 The Emperor finds himself staring, staring out at the sea while perched safely atop the great theodosian walls of Constantinople. The ambitious, yet introverted Emperor had imagined himself in this situation so many times before and yet now that it had actually happened, it was nothing like what he had expected. The Emperor's name is Justinian. Justinian, the soon to be great, and he had just received the news that his armies had entered unopposed the city of the Republic, the Eternal City, Rome. Finally, after all these years his ultimate ambition was being realized, his labor. Finally coming to fruition, the Roman Empire was being restored. While Justinian knew that Rome was nowhere near its former glory, he was comforted, knowing the city was in his hands and as he stared out across the sea he was pleased, knowing his bidding was being done. Still, as Justinian turned to go back inside, he couldn't help but let an insidious feeling creep its way inside of him, an anxiety. He knew that he was on the verge of fulfilling his dreams on the precipice of greatness, yet something was off. As the Emperor walked, he had a pit in his stomach, a feeling. Something was coming, something bad. Now was the time for wariness, more than ever. What was coming would be far worse than what the Emperor ever could have imagined. Some would say it was of the devil, the spawn of hell, yet it was something that even Satan himself would have been hesitant to render upon the world. It was the reckoning of nature, of biology, the dreaded Yersinia pestis, the bubonic plague, Justinian's plague. Yet, even in the times before the plague, the world was in turmoil. For the people who the plague would impact the most, they would at that very moment be preoccupied by a series of devastating wars. The primary people the plague would inflict its wrath upon, with those living in the Mediterranean area, specifically the people of the Byzantine Empire, who had always considered themselves to be a continuation of the Roman Empire and the barbarians who are currently in control of Italy as illegal occupiers. Under the leadership of Justinian, the reunification of the Roman Empire became the Byzantine's main goal and the obsession of the Emperor. So why was this a big deal? Why was the restoration of the Roman Empire a matter of obsession, in something that was a big deal for a bubonic plague pandemic to interrupt? In order to fully grasp the impact the plague of Justinian had on the world, it is first important to understand how exactly the world was before the plague struck. The Roman Empire of the previous several centuries had expanded to encapsulate the entirety of the Mediterranean and beyond. You might think based on all the terrible stories of constant wars, assassinations, and a seemingly large share of emperors who were totally inept, that living in the Roman Empire would be a tumultuous and violent time to live. But this was not necessarily the case. While you may have had to struggle through a harsh life, especially if you were, you know, a slave. For all intents and purposes, the citizens living within the borders of the Roman Empire generally experienced peace and prosperity. These times were magnified during the first couple centuries AED, during a time known as the Pax Romana, where the Roman peace. The economy was booming, the population was thriving, the good times led to innovations in sailing, which when coupled with the stability of the empire led to bustling trade and commercial activity never seen before. Roman merchants had also traveled to faraway lands bringing back all sorts of exotic goods like silk, gems, and spices. The trade networks the Romans established enabled more of these goods to be transported faster and more cost efficiently than ever before. As a side note, these trade networks would also prove to be a crucial component in the transportation of, you guessed it, deadly diseases. So don't forget about them. We're going to come back to them later. Back to the Pax Romana. People were well off and happy. Some would say that this was the most prosperous time to live in human history. But just like with the plague that would devastate the area centuries later, times were about to become incredibly difficult. The Pax Romana ended with the reign of Emperor Commodus. Those of you who saw the movie Gladiator might recognize Commodus as the treacherous and debauched villain of the movie. But while many Hollywood movies are criticized for their over dramatization of history, the movie actually fell far short in capturing just how insane Commodus actually was. So that's a story for another time. The centuries following Commodus were marked by disastrous instability in Rome with the leading cause of death among emperors being assassination. In previous centuries, the Romans spent their time conquering barbarians and carving out a massive empire, one which would require a large and expensive army to defend. The Roman economy was unable to keep up with the cost of all their conquests and the empire was constantly in financial trouble. As such, the military became more and more difficult to fund and became shockingly ineffective, slow, and disloyal to the state and people of Rome. Leading up to its fall, new groups of people have begun migrating en masse towards the Romans. First, the Huns. Little is actually known about the origins of the Huns, but historians generally agree they probably originated somewhere in Central Asia. They probably migrated across the Eurasian steppe all the way to the borders of the Roman Empire. From there, they would raid the surrounding peoples, including the Romans, bringing all manners of death and devastation. Through their horrific destructive power, it is believed they were responsible for the mass migration of our second group. The Goths, who were a Germanic people, were no friends of the Romans. They had always had their own issues with each other and had been in military conflict for centuries. The Goths, who had been eyeing up some of those sweet Roman lands for some time now, saw that sticking around where they were would probably result in them being brutally murdered by the Huns. As such, they figured that now was probably a good time to move out. They immediately began crossing the rivers the Romans used as borders, some of them with permission from Rome, others not so much. Regardless, the Romans immediately began oppressing the Goths, forcing them to the brink of starvation. This made the Goths angry, really angry, and quite understandably so. They began their own wars against the Romans from within the Romans' own borders, devastating the country and forcing all sorts of concessions. Ultimately, the Romans completely failed to integrate the Goths that had settled within their borders and would spend thousands and thousands of pounds of gold to fight the Huns and Goths both, or more often, bribe the Huns and Goths to maybe not settle their things on fire. On the eastern border, the Romans were engaged in a perpetual game of tug-of-war with their Persian neighbors. Even since the times before the emperors, the Romans and Persians saw each other as bitter rivals. During the same times as the Hunnic and Gothic migrations, the Persian threat proved to be no less significant, and the quagmire of the Persian wars would continue. By the end of the 4th century, the Roman Empire had partitioned itself between an East Roman, which we call Byzantine, and West Roman Empires, to allow for their administrations to better handle regional issues. Less than a century after the partition, after continued decay and instability in the West, the city of Rome, the city which had started at all, had already been sacked twice with most of its inhabitants dead, or fleeing the eternal city in droves to seek safer pastures. Just a few decades before our story begins with the plague, the last embers that were keeping the Western Empire going fizzled out, permanently, ending the centuries of Roman domination that had become the envy of the entire world. In its place rose the barbarian kingdoms, led by the Goths and the Franks, leaving behind only a lethargic Byzantine Empire, which would try and fail to assert its authority over its new Gothic neighbors and old Persian rivals. Ultimately, the Roman Empire fell for a laundry list of reasons that never fit comfortably into a single narrative. The totality of the causes and effects of its fall lie far beyond the scope of this series, but the empire's cultural and spiritual impact on the world has endured for centuries and even continues to impact our cultures and political structures today. The common phrase, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, is used to encourage compliance with local customs and traditions, yet you need not be in the city of Rome to find yourself doing as the Romans did. Have you ever wondered why our alphabet looks like this? Why these languages sound the way they do? Why our calendar looks like this and why we celebrate holidays on these days? Why our government buildings look like this? Or why we do these things at weddings? The answer to these types of questions is almost always, because that is what the Romans did. We can still see clearly the impacts the Roman Empire has on societies in the West today, but the impact it had on its successor states was far more substantial. For centuries after its fall, numerous peoples and nations would try to imitate the spirit of the empire, oftentimes claiming to be the true and legitimate successors of Rome. Of all, the one with the most legitimacy to this claim was a civilization focused around the major political and economic hub of Constantinople. They were that eastern half of the empire that had split off and persevered as Rome was sacked, the Byzantines. The emperor found himself staring, staring across the plains to the horizon. He took a moment to admire the sun setting in the distance, thinking back to the many sunsets he had admired as a boy. The sun was setting over Syria, Byzantine lines, before the emperor was hostile territory. The emperor's name was Kostro, king of the Persians, the Shahansha. As Kostro turned from the sunset to his tent, he thought to Justinian, the Byzantine emperor, that fool. Kostro's circumstances had prevented him from winning the last war against Justinian, but they would not hold him back this time, or so he thought. Little did Kostro know just how much the circumstances of the plague would affect the coming war. The rivalry between the two emperors had gone on from the time of their youth. Even from their young age, it seemed to be that both men were destined to clash. From court intrigue and drama to the antagonistic correspondences between them to the situations left to both men by their predecessors, their rivalry would prove to be catastrophic. Justinian grew up as a young boy from a peasant family in Alaria. At the behest of his uncle, a top military commander, he was brought to Constantinople. Here, he was given a high quality education where he was able to develop his talents and grew to love reading and religion. In spite of growing up to be somewhat of an introverted homebody, Justinian during his youth developed charismatic speaking and writing skills, which he would find very useful later in life. As a young boy with his nose always in a book, the child Justinian at this moment could have never come to understand the legacy he would leave and of the microscopic organisms that play such an important role in his life and dictate the course of the empire that he would one day rule. How about for now, let's just leave the young Justinian to enjoy his book. Castro, on the other hand, grew up in a much different way, born to an ancient and storied land with a backdrop full of magnificent craggy mountains and buildings decorated with intricate floral motifs. Castro came from a privileged and noble lifestyle, but he was no less motivated to satiate his ambition, no less calculating and no less visionary than his Byzantine counterpart. At around the age of 10, Castro's father, King Cavad, seeking to ensure Castro's safety and future attempted to negotiate Castro's adoption into the Byzantine imperial family. Justinian, who was an adult by now, was at that time an esteemed advisor to his uncle, now Emperor Justin, and was ecstatic at the prospect of adding Castro to the family. That was until another advisor came in and said, slow down now, let's not get carried away. After all, we can't have another little title claimant running around, waiting to potentially usurp the throne, now can we? And so, the imperial family sent a response to the Persian court, essentially saying, thank you for your consideration. We would love to give young Castro the privilege of joining our family, but only as a barbarian, he will never be a true Roman. This response torpedoed the deal, and Castro was deeply insulted. The Persians and Byzantines would be at war shortly after this happened, and while the war wasn't related to this awkward and weird moment, it definitely set the seeds for an intense rivalry between the two soon-to-be emperors. Justinian would become the sole Byzantine emperor in 527 after the death of his uncle Justin. Being the Byzantine emperor was slightly safer than being in charge during the days of Rome, many emperors of which it seems were assassinated, the literal second they took office, but holding the position still carried with it the risk of being brutally murdered at the hands of angry mobs of starving peasants, disgruntled soldiers, or scheming generals. Luckily for Justinian, he had spent the early years of his career heavily involved in politics, and shortly before Justin's death, Justinian was named co-emperor and took up many imperial responsibilities. Then, after maybe possibly orchestrating an assassination or two of his own, Justinian had a sharp understanding of politics and was well situated to be ruler. Immediately after assuming the title of emperor, Justinian, with his tireless work ethic, set out to fulfill his ambitions and fundamentally change the empire in the way he had envisioned. The Byzantine empire was in dire need of reorganization. Its legal system was a complete mess, the taxation system was inefficient and corrupt, and different religious sects threatened the unity of the empire. However, before Justinian could get to work fixing any of these problems, he needed to make sure he wouldn't be stabbed in the back by someone else with big plans. This is where Justinian showcased his aptitude in the most important skill a leader can have, selecting advisors who are both competent and loyal. Justinian would recruit several highly skilled advisors, including John the Cappadocian to head up the realm's finance and Trebonian to reform its legal system. However, Justinian's two most important compatriots would be his wife, Empress Theodora and the great general Balasarius. While he was never the flamboyant, fire-breathing populist of somebody like Julius Caesar, Balasarius held a command of the military of similar fashion. He was a calm, focused man who would crush opposing forces with a steady and composed hand, but also a man of noble character who showed leniency towards captured enemy troops and benevolence towards the townspeople of the cities he conquered. Balasarius's attitude made him loved by the townspeople and led many soldiers to switch sides after being captivated by his magnanimous nature. He would be the sword of the empire and be instrumental in achieving its goals. Theodora, however, was by far the most important person in Justinian's circle. From her early days as an actress, Theodora would meet Justinian at a chariot race. The two of them immediately clicked and fell madly in love. Byzantine society at this time was relatively closed off and the two of them were barred from being married because of their different classes. Justinian pressured his uncle, Emperor Justin, to change the laws so they could marry and the two would go on without the slightest care about the scandal their marriage would cause. Way to go if you ask me. Theodora had