Byzantium and Justinian I (527 - 565 CE)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Astronuc
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
Justinian I ruled the Byzantine Empire from April 1, 527, to November 14, 565, during a tumultuous period marked by significant military conflicts and environmental challenges. His reign included wars against the Sassanid Empire, the conquest of North Africa, and two phases of warfare in Italy. The era was notably impacted by a major climate event in 536, likely caused by a volcanic eruption, which severely affected agriculture in the Northern Hemisphere. Additionally, the region faced outbreaks of plague, which contributed to depopulation and affected military campaigns and trade centers. The historian Prokopius provides crucial insights into this period through his works, "History of the Wars" and "Secret History," which present contrasting views of Justinian's rule. For those interested in a deeper exploration of this topic, a podcast series on Byzantine history is available, currently at episode 278.
Astronuc
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
Messages
22,355
Reaction score
7,176
I was listening to a series of videos (9 altogether) about Justinian and his rule of Byzantium, 1 April 527 – 14 November 565

It looks like someone rolled the whole series into one 7 hr-21 min video



There are references to plague in the region, which affected the armies, and particularly the major trading centers of all the major empires.

Justinian's rule overlaps with the significant climate event of 536 (ostensibly a huge volcanic eruption that greatly affected agriculture in the N Hemisphere.
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/536-ad-the-worst-year-in-history.1007021/

Parts of Justinian's period can be divided into:

Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justinian_I (lengthy article)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire

During the war with the Sassanid Empire, in 530, there was a battle of Dara in what is now the Mardin Province in S Turkey on the border with Syria
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dara
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardin_Province
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dara_(Mesopotamia) - back in the day

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_of_Justinian
The three great occurrences of bubonic plague, which may have played a role in the depopulation of some areas in the Neolithic period (~3000 BCE). "Research in 2018 found evidence of Yersinia pestis in an ancient Swedish tomb, which may have been associated with the "Neolithic decline" around 3000 BCE, in which European populations fell significantly."
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death#Previous_plague_epidemics

https://jmvh.org/article/the-history-of-plague-part-1-the-three-great-pandemics/

I remember getting bits and pieces when studying ancient and world history, but not a lot of the details (it was mostly names and dates, and snippets of events), which ostensibly would be covered in a university course in Ancient History - and probably one devoted to the Byzantine empire.
 
Science news on Phys.org
Astronuc said:
I was listening to a series of videos (9 altogether) about Justinian and his rule of Byzantium, 1 April 527 – 14 November 565

It is also a podcast in case you get hooked. It is currently on episode 278. I love it.
https://thehistoryofbyzantium.com/

Part of the reason we know so much about Justinian is the historian Prokopius. His “History of the Wars” is a positive portrayal. His “Secret History” not so much.
https://www.amazon.com/Wars-Justinian-Hackett-Classics/dp/162466170X/?tag=pfamazon01-20
https://www.amazon.com/Secret-History-Related-Hackett-Classics/dp/1603841806/?tag=pfamazon01-20

The episode on the plague is to die for. Episode 27- The Walking Dead
 
Last edited:
There is a neighboring thread Cover songs versus the original track, which ones are better? https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/cover-songs-versus-the-original-track-which-ones-are-better.1050205/ which is an endless subject and as colorful are the posts there. I came across a Buddy Holly cover by Eva Cassidy only to find out that the Buddy Holly song was already a Paul Anka cover. Anyway, both artists who had covered the song have passed far too early in their lives. That gave me the...
The piece came-up from the "Lame Jokes" section of the forum. Someobody carried a step from one of the posts and I became curious and tried a brief web search. A web page gives some justification of sorts why we can use goose(s)-geese(p), but not moose(s)-meese(p). Look for the part of the page headed with "Why isn't "meese" the correct plural?" https://languagetool.org/insights/post/plural-of-moose/

Similar threads

Replies
5
Views
2K
Replies
2
Views
4K
Replies
9
Views
6K
Back
Top