Dec 11, 2009
Visigoths penetrate the northern defenses of Italy and begin to ravage the countryside (see 397 A.D.).
Pope Anastasius I dies at Rome after a 2-year reign and is succeeded December 22 by a 41-year-old Albano-born deacon who may possibly be his son and who will reign until his own death in 417 as Innocent I.
The Battle of Pollentia April 6 ends in victory for the Roman legions of Stilicho who frustrate Alaric's Visigoths in their efforts to move south.
The Roman statesman and orator Quintus Aurelius Symmachus dies at age 57 (year and age approximate), having used his talents to oppose Christianity.
The Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian (Fa-hsien) makes a pilgrimage to northwest and eastern India, initiating Sino-Indian relations. Stirred by his faith to visit the "Holy Land" of Buddhism, he will visit the sites of Siddhartha Gautama's life (such as Kapilavastu, Buddh Gaya, Benares, and Kushinagara) and reach the major seats of Buddhist learning (Udyana, Ganhara, Peshawar, and Taxila). Faxian spends 2 years in Ceylon, spends more than 200 days at sea as storms drive his ship off its course, but ultimately returns with sacred Buddhist texts that have been unknown in China.
Alexandria's patriarch Theophilus unlawfully deposes Constantinople's patriarch John Chrysostom, 53.
The eastern empress Eudoxia exiles Constantinople's patriarch John Chrysostom for criticizing her sumptuous lifestyle. Pope Innocent I at Rome orders a synod to reinstate the patriarch, but his envoys to Constantinople are imprisoned and the synod is not convened. (John will be restored in 407, but posthumously.)
An infuriated Roman mob tears the Christian monk Telemachus to pieces for trying to stop a gladiators' fight in the public arena January 1 (date approximate). The ascetic monk from Asia Minor has considered the cruel contests a pagan horror, the emperor Constantine I outlawed them in 325, but they have long since been revived as punishment for war prisoners and Christians as well as for entertainment to satisfy the blood lust of spectators; the young emperor Flavius Honorius ordered the closing of all remaining gladiatorial schools in 399, and the Telemachus incident will lead to their permanent banning next year.
German tribes invade Italy under the leadership of the Ostrogoth chieftain Radagais, forcing the Roman emperor Flavius Honorius and his court to take refuge at Ravenna. That city's marshy environs make it impregnable, and it becomes the capital of the western Roman Empire.
Mathematician Theon of Alexandria dies at age 70 (age and year approximate), having been helped in his work by his far more brilliant daughter Hypatia, now 35.
The Roman emperor Flavius Honorius closes the Flavian Amphitheater (Colosseum) in an austerity move that abolishes amusements (see Telemachus, 404 A.D.).
Barbarian forces led into Italy by Radagaisus meet defeat at Florence August 23 as Roman legions under the command of Stilicho break up the invading army.
Hordes of Vandals cross the Rhine under their new king Gunderic, who will reign until 428. Allied with the Alans and the Sciri, they follow the Moselle and the Aisne and proceed to sack Reims, Amiens, Arras, and Tournai before turning south into Aquitaine.
Cultivation of rye, oats, hops, and spelt (a wheat used for livestock feed) is introduced into Europe by the invading Vandals, Alans, and Sciri, who also introduce a heavy wheeled plow that enables farmers to plow deeper, straighter furrows (see 90 A.D.).
Butter begins to replace olive oil in areas occupied by the invading Vandals, Alans, and Sciri.
The British Isles return to Saxon rule after 360 years of Roman control as Roman legions needed closer to home begin evacuating the islands, but many Roman soldiers remain, having married local women after their pay was cut off.
Saxons in the British Isles cultivate oysters, having learned the technique from the Romans (see 110 B.C.).
The eastern emperor Arcadius dies in his palace at Constantinople May 1 at age 31 after a weak 13-year reign in which his eunuch general Eutropius has not only been unable to thwart barbarian invasions but has had honest rich men accused of treason so he could seize their money and estates, sold high offices and provincial governorships to the highest bidders, and harnessed royal mules to his own carriage. Arcadius is succeeded by his 7-year-old son, who will reign until his death in 450 as Theodosius II under the domination of his devout Christian sister Pulcheria, now 9, who takes a vow of chastity to keep from being forced into marriage and will remain a virgin until her death in 453 (see 414 A.D.).