a keen sense for politics and would prove to be just as revolutionary as Justinian and Khazro. She would find herself elevated in her position, becoming more like a partner to Justinian than a subordinate. She would be consulted by Justinian before most decisions were made and her word would carry the same authority as the emperors. Her charming and charismatic personality would lead to her forming her own circles of intrigue and power, but the emperor and emperors would remain loyal to each other for the entirety of their lives working in tandem towards each other's goals. Each of his advisors had their own unique characteristics and stories that made them special to what Justinian was trying to do and each of them would play an important role in the difficult times to come brought by the plague. They were all very different people who in many cases despised each other. They were constantly scheming against one another and plotting to increase their own power circles. In spite of all this, they shared one crucial trait, loyalty to the emperor. Khazro's ascendance to the throne took place during a strange time. His father, King Kavad, had become ill and died unexpectedly while on military campaign against the Byzantines, leaving Khazro as the new emperor very young at around the age of 19 or 20. Most of the time, when you hand over absolute power to people barely out of their teens, well, it doesn't often go that well. Looking at you again, comotus. Khazro, on the other hand, was not like most people barely out of their teens. Khazro had this little thing called situational awareness and political acumen. Since Kavad had died so unexpectedly, Khazro's ascendance to the throne was never really secured and there were a lot of potential title claimants running around waiting to stab him in the back too. Still at war with the Byzantines, Khazro knew he needed to reach a peace deal in order to focus on securing his power. Even though he despised the Byzantines, he went to Justinian and said, hey, uh, maybe we can do this later? To which Justinian said, yeah, I've got better stuff to do right now anyway. And so the two nations signed the Eternal Peace, a deal which slightly favored the Byzantines and stipulated that the two rulers would recognize each other as equals and work towards mutual prosperity. From a position of peace, Khazro could now focus on consolidating his power and stabilizing his internal realm. Which to him meant having any title claimant including his uncle, all of his brothers, and all of their male children rounded up and swiftly and brutally executed. I know just what you're thinking. How charming. With the realm at peace and internal dissidents brutally oppressed, Khazro sought to enact sweeping reforms to a broken and outdated Persian system. Seeing the military, government, treasury, and capital as all interconnected, he focused his reforms on revamping all four, but primarily on creating new administrative and military districts which would garner him more tax revenue and fund a larger military, both facets which would prove vital to the achieving of Khazro's own imperial ambitions. Across the border, Justinian finding himself at peace with Persia and with a competent council in lockstep with his vision also decided now was a good time for him and Theodora to enact their own sweeping reforms to a broken and outdated Byzantine society. Some of the major aspects of society Justinian and Theodora would reform first were the empire's broken legal system and its inept taxation system. The closed off Byzantine society was highly stratified between a rich aristocracy and the impoverished masses and then, well, slaves. Gender roles for women were also just as restrictive as they had been in Rome for centuries and women had scant legal rights or protections. The law was not uniform and there were shocking inconsistencies between old Roman law and the laws of different localities and religions. Justinian's vision was to, well, organize this clustered mess. He appointed a council of jurists headed up by Trebonian to compile and codify Roman legal codes into a single codex which would be distributed and uniformly enforced empire wide. However, simply collecting a codex of laws still left many problems unsolved and Justinian added his own set of laws to the codex. While his additions included theological ordinance as a linking church and state, his new laws no doubt with significant influence from Theodora included legal protections and a massive expansion of rights for women. Theodora and Justinian would pass laws criminalizing sex trafficking, expanded women's rights and divorce proceedings and permanently abolished the cruel Roman laws which sometimes saw women executed for committing adultery. All these things, among many other changes, no longer would the women of the empire live under the horrible conditions that they had endured for centuries in Rome with no means of seeking recourse. A variety of other laws were enacted ranging from edicts against slavery to settling inheritance disputes which were added to the codex. The new Corpus Urus Sevilus revised just about every aspect of Byzantine legal life. It's difficult to express just how massive an undertaking this legal project was. Even more impressive was the fact it was completed in just a few years. While the reforms did much to expand the rights of the citizenry to the citizen body, it probably also felt like a lot of radical changes were just forced on to them. To rectify the issue with the taxation system, Justinian appointed his financial advisor John the Cappadocian to the task. The taxation system was rampant with corruption and many people got away with paying little to no taxes, especially the rich aristocracy. John the Cappadocian would successfully enforce new and higher taxation laws and crack down on the rampant corruption, though he wouldn't let any of that get in the way of him sneaking his own hand into the pot every now and then. Our story has progressed to this point with little mention of one important group who had been watching this all play out, the people of the Byzantine Empire, and they were angry, really angry. Here we have this new emperor from a peasant family who manipulated the last emperor and changed the laws so he could marry a prostitute of all people. He never sleeps, he never leaves Constantinople, and he has a weird obsession with his brand of Christianity. He's just plain weird. He's making us adopt all sorts of new laws that radically changes our way of life, and to top it all off, he's making us actually pay taxes now. Just who the hell did this guy think he was? The people had had enough. The sun beat down on the city of Constantinople. It's warm rays offering a momentary respite from the frigid January weather. In the middle of the cold, tensions were brewing, tempers had flared. The line had been crossed and it was time to act. Soon, the city would be warmed by another source. One engulfed in flames. The scene in Constantinople that would proceed the arrival of the plague was one of ash and blood. Hi there viewer. If you enjoy my content, please consider liking the video and subscribing to help the channel grow. Enjoy. Early in Justinian's reign, the emperor was pressed to establish his legitimacy due to his peasant upbringing. One of the ways he attempted to achieve this was through his legal and tax reforms and while he successfully achieved his goals in reforming these two systems, the advisors he put in charge of them were blatantly corrupt. The tax increases, outright corruption, and Justinian's low birth proved to sufficiently ruffle feathers and some of the prominent members of society had begun to conspire. It began with a violent clash, bloodied and beaten bodies lying in the street. It was no secret who the perpetrators were and it was no mystery what the motives were, supporting an opposing chariot racing team. In Constantinople, there existed a number of chariot racing factions known as the deems. They would sport the colors of their respective teams by this time mostly just the blues and greens and cheer for them in the stands. After an event, some limited levels of rioting and violence were typical and this case was no exception. The perpetrators of the murders were often punished and the city would move on, not this time. Justinian decreed that the murderers were to be executed and subsequently many of them were. However, some of the executions were botched and two of the murders, one blue and one green, escaped to a nearby church. Instead of being turned in, an angry mob comprised of both teams formed in front of the church, protecting the murders and demanding clemency. This was a strange turn of events for Justinian. The crowd was being unreasonable and what kind of precedent would it set if Justinian just let murders go free? There would be no clemency. Shortly after, Justinian decided to visit the Constantinople Hippodrome to check out the chariot races for that evening. He would frequent these events not only because he loved watching the blue team crush the green team but because the chariot racing teams also doubled as political factions and the hippodrome as a venue for political discourse. The blues and greens would often oppose each other politically and Justinian could get a feel for the general issues the people were facing and make announcements. On this particular night, he felt something was off. The fans were not chanting against each other and for their own factions like normal, they were chanting together, chanting over and over again in unison. It began to set in for Justinian. Something had unified these two teams that normally hated each other and that something was him. As the angry crowd of sports fans turned into an angry crowd of rioters, Justinian fled back to the neighboring imperial palace, who was immediately conciliatory to the rioters and fired the corrupt advisors that they were upset with. But the riot had already been set in full motion. They had begun attacking the palace and spread out across Constantinople, setting a fire which would ultimately destroy half the city. Justinian and his council were preparing to flee the city when Theodora, who never bought into the Roman idea of what a woman's place was, interrupted the procession, delivering a rousing speech and remarking, As to the belief that a woman ought not be daring among men or to assert herself boldly among those who are holding back in fear, I consider that the present crisis most certainly does not permit us to discuss whether the matter should be regarded in this or in some other way. For in the case of those whose interests have come into the greatest danger, nothing else seems best except to settle the issue immediately before them in the best possible way. My opinion, then, is that the present time above all others is inopportune for flight, even though it brings safety. For while it is impossible for a man who has seen the light to not also die, for one who has been emperor, it is unendurable to be a fugitive. May I never be separated from this purple, and may I not live that day on which those who will meet me shall not address me as mistress. If now it is your wish to save yourself, O Emperor, there is no difficulty, for we have money, and there is the sea, here the boats. However, consider whether it will not come about after you have been saved that you would gladly exchange that safety for death. For as for myself, I approve a certain ancient saying that royalty is a good burial shroud. The speech worked, and Justinian decided to stay and instead deploy the army against the out of control riot. In the Hippodrome, the rioters decided they had had enough with Justinian and they were busy trying to crown their own emperor. Before the army entered the arena, Justinian sent agents to bribe the blue team to leave, and once they had done so, the army, under Belisarius, entered, pitched for an intense fight. Which ended with a completely one-sided bloodbath resulting in the deaths of an estimated 30,000 rioters in the Hippodrome, after which their newly proclaimed emperor and the main insiders of the riots were swiftly and brutally executed. So not much different than your average day of football hooliganry. On a more serious note, the Nica riots would prove to be a dark moment in the history of Byzantium. The death toll was gargantuan, the city was a smoldering husk, and every person would find themselves affected in some way. While it remains a legitimate criticism of Justinian's reign, the riots had largely been instigated by wealthy aristocrats who had been upset by the legal changes in tax increases and had been further propelled by tensions between Justinian and the Demes, the chariot racing factions. The wealthy aristocrats were gone and the Demes were subdued. Justinian had consolidated power and his rule would not be contested again. He would essentially have free reign to rebuild the city as he liked. While the city was quickly restored to the point of flourishing over the next few years, the imagery of Constantinople engulfed in flames and a large portion of its citizen-relying dead in the blood-stained Hippodrome would prove to be the perfect foreshadowing, just a little taste of what would be coming to the city in around a decade. The generation that grew up touched by Nica would soon find themselves embraced by a new kind of terror, one which would unnerve even the most stoic among them, and as that unlucky generation of Constantinople perhaps resigned itself to thinking that mass death was simply their lot in life, the terror that had been unleashed would make its way across the land, rearing its ugly head in every other person's life. But until then, there was work to do. With riot suppressed, peace with Persia, and domestic realm issues handled, Justinian was ready to fulfill his ultimate ambition, the underlying drive behind all of his reformations to Byzantine society, the restoration of the Roman Empire. At last, it was time to go forth and retake the homeland from the occupiers, to reincorporate Italia, the birthplace of Roman culture. Justinian amassed his army, which while smaller than many other armies of the time, was highly experienced, highly trained, and a well-equipped fighting force. Belisarius was put in charge and the army embarked on ships and set off for their first target, the Vandalic Kingdom in North Africa. The Vandals, who were gods, had settled in North Africa and the major islands just a few decades before the fall of the Empire. They had been one of the groups responsible for sacking the city of Rome and looting its treasures. While the Vandals had been convinced to spare much of the city's inhabitants from violence, the destruction and defacing of Roman monuments and treasures was so intense that the term Vandalism is still used today to refer to the destruction of property. After landing in North Africa, Belisarius, in spite of being heavily outnumbered, decisively beat the Vandals in two separate battles. He had campaigned in North Africa for less than a year. The Vandal Kingdom was completely destroyed and its land annexed by the Byzantines. The population there, which had retained most of its Roman identity, loved Belisarius and hailed him as a liberator. Justinian's next target would be the Ostrogothic Kingdom, who were occupying Italia. After taking a short break to celebrate his victory in Constantinople, Belisarius would land in Sicily, where he would meet virtually no resistance. Shortly after, he advanced into southern Italy, where again, the gods put up very little fight. Belisarius around this time was probably wondering where the Ostrogothic army was, as he had barely even seen a single Gothic soldier to this point. As it turns out, he wasn't the only one wondering. The people of the Gothic Kingdom saw the inaction of their current king, and it made them angry. Really angry. They got rid of the old king and put a new guy in charge who went by the name Vittiges, and under the new leadership of Vittiges' steady hand, the Goths were much better situated. For retreat, as they