December 15 – Emperor Justinian I selects a second commission to excerpt and codify the writings of the jurists on Roman law. This becomes the Digest (Pandects).
King Hilderic is deposed by his cousin Gelimer after a seven-year reign. Gelimer restores Arianism as the official religion of the Vandal Kingdom and puts Hilderic in prison along with other supporters.
Justinian I sends an embassytoCarthage to negotiate with Gelimer. Gelimer replies: “Nothing is more desirable than that a monarch should mind his own business.”[1]
Hermanafrid, last king of the Thuringii, is defeated by the Franks near the Unstrut River. During negotiations he is pushed from the town walls of Zülpich.
January 11 – Nika riotsinConstantinople:[5] Anger among the supporters of the most important chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—escalates into violence towards the emperor. For the next five days the capital is in chaos. The fires that start during the tumult result in the destruction of much of the city. The insurrection is put down a week later by Belisarius and Mundus; 30,000 people are killed in the Hippodrome.
September – Justinian I signs a peace treaty, the "Eternal Peace", with the Persian king Khosrau I, ending the Iberian War (527-531). Both sides agree to return all occupied territories, and Justinian makes a one-off payment of 110 centenaria (11,000 pounds of gold), as a contribution to the defense of the Caucasus passes.
March 25 – In a letter, Emperor Justinian I declares the Bishop of Rome (currently John) to be "head of all Bishops, and the true and effective corrector of heretics."
Summer – Emperor Justinian I holds a war councilinConstantinople. His advisers warn him against launching an expedition to North Africa, because of the supply-lines (1,000 miles into Vandal waters) and the huge drain on the imperial treasury. Justinian appoints Belisarius to command the Byzantine army.
June 21 – A Byzantine expeditionary fleet under Belisarius sails in 500 transports, escorted by 92 war vessels (dromons), manned by 20,000 seamen from Constantinople, to attack the Vandals in Africa, via Greece and Sicily. The fleet carries 10,000 infantry, about half Byzantine and half foederati, and 5,000 cavalry, consisting of 3,000 Byzantine horsemen, 1,000 foreign allies (Huns and Heruli) and 1,500 of Belisarius' retainers (bucellarii).[7] On the flagship Belisarius is accompanied by his military secretary Procopius, and his wife Antonina.
September – Belisarius arrives at Sicily, which he uses as a staging area, with the permission of the Ostrogoth queen Amalasuntha, daughter of Theodoric the Great and regent of Italy. The Ostrogoths help him with supplies and the fleet is prepared for the final attack.
September 9 – The Byzantine army lands at Caput Vada (modern Tunisia). Belisarius marches his army northwards, towards Carthage (over 140 miles), following the coast, accompanied by the fleet and shadowed by Gelimer. During the march, the Vandal towns fall without a fight.[8]
September 13 – Battle of Ad Decimum: Gelimer attempts to ambush the Byzantines in a defile at the "10th milestone" from Carthage; due to inadequate coordination and the alertness of Belisarius, the attack is repulsed and the Vandals are scattered into the desert. Belisarius enters the capital and orders his soldiers not to kill or enslave the population. The fleet is stationed in the Lake of Tunis.
December 15 – Battle of Tricamarum: Gelimer assembles an army of about 50,000 men at Bulla Regia (Numidia), and advances towards Carthage. Belisarius moves out to meet the Vandals; he leads the Byzantine cavalry (5,000 men) into battle. Without waiting for his infantry to come up, he charges, despite odds of almost 10-to-1, and throws Gelimer in confusion. Belisarius captures the Vandal camp by storm. Tzazo is killed in an all-cavalry fight, and Gelimer is forced to seek refuge in the mountains of Tunis with the Berbers.
January 2 – Pope John II becomes the 56th popeofRome, and the first to adopt a regnal name upon elevation to the papacy (his birth name, Mercurius, being of pagan origin).
April – Belisarius leaves a small force in Africa under the Byzantine general Solomon, to continue the subjugation of the province. He is appointed governor (Exarch) and pacifies the Moorish tribes with success. Malta becomes a Byzantine province (until 870).
Summer – Belisarius arrives in Constantinople and is permitted by Emperor Justinian I to celebrate a triumph, the first non-imperial triumph for over 500 years. In the procession the spoils of the Temple of Jerusalem and the Vandal treasure are paraded.
Justinian I commemorates the victory against the Vandals by stamping medals in his honor with the inscription "Gloria Romanorum" (approximate date).
October 2 – King Athalaric dies of tuberculosis, age 18, having dissipated his youth in drink and debauchery. His mother, Amalasuntha, proposes to her cousin Theodahad, the kingdom's largest landowner and her father's last male heir, that he share the throne with her but that he will be king of the Ostrogoths in name only. Theodahad has secret conversations with the Byzantine ambassador, and promises to turn over Tuscany in exchange for a large sum of money, the rank of senator, and permission to live at Constantinople.