Visigoths march into the Roman heartland under the command of their chieftain Alaric, grow in strength as freed slaves join their ranks, and lay siege to Rome; the master of troops Stilicho is beheaded August 22 on orders from the emperor Flavius Honorius, who has the families of his barbarian mercenaries massacred. The mercenaries desert to join Alaric's forces.
The Visigoth king Alaric exacts a tribute from Rome that includes 3,000 pounds of pepper (5,000 pounds by some accounts). The spice is valued for alleged medicinal virtues and for disguising spoilage in meat that is past its prime.
Alaric's Visigoths invade Italy again, and Alaric sets up a pagan emperor whom he soon deposes.
Vandals cross the Pyrenees into the Iberian Peninsula but find food supplies short as a Roman fleet blockades imports from the North African granary.
Alaric's Visigoths sack Rome August 24 after a third siege. It is the first time in 800 years that the city has fallen to a non-Roman conqueror, and although Alaric remains for only 3 days his followers carry off Aelia Galla Placidia, 40, a sister of the emperor Flavius Honorius. Alaric dies of fever soon afterward in southern Italy at age 40 (approximate) and his body is buried along with his treasure in the bed of the Busento River, whose course has temporarily been diverted, and the slaves who dug his grave are killed to keep the location secret. He has given the Goths the beginning of a homeland. He is succeeded as chieftain by his brother-in-law Atawulf (or Ataulf), who will marry Aeilia Galla Placidia in 414.
Invading Huns ravage the Roman Empire and extort tribute (see 372 A.D.; 422 A.D.).
The Huns introduce trousers, which replace togas, and stirrups (a Chinese or Korean invention), which make it easier to ride horses.
The self-proclaimed emperor Constantine (Flavius Claudius Constantinus) is defeated near Arles by the Roman general Constantius in the service of the emperor Honorius. Having gained control of Britain, Gaul, and Spain in the past 4 years, Constantine is taken prisoner and put to death at Ravenna.
A script devised for the Armenian language will remain in use for more than 1600 years (year approximate). Consisting of 38 letters (31 consonants and seven vowels), it has been created (according to tradition) by Mestrop Mashtots with help from the Armenian Apostolic Church supreme head Isaac (Sahak) and a Greek whose name will be remembered as Rufanos (the script shows Greek influence, being written from left to right, but has probably been modeled on the Pahlavi script, based on the ancient Aramaic alphabet). Isaac establishes a school of translators and has the Bible translated into the new script (see religion, 432 A.D.).
Visigoth forces move from Italy into southern Gaul under the leadership of Atawulf (Ataulf), brother-in-law of the late Alaric.
The Visigoth chieftain Atawulf (Ataulf) is married January 1 at Narbonne to Aelia Galla Placidia, sister of the Roman emperor Honorius, who was captured at Rome in 410.
The weak-minded eastern emperor Theodosius II yields power to his sister Pulcheria, now 15, who reigns as regent and has herself proclaimed empress. She has Theodosius remove all pagans from the civil service. He and his pagan wife, Aelia Eudocia, will become devout Christians through her influence, and she will soon persuade him to exile Constantinople's Jews and destroy their synagogues (see 441 A.D.).
Visigoths invade the Iberian Peninsula early in the year and begin to conquer territory taken previously by the Vandals; the Visigoths have been driven out of Gaul, and their chieftain Atawulf (Ataulf) is assassinated at Barcelona.
A mob of Christian zealots tears the Neoplatonic philosopher Hypatia, now 45, from her chariot at Alexandria in March, strips her naked, scrapes her to death with oyster shells, and burns her body. Having driven out the city's Jews, Alexandria's new bishop, Cyril, 39, has instigated the mob after taking offense at Hypatia's scientific rationalism and her authority as a woman.
The Visigoths return Aelia Galla Placidia to the Romans (see 414 A.D.). Widow of the late Atawulf (Ataulf), she will remarry next year.
The Roman emperor Flavius Honorius's sister Aelia Galla Placidia remarries, this time with the Roman general Constantius.