were consistently outmaneuvered by Belisarius, who was quickly building up a name for himself as the composed marshal who could win any engagement no matter how outnumbered he was. Still, they did prove to be something of an obstacle, and Belisarius could no longer just walk into any old place as he wished. He would spend the next four years campaigning up the Italian countryside until he was in the north, and it captured the key cities of Ravenna, Mediolanum, and Rome. This was it. The Ostrogoths were on the brink of defeat. All it would take is a bit more campaigning and they would be done for. But before Belisarius could set out on the next leg of his campaign, he received a letter, one which made him want to scream in frustration. One that nearly brought him to tears. The letter was from Justinian. Belisarius and his army were being recalled from Italia. They had a new threat to face in the east. Castro had mobilized an army and was invading Syria. Belisarius knew that without him and his army in Italia, the token number of troops left for Garrison would be hopeless against the Goths. All of their work was being undone. And so here we find ourselves again with the emperor atop the great Theodosian walls of Constantinople. This time, his plans foiled. His ambitions thwarted. Castro, the little bastard. The emperor was so close, so close to being counted among the great Caesars before him. Precariously perched on the precipice of greatness, most men would be slipping off the edge, the balcony crumbling out from beneath their feet. But the emperor was not most men. His name was Justinian. Justinian the great. And this time, no matter how long it took or how many men, he would defeat the Persian menace. This time, he would not be denied. But wait, dear viewer, did not go yet. We still have one item on the agenda. Would neither our dear emperor Justinian nor the Persian Castro would have been able to tell you was that right about now, our third opponent would be entering from stage right. This time, it was not a nation led by a king, nor was it an army led by a general. This new opponent was far more insidious. It was not one that could be seen or heard, nor that could signal its approach with the beating of drums or the clattering of metal. It would only signal its arrival with the subsequent and non coincidental arrival of death and apocalypse. It would attack Persians, Romans, Goths, Vandals, Franks, and a whole host of other people. It would not discriminate between the rich and the poor, the men and the women, the soldier and the civilian. It was the faceless grim reaper, not even aware of its own presence but at the same time, only able to wreak suffering. In death, it had come from a faraway land, a horse, a pale horse. It brought with it news, news delivered by the cloaked rider who sat upon it, news of a trouble in the empire's capital. The city had been struck by a pestilence, a scourge, along with the scourge came horror. Yet even as the rider was delivering the news, no one had realized that closely behind the horse followed the rats. Hi there viewer, if you enjoy my content, please consider liking the video and subscribing to help the channel grow. Enjoy. War. They were asking for war. The Persian Shah sat still in his court listening as the foreign dignitaries who surrounded him pled their cases. But was Castro really ready for war, war against Justinian? The dignitaries before him were persistent. The Goths in the west had lost almost all their territory to Justinian. They were hoping Castro's entry into the war would provide them a much needed respite. Representatives from Armenia and Lazaka had also been present. A number of states near to the Byzantines and Persians had found themselves the subject of disputes between the two powers. Arabia and the Caucasus had been the chessboards on which the two giants would contest each other either directly or indirectly and this time was no different. The kings of Armenia and Lazaka both wanted to throw off the Byzantine yoke and they petitioned Castro to enter the war on their behalf. The Shah contemplated until he had reached a decision. He was ready to throw aside his insecurities. Castro was going to war. At the beginning of Castro's uh special military operation, the Persians for a short time had more or less free reign to do as they wanted due to Justinian's forces being in Italy. Castro led his troops into Syria where he spent his time besieging cities in demanding outrageous sums of gold in tribute. If they refused to pay, Castro reduced the city to rubble after taking all of their valuables anyway. One such city that was destroyed was of immense historic and religious significance to the Byzantines. Antioch. After its destruction, no other city in the area would refuse Castro his tribute. Justinian was hesitant to engage Castro and still wanted to focus on Italy so he offered an exorbitant amount of gold to the Shah in the hopes of buying a truce. Castro accepted, but not before he decided to showcase his enormous ego. He mockingly went on a swim in the Mediterranean Sea, rigged the local chariot races against Justinian's favorite team, and deported the remaining population of Antioch to a new town nearby which he spitefully named Castro's Better Antioch. Finally, Castro more or less ignored the truce and continued to demand tribute from the towns he passed on his way out of Syria. Justinian gave up on the idea of a truce and the emperor instead sent his army to deal with the invader. Castro had been moving his army northwards when Belisarius and his troops arrived in Syria. This was it. The two giants were about to come head to head. Who would win? Who would be the better general? It was about to be the clash of the Titans. But before that could happen, it became apparent that trouble was brewing elsewhere and our hero's war ambitions were about to be put on hold. In fact, a whole world's worth of plans and ambitions were about to be interrupted. Justinian and Castro were about to be confronted by a new enemy, an enemy that neither man possessed the tools to fight and one that would forever change the outlook of history. Pelusium. The city's position on the furthest east banks of the Nile Delta made it the gateway of Egypt and often the first stop of an army on its way to conquer the land. Consequently, Pelusium would also serve as the first major stopping point of our affliction. As the wars were raging in the east and the west, disturbing reports had been coming from Pelusium. Tales of the townsfolk falling ill had begun to make their way across the land with merchant caravans and travelers. The visitors had brought with them mysterious stories of people they had witnessed falling ill and then not three days later they had been cold and dead. Some of the stories told were of the sickness's features and the progression of the illness. Others came insisting on repentance and telling stories of the impending arrival of the wrath of God. Others yet came telling stories of ghastly cloaked figures they had witnessed beckoning to them from the mist. Yet as these merchants and travelers brought their stories to new lands, as they traveled east into places like Gaza, Ashkelon and Beersheva and as they traveled west to Alexandria and the rest of Egypt, they unknowingly brought with them the true source of all the suffering and death that had occurred in Pelusium. And as the pestilence arrived in these locations, its new victims would unknowingly bring it with them as they ventured out into the world as well. From Alexandria, one of the empire's largest and most prominent cities, a city that had been founded by Alexander the Great and once boasted the greatest collection of books and knowledge in the entire world. From this city, a ship would depart set for Constantinople and on this ship along with its crew in its cargo was a terror. The fever has already begun pillaging the crew. However, there will be no time for rest for them. The crew must continue moving forward. They must not let one loss prevent their voyage from continuing its course. He's unnerved. The captain leans against the ship's stern as he stares out at the sea, his mind racing and unsettled. The ocean shimmers with the setting sun colliding with the surface of the water's ceaseless curls. There seem to be an unease even with the sea this past week. It's mood darkened as if it too is falling ill to the infestation that has been clinging to everyone. Slowly, men have succumbed to this odd strain of sickness and there seem to be nothing that could stop it once catching it. The first death was just the beginning of their race against the pestilence to reach the shore before it ensnares them all. Sir, his thoughts interrupted by the mate. The number of sick have overtaken the healthy for the night shift. Should we move men from the day shift to account for the ill? Maybe. His word trailed off at the end. He lets his thoughts wander for some kind of solution to this mysterious inconvenience. That's a good idea. Move the newly sick in with the rest and I'll talk to the remaining crew about taking on more work. Get them moved now. The mate follows his orders and flees for the lower deck. A moment later. Sir, I think you need to come down here. The urgency has the captain's body launching into action before his brain can catch up with what he's now seeing. A body, unmoving, sweat coated and swollen. His friend and crew members still chest and bloodied mouth draw his attention immediately before the blackened limbs drag his gaze away from the mate's face. What do we do, sir? Get him overboard before the others see, but be discreet. We do not want an onslaught of panic amongst the crew. Let the sick sleep but wake the rest. We need to hasten our trek before it's too late. This ship would continue along to its destination of Constantinople, along with hundreds of other ships, each carrying passengers with similar stories. Many crews would arrive at their destinations with several crew members already sick, the rest to follow soon after. Other crews would be wiped out entirely before they even got close, their vessels becoming ghost ships to be pushed and pulled about by the ocean. Constantinople was a major population center and commercial hub, bridging the continents of Asia and Europe in the perfect position to facilitate trade between them. The Byzantine government would ship in grain from the empire's grain-rich provinces such as Egypt and then distribute the grain to the city's poorest. This was a welfare program known as the grain doll that had been used in Rome for centuries. In Constantinople, the program had continued and would bring in hundreds of grain shipments to the city every year, fostering a huge population of over 500,000 people, most living in incredibly cramped spaces. The scale of commerce in and out of the city created the perfect conditions for the inferno of disease. The plague struck the city rapidly after the first plague ships arrived. Within days, friends and family members had noticed their loved ones begin to complain of a feeling of discomfort and general exhaustion. Hours later, the sick would develop a splitting headache and would experience an intense feeling of heat and fever. The next day, family would have woken to find their loved ones writhing in excruciating pain. They would then find large, protruding lumps around the groin, armpits, and neck called buboes which would sometimes burst in an explosion of infectious pus. Family may have then decided to bring their sick to a local church or hospital to seek out medical attention, but as the disease progressed over the coming days, they would have had a difficult time speaking to their loved ones as they slipped in and out of delirium due to the worsening pain and fever. As they drew closer to the end, it would watch as their loved ones appeared to be rotting away in front of their very eyes. Their fingers, toes, lips, and the swollen buboes would begin to turn black and necrotic. The sick would either become comatose or begin to convulse violently before they began vomiting blood and stopped moving and breathing entirely. Depending on the type of plague in its victim, family members may have found themselves saying goodbye within just a few days of their loved one becoming ill. The plague would spread out into the city, first arriving at the base of each of the hills the city was built on and then spread to the hills peak. For those living on top of the hills, they would have no doubt been well aware of what was inevitably coming, hopeless to do anything about it. As the disease continued to spread out among the city's inhabitants, the medical, religious, governmental, and end-of-life infrastructure quickly became overwhelmed by the immense number of sick and dead that seemed to be doubling on a daily basis. The soft groans of the ill could be heard all throughout the building. The smell, the wretched, ghastly smell of death filled the air clinging to every surface and filling every space. 14. Those of 14th person lost this week. The doctor stared down into his recently departed patient's eyes only to be met with the cold and lifeless gaze he had become so accustomed to as of late. Just days before, this man was full of energy and life. What was he? A builder? A baker? The doctor wracked his brain thinking of the answer only to realize he couldn't even remember the man's name. With all his recent experiences, each patient had become a blur, a seemingly distant memory just out of his grasp. Ugh. The doctor groaned as he closed his eyes for a moment, his head pounding and aching as he had not slept in over two days. He thought back to his time in Egypt, he spent years studying medicine at the greatest universities in Alexandria, learning from the most experienced and highly acclaimed physicians. What good did that do him now? Almost all of his patients over the past week were dead. Useless, the doctor thought, completely useless. His head pounding away, pulsating almost rhythmically with the beating of his heart. Suddenly, the doctor lurched forward in pain. He felt hot and sick. As the pain started to become more prominent, the man became more aware of what he was feeling in his body. The pulsating pain had spread. It was no longer confined to just his head. It had now become manifest elsewhere, the neck in his armpits. As he reached his hand over to feel for the telltale sign of the pestilence, his heart sank as he felt a large protruding lump under his shirt. While he was busy trying to treat his dying patients, he had not noticed that he had become the plague's next victim. Unrelenting. Unyielding. As the city of Constantinople was consumed by the icy grip of the plague, doctors of all manners would find their efforts fruitless. Day after day, thousands of people of all walks of life would be struck ill, and physicians would find themselves with a seemingly compounding number of patients, all of their lives hanging by the thinnest of threads and with no sign of respite. The Byzantines had three stratifications of physicians. The best and most experienced were aristocratic and employed by the imperial court, second were public doctors paid by the city, and last were private practitioners. The way these physicians practiced medicine was based on a theory that would remain in use until the advent of germ theory in the mid-1800s, the Humoral Theory of Disease. Essentially, the theory stipulated that a person's health was determined by four bodily fluids called humors, black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood. It's believed that the four humors needed to be in balance and if a person were experiencing some sort of affliction, their humors were out of balance. Physicians attempted to diagnose which humor would be out of balance and then prescribe treatments to rebalance the humors. Often, this would include treatments we are all familiar with, such as bloodletting or induced vomiting, but it would also include more mild treatments such as dietary changes, ice baths, and the prescription of different herbs or remedies. While the latter