The previous part is here: https://bartoll.se/2023/10/history-matrix-part40/
All parts of this series can be found here: https://bartoll.se/world-playbook-quickstart/
In 530 AD, after a seven-year reign, King Hilderic of the Vandals was deposed by his cousin Gelimer. As his first act as the new king, Gelimer restored Arianism as the official religion of the Vandal Kingdom, putting any official supporters of Chalcedonianism Christianity in prison.
Emperor Justinian I sent an embassy to Carthage to negotiate about the imprisonments, but Gelimer simply replied that monarchs should mind their own business.
In 531 AD, the Frankish King Childebert I received pleas from his sister Clotilde, wife of King Amalaric of the Visigoths, claiming that she had been abused by her husband. As a result, Childebert invaded Septimania (Gaul,) and defeated the Visigoths at the capital of Narbonne. Amalaric fled south to Barcelona, where he was assassinated by his own men. Theudis, sword-bearer of former king Theodoric the Great, succeeded Amalaric as new ruler of the Visigoths.
In 532 AD, the Nika riots, one of the most violent riots recorded in the history of Constantinople took place during five days as anger towards the emperor Justinian I escalated into violence amongst the four ‘demes,’ the different supporter groups of the popular chariot racing games. The background was said to be part due to the extreme taxes implemented by Justinian, allegations of corruption, the arrests of demes supporters accused of murder, and Justinian’s support of the ‘blue demes,’ (Veneti.)
According to the account of Procopius, around 30,000 people were killed and much of the city was destroyed.
By September, Justinian I signed a peace treaty, the “Eternal Peace”, with the Persian king Khosrau I, ending the Iberian War (527-531.)
In Europe, The Franks continued their expansion as King Childebert I and his brother Chlothar I invaded the Kingdom of Burgundy. They defeated the Burgundians under King Godomar near Autun (modern France.)
In 533 AD, emperor Justinian I, after securing the eastern frontier with the peace treaty with Sassanid Persia and being displeased by the new king Gelimer of the Vandals, decided to reconquer the Vandal’s land of north Africa (once held by the Roman Empire until 468 AD.)
The Byzantine fleet, led by Belisarius, landed on the African coast at Caputvada in early September, catching Gelimer completely by surprise, and during the march towards Carthage, the vandal towns surrendered without any fights.
Gelimer tried to ambush the Byzantine army at the 10th milestone from Carthage, but the inadequate coordination and the alertness of the Byzantine commanders led to a huge defeat and the Vandal forces were scattered into the desert. Carthage was taken without any major bloodshed and the population was left unharmed.
By the end of the year, Gelimer had assembled an army of about 50,000 men at Bulla Regia (Numidia,) and advanced towards Carthage. However, it was said that the Byzantine commander Belisarius charged their camp in surprise with only a cavalry of 5,000 men and throwed the Vandal army into confusion and when the Byzantine infantry arrived, the Vandals were too unorganized to put up a fight. According to the story, Gelimer was forced to seek refuge in the mountains of Tunis with the Berbers.
Also, in 533 AD, the 33rd year which is a significant number to the secret societies, Pope John II became the 56th pope and was the first pope in history to adopt a ‘regnal name,’ an alias instead of his birth name. Also, he was the first pope to be ‘Chief Bishop’ of all churches as declared by law by Justinian I. And as you know, 56 is another very significant number to the Catholic Church and, later in history, the Society of Jesus, aka., the Jesuit Order. In our current modern society, the number of 56 has been used in several psy-ops orchestrated by these secret societies hiding their true identities and acting out on the world stage using puppets as shields.
By March of 534 AD, former King Gelimer surrendered and was taken captive along with a large number of other Vandal officials. They were taken to Constantinople for imprisonment. The Vandal Kingdom ended as the African provinces returned to the Byzantine (Roman) Empire. Also, Malta became a Byzantine province, and would remain so until 870 AD.
As part of the celebrations, Justinian I commemorated the victory against the Vandals by stamping medals in his honor with the inscription “Gloria Romanorum” (Glory of the Romans.)
In Europe, the Frankish kings Childebert I and Chlothar I continued their expansion with the overthrow of Godomar, king of the Burgundians, and thus ended the Kingdom of Burgundy.
In October, the Ostrogoth King Athalaric of Italy died of tuberculosis, age 18, having dissipated his youth in drink and debauchery. His mother, Amalasuntha, proposed 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 was displeased by that suggestion and held secret conversations with the Byzantine ambassadors to become senator and live at Constantinople.
In 535 AD, after failed negotiations, Theodahad revenged himself upon Queen Amalasuintha and had her strangled to death in her bath. The death of Amalasuintha gave Byzantine Emperor Justinian a pretext to invade and reconquer Italy. And thus, the Gothic War begun. Once again, Belisarius, the commander who conquered the Vandals, was sent with an army into Italy to begin the reconquest of Italy.
By the end of the year, Belisarius completed the conquest of Sicily after defeating the garrison of Palermo.