Pope Innocent I condemns Pelagianism in January, excommunicates Pelagius, but dies at Rome March 12 at age 56 (approximate) after a 16-year reign in which he has restored relations between the sees of Rome and Antioch, enforced celibacy in the clergy, and maintained the right of the bishop of Rome to judge appeals from other churches. Innocent is succeeded by a cleric who will reign until next year as Zosimus.
Persia's Sassanian king Yazdegerd I dies after a 21-year reign and is succeeded by his son, who will reign until 438 as Bahram V.
China begins an era that will come to be known as the Epoch of Northern and Southern Courts and continue until 581 (see Northern Wei, 439 A.D.). The Song (or Liu Song) dynasty will rule in the south until 479, with eight rulers from the Liu family in just 59 years.
The Roman emperor Flavius Honorius makes his brother-in-law Constantius co-emperor, but Constantius III dies in September, and Aelia Galla Placidia is widowed for a second time.
The eastern Roman emperor Theodosius II sends his army against Persia's new king Bahram V, who has been persecuting Christians.
Pope Zosimus dies after a 1-year reign and is succeeded by a cleric who will reign until his own death in 422 as Boniface I.
The eastern Roman emperor Theodosius II concludes peace with Persia after 2 years of war. He also agrees to pay annual tribute to the Huns in order to buy peace (see 410 A.D.; 425 A.D.).
Pope Boniface I dies at Rome September 4 after a 4-year reign that was interrupted for 15 weeks by the faction of the antipope Eulalius. He is succeeded September 10 by a deacon who will reign until 432 as Celestine I.
The walls of Rome's Flavian Amphitheater (Colosseum) crack during an earthquake.
The Roman emperor Flavius Honorius dies at Ravenna August 25 age 38 after a 28-year reign; a pretender who calls himself John seizes control and will reign until 425.
Visigoths who have been settled south of the Danube by Theodosius II organize a farmers' strike (see 379 A.D.). Only payment of what amounts to a huge farm loan prevents them from occupying Rome.
The Roman imperial pretender John is defeated in battle October 25 and succeeded as Augustus of the West by the infant son of Aelia Galla Placidia by the late Constantius III; the boy is installed as Valentinian III with backing from Theodosius II at Constantinople, and his mother is named regent. But the power behind the throne will soon be the Roman general Flavius Aetius, who has earlier supported the pretender John. The general spent part of his youth as a hostage of the Visigothic leader Alaric and, later, of the Huns.
The Huns advance unopposed on Constantinople but are halted by a plague that decimates their hordes (see 422 A.D.; Attila, 433 A.D.).
The University of Constantinople is founded February 27 by the eastern emperor Theodosius at the urging of his wife, Eudoxia.
The City of God (De Civitate Dei) by the Christian philosopher Augustine, bishop of Hippo, declares that empires like Rome are merely temporary (temporal) and that the only permanent community is the Church—visible and invisible—the city of God. Now 72, Augustine has labored for 13 years on the great work, whose doctrines on free will, divine grace, and original sin will be influential on every branch of Christianity.
The purpose of marriage is procreation, says Augustine, and his view will dominate Church thinking for at least 12 centuries. Having lived in his youth with a woman who bore him a son, he writes candidly, "At times, without intention, the body stirs on its own insistent. At other times, it leaves a straining lover in the lurch." Augustine has elsewhere described the Stoics' wanting to defy social codes by having public intercourse, and using clubs to simulate erections because their bodies could not respond on command.
Korea's King Changsu moves his capital from the banks of the Yalu River to Pyongyang.
The patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius preaches a new doctrine that will be called Nestorianism. It makes a distinction between the divine and human natures of Jesus but comes under immediate attack from Celestine, bishop of Rome, and Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria (see 431 A.D.).
Vandals invade North Africa under the command of their king Gaeseric, who leads his 80,000-man force from the Iberian Peninsula across the narrow Straits of Gibraltar (see 415 A.D.; 430 A.D.).
The Roman general Flavius Aetius gains appointment as master of both services (magister ultriusque militiae) after gaining victories in Gaul over Visigoth and Frankish forces.
The Vandals who have invaded North Africa extend their power along the Mediterranean coast and lay siege to Hippo.