three treatments sound reminiscent of modern healthcare, the treatment regimen did not have any evidence-based medicinal benefit and could at times be harmful to patients. In spite of all their years of training at the great universities of Alexandria, in spite of all their experience, Byzantine physicians would find these treatments and their efforts futile. While it may be tempting to describe these practices as primitive, it is important to understand that these treatments, while ineffective, were likely based on legitimate observations and a humoral theory correctly identified the cause of disease as something natural, a concept which was unprecedented at its advent as the majority of the world would have thought that diseases would have been caused by punishment from the gods. This would be a crucial stepping stone to the development of our modern healthcare understanding. The sheer scale of new patients each day left tens of thousands of people in Constantinople without access to a physician. Many would instead turn to their faiths. The terrified people of the city would wear jewelry thought to have magical properties or use powders blessed by saints. These gestures would prove to be just as useless as the bloodletting. In contrast to their medical practices, the organization of the Byzantine healthcare system appeared to be far closer to our modern healthcare doctrine. Healthcare infrastructure got its start with the ascendance of Christianity and the Christian desire to create shelters for the homeless. As time went on, the church and philanthropists had funded the creation of hospices and medical centers called nosocomians. By Justinian's reign, nosocomians could be found all over the cities of the empire. Like our hospitals today, they would offer their patients private rooms and do their best to ensure patients were comfortable while ill. Nosocomians would also feature separate sections for different categories of illness akin to different departments in a modern hospital. When the plague struck, nosocomians provided consolidated locations where they could attempt to deal with the plague. Early on, Justinian recognized the importance of the nosocomian and would transfer court physicians and funding to supplement their efforts. In spite of their valiant attempts, the nosocomians and their physicians were almost immediately overwhelmed. Many physicians would bravely carry on every day to treat their patients in spite of the hopelessness of their situation. Many of these physicians would also end up meeting the same horrifying and painful end as those they were treating. With doctors inaccessible, many people turned to their superstitions and formulated all kinds of ideas as to what the cause of this all was. Many believed it was caused by a lingering miasma in the air, a toxic cloud produced by rotting flesh. Others believed this was simply the wrath of God. Regardless, towns people found themselves self-isolating for fear of being struck with the plague and on the occasion they did need to leave their homes, it would wear a name tag on their bodies in case they happened to drop dead. In spite of all containment efforts, the plague still ran its course, infecting and manifesting necrotic bugos before its victims expired. As the days went by, more and more bodies began to pile up across hospitals, churches, and graveyards. The stench of decay floods his nose. The nausea rolls through him as body after body gets tossed into the dirt. Too many for one grave, he thought with bitterness and pain. The town's hysteria is critical. Festivals and games have stopped and no one is coming outdoors. The pestilence is tearing its way through the city and its families at an alarming but methodical rate. Did you hear? Someone asks a nearby cluster of workers preparing bodies for the resting place. People are fleeing the country. Better air, they said. Clutching his cross and muttering a prayer of salvation, he gets back to work, blessing the dead before they are moved. He takes a moment to look out across at what seems like an endless wasteland, mass graves dotting the landscape all the way to the horizon. May God have mercy on us all. The pits have been dug deeper into the earth, but soon they will be full. There has been a significant loss of life already and the government was not prepared. If this is all they can handle, what are they to do if it gets worse? The workers continue their labor, casually tossing the bodies into the pit, occasionally pushing them down with their feet to make room for more. The callousness of the grave diggers is going against the very nature of the Lord. We are throwing salt on the earth and expecting it not to bleed into our hearts. We are corroding ourselves into damnation. The bodies are not being granted the respect they deserve for them to find peace. The faceless and anonymous condemnation of their immortal souls is bad enough, but stepping on them is disgraceful. The Father closes his eyes with regret. How are we to expect this disease to not claim our souls when they are spitting in the very face of God over our treatment of the dead? How can anyone possibly recover from this ordeal with their humanity intact? The bodies of the dead continued to accumulate. The Christian nation considered cremation to be a pagan taboo at this time, and the city folk were instead buried. Cemetery and churchyards quickly ran out of space, and the Empire had a serious problem disposing of the dead. Justinian ordered his armed forces to assist the Church in the digging of mass graves outside the walls to bury the thousands of dead citizens that were continually accumulating day after day. End of life processes had switched from being a religious right to a state run, emergency response. Hundreds would be buried in any space that could accommodate them, and the numbers of people filling the mass graves began to overtake the numbers digging them. Many of those who dug the graves would soon find themselves joining the dead in their final homes. As with the traditional graves, the mass graves soon became filled to the point that soldiers had to step on the bodies to pack them in, seemingly turning the burial sites into horrific wine presses found all around the city. The number of dead became so overwhelming that the city began packing thousands of bodies within the massive towers of the Theodosian walls, which dotted Constantinople's perimeter. A putrid stench of decay and rotting flesh quickly filled the air, lining every breath and strangling those who had not already had their lives snuffed out by the plague. Many of the living would soon find themselves also afflicted, the walking dead, sentenced to a week of agonizing torture before finding themselves eternally condemned to a muddy pit amongst their wives, husbands, siblings, parents, children, and fellow citizens heading shoulder to shoulder to nameless, faceless anonymity as they too became part of the continually compounding putrid maloder that was growing day by day. Ancient sources claim that upwards of 10,000 people were dying every day in the city of Constantinople alone. This is likely an over-exaggeration, and the true death toll will never be known, but modern historians estimate that the city of Constantinople would have been losing between 1,000 and 5,000 people every day for over 100 days. The plague would kill between 20 to 40% of the city's population, and thousands more would flee the city as refugees, cutting its population drastically. It would make its way across the city, infiltrating every store, stadium, dock, and home. It would make its way into stately palaces and churches, ignoring any barrier and guards. It would even make its way into the imperial quarters and wreak its havoc on the highest office in the land. Five days. It had been five days since he had last had a full meal. The soldier grabbed his stomach as it again began to rumble. He was in Naples, far from his home in Greece. It had been four years since he had been home, and two more since he had volunteered for Justinian's army. Now, he was tired. As he peered over the wall, he saw a sea of gods surrounding the city. There was no way out, and also no way in. Just a year earlier, these people were on the brink of defeat. The soldier thought to himself as he clutched his stomach. How could they have possibly made it this far since then? In the distance, he heard a commotion. Squinting, he could just make it out, some type of animals scuffling on the wall. As the soldier drew nearer to the disturbance, his eyes were met with rapid movements and the beating of wings. At his feet, later, rat, freshly killed and abandoned by a spooked raven that the soldier had just driven off. Five days, the soldier thought as his mouth began to water. Five days since his last full meal, the emperor found himself staring, staring up at the ceiling from his bed. He had woken up this morning with a splitting headache and a feeling of intense fever. He had spent most of the day slipping in and out of consciousness, not able to remember much of what had happened during the day. At this moment, Justinian could hear the murmuring of his courtiers as they buzzed in and out of his room with frustrated and concerned looks on their faces. He could also hear Theodora nearby. He couldn't quite make out her words, but she sounded distressed. It was so hard to concentrate, so difficult to make sense of anything. Damn, the emperor reached down to feel the lump that had grown under his arm only to be greeted by a shooting pain. Maybe if I just rest my eyes, this will all be over. Maybe if I just go to sleep, this will all be done when I wake up. As the plague ravaged the city of Constantinople, the imperial court was no exception. It was around this time that Trebonian, the jurist in charge of Justinian's legal reforms, disappeared from historical record. It is believed he died during this time of disease, quite possibly the plague, but we don't know for sure. Justinian had also been stricken by the plague, and was so afflicted that after spending days in and out of Delirium, he was rendered comatose in bed with the entire empire unsure of whether or not he would live. With the emperor unable to lead, Theodora was left in charge as the chief executive of the Byzantine Empire. Seeing the love of her life fall ill and on the brink of death, Theodora was completely beside herself and devastated at the idea of losing her husband. Still, the headstrong Theodora, as had always been her nature, would not hesitate at this new challenge. The empress was not about to back down and was more than ready to take on her new responsibilities. Immediately, word was sent out across the empire of what had happened and of who would now be giving the orders. By the time messages had reached Balasarius on the Persian front, the news had already been several weeks old and the shocked general had no idea whether or not Justinian was even alive. Balasarius, as it turns out, was not jumping for joy at the news that Theodora was now in charge. He was always highly suspicious of her and he had known her to be conniving and manipulative. No. Balasarius looked upon his new commander-in-chief with disdain. In the past, Theodora had meddled in the relationship between Balasarius and his wife and she had been responsible for the removal of Balasarius's close ally, the empire's finance minister, John the Cappadocian. Justinian's competent and trustworthy counsel was on the brink of collapse. Balasarius recognized Theodora's scheming for what it was, an attempt to hurt his influence in Constantinople and magnify her own. With some like-minded generals in agreement with him, Balasarius sought to curb Theodora's power at any given opportunity, especially concerning matters of the emperor. In the case Justinian had already died, they did not want Theodora to appoint a puppet as emperor and rule through him by proxy. Theodora was furious at this rebuke and tried to have Balasarius and his generals arrested, but she was unable to do so due to his popularity and instead seized as much of his property as she could. The world Theodora had inherited was a grim one. The plague was at its peak in Constantinople and it spread further out into Egypt and Palestine and to other major trade centers across the Mediterranean. The economy had ground to a halt. The empire's citizens were terrified to leave their homes and refused to do so except to dispose of their debt. Many vital laborers who were keeping things running were already dead with most of the rest petrified and refusing to work. The forges were not forging, the weavers were not weaving, and most importantly the bakers were not baking. As the plague tightened its grip over Alexandria, Constantinople, and the empire's other major cities, large-scale food shortages had become commonplace. While nowhere near the devastation experienced in the city's, rural communities were also hit hard by the plague. All over the countryside farmers were being killed by the dozens. Those who remained were hesitant to enter the cities due to the fear of falling ill. This made locally sourced food much harder to come by than it previously had been. With other communities in the empire experiencing the same woes, namely Egypt and Alexandria, who had been responsible for shipping grain to the rest of the empire, imported food was also far less abundant. The forces of famine and plague combined to result in a perpetuation of death and devastation. The issues facing the empire began to compound. Because of the death the plague was causing, the living became fearful. Because of that fear, people stopped working. Because people stopped working, society produced less resources, especially food. Because society had less food, people starved. Because people starved, they became more susceptible to the plague. It was a vicious cycle of death that showed no signs of relenting in the near future. Over time, as death continued to spike, the taxes the empire collected to fund itself ground down to a new low. The mass death and economic collapse that followed the plague saw many communities unable to meet the quotas the crown had set for them. The food that was being sold was met with dramatic price increases with farmers justifying the increase by claiming their farmhands had been killed by the plague. The economic catastrophe the empire was facing exacerbated other issues as well. The lack of funding, food and logistics breakdowns also struck deep in one other important group of Byzantines, the military who in the midst of all the death devastation and misery caused by the plague were still beset on all sides by opportunistic and eager enemies. Before the onset of the plague and before the Persian invasion, the Ostrogoths were on the brink of defeat and most of their territory had been taken. At this point, Justinian recognized the makings of a war with Persia. While he tried to avoid the war by sending messages and envoys to Kostro, Justinian understood that his empire was entirely vulnerable and that he badly needed to bolster his defenses in the east. To alleviate the pressure on the military, Justinian sent peace terms to the Ostrogoths allowing them to keep everything north of the Po river with the Byzantines taking the rest. The Gothic king, Vittiges hastily accepted these terms and it seemed all was going to plan but when the treaty arrived in the Byzantine camp for Belisarius to sign off, the general was shocked and hurt. After having experienced four long years of brutal warfare, having devoted a significant portion of his life to this project, Belisarius felt betrayed that he would not be able to finish his conquest that he was so close to achieving. To the dismay of his entire corps of officers, he refused to sign the peace deal and instead marched his army to the city of Ravenna and began a siege. The Goths in Ravenna were in dire straits since the deal fell through and they couldn't negotiate with Justinian anymore. Instead, they saw Belisarius, who they highly respected and thought, well, let's make him an offer we can't refuse. In exchange for the