Editing Justinian I (section)

==Natural disasters==
{{main|551 Beirut earthquake|Extreme weather events of 535–536|Plague of Justinian}}
[[File:Mosaic of Justinian I - Sant'Apoilinare Nuovo - Ravenna 2016.png|thumb|An older Justinian; mosaic in [[Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo]], Ravenna (possibly a modified portrait of [[Theodoric the Great|Theodoric]])]]

The [[extreme weather events of 535–536]] led to a famine such as had not been recorded before, affecting both Europe and the Middle East.<ref name=AL>{{cite journal |last1=Gibbons |first1=Ann |title=Why 536 was 'the worst year to be alive' |journal=Science |date=15 November 2018 |doi=10.1126/science.aaw0632 |s2cid=189287084 }}</ref> These events may have been caused by an atmospheric dust veil resulting from a large [[Types of volcanic eruptions|volcanic eruption]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Larsen |first1=L. B. |title=New ice core evidence for a volcanic cause of the A.D. 536 dust veil |journal=Geophys. Res. Lett. |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=L04708 |year=2008 |doi=10.1029/2007GL032450 |last2=Vinther |first2=B. M. |last3=Briffa |first3=K. R. |last4=Melvin |first4=T. M. |last5=Clausen |first5=H. B. |last6=Jones |first6=P. D. |last7=Siggaard-Andersen |first7=M.-L. |last8=Hammer |first8=C. U. |last9=Eronen |first9=M. |last10=Grudd |first10=H. |last11=Gunnarson |first11=B. E. |last12=Hantemirov |first12=R. M. |last13=Naurzbaev |first13=M. M. |last14=Nicolussi |first14=K. |bibcode=2008GeoRL..35.4708L |display-authors=8 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Than, Ker |title=Slam dunks from space led to hazy shade of winter |journal=New Scientist |volume=201 |issue=2689 |pages=9 |date=3 January 2009 |bibcode=2009NewSc.201....9P |doi=10.1016/S0262-4079(09)60069-5}}</ref>

The historian Procopius recorded in 536 in his work on the [[Vandalic War]] "during this year a most dread portent took place. For the sun gave forth its light without brightness … and it seemed exceedingly like the sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Procopius |last2=Dewing |first2=Henry Bronson, trans. |title=Procopius |date=1916 |publisher=William Heinemann |location=London, England |volume=2: History of the [Vandalic] Wars, Books III and IV |page=329 |isbn=978-0-674-99054-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=szQjAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA329 |access-date=3 October 2021 |archive-date=11 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011072516/https://books.google.com/books?id=szQjAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA329#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Ochoa, George |author2=Jennifer Hoffman |author3=Tina Tin |title=Climate: the force that shapes our world and the future of life on earth |publisher=Rodale |location=Emmaus, PA |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-59486-288-5}}</ref>

The causes of these disasters are not precisely known, but volcanoes at the [[Rabaul caldera]], [[Lake Ilopango]], [[Krakatoa]], or, according to a recent finding, in [[Iceland]] are suspected.<ref name=AL/>

Seven years later in 542, a devastating outbreak of [[Bubonic Plague]], known as the [[Plague of Justinian]], was traditionally believed to have killed tens of millions, second only to [[Black Death]] of the 14th century. Justinian and members of his court were afflicted, with Justinian himself contracting and surviving the pestilence. The impact of this outbreak of plague has recently been disputed, since evidence for tens of millions dying is uncertain.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mordechai|first1=Lee|last2=Eisenberg|first2=Merle|last3=Newfield|first3=Timothy P.|last4=Izdebski|first4=Adam|last5=Kay|first5=Janet E.|last6=Poinar|first6=Hendrik|date=27 November 2019|title=The Justinianic Plague: An inconsequential pandemic?|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=116|issue=51|pages=25546–25554|language=en|doi=10.1073/pnas.1903797116|issn=0027-8424|pmid=31792176|pmc=6926030|bibcode=2019PNAS..11625546M |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mordechai|first1=Lee|last2=Eisenberg|first2=Merle|date=1 August 2019|title=Rejecting Catastrophe: The Case of the Justinianic Plague|journal=Past & Present|language=en|issue=244|pages=3–50|doi=10.1093/pastj/gtz009|issn=0031-2746}}</ref>

In July 551, the [[551 Beirut earthquake|Beirut earthquake]] struck the eastern Mediterranean and triggered a tsunami. The combined fatalities of both events likely exceeded 30,000, with tremors felt from Antioch to Alexandria.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sbeinati|first1=M. R.|last2=Darawcheh|first2=R.|last3=Mouty|first3=M.|date=25 December 2005|title=The historical earthquakes of Syria: an analysis of large and moderate earthquakes from 1365 B.C. to 1900 A.D.|url=https://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/view/3206|journal=Annals of Geophysics|language=en|volume=48|issue=3|doi=10.4401/ag-3206|issn=2037-416X|doi-access=free|access-date=24 December 2021|archive-date=20 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120234748/https://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/view/3206|url-status=live}}</ref>