Bishop Augustine dies in the siege of Hippo August 28 at age 76, leaving behind his monumental work The City of God and other works that will have more influence on Christianity than those of anyone else except the apostle Paul.
The eastern Roman general Flavius Ardaburius Aspar leads a fleet to expel the Vandals from North Africa (but see 434 A.D.).
The Council of Ephesus deposes the patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius for heresy (see 428 A.D.). He has preached the doctrine that in Jesus Christ there was joined in perfect harmony a divine person (the Logos) and a human person but that the harmony was of action, not of a single individual (see 435 A.D.).
The cult of the Virgin begins to spread westward from Byzantium following a decree of the Council of Ephesus recognizing Mary as the Mother of God.
The Roman general Flavius Aetius gains virtual control over the young Roman emperor Valentinian III upon the death of his rival Bonifacius. He is named consul, and will be given that position again in 437 and 446.
The 22-year-old Scottish-born missionary Patrick is sent to Ireland. A native of the Severn Valley, he will labor until his death in 461 to convert the Irish to Christianity.
Pope Celestine I dies at Rome July 27 after a reign of nearly 10 years in which he has mounted a vigorous attack on Nestorianism and refuted the doctrine of Pelagius, which minimizes the role of divine grace in man's salvation. Celestine is succeeded July 31 by the Rome-born chief priest who will reign until 440 as Sixtus III.
Armenian princes yield to public clamor and restore the apostolic catholicos (spiritual head) Isaac, now 87, to the leadership from which they ousted him 4 or 5 years ago. He and the monk Mesrop Mashtots have for many years directed a group of scholars in the task of translating into Armenian the Greek and Syriac versions of the Bible (see 411 A.D.). The work is now virtually complete, and Isaac promotes the Orthodox doctrine of Jesus Christ's personal divinity in the national synod at Ashtishat, denouncing the emphasis on his humanity that has been expressed by Theodore of Mopsuestia.
Attila becomes co-ruler of the Huns with his brother Bleda following the death of their uncle Rua (or Roas) in what later will be Hungary. The Romans have been paying tribute to Rua, and his brother Mundzuk's sons demand more; now about 27 and possibly of Mongol descent, Attila has a short, squat body; a large head; a flat nose; small, deep-seated eyes; and a reputation for enjoying battle (see 436 A.D.).
Pope Sixtus III helps to settle a Christological dispute between the patriarchs Cyril of Alexandria and John of Antioch that has continued since the Council of Ephesus 2 years ago. Believers in Pelagianism (a doctrine that minimizes the role of divine grace in man's salvation) had hoped to find a sympathetic ear in Sixtus, but he resists their attempts to rejoin the Church of Rome.
Vandals in North Africa defeat the eastern Roman general Flavius Ardaburius Aspar and force him to withdraw (see 431 A.D.). Aspar serves as consul at Constantinople.
The Roman general Flavius Aetius begins a campaign against the Burgundian kingdom at Worms, which he will destroy without mercy.
The eastern Roman emperor Theodosius II exiles the former patriarch of Constantinople to the Libyan desert at the behest of his sister Pulcheria (see 431 A.D.), but the followers of Nestorius will spread Nestorianism widely through Persia, India, Mongolia, and China (see 451 A.D.; Pulcheria, 441 A.D.).
Hun forces under the command of Attila and his brother Bleda destroy the Burgundian kingdom of Worms that was established in 406.
The last Roman legions leave Britain.
The Roman emperor Valentinian III cements an alliance with the eastern emperor, Theodosius II, October 29 by marrying Theodosius's daughter Licinia Eudoxia. Valentinian's general Flavius Aetius is reappointed consul and embarks on a campaign against the Visigoths that will result in their being blocked at Toulouse.
A Constantinople synod attempts to impinge on the pope's rights in Illyria and on those of the Antiocheme patriarchate, but when the new patriarch of Constantiople, Proclus, tries to implement the synod's decisions, Pope Sixtus III reminds the Illyrian bishops of their obligations to his vicar at Thessaloniki.
Persia's Sassanian king Bahram V dies after an 18-year reign.