anti-hostilities, the Goths offered to make Belisarius, who they had a deep respect and admiration for, their new ruler, Emperor of the West. They had such a high opinion of him, that even the current Gothic king, Viteges, was on board. Upon hearing this deal, Belisarius readily accepted and the Goths threw open the gates of Ravenna, letting the Byzantine army in without a fight. Once inside, instead of taking up the crown, Belisarius loudly proclaimed that he would not become their emperor and that he never would. He had taken the city in the name of Justinian. You see, Belisarius was always loyal to the emperor. He never had any intention to betray him and was always on board with his plans. The only reason he feigned acceptance was to get the Goths to open the doors. Afterwards, the Goths were more or less defeated and had a very scant number of holdings and men remaining. It was a move of military cunning and brilliance that resulted in the bloodless capture of Ravenna, but it was also a serious political miscalculation. Justinian was trying to sue for peace in the face of the imminent Persian invasion. He needed Belisarius in Syria. They could have come back to Italy later. By disobeying his orders and staying in Italy for months, Belisarius had put the entire empire in danger of Castro's marauding forces who, during this time, had declared war and had already begun to loot and pillage the wealth of Syria. To add to his insubordination and reckless endangerment of the empire, Belisarius had accepted the crown. Even though he had ultimately gone back on his word, the Goths, who now felt deeply betrayed, wanted him as their leader and he had accepted their offer. It was all an uncharacteristic act of hubris, one which put the entire empire in danger in order to satisfy his own ambition. Justinian the whole time was in Constantinople taking notes of this behavior. While he understood Belisarius ultimately had not betrayed him, Justinian knew that if Belisarius did in fact want to become emperor of the west, there would simply be nothing he could do about it. Belisarius was in charge of most of Justinian's best troops and it would be very difficult to get another army together of that quality. A rift had begun to form between the two men and Belisarius's actions made it impossible for Justinian to truly trust the man going forward. With Belisarius now gone, the remaining Goths found themselves with the momentary reprieve from the massive pressures the Byzantine army had put on them and with a minute to catch their breath. Nevertheless, before Belisarius and his armies left for Syria, he had captured Ravenna and King Viteges was sent to Constantinople into forced retirement. The Goths were without a king and had only a couple holdings remaining. After a brief leadership carousel, they had settled on a new energetic leader, Totila. A shrewd military commander, Totila immediately recognized the vulnerable position the Byzantines were in without Belisarius and his troops. He had also heard rumblings that some new disease was spreading like wildfire over in Constantinople. Now was the time to strike. The Byzantines, however, were alert enough to recognize the threat of Totila. They decided to nip it in the bud and sent a force of 12,000 men to depose the new king. Totila, however, was not one to sit idly by. After consolidating his forces, he had only around 5,000 men, vastly outnumbered. He knew his smaller force could not simply outmuscle the Byzantines. Totila was no fool though. He had a plan. The two armies met near the modern city of Fianza, where Totila had positioned a small contingent of men in a hidden spot nearby. The Byzantine forces approached, swaggering with confidence and thinking they would easily wipe out this upstart Totila. But at the moment the main Gothic army engaged the Byzantine forces, the hidden contingent jumped out and charged into the back of the Byzantines with fury and vigor. Next, we all got to see who the fastest runners in the Byzantine army were as the panicking troops began stumbling over each other to get away, thinking they were surrounded by a much larger force. Totila's clever tactics had resulted in a complete victory. It was now his turn to prove his capabilities as a military commander. But Totila was not just a clever general, he was a shrewd politician, and it was his time to shine. He embarked on a campaign back down the Italian countryside. The plague was now running rampant through the empire, Justinian was plague stricken in bed, and the Byzantine forces could not compete. All the hard-earned years of Belisarius' progress were wiped out in a matter of months. But Totila wasn't just fighting with his army, he was also waging a propaganda war. Kicking the Byzantines out wasn't enough. He wanted to win the Italian people. His campaign across Italy was marked by generosity and mercy, where a city surrendered, he took them back with open arms. After a siege, he made sure the city folk were taken care of. He allowed enemy garrisons to live if they surrendered, and he was noted for his honesty and staying true to his word. At the same time, Totila was using the reputation he was earning to smear the Byzantines, creating propaganda to contrast his benevolent rule with the harsh rule of the now-lying Kometos in bed, Justinian. For the most part, people were buying it. They had been invaded by Justinian. The Byzantines claimed they were restoring Rome to what it was supposed to be, but it had been generations since Rome fell. At this point, the only thing the people of Italy knew of this so-called Roman rule was destruction and hardship, whereas Totila was liberating them and treating them with compassion. Finally, Totila found himself way down south at the city of Naples. Two weeks to take on Rome, he settled to take the next best city and began a siege that would last a year. At this point, if we take a look around, the scale and severity of the problems facing the Byzantines are staggering. Justinian was lying Kometos in bed at the brink of death. The Adora and Belisarius were at each other's throats. People were not going to work, goods were not being produced, trade was breaking down, tax revenue was at rock bottom, and hospitals were overrun. The military forces were overextended, dwindling, had serious supply problems, and they were beset on all sides by enemies. Castro was launching costly raids into the east and Totila had almost completely retaken Italy. The largest problem of all, however, was the humanitarian catastrophe that was unfolding. All of these issues had either been caused by or exacerbated by the deadliest pestilence that had ever been seen. Almost half the people of Constantinople were wiped out and the rest of the empire was not faring much better. In turn, harvests failed and famine was the new norm. It's difficult to truly picture how bleak the world looked at this moment. For a while, it may have looked like society would break down and that the imperial system that had continued from the days of Rome would simply cease to function in any recognizable way. But then, at the crux of it all, at odds with any reasonable prediction and at the dismay of many of his enemies, the emperor awoke. The plague had continued through the day and the night to present the empire with a terrible plight. The queen and the general were at each other's throat while the comatose emperor for weeks had not spoke. The Persians and gods continued to fight while the Byzantine chances seemed ever so slight, but Justinian's will was strong as an oak and against all odds, the emperor awoke. Hi there viewer! If you enjoy my content, please consider liking the video and subscribing to help the channel grow. Enjoy. Fatigued. Exhausted. Debilitated. Listless. These are a few of the words that described those who survived the plague. Even after recovery, the victims who had once been touched by the plague would continue to experience fatigue, the energy of their youth permanently sapped. Many would have difficulties speaking, their vocal cords damaged by the plague. Yet in spite of the plague's potency, in spite of all the potential complications and its horrific destruction of the body from the inside, it would not claim Justinian. When he awoke, he was older, now approaching his sixties. It was a miracle he had survived the plague at all. The emperor's hair had grayed, his face had become more wrinkled. Yet in spite of his more elderly appearance, the emperor had not lost a step. He was still as energetic as ever, his attention to detail never faltering and he continued to engage in the same behaviors of staying up all night contemplating on religious doctrine. Behaviors which perhaps in the minds of the day's conspiracy theorists lent some credence to the suspicions that Justinian was not actually human, but demon. But before we get too far, let's take a moment to remind ourselves of what was going on when Justinian awoke. 1. The deadliest plague yet to be seen had a stranglehold over the entire empire. 2. The immediate death caused by the plague contributed to large-scale food shortages across the empire. 3. The immediate death caused by the plague led to a dramatic decline in economic activity with the living barely leaving their homes. 4. The drastic economic collapse destroyed the empire's ability to collect taxes and the empire's treasury was virtually depleted. 5. The empire was having difficulty paying its troops. 6. The troops the empire couldn't pay were surrounded by enemies. 7. The enemies surrounding the troops were Castro who was costing the empire thousands with his pillaging and Totila who was successfully retaking Italy and winning its people. 8. Justinian did not trust his best general to handle any of the aforementioned military issues. And 9. The empire's best general and emperors had feuded and caused major discord within the government. Ok, you got all that? Wow, I think we can all agree it's really nice to not be in charge of all that. Justinian, however, did not agree and immediately set out to solve the heaping massive problems that laid at his feet. To be quite frank, there simply wasn't much Justinian could do to stop the plague or any of its immediate consequences, but the empire's financial situation needed to get under control yesterday. Doing so would at least help resolve some of the other issues. Before the plague, the tax reforms of John the Cappadocian had brought an immense wealth to the government, but it also gave Justinian the liberty to spend, spend, spend which he did not hesitate to do. He had become engaged in a number of wars which required thousands of expensive troops to fight. Many of these troops were now dead and needed to be replaced. This would not come cheap, especially given Justinian was already scraping the bottom of the barrel, and there were few living men left to actually join the military. In the wars, he had taken territory that was not currently turning a profit and needed to be sustained by the rest of the empire as they too were being consumed by plague and famine. He had also spent lavishly in the rebuilding of Constantinople after the Nica riots, most notably with the construction of the Agia Sophia, a building which still stands today as a landmark in Istanbul and a monument which was as expensive as it was massive in scale. Justinian knew he needed to tighten his belt and that the empire needed to be pulled up by its bootstraps. To begin, Justinian took a hard look at the empire's budget. Spending was out of control, and they barely had enough to keep the lights on. He drastically reduced spending on civil infrastructure such as building projects, road maintenance, and the civil post and courier service that had gone on in one way or another since the days of Caesar Augustus. These are important projects for sure, but we just can't afford to keep them going. Next on the chopping block was the largest expense of all, the military. Even since before the partition of Rome, the empire had funded local militias on the frontiers which in the case of an invasion would garrison nearby fortifications and try to slow down or hold off the enemy until a larger Roman field army could arrive. They were a pretty important part of Roman military history, but their days as an effective fighting force were long gone. Now, they could barely fend off a roaming band of marauding Huns, let alone hold against a massive Persian field army. Justinian took one look at them and decided, nope, he was done paying for them. It was far more important to pay the field armies, you know, the ones that were actually doing the fighting against the Persians and Goths. Still, this was easier said than done, and even with all the fiscal belt tightening, Justinian had trouble adequately paying his forces. As many people throughout history can attest to, not paying huge groups of guys with spears and swords is a bad, bad idea. Justinian also knew this, but there really wasn't much that could be done about it right now. He paid the troops when he could and they seemed to be okay with this for the time being, and hopefully soon he could make up for it. To go along with the austerity measures already taken, Justinian also did the other thing governments do when they need to balance their budget. Can any of you guess it? Yep, you got it, he raised taxes. Now the thing about taxation during this time is it was not an individual burden, it was a community burden. Justinian's tax collectors with tax communities, namely villages, based on an assessment of the value of their land, value in this case, meaning agricultural productivity, they would then tax the village as a whole. This means if 40% of the village suddenly died of, say, a devastating plague, the other 60% would still be responsible for coughing up the entire tax. There were other taxes too, but the lion's share of the imperial tax revenue came from this land tax. So, Justinian not only continued to demand the same taxes as before the plague, but ensured not a single couch cushion penny would remain uncollected as he bolstered the number of collectors under the ruthless leadership of his newest council member, Peter Burismis, who made sure everyone paid a little more than they do and didn't want to hear any excuses about plagues or famines. Peter Burismis also declared that they were done lugging around the Italian freeloaders and it was time for them to pull their weight. So, tax collectors were sent to the holdings still under their control to extract everything they could from the beleaguered Italians. In addition to experiencing years of hardship and the devastation of war, the Italians were now being thrashed by the plague and famine that followed. With the tax crackdowns giving them even more reason to resent Justinian, the remaining populace of Italy became further estranged from the Roman identity that was supposed to unite them with the Byzantines. Yet, as the tax collectors did their work, the financial issues began to improve. Now let's be real, this was an incredibly harsh taxation policy to enact on communities across the empire that had already endured unimaginable suffering. Oftentimes, villages whose populations were a fraction of what they once were had no way of meeting these quotas and many of their problems were magnified as a result of this. There was now even less money to go around for essentials like food. But, as the Benjamin Franklin quote goes, the only certainties in life are death and taxes. And here, that was really put on display. But I digress, Justinian's fiscal reforms for better or for worse put the empire on significantly better financial footing than it had been before, even if they ruffled a lot of feathers in the process. In the war against the Byzantines, everything seemed to be breaking Castro's way. Belisarius, who is now recalled, had been months late allowing Castro to thoroughly loot Byzantine Syria. The gods in Italy were thoroughly kicking the Byzantines' butts, and the plague was devastating the empire and a wreaking havoc on the Byzantine military. Belisarius, before being recalled and almost