 The Emperor finds himself staring, staring out at the sea while perched safely atop the great Deadosian 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, yourcinea 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 A.D. 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 gonna 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. But 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 had 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. Wait, hold on a second. Okay, that's better. The Goths. 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 a 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, often times 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 On next week's episode, we'll find out just who the heck this Justinian guy is. What was he up to? Who were the people around him and who was his arch nemesis, always lurking around the corner ready to foil his plans? Find out next week on Contagions. Remember to like and subscribe to stay tuned. Starting after next week's episode, we'll also be bringing some extra content to you over on our Patreon. By becoming a patron, you can join us as your host, Sean Sharp, guides you through some of the topics that we'd like to explore more that don't have the time for on the main channel. Come get to know this time in history and these people on a more precise and intimate level on our Patreon. That's it for us today, we'll catch you next time viewer.