Emperor Guangwu of Han vs Justinian I

Liu Xiu led a small force of 9,000 to defeat a 430,000-strong Xin army at Kunyang. Using a surprise attack and psychological warfare, he broke the siege and routed the enemy. This victory made him the leading rebel commander and paved the way for the restoration of Han.

Liu Xiu declared himself emperor at Hao, adopting the reign name Jianwu. He claimed the Mandate of Heaven to restore the Han dynasty, which had been interrupted by Wang Mang's Xin dynasty. This act established the Eastern Han dynasty, with Luoyang as its capital.

Emperor Guangwu defeated the Red Eyebrow rebel army at the Battle of Xiao. The Red Eyebrows had captured Chang'an and installed a puppet emperor, but Guangwu's forces crushed them, ending the major rebel threat and consolidating his control over the western regions.

Emperor Guangwu reduced the agricultural tax to one-thirtieth of crop yields and cut corv

Emperor Guangwu completed the reunification of China by conquering the last independent warlord, Gongsun Shu, in Sichuan. After 12 years of campaigning, he restored the Han dynasty's territory and established a stable central government, ending the civil wars that followed Wang Mang's fall.

Justinian I faced a major uprising in Constantinople, the Nika Riots, which threatened his rule. Empress Theodora urged him to stay, and General Belisarius crushed the revolt, killing an estimated 30,000 people and solidifying Justinian's autocratic power.

Byzantine forces under General Belisarius defeated the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa. Justinian's reconquest restored Roman control over the region, including Carthage, and eliminated the Vandal threat to Mediterranean trade.

Justinian I commissioned the codification of Roman law, resulting in the Corpus Juris Civilis. This compilation of legal texts preserved and systematized Roman jurisprudence, becoming the foundation for civil law in many European countries.

Justinian I inaugurated the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, a monumental domed church designed by Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus. It served as the center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity for nearly a millennium and influenced Byzantine and Ottoman architecture.

Byzantine forces captured Ravenna, the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy. This victory, part of the Gothic War, restored Roman rule over the Italian peninsula after decades of Ostrogothic control.