arrested by Theodora, had been a genuine threat to Castro. He outmaneuvered Castro on multiple occasions, stopping his raids, and had even threatened the Persian capital of Tessiphon at one point. He was now gone, and his military talent would most certainly be missed. Now, there didn't seem to be much standing in Castro's way. Perhaps he would start raiding Anatolia as well, maybe even marching all the way to Chalcedon, where he could view the great Theodosian walls of Constantinople from across the Bosporus. There was just one problem with this. Castro was terrified of catching the plague. Because of the hostilities between the two nations, trade and commerce between Persia and Byzantium was minimal. As such, the plague had a far more difficult time really crossing the border. For now, the Persians were safe. But just because there was no trade does not mean Castro had no contact with anyone across the border, and he was well aware of what was happening in Constantinople. So when I say he was terrified, I mean terrified. So much so that during one of Castro's raids, when the Byzantine sent diplomats to negotiate, Castro made a hasty and sudden retreat back to Persia when one of the Byzantine diplomats fell ill. No deal was made, no tribute in hand, Castro just packed his bags and left. Now that's not to say Castro was doing nothing. He made sure to spend as little time as possible in Byzantine territory, but his occasional raids were costly, and with this time he had entered the Kingdom of Lausica, who if you remember were unhappy with Byzantine rule, and he set them up as a client state of Persia. Now he was planning an invasion of Byzantine Armenia. It all seemed to be going his way. Suddenly, in the midst of drawing up these plans, the flaps of Castro's tent were thrown open. With a palpable tension in the air, a man rushed in carrying an urgent message for the Emperor. As the message was read aloud to Castro, his cheeks flushed with anger and frustration. In the south, one of Castro's sons had risen arms in rebellion. He meant to take the throne. Armenia would have to wait. As Castro withdrew his army to deal with his son, the Byzantines on the other side couldn't believe their eyes. They urgently informed Justinian, who without hesitation ordered all of his forces into Persian Armenia. This was it, Justinian's big opportunity to turn the tides in this war had arrived. With these orders, the Byzantine generals had begun their preparations. There was just one problem with all this. After Belisarius nearly took the Gothic crown while he was in Italy, a paranoia snuck its way into Justinian, a paranoia that he could lose everything to an ambitious general. As such, Justinian was wary of Belisarius and was hesitant to give him control of a large army. But this paranoia wasn't just limited to Belisarius. The event in Italy had made Justinian distrustful towards all his generals and he refused to give any of them control of large armies either. As a result, the invasion of Persian Armenia had no real chain of command and after the generals couldn't agree on what to do, a couple of them just rushed their armies in with the rest following soon after. The disorganized, uncoordinated mess was swiftly beat back by a tiny Persian force and the Byzantine hopes of taking purse Armenia were crushed. In the south, after dealing with his upstart, rebel son, and after the Byzantine's pathetic failure in Armenia, Castro felt emboldened with power and opportunity. He decided to launch another invasion into Syria as soon as he could. When the time came, Castro marched his army across the border to the most prominent city in the region, Edessa. He set his army up outside the city's powerful walls, trapping the inhabitants. But the city was tough, it's garrison, tenacious. They would meet Castro's fire with fire of their own, saling out to disrupt Castro's troops and make their lives miserable and even sometimes tunneling underground to set fire to the Persian equipment. Eventually, Castro assaulted the city. Tense fighting had erupted all across the walls and it was close. For a while, it was looking bad for the Byzantines, that the Persians might win and be free to march across Syria for a second time. But eventually, a horn blared, signaling retreat. The Byzantines watched as the Persians returned to their camps. It was over. They had held out. Castro's assault had been defeated. Having tasted defeat, the Shah knew it was about time to throw in the towel. He was able to secure some tribute from Edessa before he met with Byzantine diplomats to discuss an armistice. The diplomats agreed to meet with him and a short time later, a truce had been signed between the two nations. Relations more or less returned to their previous state, with fighting continuing between the Arabic and Caucasian client states, but the two great powers were not directly engaging with each other. With the truce and with some semblance of peace, Castro's army set out to return to Persia. As they crossed deserts and fields, stopping in towns and cities along the way as they traveled with the comfortable sense of peace that came with the truce, the enemy lurked behind them, slowly creeping in on the unsuspecting Persians. Soon, the comfortable feeling of peace would turn to terror. As the troops dispersed visiting their homes all across the land, they invited the terror with them. While they had been insulated for some time, there was no stopping it now, and the pestilence was knocking at the door here to collect its dues. Just as helpless as the Byzantines, the plague wreaked the same unholy havoc on the Persians that it had in Constantinople. Humming ominously as it courses through the bloodied blades of grass, the whispering wind flows across the field where the bodies lay. With a wet face, the Centurion gazes across the field where thousands of his comrades had been. Where men stood, nervous with anticipation, their hands trembling as they were racked with fear, they are now pitched over, dead, rotting, bloated and cold. What a terrible thing it is to win a battle. Hi there viewer! If you enjoy my content, please consider liking the video and subscribing to help the channel grow. Enjoy! So, Tyler was in Naples. His siege victorious, he was finally in the city. He was seen as a conqueror, but also a magnanimous hero to the people of Naples as the victory he achieved came without the spilling of blood. Instead, Tyler was able to secure the Byzantine surrender by offering clemency. Keeping true to his word, not a man of the Neapolitan garrison was harmed. Now, to Tyler was eagerly awaiting the arrival of a messenger. After taking the city, he had sent an envoy to Justinian, directed to offer peace terms. The stipulations were that to Tyler would keep Italy with autonomy, but in a subordinate and supportive role to Justinian. It was a generous offer that to Tyler hoped would bring some relief to the Italian people. He sat still for a moment, contemplating the offer. Had it been generous enough? Justinian's ambitions might preclude him from accepting any offer aside from full annexation. It may not be enough. Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted as a commotion broke out in a group of nearby soldiers. To Tyler rushed over to see what was going on. It was the envoy. They had arrived with a letter bearing the seal of Justinian. This was it. To Tyler eagerly opened the letter with anticipation, his heart pounding away. As the moments passed, the Gothic troops watched as their king's energy died down, his disposition going from eager and excited to firm and composed. To Tyler's peace offering was swiftly and utterly rejected. There would be no peace. Disappointed but not entirely shocked, to Tyler knew he would have to decisively win this war. And so, he and his army set out on the next phase of their campaign. Their target, the eternal city herself, Rome. In Constantinople, Justinian knew the situation was bad. His generals had been disorganized and thoroughly incapable of making any progress in defeating to Tyler. Now, with his loyal force, to Tyler was on the march to Rome. What was the point of it all if they couldn't even keep control of Rome? Finally, in the wake of his commander's ineptitude, Justinian relented. He knew what he had to do. Even though he did not trust him, Justinian knew his current commanders in charge of the Italian campaign were not going to get the job done. So, he called on Belisarius to return to his previous position and finish what he had begun almost ten years ago. He returned the property Theodora had taken and the general was given some ships and some men and sent back to Italy with his new orders. Defeat to Tyler. Early the next year, the famed general arrived in Ravenna to assess the situation. Unlike his last campaign in Italy, this time he only had a few thousand troops under his command, a shockingly insufficient force. Even with his newfound position, it seems Justinian still held some resent after all. And while Justinian most certainly did still hold some suspicions, the reality is that Justinian likely couldn't have given Belisarius a large army even if he wanted to. The plague had completely destroyed the manpower pool of the Byzantine Empire and they needed troops all over. At this point, they would continue to be at war with Persia for another few months and they still needed most of their forces in the east. Even after the troops was signed, the Byzantine-Persian relations would continue to be antagonistic and they would need to keep troops in the area to ensure Castro couldn't freely march across Syria as he had before. The troops Justinian had scraped together for Belisarius were already from the bottom of the barrel. For now, the hopes were for the military genius of Belisarius to compensate for the lack of men. Unfortunately, this would not be the case. Even for Belisarius, there's only so much you can do with such few men. What ensued was a frustrating multi-year stalemate with neither side being strong enough to take on the other. Tatila would take a town only for Belisarius to take it back a short time later. Troops would skirmish, but the armies would never meet for a pitched battle. Each side would send raiders to harass the other, attacking supply lines and burning the countryside to prevent the other army from foraging. As time went on, the war became uglier and uglier as both armies resorted to plundering, civilian casualties were mounting, yet no progress was being made. The city of Rome in particular changed hands three times, much of it being destroyed and as population more diminished than ever due to the constant conflict. After almost five years of this futile struggle, Belisarius knew he had to get more troops and he started thinking of ways to do just that. He didn't think he could convince Justinian because of the trust issues between the two men, but he thought of Theodora. Even though they had a strained relationship, Belisarius' wife was very close with Theodora. Perhaps the Empress could convince Justinian to see reason. Yes, Theodora, that was the way to go. Belisarius would leverage his wife's relationship with Theodora to get the troops he needed. However, a short time later, Belisarius received a letter that was most unwelcome and most certainly unexpected. Theodora would not be helping him secure more troops. The reason for this, you see, is because Theodora was dead. She had most likely died of cancer a short time before Belisarius' wife had arrived. After rising from the lowest depths of the social ladder, the Empress had spent 21 years on the throne. She had been highly influential and involved in politics, playing a key role in the administration. She had been a fierce advocate for women, had kept the Emperor from fleeing during the Nica riots, and in spite of the discord between her and Belisarius, had kept things running while Justinian was sick. While she had died, her legacy lives on, and people today can still see her menacing countenance peering down at them from the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. Justinian was completely and utterly heartbroken. While Theodora had serious differences in opinion to Justinian, and while she had at some point taken actions that harmed the Empire, Justinian and Theodora had genuinely loved and adored each other. After her death, Justinian could never bring himself to marry again, even though he would live for another 20 years. Instead of receiving reinforcements and in the wake of his failures in Italy, Justinian, at the prompting of Belisarius' wife, made the decision to recall the general. Setting aside his distrust, the grieving Justinian greeted the general with open arms, the two of them catching up and reconciling their relationship before the famed general announced his retirement from military life. For the rest of his life, Belisarius would play a small role in politics, before briefly coming out of retirement 10 years later to fight one last battle against the Hunnic army that had crossed the Danube. In this battle, Belisarius proved again for the last time his ability to win battles while being significantly outnumbered. While Justinian was distraught at the death of Theodora, not everything was bad news. The plague had died down in much of the Empire that had been afflicted over the past several years. At last, there was some light at the end of the tunnel, there was room to recover. And recovery is exactly what happened. Justinian's emergency tax increases and budget cuts had been responsible for keeping the Empire solvent. While some of these measures had been harsh, they were effective, and the Empire was in much better shape financially. While it's difficult to imagine life ever being normal, after all that's happened, with the plague dying down, some degree of normalcy returned, and the Empire got back to work. However, as they did so, it became apparent that yet another problem had presented itself. Across the countryside, the mass death had created considerable labor shortages. There were huge swaths of arable land simply waiting to be cultivated, but not enough people to actually tend to the fields. The rich landowners who controlled this land were dependent on its agricultural production in order to maintain and expand their fortunes. And, as a result, an intense battle for labor began between them, with landowners trying to outmaneuver and outbid each other for farm labor. The wages for poor farm hands quickly got out of control as the poor were able to demand much more than they could prior to the plague. As wages increased, prices did too to compensate. Suddenly, there was a new economic issue on the Empire's hands, wage and price inflation. Justinian attempted to stop this by enacting a wage limit, but, like others who tried to do such wage and price controls, it was more or less completely ignored. This wage war marked the beginning of a general agitation across the Mediterranean for more peasant rights, a process that would continue for centuries. Nevertheless, farm work and agricultural production gradually improved and people were finally able to again put food on the table. In the wake of the mass death, famine, and economic collapse that preceded it, peasants agitating for higher wages seemed like a much easier bullet to take. Regardless of their new issues, things were looking up for the Byzantines and at least the country was getting back to work in whatever capacity it could. Meanwhile, across the Persian border, the plague had taken root and was causing a degree of devastation that the Byzantines understood only too well. In the wake of the catastrophe unfolding in Persia, the king of Lausica saw an opportunity to revolt against Persian rule. Wait, hold on, I know just what you're thinking. The Lausic king, didn't that guy literally invite the Persians into his country just a few years ago? Wasn't he literally petitioning Kostra to go to war with Justinian so that he could be with the Persians instead? Well, yes, viewers, you got that right. The same king who had just revolted against the Byzantines seemed to