In 2018, medieval scholar Michael McCormick nominated 536 as "the worst year to be alive" because of the
volcanic winter of 536 caused by a volcanic eruption early in the year, causing average temperatures in Europe and China to decline and resulting in crop failures and famine for well over a year.[1][2]
December 9 – Belisarius enters
Rome through the
Porta Asinaria, and the Gothic garrison of 4,000 men flees the city. He sends an urgent request for reinforcements to Justinian I, meanwhile preparing Rome for a siege, by bringing in great quantities of
food and other supplies.[5]
Winter – Belisarius sets up his headquarters on the
Pincian Hill, and repairs the neglected
city walls of Rome. He stations a 5,000-man garrison, of whom half are his personal bodyguard (bucellarii). To hold parts of the city, he recruits 20,000 young Romans to man the walls.
Summer –
Constantinianus, magister militum per Illyricum, retakes Dalmatia. The Goths abandon Salona and withdraw to the north. The
Byzantines rebuild its walls and reclaim the province.[7]
March–
April – Belisarius sails to
Carthage with 1,000 men, to suppress a
mutiny against Solomon. Meanwhile, Carthage is besieged by 9,000 rebels, including many
Vandals, under
Stotzas.
^Bambury, Pádraig; Beechinor, Stephen (2000).
"The Annals of Ulster" (Electronic ed.). Cork, Ireland: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College Cork. pp. U536.3n. Failure of bread.
^Earl Philip Henry Stanhope Stanhope (1848).
The Life of Belisarius. J. Murray. pp. 154–158.
^Ochoa, George; Hoffman, Jennifer; Tin, Tina (2005). Climate: the force that shapes our world and the future of life on earth. Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale. p. 71.
ISBN978-1-59486-288-5.