italian Peninsula

The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula is one of the three large peninsulas of Southern Europe , spanning from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname Lo Stivale...

.

Apparently a military officer serving under Totila

Totila

Totila, original name Baduila was King of the Ostrogoths from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the territories in Italy that the Eastern Roman Empire had captured from his Kingdom in 540.A relative of...

, Teia was chosen as successor and raised over a shield after Totila was slain in the Battle of Taginae

Battle of Taginae

At the Battle of Taginae in June/July 552, the forces of the Byzantine Empire under Narses broke the power of the Ostrogoths in Italy, and paved the way for the temporary Byzantine reconquest of the Italian Peninsula.From as early as 549 the Emperor Justinian I had planned to dispatch a major army...

 (also known as the Battle of Busta Gallorum) in July 552. On his way fleeing to southern Italy, he gathered support from prominent figures within Totila's armies including Scipuar, Gundulf (Indulf), Gibal and Ragnaris to make his last stand

Last stand

Last stand is a loose military term used to describe a body of troops holding a defensive position in the face of overwhelming odds. The defensive force usually takes very heavy casualties or is completely destroyed, as happened in "Custer's Last Stand" at the Battle of Little Big HornBryan Perrett...

 against the Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 eunuch general Narses

Narses

Narses was, with Belisarius, one of the great generals in the service of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I during the "Reconquest" that took place during Justinian's reign....

 at the Battle of Mons Lactarius

Battle of Mons Lactarius

The Battle of Mons Lactarius took place in 552 or 553 in the course the Gothic War waged on behalf of Justinian I against the Ostrogoths in Italy....

, south of present-day Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, near Nuceria Alfaterna, in October 552 or early 553. The Ostrogothic army was defeated once again. Teia was slain, his brother Aligern

Aligern

Aligern or Aligernus was an Ostrogoth military leader, active in Gothic War . By the end of the war, Aligern had joined the Byzantine army. The main sources about him are Procopius and Agathias. -Biography:...

 surrendered. Scipuar and Gibal were likely also killed. Gundulf and Ragnaris escaped from the field; the latter was mortally wounded after a failed assassination by an agent of Narses.

With that defeat, organized Ostrogothic resistance ended. Although the last attested Gothic noble Widin

Widin

Widin was the last attested Ostrogothic noble in Italy. After Teia's defeat at the hands of the Byzantine eunuch general Narses at the Battle of Mons Lactarius, south of present-day Naples, in October 552 or early 553, organized Ostrogothic resistance ended. Widin, however, was able to organize a...

 revolted in northern Italy in 550s and was captured in 561 or 562, the Ostrogoths would fade into obscurity.

Sources