 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 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. Out his feet, laid a 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' close ally, the Empire's finance minister, John the Cappadocian. Justinian's competent and trustworthy council 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 cities, rural communities were also hit hard by the plague. All over the countryside farmers were being killed by the dozens and 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 Castro, 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, Viteges, 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 core 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 a 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 Fayenza, 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 plagues 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 comatose 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 comatose in bed at the brink of death. Diodora 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. On next week's episode, join us as Justinian, well, awakens. What is he going to do about the heaping mess of problems laying at his feet? Is society going to completely collapse? Or will Justinian be able to keep the ship floating? To find out, tune in next week to Contagions. Be sure to subscribe to stay tuned, and like the video to help the channel grow. Over on Patreon, your host Sean Sharp will be regularly posting content that delves deeper into some of the subjects we would like to explore further but don't have time for on the YouTube channel. Go check it out and become a patron for more content and to support the channel. That's it for us today. We'll catch you next time, viewer.