Directory

534 CE

King Gelimer surrenders to Belisarius, after spending a winter in the mountains of Numidia. He and large numbers of captured Vandals are transported to Constantinople. The Vandal Kingdom ends, and the African provinces return to the Byzantine Empire. 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). 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.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • 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).source
  • Toledo becomes the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom that controls the Iberian Peninsula. King Theudis expands Visigoth rule in the southern regions (Hispania Baetica).source
  • Cynric becomes king of Wessex.source

Conflict & Security

  • March – King Gelimer surrenders to Belisarius, after spending a winter in the mountains of Numidia. He and large numbers of captured Vandals are transported to Constantinople. The Vandal Kingdom ends, and the African provinces return to the Byzantine Empire.source
  • The Frankish kings Childebert I and Chlothar I overthrow Godomar, king of the Burgundians, and end the Kingdom of Burgundy.source

Religion & Belief

  • January 1 – Decius Paulinus enters the office of consul (the last to hold this office in the West).source
  • Justinian I commemorates the victory against the Vandals by stamping medals in his honor with the inscription "Gloria Romanorum" (approximate date).source

Culture & Society

  • November 16 – A second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published.source
  • 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.source

Births

  • Liu Jingyan, empress of the Chen dynasty (d. 616)source
  • Ming Di, emperor of the Northern Zhou (d. 560)source
  • Leander, bishop of Seville (approximate date)source
  • Taliesin, Welsh poet (approximate date)source

Deaths

  • 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.source
  • October 2 – Athalaric, king of the Ostrogothssource
  • Anthemius of Tralles, architect and mathematician (approximate date)source
  • Marcellinus Comes, Latin chronicler (approximate date)source
  • Theuderic I, king of Austrasia (or 533)source