Gothic War: Emperor Justinian I appoints Belisarius commander-in-chief (stratēgos autokratōr), and sends a Byzantine expeditionary force of only 8,000 soldiers (half are heavy East Roman cavalry) to begin the reconquest of Italy.[10]
Justinian I issues the Lex Julia and declares that a wife has no right to bring criminal charges of adultery against a husband. This makes divorce almost impossible in the Byzantine Empire.
December 31 – Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Gothic garrison of Palermo (Panormos), and ending his consulship for the year.
December 9 – Belisarius enters Rome through the Porta Asinaria, and the Gothic garrison of 4,000 men flees the city. He sends an urgent request for reinforcements to Justinian I, meanwhile preparing Rome for a siege, by bringing in great quantities of food and other supplies.[15]
Winter – Belisarius sets up his headquarters on the Pincian Hill, and repairs the neglected city walls of Rome. He stations a 5,000-man garrison, of whom half are his personal bodyguard (bucellarii). To hold parts of the city, he recruits 20,000 young Romans to man the walls.
Summer – Constantinianus, magister militum per Illyricum, retakes Dalmatia. The Goths abandon Salona and withdraw to the north. The Byzantines rebuild its walls and reclaim the province.[17]
March–April – Belisarius sails to Carthage with 1,000 men, to suppress a mutiny against Solomon. Meanwhile, Carthage is besieged by 9,000 rebels, including many Vandals, under Stotzas.
Vitiges sets up seven camps, overlooking the main gates and access routes to the city, in order to starve it out. He blocks the Roman aqueducts that are supplying Rome with water, necessary both for drinking and for operating the corn mills.[22]
April – The Goths capture the Portus ClaudiiatOstia; the harbor is left unguarded by the Romans. Belisarius is forced to unload his supplies at Antium; he sends urgent messages for reinforcements to Constantinople.[24]
April 9 – Belisarius receives his promised reinforcements: 1,600 cavalry, mostly of HunnicorSlavic origin and expert bowmen. Despite shortages, he starts raids against the Gothic camps and Vitiges is forced into a stalemate.[25]
June – In Rome, famine brings the city to despair; Belisarius sends his secretary ProcopiustoNaples for more reinforcements and supplies. Vitiges arranges a three-month armistice for Gothic envoys to travel to Constantinople.[26]
November – Belisarius brings his long-awaited reinforcements, namely 3,000 Isaurians and 1,800 cavalry embarked in Ostia, along with a supply convoy, safely to Rome. The Goths are forced to abandon the Portus Claudii.[27]
December – Belisarius sends John "the Sanguinary" with a force of 2,000 men towards Picenum, to plunder the east coast of Italy. He arrives at Ariminum (Rimini), where he is welcomed by the local Roman population.[28]
Eastern Wei sends an advance guard of three army columns through the Tong Pass, to attack Western Wei. The Western army under Yu-Wen Tai defeats one of the columns while the others retreat. Yu-Wen follows up, but runs into the main Eastern army (200,000 men). The Westerners are pushed back through the pass, and the Eastern army emerges from the mountains. Unexpectedly they are charged in the flank by 10,000 Western cavalry, and 6,000 Easterners are killed and 70,000 captured.[30]
John Cottistis starts a short-lived rebellion against Justinian I. He is declared emperor at Dara, but is killed four days later by conspiring soldiers.[31]
Belisarius attacks the Goths when they have crossed the Milvian Bridge. After fierce resistance, Vitiges routs in panic, and many are slain or drowned in the river.[34]
Summer – King Theudebert I sends a small Frankish force across the Alps, and defeats the Goths and Byzantines at the River Po. Belisarius retreats to Tuscany.
Sittas, Byzantine general, suppresses a revolt in Armenia in protest against heavy taxation. During the campaign he is killed by Artabanes, leader of the revolt.[36]
The first time since the Emperor Justinian's decree of 533, making John (the Bishop of Rome) Chief Bishop of all the churches, that the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome over the Church can actually be implemented by Pope Vigilius.
^Hodgkin, Thomas (1885). Italy and Her Invaders: 476-535, Volume 3. Рипол Классик. p. 662. ISBN9785876357366.
^Isidore of Seville, History of the Goths, chapter 40. Translation by Guido Donini and Gorden B. Ford, Isidore of Seville's History of the Goths, Vandals, and Suevi, second revised edition (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1970), p. 19.
^Bambury, Pádraig; Beechinor, Stephen (2000). "The Annals of Ulster" (Electronic ed.). Cork, Ireland: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College Cork. pp. U536.3n. Failure of bread.
^Earl Philip Henry Stanhope Stanhope (1848). The Life of Belisarius. J. Murray. pp. 154–158.
^Ochoa, George; Hoffman, Jennifer; Tin, Tina (2005). Climate: the force that shapes our world and the future of life on earth. Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale. p. 71. ISBN978-1-59486-288-5.
^Bambury, Pádraig; Beechinor, Stephen (2000). "The Annals of Ulster" (Electronic edition compiled by the CELT Team (2000) ed.). CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College Cork College Road, Cork, Ireland—http://www.ucc.ie/celt. pp. U539.1.