In Africa, Justinian I reorganized the province as an African prefecture, centered in Carthage. He restored the frontier defenses, and gave all property to the Roman Catholic Church.
Also, Justinian I issued the ‘Lex Julia’ where he declared that a wife had no right to bring criminal charges of adultery against a husband. This new law made divorce issued by women impossible in the Byzantine Empire.
It was also said that the weather of 535 to 536 AD was extremely dark and cold, the worst in 2,000 years, due to three different volcano eruptions.
By the summer of 536 AD, Belisarius crossed the Strait of Messina and invaded Italy. He conquered the city of Rhegium, and later during the autumn, the city of Naples.
By December 9, Belisarius entered Rome through the Porta Asinaria, and the Gothic garrison of 4,000 men fled the city. Belisarius set up his headquarters on the Pincian Hill and began reparations of the neglected city walls of Rome. He stationed a 5,000-man garrison and to hold the city he recruited 20,000 young Romans to man the walls.
Meanwhile, in December, the culprit of the Gothic War, Theodahad, was assassinated by his rival Vitiges who also proceeded to marry Matasuntha, the daughter of late queen Amalasuntha. Vitiges became the new king of the Ostrogoths and he began building an army to fight Belisarius and the Byzantine armies.
In 537 AD, by early March, the siege of Rome began. The Ostrogothic army of roughly 45,000 men under King Vitiges surrounded the city with seven camps — overlooking the main gates and access routes to the city, in order to starve it out.
By April, the Goths captured the Portus Claudii at Ostia and Belisarius was forced to unload his supplies at Antium. He sent urgent messages to Constantinople asking for reinforcements.
Within two weeks, Belisarius received reinforcements of roughly 1,600 cavalry, mostly of Hunnic or Slavic origin and some expert bowmen. They began conducting raids against the Gothic camps and forced Vitiges into a stalemate.
By November, more reinforcements safely arrived to Rome along with a supply convoy of food and goods. The Goths were forced to leave Portus Claudii.
By December, Belisarius sent John “the Sanguinary” with a force of 2,000 men towards Picenum, to plunder the east coast of Italy. As John arrived at Ariminum (Rimini,) he was welcomed by the local Roman population who had grew tired of the Ostrogothic rule.
In 538 AD, around mid-March, King Vitiges of the Ostrogoths ended his siege (after 374 days) and abandoned Rome. Belisarius seized the opportunity and followed them. As the Goths crossed the Milvian Bridge, Belisarius attacked and Vitiges escaped in panic while many of his soldiers were either killed or drowned in the river.
After escaping the attack, Vitiges strengthened the garrisons of various towns and besieged Ariminum, currently held by forces left by Belisarius. Meanwhile, Belisarius secured Liguria and Mediolanum (modern Milan.)
By summer, the Franks seized the opportunity of the war and a small Frankish force crossed the Alps and defeated both the Goths and Byzantines at the River Po. Belisarius retreated to Tuscany.
In Africa, as a result of the persecutions by the Byzantine Empire and their Catholic Church, the Monophysite Christians established the Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria.
Meanwhile, The Third Council of Orléans took place, where the rewriting of Christianity continued by the Roman Catholic influence, as rural labor was prohibited on Sundays. This was a continuation of Constantine I’s legislation in 321 AD, and later the Council of Laodicea’s ruling from 363 AD were resting on the Sabbath on Saturdays were forbidden, restricting Christians to honoring the Lord solely on Sundays (Sun worship, as in honoring Lucifer.)
In 539 AD, The Goths and the Burgundians recaptured Mediolanum (present-day Milan,) after many months of siege, as the city reached a point of severe starvation. The Byzantine garrison of around 1,000 men surrendered and was spared. However, according to the records of Procopius, the 300,000 inhabitants were all massacred and the city itself was destroyed.
Meanwhile, Belisarius, still besieging Ravenna, negotiated a treaty with Theodebert I and the Franks retreated to Gaul. The Byzantine fleet controlled the Adriatic Sea and blockaded the port of the capital from supplies.
In 540 AD, Emperor Justinian I offered to make peace with Vitiges and the Ostrogoths, but Belisarius refused to deliver the message. Instead, due to his prowess on the battle field, the Ostrogoths offered to support Belisarius as emperor of the West.
By May, Belisarius conquered Mediolanum (Milan) and the Gothic capital of Ravenna. Vitiges and his wife Matasuntha were taken as captives and sent to Constantinople. Belisarius consolidated Italy and began mopping-up operations, capturing the Gothic fortifications. However, northern Italy remained in control of the Ostrogoths and Ildibad succeeded Vitiges as the new King.
In Britannia, various kingdoms were united by one ruler, as in a ‘High King’ or ‘Overlord.’ However, in other parts of Britain, wars were still fought for control.
In Italy, former Roman statesman Cassiodorus established a monastery at his estate — The Vivarium “monastery school.” It was a kind of forerunner for secret societies and allegedly formed to accommodate highly educated and sophisticated men who dedicated their lives to copy sacred and secular manuscripts. This would later become the foundation of some of the work monks did for the Catholic Church.