Timeline Thursday 14 November 565

Events on Thursday 14 November 565 1

• 565 Death of Justinian -- the empire overextended Justinian dies on 14 November 565, aged approximately 83, having reigned for 38 years. His legacy is paradoxical: he reconquers the Roman world but cannot hold it; he builds Hagia Sophia but presides over the plague that kills millions; he codifies Roman law but leaves the treasury bankrupt. His successors -- Justin II, Tiberius II, Maurice -- face the consequences: the Lombards take Italy (568), the Avars and Slavs devastate the Balkans, the Persians renew their wars. The great imperial overstretch of Justinian's reign leaves the empire structurally vulnerable to the catastrophes of the 7th century.