Note 14 — Chapter IV · THE LATER YEARS OF JUSTINIAN’S REIGN [535-565 A.D.]

[“With the conquest of Rome by Belisarius,” says Finlay,b “the history of the ancient city may be considered as terminating; and with his defence against Witiges commences the history of the Middle Ages—of the time of destruction and change.” Similarly, though from different reasons, Burye says of the plague of 542 A.D., “If we may speak of watersheds in history, this plague marks the watershed of what we call the ancient and what we call the mediæval age. Really nothing is more striking than the difference between the first half and the last half of Justinian’s reign.”]