 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 precede 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 advisers 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, flooded 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 murderers, 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 murderers 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 murderers 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. Ni-ka! Ni-ka! 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 side of 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 Deems, the chariot racing factions. The wealthy aristocrats were gone and the Deems 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. To get 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 Goths 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 Caesar's 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. 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 and death. On next week's episode, we will take a look at what prompted Castro to invade. Was he mad? Insane? We'll also for the first time get to meet the third opponent, the pestilence. What kind of havoc would it unleash? Join us as we get a look at the devastation it's capable of and begin to understand the experience that might have been had living through this horror. This week over on Patreon, our host, Sean, is going to be bringing us to Constantinople. What were the origins of this fabled city? Why was it located where it was? And what was the value of its position? By becoming a patron, you can have all these questions answered and more with the extended discussions by Sean Sharp. That's it for us today. We'll catch you next time, viewer.