The Codex Theodosianus drawn up by appointees of the emperor Valentinian III is a summary of Roman law. Made up of square or rectangular sheets of papyrus or parchment, which are laid flat and then bound at the edge, codex has largely replaced papyrus in the Western world. (The leaves are kept flat by being bound between thick covers that are often embelished with elaborate decoration.)
Carthage falls October 19 to the Vandals, who have been led since 428 by Gaeseric. He makes Carthage his capital.
The Northern Wei dynasty is founded in China (see Northern and Southern Courts, 420). The Northern Court will have three competing dynasties—the Northern Wei, Northern Qi, and Northern Liang, while the Southern Court will have the Song (or Liu Song) dynasty.
The Armenian apostolic patriarch Isaac the Great dies at Ashtishat September 7 at age 94 (approximate), having helped to develop a Greek-inspired alphabet and literature and to translate the Bible and various Christian writings into Armenian for the first time.
The Vandals establish a North African granary that will enable them to enforce their will on other nations who are dependent on North Africa for grain and other food staples.
The Roman general Flavius Aetius returns to Italy after several years' fighting the Burgundians and Visigoths.
Pope Sixtus III dies at Rome August 19 after an 8-year reign in which he has resisted heresy and sponsored major construction programs in the city. He is succeeded by a 40-year-old Rome-born cleric who is elected bishop of Rome and consecrated September 29 to begin a reign that will continue until his death in 461. Pope Leo I begins at once to formulate orthodoxy and combat such heresies as Eutychianism, an extreme form of monophysiticism which holds that Christ's human nature was absorbed by his divine nature.
A center of Buddhist studies is established at Nalanda on the plains of the Ganges River in India.
German Saxons establish themselves at the mouth of the Thames River.
His eunuch adviser Chrysaphius persuades the eastern Roman emperor Theodosius II at Constantinople to oust his sister Pulcheria and takes her place, leaving Theodosius with no more power than he has had since 414. Pulcheria becomes a nun (see 450 A.D.).
The Roman emperor Valentinian III signs a peace treaty with the Vandal king Gaeseric, granting him sovereignty over most of the Roman province of Africa (Libya and Tunisia). Gaeseric gives back Sicily, Numidia, and the provinces of Mauretania (Algeria and Morocco). Theodosius II at Constantinople (or his eunuch Chrysaphius) has approved the treaty.
Burgundian tribesmen sign a treaty of alliance with Rome, agreeing to serve in the Roman legions after the Roman commander-in-chief Flavius Aetius gives them land in the Geneva area (see 436 A.D.). They begin to move from the upper Rhine.
The Alamanni settle in Alsace.
Huns in the Balkans demand and receive tribute from Rome, whose leaders agree to pay Attila 2,000 pounds of gold per year.
Huns under the command of Attila defeat Byzantine forces under the command of Flavius Ardaburius Aspar outside Constantinople.
The wheelbarrow invented by a Chinese artisan will gain worldwide use as a labor-saving device.
A "pestilence" that is probably bubonic plague strikes the British Isles and makes the country vulnerable to conquest (see politics, 449 A.D.).
The Hun co-chieftain Bleda dies in a hunting accident, possibly having been murdered at the instigation of his younger brother Attila, with whom he has ruled since 433. Now about 42, Attila will rule the Huns alone until his death in 453.
China's Northern Wei regime begins persecuting Buddhists, having heretofore encouraged them. The drain of manpower and tax money to temples and monasteries has threatened the secular government, and the reaction is fierce: monks and nuns are murdered, temples and icons destroyed, and all men under age 50 prohibited from joining any monastic order in a program that will continue until 450, helping the Confucianist philosophy of the Han dynasty to gain dominance over Buddhism.
Huns cross the Danube and invade Thrace under the leadership of their chieftain Attila. Having tripled the demands for tribute they have made since 443, they now further increase those demands, and by next year Attila will control an empire extending from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. The Vandal leader Gaeseric has been intriguing to have Attila attack the Visigoths; Attila has feigned friendship with both Romans and Goths (see 450 A.D.).
China's Daoist court official Gou Qianzhi dies after having converted the emperor and established Daoism as the country's dominant religion (see 221 A.D.). His death presages a revival of Buddhism as China's dominant faith.
