Born ThenLife in the 6th century
Be born somewhere between 500 and 599, weighted by real births, and live five lives from that year on.
The numbers
The world had about 245 million people around the middle of the 6th century. Life expectancy at birth was near 25 years, mostly because so many children died; people who reached adulthood often lived into their fifties or sixties. About 2% could read and 7% lived in towns. Most births happened in North India (17%), North China (11%), South India and Sri Lanka (9%), South China (8%), West Africa (4%).
All numbers before 1800 are modelled from long-run population and life-expectancy estimates by region. How it works
What happened
- Justinian's reconquest wars 533–554
- Plague of Justinian 541–549
- Recurrences of the first plague pandemic 558–750