In the early 540s, the great Byzantine emperor Justinian I contracted bubonic plague, but in the end he survived and went on to rule the empire for another quarter century or so. He is generally considered as one of the most important rulers in Byzantine history. What do you think would have happened if he had succumbed? Would the reconquest of the West have gone better? (Or would the Byzantines have given up on it immediately?) Who would have become emperor? Narses? Belisarius? Does this affect the later Arab (attempted?) conquests? Discuss!