have a bad case of buyers or mores and became discontented with his new Persian overlords. Now, he wanted to revolt against the Persians and go back to the Byzantines. Like, dude, we really don't care who you're going to prom with. Just make up your mind already. But in all fairness to the Lausic king, his kingdom was situated as a proxy state between two world powers who could both crush him. He needed to maintain some kind of friendly relations with at least one of them to prevent the other from doing just that. But he also needed to limit infringements on his kingdom's autonomy. Lausica was precariously balanced between a rock and a hard place, and both powers tried curtailing the rights of Lausica at any opportunity. So, it makes sense why the Lausic king was constantly on the lookout for a better deal. Nevertheless, the king was now begging Justinian to take him back and send an army to kick the Persians out. With the Byzantines recovering, and the Persians now worse for the wearer, Justinian felt obliged to reopen the war with Persia. However, this time, they would do their best to make sure all the fighting was done in Lausica. There would be no repeat of Kostros raids in Syria. With that, Justinian ordered his forces into Lausica to support the rebellion. Unfortunately, the same issues plagued the Byzantine forces that had during the invasion of Armenia. The Byzantine commanders were not unified, disorganized, and most certainly not of Bellosarius's caliber. Even in the Persians weakened state, they were still more than a match for the Byzantines, and what ensued was another bloody stalemate, which featured a series of failed assaults on fortified positions. The Byzantine forces would attempt to besiege a Persian fortress, only to have it broken up by a reinforcing army. The Persians would then launch an offensive of their own, only to be defeated and pushed back. This bloody campaign, just like the one in Italy, would continue for years. Personally, when reading these accounts and when hearing the stories of these wars in both the east and the west, my mind would continually drift to imagery of the First World War, a force of men led by incompetent commanders assaulting fortified positions over and over again, only to be repulsed each time the area and communities around becoming more devastated with each attack. On the occasion they were victorious, it would be at a horrific cost as thousands of men who had family, friends, dreams, and passions lay dead in a field, all for a few hundred yards of land. The folly that is war would be humorous, were not so horrifyingly tragic. Nevertheless, Justinian felt compelled to continue his wars and realize his ambitions for restoring the Roman Empire. The biggest problem for him was that he just couldn't find a general who he felt was both competent and trustworthy. He truly felt that he was balancing on the edge of a knife when it came to his military leadership, and he did not want an ambitious general to set themselves up as emperor. In his handling of the war effort, his first priority was to get the ball moving again in Italy. It had been years now since Tatyla had retaken most of it, and Justinian wanted to finally put the Ostrogoths down. Justinian realized that his policy of dividing the commands of his armies was not going to work, and began to look for another solution, but finding a good general was easier said than done. Justinian tried a couple options that for one reason or another just didn't work out, until finally, almost three years after Belisarius had retired, Justinian found his man, Narces. The reason Narces was the solution is because Narces, as it turns out, was a eunuch, and an elderly one at that. Because eunuchs cannot have children, they were seen as more trustworthy, so Narces had been involved with the government for some time. If you remember back to the Nica riots, Narces was the one to bribe the blue team to leave the hippodrome before the massacre, and he had served as a general for a brief stint in the first Italian campaign. Justinian felt that Narces, in his old age, and with no prodigy, was unlikely to revolt against him, and was comfortable giving him a supreme command. So that was it. Narces was appointed commander, and as the Byzantine recovery continued, Justinian was able to scrape together a force of around 30,000 men for him, which included a lot of mercenaries and allies from outside the empire. Almost 10 years after the pandemic began, and nearly 16 years after the war in Italy began, Narces set out to finish what Balasarius had started. With his new army, Narces marched up and around the Dalmatian coast and into Italy. After reaching Ravenna, Narces traveled south towards his target, Rome. He witnessed the legacy of the Roman Empire personally as his army marched to the eternal city using the old Roman highway system that had been in use for centuries, the roads. It seemed as though they were representatives of the thousand-year-old empire facilitating Narces and calling out to him as he marched to restore Rome to its rightful place within the empire. His army was strong. He knew Tatila could not simply ignore him. He would be drawn out and forced to face the Byzantine army. At a town called Tagine, the two armies met. Tatila saw that he was clearly outnumbered and needed to think of something fast. He had a couple thousand reinforcements on the way, but they were still a ways away and Tatila was vulnerable. The Byzantine army had infantry deployed on a nearby hill and its main force was positioned between the hill and a forest. They had the numbers and the high ground. He had his cavalry try to surprise the Byzantines and overtake the hill, but they were easily beaten back. After, he tried to open a dialogue with the Byzantines, pretending to negotiate terms all the while preparing an attack, but Narces was always on guard and did not budge. Realizing this wouldn't work, Tatila tried delaying the Byzantines with other antics until the reinforcements could arrive. Finally, they did just that and Tatila felt much more comfortable in his new position, but he wanted to wait until the best opportunity to strike. After some time, he noticed some movement in the Byzantine camp. It looked as though they were preparing to eat and rest. This is my best chance, Tatila thought, as he ordered his troops to mount their horses, adrenaline surging through his body. He ordered his cavalry to charge towards the Byzantine center, with himself leading the way. The horsemen were bolstered with confidence as they followed their leader into battle, but as they charged, their confidence was abruptly sapped from each man as they saw movement on both of their flanks in the forest and on the hill. Byzantine archers were filling the flanks. They had trapped them. Tatila had miscalculated and it was too late to change course. As soon as they saw the archers, Tatila's cavalry force was met with a flurry of arrows, piercing left and right. Horses and men were struck, stumbling and collapsing underneath themselves. It was a slaughter. The Gothic cavalry force was decimated and they routed. Narcies ordered his army forward, and when the rest of the Gothic troops saw what happened, they scattered. Tatila's entire army disintegrated before Narcies eyes. It's not clear what happened or when, but Tatila was found among the dead. The Gothic king had been killed in the battle. Narcies had won a complete victory. With victory in his grasp, Narcies continued on to Rome. The sacred city would soon be his, marking the fifth time Rome had changed hands during this war. He would fight one last battle against Tatila's successor, but it was futile. The Goths had been vanquished. Though it was the end of the war, it was just the beginning of the occupation, and Narcies would spend another eight years mopping up the remaining Gothic forces as they continued to resist in a regular fashion. In the east, the deadlocked conflict in Lausica continued even after Tatila's death. Time and time again, Persian and Byzantine forces would clash, each of them attacking each other in turn. Finally, a huge Persian force was defeated by the Byzantines as they attempted to capture the Lausic town of Vassis. Out of time and out of supplies, the Persians had to retreat from Lausica before the winter set in, giving over control to the Byzantines. Shortly thereafter, Castro sued for peace and recognized Lausica as a client state of Justinians in exchange for a small annual sum of gold. Breathe. Inhale. Hold. Exhale. The Emperor watched as the birds flew over the sea. Now at peace, finally victorious after a near 30 years of constant war, the Emperor felt as free as the birds overhead. He had visited these walls many times, and now he felt almost as if he were as old as they were. As his other companions had come and gone, as Theodora had lived and died, as the Empire's enemies had raided and pillaged, the walls had been his companion through it all, protecting him and keeping his enemies away. The one time the walls had failed him was perhaps the most crucial. The one enemy the walls did not keep out nearly brought the Empire to its knees. Woe to those touched by the plague. What could have been had it not struck. Constantinople, November 14th, 565. For the last 38 years, Justinian had ruled the Byzantine Empire. It had been a reign of great reform, great unrest, great conquest, and great disaster. He led the Byzantine Empire through some of the most difficult years in human history, but for better or worse, Justinian's leadership had seen the Empire through it in one piece. At any point and with the next catastrophe always lurking around the corner, his reign had been marked by the almost single-minded pursuit of one goal, the reunification of the Roman Empire, the melding of two halves separated generations before. It had been three years since the peace with Persia and the same since the full subjugation of Italy. In that time, with the help of some local sympathetic to Justinian's goal, he had also overseen the annexation of parts of southern Spain, while the Visigoths who had previously held that land were occupied with unrest elsewhere. He had beaten his enemies, settling their issues on the battlefield, and had taken vast new lands for his efforts. Now he was 83 years old, lying in bed weak from his old age. He knew he did not have much time left. It's interesting to speculate on what may have been going through his mind in these last days. Perhaps he was recollecting on the successes of his rule. In his first years, he had drastically overhauled the legal system of the Empire, and while there was initial pushback to these reforms, the changes he made were now well entrenched and accepted. These reforms were revolutionary in a number of ways and would continue to play a foundational role in legal doctrine in the minds of jurists and philosophers to the present day. Even in American law, these reforms would be so influential that portraits of Justinian and Trebonian are prominently displayed in the US Capitol, along with other important jurists. It could be he was thinking of his building projects. He had left his mark on the city through his revolutionary architecture and magnificent buildings, many of which still stand to this day, with standing years of plunder and conquest and outliving the very Empire they represented. Most prominently, Justinian's Aegean Sophia, built in the wake of the Nica Riots, became a landmark of Constantinople and still stands today as perhaps the most well-known feature of the Istanbul skyline. But, maybe he was thinking back to the Nica Riots and lamenting the catastrophic slaughter of his subjects that occurred on that dreadful day. The massacre of almost 30,000 people on the hippodrome would be a black mark of his reign and stands as one of the darkest days in the city's history to present times. With the legacy he would leave, the reflections of the dying emperor could perhaps be more numerous and bountiful than any other. Of course, Justinian could not have possibly understood the extent of his legacy while he was alive. We will never know his thoughts or feelings on his deathbed, but I find it plausible that running through Justinian's mind was a simple question. What if? The plague had struck the empire at perhaps the most inconvenient time possible. While his conquests were ultimately successful, most of Spain and Gaul remained out of his control. The plague had given the Goths ample opportunity to bounce back and it had seriously hampered Justinian's ability to fight. Had the plague not struck, could the Goths have been defeated in year 4 instead of year 20? If that were the case, what would have happened after that? Perhaps Justinian could have marched his armies into Gaul and Spain, lands once conquered by the great Romans of the past. Perhaps he even could have reclaimed Britannia, marching his armies to Hadrian's Wall and reuniting a great empire that stretched from Egypt to the North Atlantic. Yet these magnificent ideas did not come to fruition in spite of Justinian's every effort. As he lay in bed, the emperor began to feel a weakness overcome him. He knew that it was almost time, but he had one order of business left. The only other person in the room with him was a chamberlain named Calenicus. Weekly, Justinian called for his ear. Leaning over and listening with intent, Calenicus heard the emperor whisper, softly uttering the last words he would ever speak. After he had set his peace, Calenicus leaned back and sat still for some time, deep in thought, over Justinian's whisperings. As he pondered, accompanied only by the emperor's ever-fading breath, he noticed its rhythm becoming slower and raspier with each passing moment. A short time later, the room fell silent, leaving Calenicus alone to observe an eerie peace settling over the emperor, his exuberant energy finally dissipating. Feeling uneased, Calenicus rose, walking out of the room and into the next, where he approached the emperor's nephew, Justin. He informed him of the emperor's demise and that Justinian's last wishes were for Justin to take the throne. He would rise up and be proclaimed as Justin the second. The emperor is dead. Long live the emperor. Whether or not these were truly Justinian's last wishes, only Calenicus would ever know. Without any doubt, Justinian was an almost uniquely competent emperor. But as he put his empire on the path of reunification, he also put it on the path of instability. The new territories were never consolidated, and the state of the world Justinian had left would require someone almost as uniquely competent as himself to fill the imperial shoes and keep things together. Poor Justin the second was simply not the man for the job, and things almost immediately began falling apart as soon as Justinian was gone. Just three years after his death, much of Italy again changed hands as a Germanic group called the Lombards invaded. Justin the second foolishly prompted yet another war with Castro, who this time was far more successful. Lastly, the Slavs and Avars had begun crossing the Danube to settle into Byzantine territories, presenting similar issues that the Goths and Huns had created a few centuries prior. Poor Justin needed more armies than ever, and he needed them everywhere. But Justin would not get his armies. The plague saw to it that he would not. While it was nowhere near as devastating as the initial outbreak, the plague would stick around for two centuries. It would flare up, simmer down, and then flare up again as it wreaked havoc across the Mediterranean, keeping the population from booming like it had before. While in their time, the people of the Mediterranean had no clue what could have possibly been causing this illness, and no doubt explored many a superstition in search of the answers, today we have a much better understanding of what could have been at the center of this catastrophe. The culprit you're looking for is not found in a creation of man. It was not sent as punishment from a god. It's not caught after walking through a cloud of toxic gas. You can't