WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 6. CENTURY
Find out what all happened in the first half of the 6. century

Mercurius becomes Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy. (2. January 533)

Nika riots in Constantinople. (13. January 532)

Gothic War: The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison. (16. January 550)

Nika riots in Constantinople fail. (18. January 532)

Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (Breviarium Alaricianum or Lex Romana Visigothorum), a collection of "Roman law". (2. February 506)

Byzantine Emperor Justinian I orders the building of a new Orthodox Christian basilica in Constantinople – the Hagia Sophia. (23. February 532)

Publius Valerius Publicola, Roman consul, celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia. (1. March 509. BC)

Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges began the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his bucellarii are almost cut off. (2. March 537)

Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius. (12. March 538)

Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the Vivarium, by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas and Peranius. (21. March 537)

King Gundobad issues a new legal code (Lex Burgundionum) at Lyon that makes Gallo-Romans and Burgundians subject to the same laws. (29. March 502)

Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne. (1. April 527)

The daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei was made the "Emperor" as a male heir of the late emperor by Empress Dowager Hu, deposed and replaced by Yuan Zhao the next day; she was the first female monarch in the History of China, but not widely recognised. (1. April 528)

According to the Fasti Triumphales, Roman consul Publius Postumius Tubertus celebrated an ovation for a military victory over the Sabines. (3. April 503. BC)

According to the Fasti Triumphales, Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrated a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines. (4. April 503. BC)

First draft of the Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I. (7. April 529)

Siege of Rome: The Byzantine general Belisarius receives his promised reinforcements, 1,600 cavalry, mostly of Hunnic or Slavic origin and expert bowmen. He starts, despite of shortages, raids against the Gothic camps and Vitiges is forced into a stalemate. (9. April 537)

Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persian at Ar-Raqqah (northern Syria). (19. April 531)

King Sigismund of Burgundy is executed at Orléans after an 8-year reign and is succeeded by his brother Godomar. (1. May 524)

An earthquake kills about 250,000 people in what is now Syria and Antiochia. (20. May 526)