Angles and Saxons conquer Britain (year approximate); invited to the British Isles from northern Germany to fight against Pict (Caledonian) and Scottish foes of the Britons' king Vortigern, they have wound up fighting the Britons as well. The conquest has been facilitated by an epidemic that weakened the country 5 years ago (see Battle of Nechtansmere, 685 A.D.).
The Council of Ephesus in Asia Minor ends August 8 by backing the Monophysite patriarch of Alexandria, who teaches the Eutychianist philosophy that the incarnate Christ is of a single, divine nature. The patriarch enjoys the support of Egypt's monastic movement, but the council's decision is a rebuff to Leo, bishop of Rome (see 451 A.D.).
The Byzantine Roman emperor Theodosius II falls from his horse in an accident at Constantinople July 28 and dies soon afterward at age 49, having reigned since 395, mostly under the domination of his sister Pulcheria, who has been allowed to return to court (see 441 A.D.). She gives the imperial diadem to the 54-year-old Illyrian (or Thracian) soldier and senator Marcian, who is crowned August 25 at the hippodrome in the first religious coronation ceremony, vows to honor Pulcheria's vow of chastity, arranges a nominal marriage with her, and promptly orders the execution (or assassination) of the unpopular court eunuch Chrysaphius. Marcian discontinues tribute payments to the Hun leader Attila and will reign until 457. Marcian rescinds a law instituted by the late emperor Constantine forbidding a member of the senatorial class to marry a freeborn poor woman (humilis) and has his only daughter, Aelia Marcia Euphemia, marry the future western emperor Anthemius. The former Roman empress Aelia Galla Placidia dies November 27 at age 60 (approximate), having given Ravenna a number of churches and small chapels.
The western Roman emperor Valentinian III's sister Justa Grata Honoria sends her ring to Attila of the Huns in an effort to escape a marriage being forced upon her by her brother. Now about 34, she has had an affair with an officer in her household and has allegedly plotted to overthrow Valentinian, who has sent her to a convent at Constantinople. Attila announces his intention to marry her, says he expects to be given half the Western Roman Empire as her dowry, and gathers a large invasion force. The Roman general Flavius Aetius musters a defending force of Salian Franks, Burgundians, Celts, Ripuarians, and Visigoths under the command of the Visigoth king Theodoric I (see 451 A.D.).
The Polynesian chief Hawaii-Loa discovers what will be called the Hawaiian Islands, having sailed across 2,400 miles of open water from the island of Raiatea, near Tahiti (date approximate) (see Cook, 1778 A.D.).
Metal horseshoes come into more common use in the Near East and in Europe, increasing the efficiency of horsepower in agriculture and transportation (see 770 A.D.).
Attila of the Huns avoids a pitched battle near Orléans with the Roman general Flavius Aetius and turns back, but Aetius overtakes him. The Battle of Chalons (Catalaunian Fields) in Gaul June 20 ends in defeat for Attila at the hands of the Roman coalition, but the Visigoth king Theodoric I who has helped Aetius is killed in the encounter (see 450 A.D.). Widely feared as "the scourge of God," the Huns have triumphed over the Alans, Heruls, Ostrogoths, and Visigoths, ravaged much of the Italian countryside, and forced people to settle on marshy islands that will become the city of Venice (see 687 A.D.). Helped also by Alans in the battle that takes place about 18 miles north of Troyes, the Romans and Visigoths rout Attila's forces, which include also Ostrogoths and Gepidae (see 452 A.D.).
Persia's Sassanian king Yazdegerd (Yazdgird) II goes to war with Armenia, whose people have resisted his efforts to impose Zoroastrian religous beliefs, but although the Persians kill the Armenian commander Vardan Mamikonian and defeat his forces in the Battle of Avarayr in early June, they abandon their plans to convert the Armenians by force and replace their governor (marzpan) Vasak of Siuniq (see 481 A.D.).
