Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"They poured out of the stadium and during five days of rioting attacked the imperial palace and set fire to buildings throughout the city. When the mob met in the hippodrome to acclaim a usurper, all seemed lost for Emperor Justinian, ruler since 527. . . . It was his wife, Theodora, who saved the day. . . . She persuaded him to stand his ground rather than flee the city while the imperial generals, Belisarius and Narses, rallied the army against the mob, leaving thousands dead. . . . When Justinian died in 567, imperial power had been restored throughout Italy and in southern Spain--gains his successors were not able to retain for long." [1001 Days]