Well, if i remember correctly it was
Prokopius who recorded the migration of the Langobarden once they emerged on the Danube.
The Langobarden first settled in Rugiland [
North of the
Danube -
after Odoaker defeated the Rugii] ~ 488 AD
The Langobarden clashed with the Heruli (
not Slavs) in ~ 508 AD; [disputes over the Langobarden princess Rumetruda]
The Heruli had a powerful kingdom between the March and Theiss rivers (
North of the
Danube),
but after a massive battle (recorded by
Prokopius) the Langobarden defeated the Heruli and their King Rodulf commited suicide. [End of the Heruli Kingdom]
The Langobarden King Audoin marched into Pannonia ~526 AD; with the Byzantine Emperor Justinian granting the Langobarden full control of Pannonia & Noricum [
South of the
Danube] ~547/548 AD
The Langobarden were an important part of the Byzantine army during the Gothic war in Italy (
Battle of Taginae 552 AD);
Neil Christie - Towns and Their Territories
Between Late Antiquity and the Early Middles Ages (2000)
Subsequently, according to Procopius, in 547/548 the Byzantine emperor Justinian "bestowed upon the Lombards the towns (poleis) of Noricum and the fortresses of Pannonia", meaning Pannonia Savia and Sccunda with a formal recognition of their existing holds in the north.
Its important to note that the Hunnic invasion [390 - 454 AD] caused massive turmoil amongst the Germanic peoples and Sarmatians; And therefor the History of the Balkans (
after Attila and the
Battle of Nedao) is fundamental in understanding the Germanic migration era and Early Byzantine Politics;
Reading about the
Ostrogoths in
Jordanes and
Cassiodorus or the
Langobarden in
Prokopius and
Paul the Deacon reveals a lot about this time.
- Histories & Chronicles
http://www.northvegr.org/
Not concerning Italy;
In General comparing migration era
Germanic tribes with each other.