Leo I, bishop of Rome, summons a fourth Ecumenical Council, which meets in October at Chalcedon, in Anatolia, and recognizes Leo's doctrine as "the voice of Peter." The eastern Roman empress Pulcheria has helped organize the council to condemn Nestorianism (see 435 A.D.; 781 A.D.). The prelate reverses the decrees issued 2 years ago by the Council of Ephesus, condemns Eutychianism and other forms of Monophysitism, and embraces the dyophysite formula that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was the son of God and had two natures, "without confusion, without change, without separation, without division." The council thereby increases the division in the Roman Church (see 482 A.D.).
Attila the Hun invades northern Italy in a renewed effort to obtain the hand of Honoria, sister of the emperor Valentinian III, who has been obliged by her brother to marry the senator Flavius Bassus Herculanus and kept under close guard (see 451 A.D.). Attila sacks Padua, Verona, and other cities, killing their inhabitants or taking them into slavery. Flavius Aetius is unable to raise a new army against him, but Aetius persuades the bishop Leo I to parley with Attila in the foothills of the Alps; Leo goes out unarmed and offers the Hun leader huge amounts of gold to spare Rome. Malaria, dysentery, and food shortages have reduced the numbers of Attila's surviving Huns in Europe, the onset of cold weather reminds him that grass for his horses will be hard to find, and he withdraws without having crossed the Appenines.
The Japanese crown prince Karu is killed by his brother Anko, who becomes emperor following the death of his father, Ingyo, and will reign for 44 months. Anko kills his uncle Okusaka and marries the uncle's wife, Nakatarashi.
Attila of the Huns adds a beautiful young bride to his coterie of wives, spends the day feasting and drinking, but suffers what may be a cerebral hemorrhage and dies of a nosebleed in bed with Ildico on their wedding night at his Hungarian stronghold, drowning in his own blood at age 49 (approximate). He has intended to renew his attacks on the eastern empire; the men who bury him with his treasures are put to death so that his grave may never be discovered (see 454 A.D.).
The eastern Roman empress Pulcheria dies at Constantinople in July at age 54, having commissioned many new churches in the city. Her death leaves the general Flavius Ardabarius Aspar as the dominant influence on her husband, Marcian.
The late Hun chieftain Attila's German vassals revolt, the Gepid king Ardaric and Ostrogoths help Roman troops defeat Hun forces on the Nedao in Pannonia, they drive Attila's followers out of Italy, and his sons divide Attila's realm among them (see 453 A.D.). Hun remnants will settle on the lower Danube, where some will set up a kingdom in Dacia (later Romania) while the Ostrogoths will settle in Pannonia.
The Roman emperor Valentinian III stabs his commander-in-chief Flavius Aetius to death September 21 during a meeting of the imperial council at Ravenna. He has accused Aetius of scheming to take power; dead at age 58 (approximate), Aetius has, in fact, effectively ruled for 19 years. Although married to a member of the Gothic nobility, he has defended the empire against Burgundians, Visigoths, and Vandals. His death leaves the empire with no effective defender against its barbarian neighbors.
The Roman emperor Valentinian III is assassinated in March by two retainers of the late Flavius Aetius, ending the Theodosian dynasty. The Vandal king Gaeseric seizes Corsica, Sardinia, and those parts of Africa still in Roman hands then he advances on Rome. The rich senator Petronius Maximus instigated Valentinian's murder of Flavius Aetius last year and is proclaimed emperor after bribing the troops, but the mob kills him 11 weeks later as he tries to flee the city during the panic precipitated by the news that Gaeseric is approaching. Gaeseric's Vandals sack Rome June 16 and the pillage is more devastating than that of the Visigoths in 410—so thorough, in fact, that the name vandal will become a generic word for a wanton destroyer. The Roman commander in Gaul is proclaimed emperor July 9 with support from the Visigoth king Theodoric I and begins a brief reign as Avitus.
India's Gupta emperor Kumaragupta dies as Huns penetrate his western territories. He is succeeded by his son, who will reign until 467 as Skanda Gupta.
Chichén-Itzá is founded by Maya on the Yucatán Peninsula of the Western Hemisphere. Chichén will spread to cover six square miles of pyramids, temples, an observatory, ceremonial ball courts, and dwellings.
Barter economy replaces organized trade as Romans and other city dwellers desert their towns for the countryside, where they will be less visible targets for barbarian attack.
Orae Favianae (later Vienna) is struck by an epidemic that spreads through the Roman provinces. The disease is probably streptococcus or a form of scarlet fever with streptococci pneumonia.
