Justinian was one of the most powerful emperors of Byzantine. His goal was to restore the power of the Roman Empire and for that reason started a series of military campaigns to reclaim land that was once part of the glorious Roman Empire.
However once he started his campaigns a deadly disease appeared in the middle of the sixth century AD. It is suggested that the disease was brought through rats from Egypt and spread to the Mediterranean countries. When it reached Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, it is said that it killed almost half the citizens of the city population. Almost 50 years after the beginning of the plague the casualties of the pandemic numbered between 25 and 100 million in Europe and Asia.
A historian of that Era, Gregory of Tours, wrote that when the Plague started, a number of unusual events took place during the years of the plague. Brilliant lights appeared in the sky and other celestial phenomena. It was so intense that they believed that it was a punishment of God and was identified with the apocalypse.