ward it off with an amulet, and you can't be rid of it through leeches or bloodletting. In fact, humanity wouldn't have any tools to deal with it until the next millennium. You wouldn't know if you had encountered it until you fell ill, and it can't be seen without special equipment. What you can see, however, are those whom it resides within. The rodent, the flea, and the human. Over millions of years, life has evolved in different ways, for better or for worse. As complex species came into being, they became reservoirs and hosts for other types of beings too, namely bacteria. As some of the oldest forms of life, many species of bacteria have developed a symbiotic relationship with their hosts, each of them mutually benefiting from the other and enabling each other's prosperity. But sometimes bacteria develop a more malignant relationship to their hosts, a parasitic one. Sometimes these bacteria become pathogenic, becoming capable of doing terrible harms to those whom they reside within. The way these pathogens cause harms is, in simple terms, chemistry. Many of them will feed on their host's cells, turning what was once providing life into acidic waste. Others actively secrete harmful toxins. As they continue to grow in number, the chemical reactions they cause damage to the cells, tissues, and organs of their hosts, causing all sorts of issues that are often deadly. As insidious and evil as these pathogens seem to be, the pathogens themselves have neither a concept of evil nor even a concept of their own existence. The body is not completely hapless to this faceless terror, however, and once a body detects these pathogenic agents in its system, it will fight back by triggering an immune response, a highly complex coordination of different cells and proteins that work together to eliminate the invaders. Sometimes this immune response is toxic too, causing its own harm to the body, but most of the time the body's immune system fights the bacteria by producing antibodies, proteins whose job it is to identify the guilty pathogens and then mark them for the phageocytes, your white blood cells, to consume and break the pathogens down. If the phageocytes win, then the body often becomes immune to the pathogen, as the immune system is now trained to identify and eliminate the pathogens in a much quicker and more coordinated manner. But bacteria are always evolving too, and many have developed their own counters, becoming much more difficult for your immune system to deal with. Yersinia pestis, a bacterium commonly found in rodents across several parts of the world. For thousands of years, the bacteria likely lived within its rodent hosts, slowly evolving with the passing of each new generation. Like many pathogens, Yersinia pestis develops a sort of modus vivendi relationship with its hosts in order to survive. The bacteria in its host being prevented from attacking each other, the pathogen is allowed to coexist within the infected rodent. However, many newborn rodents within their populations are still susceptible to Yersinia pestis and the bacteria can cause symptoms within these susceptible rats that can be deadly to them. As the rodent population wanes and booms, so does the population of susceptible rats and the number of new potential hosts for Yersinia. But first, Yersinia had to figure out how to get these new targets, and the way it did so turned out to be catastrophic. After possibly centuries of having transmission difficulties, Yersinia pestis evolved to take advantage of the perfect vector, one which would enable it to jump from rat to rat in just a few seconds, the flea. As parasites who feed on rodent's blood, fleas can infest animals in numbers stretching from tens to hundreds. Where rats go, fleas will also go, and if the rat were to die, the fleas would leave to look for another. Yersinia found a way to take advantage of this relationship by using the fleas to hitch a ride to another rat. When a flea ingests the blood of its host, the bacteria in the blood would be ingested as well. Once inside, the bacteria causes different cells to stick to each other, forming a black biofilm in the fleas' foregut. This biofilm acts as a blockage within the fleas' digestive tract and prevents it from feeding itself properly. Eventually, the flea will lash out and hunger, jumping from host to host on a feeding frenzy. Most of the time, the flea will look for another rat, but if there are no other rats in its near vicinity, it will jump to another species, including humans. This is where things really start to get dicey. When the infected flea tries to feed on a human, it pierces the outer membrane of the skin, but instead of taking in blood, the flea will regurgitate the infectious biofilm and the Yersinia pestis bacteria into the bloodstream. Now in normal circumstances, Yersinia pestis bacteria have an outside layer of proteins which we call yaps for Yersinia outer proteins. The function of yaps is some more or less protect the bacteria from phagocytes. However, during the transmission process, the layer of yaps that were previously protecting the bacteria are shed when the bacteria enters the human bloodstream, leaving the bacteria vulnerable to attack, which is exactly what happens. Immediately, an immune response is triggered and the vast majority of the invading Yersinia bacteria are destroyed. However, there are certain macrophages that can encapsulate the bacteria but are unable to destroy it. The macrophages carry the bacteria through the body's lymphatic system all the way to the lymph nodes. At first, the bacterium is unable to harm its captor, but the macrophages days are numbered, and possibly just a few hours, the bacterium redevelops its anti-phagocytes layer, killing the macrophage and releasing Yersinia pestis into the lymph node. Once released, the bacteria begin to multiply and what we know as the bubonic plague begins. Symptoms appear in the unfortunate victims just a few hours later. The body recognizes something is wrong and again tries to coordinate an immune response, causing the symptoms that we typically see with it, fever, fatigue, aches, and more. The bacteria multiply within the lymph nodes to overwhelming numbers, causing the node to swell up into what we know as bubos that gradually become more inflamed and painful as time goes on. Eventually, the bacteria destroy the lymph node, cutting off blood supply and causing the noteworthy black necrosis of the skin. They then release all kinds of toxins which continue to break down the body, leading its host closer to death as time marches forward. It can spill out into the lungs and develop into what we know as pneumonic plague, a version of the plague that adds respiratory symptoms, making the plague far easier to spread and far deadlier, causing mortality usually within two days. After destroying the lymph nodes, the disease can develop into septicemic plague, the bacteria spilling out and infecting the bloodstream once again, releasing toxins all across the body in an infection that is almost always fatal. Eventually, the body will either learn to fight the infection, granting permanent immunity, or the host will die. The plague of Justinian that began in 541 CE would be the first of three bubonic plague pandemics, each of them causing a near apocalyptic degree of devastation and indescribable suffering. With that in mind, we have just a few questions left that need to be answered. Why here? Why now? And what happened after? Sicily, 536 CE, the onset of the Gothic War. During this winter, Bellasarius remained in Syracuse and Solomon in Carthage, and it came about during this year that a most dread portent took place. For the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon during this whole year, and it seemed exceedingly like the sun in a eclipse. For the beams at shed were not clear, nor such as it is accustomed to shed, and from the time when this thing happened, men were neither free from war, nor pestilence, nor any other thing leading to death. Five years before the onset of the plague, the year 536 was marked by one defining feature, one that remains foreign to almost every person alive today, the absence of the sun. Many would have panicked at the reality of waking up to a dim outline in the sky where the sun used to be each day. Others might have even thought this marked the end times. What they could have never known was that the cause of this existed possibly thousands of miles away, nor could they have known how close to the end times they truly were. The culprit of this phenomenon was the exact same culprit that caused the destruction of Pompeii over 450 years prior, volcanic eruption. Though historians do not know exactly which volcano it was, sulfate deposits recently found in Antarctic ice samples indicate the strong likelihood of heavy volcanic activity during this time. The result of this activity was a significant amount of sediment being launched into the Earth's atmosphere, covering the planet in ash and sulfur and darkening the skies, taking years to dissipate. The resulting state of the Earth is what we call volcanic winter. Now, you might be wondering why I'm talking about this event. After all, it seems completely unrelated to our story of plagues and emperors. However tangential it may seem, the volcanic winter of 536 would play no small role in the times to come, perhaps being the perfect case study for the butterfly effect. The volcanic winter brought to the world its own cornucopia of crop failures, famines, and other catastrophes, but the most noteworthy effect for us was an approximate 2 degrees Celsius drop in global temperatures. Xenopsila Chiapas, the species of flea that infects ratus ratus, the black rat. It bears repeating that where rats go, fleas will also go. While this is true in most circumstances, fleas also have a preference for temperature and will be much less common in territory that is uncomfortable for them. In this case, Egypt. Its temperature being too hot, it simply would not do for the finicky Xenopsila Chiapas fleas and they were less common in the area. Fortunately for the fleas, they would soon get their chance to see the great pyramids as, what do you know, a volcanic winter causes the temperatures to drop significantly, enabling the fleas to colonize the area in much greater numbers. At the same time, enjoying the lower temperatures, the population of rats in the area began to boom as well, many of which were susceptible to the plague. With the population of rats and fleas in the Nile Delta booming, the disaster had been written on the wall. Soon enough, the bust came and the susceptible rats began to be killed by the plague, giving Yersinia Pestis ample opportunity to jump to the dense human populations of northern Egypt which it did in droves. And while we're in northern Egypt, let's take a look at another crucial component in the formulation of the pandemic, grain. While rats will eat pretty much anything, they especially like to munch on grain and Egypt was full of it. With the arable floodplains of the Nile Delta, Egypt was one of the top producers of grain in the Mediterranean. If you remember, Egypt's constant grain surplus led to it exporting grain to the rest of the empire, especially Constantinople. With these exports, with these grain caravans and merchant ships, came the rats and thus Yersinia. So you see, the formulation of the first plague pandemic was not random at all. It came about as a sequence of critical events that no one could have seen coming. First, critical relationships needed to form between rodents, fleas, and Yersinia Pestis. Second, the conditions needed to be just right for these species to be in Egypt at just the right time. Third, Egypt needed to have the right goods to bring the rats aboard and the necessary infrastructure in demand for their goods to export the plague to the rest of the world. It's strange to think about. It seems so unlikely that something like this would occur, yet because of Egypt's fertile floodplains and abundance of grain, it's almost inevitable that something like this would have eventually happened. Ultimately, experts still disagree on where exactly the plague came from. Some argue that it came from the Eurasian step, but because of the path the plague took, it seems more likely to have come from a plague reservoir in modern-day Ethiopia, where ancient historians report the plague as being endemic to the native population. Regardless, the plague moved into Egypt and was exported to the rest of the Mediterranean where it wreaked havoc. From there, it moved into Northern Europe and Arabia, though in these areas it was substantially less devastating due to trade moving slower in their sparse populations. Eventually, nearly 60 years later, it's likely the plague reached China, as a disease was similarly described by court physician Chaoyuan Feng. Though it did evidently reach China, the densely populated region seems to have been largely spared by the plague since trade between China and the West largely consisted of goods like silk, which were not consumable by rats. As such, the export of the plague to China did not occur to nearly the same degree. The plague proved to be a grisly transition between late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Estimates of its overall death toll vary wildly, but range between a shocking 25-60% of the European population. The Mediterranean over the coming centuries saw a continued increase in peasant rights due to the continual high demand for their labor. Over time, the rich became poorer and the poor became richer, propelling into society a larger middle class. Eventually, the power and rights of the peasants extended to the point where they were able to inherit land, bequeath land, or simply leave their land for elsewhere. For all of antiquity, the Mediterranean was the seat of the heights of power and civilization. Egyptians, Mycenaeans, Macedonians, Romans, Carthaginians, and more all built thriving and prosperous empires which ruled, expanded, clashed, and declined all in their times. A short while after the events of this series, the Mediterranean flame would appear significantly dimmer than it had in previous centuries. Technological innovations led to an agricultural revolution in Northern Europe, with the populations there booming and thus shifting much of the balance of power northwards. Over the coming centuries, we would see strong, capable medieval kingdoms establishing themselves in France, Germany, and England. The Byzantine Empire reached the height of its territorial expansions under Justinian. From here, they would see a long and protracted decline, with many ups and downs along the way. Italy would be split up between numerous squabbling states, the peninsula not seeing reunification for almost 1300 years. The days of Mediterranean power projection were dwindling. Lastly, a new religion would establish itself in the Middle East and its devout followers who had been far less afflicted by plague and famine would find themselves stepping out of Arabia and founding an empire that would stretch from the Indus River to the coasts of Portugal. While there were no doubt many crucial factors leading up to these events, it's important to ask ourselves this. Would these events have occurred had the population of the Mediterranean not been cut to size? Would these events have happened or not for the plague? Well, it's been a long journey from where we began to where we are now. I first want to thank all of my patrons, subscribers, and viewers for all of your support along the way. Also a special thank you to those who have contributed to the project, I couldn't have done it without you. As for the series on the plague, it is with bittersweet feelings that I say that's a wrap. However, that will not be the last time we hear from our good friend of the channel, Justinian. While we work on the next big project, I have content planned to delve into some of these topics in a more analytic fashion. Until then, thank you again for watching, and I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season. Marcus.