The 540s decade ran from January 1, 540, to December 31, 549.
The 550s decade ran from January 1, 550, to December 31, 559.
Year 534 (DXXXIV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iustinianus and Paulinus. The denomination 534 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 541 (DXLI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Basilius without colleague. Basilius was the last person to be officially appointed Roman consul, since after this year, the office was permanently merged with the office of Roman/Byzantine emperor. Thus, from the next year forward, the consular year dating was abandoned. The denomination 541 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 544 (DXLIV) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 544 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 547 (DXLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 547 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 551 (DLI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 551 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 555 (DLV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 555 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 556 (DLVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 556 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 562 (DLXII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 562 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 711 (DCCXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 711 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
The Lazic War, also known as the Colchidian War or in Georgian historiography as the Great War of Egrisi was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire for control of the ancient Georgian region of Lazica. The Lazic War lasted for twenty years, from 541 to 562, with varying success and ended in a victory for the Persians, who obtained an annual tribute in exchange for ending the war. The Lazic War is narrated in detail in the works of Procopius of Caesarea and Agathias.
Gubazes II was king of Lazica from circa 541 until his assassination in 555. He was one of the central personalities of the Lazic War (541–562). He originally ascended the throne as a vassal of the Byzantine Empire, but the heavy-handed actions of the Byzantine authorities led him to seek the assistance of Byzantium's main rival, Sassanid Persia. The Byzantines were evicted from Lazica with the aid of a Persian army in 541, but the Persian occupation of the country turned out to be worse, and by 548, Gubazes was requesting assistance from Byzantium. Gubazes remained a Byzantine ally during the next few years, as the two empires fought for control of Lazica, with the fortress of Petra as the focal point of the struggle. Gubazes eventually quarrelled with the Byzantine generals over the fruitless continuation of the war, and was assassinated by them.
Mihr-Mihroe, in Middle Persian either Mihr-Mihrōē or Mihrmāh-rōy; in Byzantine sources Mermeroes, was a 6th-century Sasanian general, and one of the leading commanders of the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars of the time.
Bessas was an Eastern Roman general of Gothic origin from Thrace, primarily known for his career in the wars of Justinian I. He distinguished himself against the Sassanid Persians in the Iberian War and under the command of Belisarius in the Gothic War, but after Belisarius' departure from Italy he failed to confront the resurgent Goths and was largely responsible for the loss of Rome in 546. Returning east in disgrace, despite his advanced age he was appointed as commander in the Lazic War. There he redeemed himself with the recapture of Petra, but his subsequent idleness led Justinian to dismiss him and exile him to Abasgia.
Petra was a fortified town on the eastern Black Sea coast, in Lazica in what is now western Georgia. In the 6th century, under the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, it served as an important Eastern Roman outpost in the Caucasus and, due to its strategic location, became a battleground of the 541–562 Lazic War between Rome and Sasanian Persia (Iran). Mainstream scholarly opinion identifies Petra with a ruined settlement of Late Antiquity at the village of Tsikhisdziri in Adjara, southwestern Georgia.
Dagisthaeus was a 6th-century Eastern Roman military commander, probably of Gothic origin, in the service of the emperor Justinian I.
The siege of Petra took place in 541 when the Sasanian Empire, under King of Kings Khosrow I, besieged the town of Petra in Lazica, held by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. The Sasanians successfully captured the fortress.
The siege of Petra was fought in 550 AD, between the Byzantines under general Bessas, and the Sasanian Persian garrison of Petra in the buffer state of Lazica. The strategic fortress had previously been held by the Byzantines before it was seized in 541 by the Sasanian king Khosrow I, and his Lazi allies. This conquest gave the Sassanian Empire access to the Black Sea and marked the beginning of the Lazic War. After a failed attempt to recapture Petra in 549, the Byzantine emperor Justinian I sent an army under Bessas to retake the fortress. The Byzantine historian Procopius described the resulting siege in vivid detail.
The siege of Onoguris occurred in 554 or 555 AD during the Lazic War between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire.
