554

By place

Byzantine Empire

• August 13 - Byzantine Emperor Justinian I issues a pragmatic sanction reorganizing Italy and rewards the praetorian prefect Liberius for over 60 years of distinguished service, granting him extensive estates in Italy.
• October - Battle of the Volturnus: In the spring Butilinus has marched north; the Frankish army is reduced to about 30,000 men. The Byzantine army, with 18,000 men, marches south to meet them at Casilinum. Byzantine eunuch general Narses sends a cavalry force under Chanaranges to destroy the supply wagons of the Franks. Outmanoeuvring Butilinus, he chooses a disposition similar to that at Taginae. After a frontal assault on the Byzantine centre, the Franks and the Alamanni are annihilated, thus effectively ending the Gothic War. Narses garrisons in Italy an army of 16,000 men. The recovery of the Italian Peninsula has cost the empire about 300,000 pounds of gold.

  Europe

• Byzantine forces under Liberius seize Granada and occupy the old province of Baetica. Justinian I calls Belisarius out of retirement, to complete the consolidation of reconquered regions of Southern Spain.
• Athanagild is crowned as king of the Visigoths and succeeds Agila I. He acknowledges the suzerainty of the Byzantine Empire.

  Asia

• Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man is defeated and killed by the Ghassanids under al-Harith ibn Jabalah, at the battle of Yawm Halima; 'Amr III ibn al-Mundhir succeeds as king of the Lakhmids.
• Gong Di succeeds his brother Fei Di as emperor of Western Wei. He is deposed by general Yuwen Tai who puts him to death.
• The province of Jiangling is captured; 100,000 inhabitants are enslaved and distributed to generals and officials.
• Wei Shou completes compilation of the Book of Wei.
• Baekje and the Gaya Confederacy wage war upon Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, but are defeated.
• Wideok becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.
• Muqan Qaghan succeeds his brother Issik Qaghan as emperor of the Göktürks.
• The second and larger of the two Buddhas of Bamyan is erected in central Afghanistan.

  By topic

Religion

• Cassiodorus, Roman statesman, founds the Monastery at Vivarium.''