Editing 551

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Year '''551''' ('''[[Roman numerals|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.

== Events ==
<onlyinclude>

=== By place ===

==== Byzantine Empire ====
* After the death of his cousin [[Germanus (cousin of Justinian I)|Germanus]], [[Justinian I]] appoints [[Narses]] new supreme commander, and returns to [[Italy]]. In [[Salona]] on the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]] coast, he assembles a [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] expeditionary force totaling 20,000 or possibly 30,000 men and a contingent of foreign allies, notably [[Lombards]], [[Heruli|Heruls]] and [[Bulgars]].<ref name="Norwich251">J.Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Early Centuries'', p. 251</ref>  
* [[Gothic War (535-554)|Gothic War]]: Narses arrives in [[Venice|Venetia]] and discovers that a powerful [[Ostrogoths|Gothic]]-[[Franks|Frank]] army (50,000 men), under joint command of the kings [[Totila]] and [[Theudebald]], has blocked the principal route to the [[Po Valley]]. Not wishing to engage such a formidable force and confident that the Franks would avoid a direct confrontation, Narses skirts the [[lagoon]]s along the Adriatic shore, by using vessels to [[Leapfrogging (strategy)|leapfrog]] his army from point to point along the coast. In this way he arrives at the capital [[Ravenna]] without encountering any opposition. He attacks and crushes a small [[Goths|Gothic]] force at Ariminum (modern [[Rimini]]).
*Spring &ndash; The [[551 Malian Gulf earthquake]] takes place in the vicinity of the [[Malian Gulf]]; it affects the cities of [[Echinus (Thessaly)|Echinus]] and [[Tarphe]].<ref name="Antonopoulos">Antonopoulos, 1980</ref>
* [[July 9]] &ndash; [[Beirut]] is destroyed by an [[551 Beirut earthquake|earthquake and tsunami]]. Its [[epicenter]] has an estimated magnitude of about 7.2 or 7.6, and according to reports of [[Antoninus of Piacenza (pilgrim)|Antoninus of Piacenza]], Christian [[pilgrim]], some 30,000 people are killed.<ref name="Sbeinati">{{cite journal|last=Sbeinati|first=M.R.|author2=Darawcheh R. & Mouty M|year=2005|title=The historical earthquakes of Syria: an analysis of large and moderate earthquakes from 1365 B.C. to 1900 A.D.|journal=Annals of Geophysics|volume=48|issue=3|pages=347–435|url=http://www.earth-prints.org/bitstream/2122/908/1/01Sbeinati.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.earth-prints.org/bitstream/2122/908/1/01Sbeinati.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=2 March 2011}}</ref>
* Autumn &ndash; [[Battle of Sena Gallica (551)|Battle of Sena Gallica]]: The [[Byzantine navy|Byzantine fleet]] (50 warships) destroys the Gothic naval force under [[Indulf (6th century)|Indulf]] near Sena Gallica ([[Senigallia]]), some 17 miles (27 km) north of [[Ancona]]. It marks the end of the Gothic supremacy in the [[Mediterranean Sea]].

==== Europe ====
* [[Athanagild]] revolts against the [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] king [[Agila I|Agila]]. Their armies meet at [[Seville]] ([[Andalusia]]), and Agila is defeated.<ref>Isidore of Seville, ''[[Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum]]'', chapter 46. Translation by Guido Donini and Gordon B. Ford, ''Isidore of Seville's History of the Goths, Vandals, and Suevi'', second revised edition (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1970), p. 22</ref>
* 12,000 Kutrigurs appear in Europe led by Chinialus and others to assist the Gepids.

==== Persia ====

* Spring &ndash; [[Lazic War]] - [[Siege of Petra (550–551)]]: The [[Byzantine army]] and their [[Sabir people|Sabir]] allies (some 6,000 men) under [[Bessas (magister militum)|Bessas]] recapture the strategic Byzantine fortress of [[Petra, Lazica|Petra]], located on the coast of the [[Black Sea]]. He orders the [[Defensive wall|city walls]] razed to the ground.<ref>Bury (1958), p. 116</ref><ref>Greatrex & Lieu (2002), p. 118-119</ref>

==== Asia ====
* Autumn &ndash; [[Xiao Dong]], great-nephew of the rebellious general [[Hou Jing]], succeeds [[Emperor Jianwen of Liang|Jianwen Di]] as emperor of the [[Liang Dynasty]]. Xiao Dong has no real power and Hou Jing controls the imperial government at the capital [[Jiankang]].
* [[Bumin Qaghan]], chieftain of the [[Göktürks]], founds the [[Qaghans of the Turkic khaganates|Turkic Khaganate]]. He unites the local [[Turkic people|Turkic tribes]] and throws off the yoke of [[Rouran Khaganate|Rouran]] domination.

=== By topic ===

==== Arts and sciences ====
* [[Jordanes]], Roman [[bureaucrat]], publishes ''[[Getica|"The Origin and Deeds of the Goths"]]'' (approximate date).
</onlyinclude>

== Births ==
* [[Empress Ashina|Ashina]], empress of [[Northern Zhou]] (d. [[582]])
* [[Babai the Great]], [[Church Fathers|church father]] and [[Theology|theologian]] (approximate date) 
* [[Germanus (Caesar)|Germanus]], Byzantine [[pretender]] (approximate date) 
* [[Soga no Umako|Umako Soga]], leader of the [[Soga clan]] (d. [[626]])

== Deaths ==
* [[Emperor Jianwen of Liang|Jianwen Di]], emperor of the [[Liang Dynasty]] (b. [[503]]) 
* [[Emperor Wen of Western Wei|Wen Di]], emperor of [[Western Wei]] (b. [[507]])
* [[Xiao Daqi]], [[crown prince]] of [[Northern Qi]] (b. [[524]])

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{citation | last1=Antonopoulos | first1= J. | title=Data from investigation of seismic Sea waves events in the Eastern Mediterranean from 500 to 1000 A.D. | year=1980 | publisher=Annals of Geophysics | url =https://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/viewFile/4702/4786}}

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