In most textbooks, the establishment of the Lombard Kingdom in Italy in 568/569 follows a well-known narrative. Since the Risorgimento, scholars have seen the end of the Ostrogothic Kingdom and the establishment of the Lombards as a major rupture in Italian history. The impact of the Lombard invasion has been reconsidered. Archeological surveys have shown that the rupture in material culture in Italy should be traced not to a catastrophic invasion in 568, but to a slow downturn starting on the fifth century. In the sixth century, military rebellions were a constant, and they provide the context for the events of 568–569. Military unrest in the sixth century was rooted in changes in the interplay between public and private money behind the logistics of the army. The resulting stalemate between Byzantine and Lombard forces doomed Italy to political fragmentation, inaugurating the Italian ‘Dark Ages’.