The first Slavs came to the region, almost certainly from the north, soon after the departure of the Ostrogoths (471 C.E.). Along with the Lombards, they were to be the principal inhabitants of the territory until the arrival of the Avars. Around 530, the Germanic Lombards settled in Pannonia. They had to fight against the Gepidi and the Slavs. In 568, pushed out by the Avars, they moved into northern Italy.