The Battle of Placentia in northern Italy ends in defeat for the Roman emperor Avitus, who is forced to abdicate. His rebel general Ricimer, of the Suevian tribe, attempts to rule through a puppet emperor, Majorian. The Suevian king Recharius on the Iberian peninsula is defeated in battle and killed by Visigoths.
The Japanese emperor Anko is killed by the 10-year-old son of his late uncle Okusaka. Young Mayuwa strikes while Anko is asleep with his head on the lap of Nakatarashi but is himself killed with other princes by Anko's brother, 38, who will reign until 479 as the emperor Yuryaku.
The eastern emperor Marcian dies at Constantinople in January at age 65, possibly of gangrenous feet, and is succeeded February 7 by a 55-year-old Thracian (or Dacian) military officer, who will reign until his death early in 474 as the emperor Leo I. The new emperor is a protégé of the general Flavius Ardabarius Aspar, who has been made a patrician by Marcian, heads a Gothic army and hopes to make Leo his puppet.
Tiflis (later Tbilisi) is founded on the Mtkvari (Kura) River in the Caucasus to replace Mtskheta as capital of the kingdom of Georgia. Its location gives it control of the route between western and eastern Transcaucasia.
A famine that will last for several years begins in the neo-Persian Empire.
The puppet western Roman emperor Majorian is deposed August 2 after making a show of independence and is killed by the Suevian general Ricimer who installed him 5 years ago. Ricimer replaces him with Libius Severus, another puppet emperor, who will reign (but not rule) until his death in 465.
Pope Leo I dies at Rome November 10 at age 61 (approximate) after a 21-year reign in which he has attacked Manichaeism, defended the Church against Nestorianism, and asserted the bishop of Rome's supremacy over that of any other bishop. He is succeeded November 19 by a Sardinian-born cleric who will reign until 468 as Hilary (or Hilarius).
A devastating fire at Constantinople destroys the great statue of Zeus completed in about 435 B.C. as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and moved by rich Greeks in recent decades to the capital of the eastern Roman Empire.
The puppet Roman emperor Libius Severus dies August 15 after a 4-year reign.
Pope Hilary (or Hilarius) convokes a council November 19 at Rome's Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. The council prohibits a dying bishop from naming his successor.
Huns invade Dacia (later Romania) but are repelled by the eastern emperor Leo I with the help of his generals Anthemius and Anagastus.
The eastern Roman emperor Leo I has his general Anthemius elected emperor of the west in August, and together they mount a fleet of more than 1,100 ships with an army of 100,000 to attack the pirate empire of the Vandals in North Africa.
India's Gupta emperor Skanda Gupta dies after a 12-year reign as Huns consolidate their conquests of western India.
Rome has an epidemic that takes many lives.
The Vandal king Gaeseric surprises the Imperial Fleet, commanded by Basiliscus, brother-in-law of the eastern emperor Leo I; half the vessels are sunk or burned.
The eastern Roman emperor Leo I repels another Hun invasion of Dacia.
Vandals conquer Sicily, administering a decisive defeat to Western forces who have tried to repel them.
Pope Hilary (or Hilarius) dies at Rome February 29 after a 6½-year reign and is succeeded March 3 by a Tivoli-born cleric who will reign until 483 as Simplicius.
The Vatican makes a pact with the Salian Frankish king Childeric I, agreeing to call him "the new Constantine" on condition that he accept conversion to Christianity.
The eastern Roman emperor Leo's brother-in-law Basiliscus murders the Roman general Flavius Ardaburius Aspar, using as an excuse the failure of the Imperial Fleet against the Vandals in 468, for which he himself was responsible. Aspar has incurred anger by having the rank of caesar conferred on his son Patricius, who is an Arian Christian. The Isaurian husband of Leo's daughter Ariadne has changed his name from Tarasicodissa to Zeno. He has participated in the conspiracy, and because Aspar was of Alani descent the Goths use his murder as an excuse to attack the approaches to Constantinople.
The ruler of the nomadic Topa tribal state in northern China adopts a Chinese surname and will reign as the Northern Wei dynasty emperor Xiaowen di (Hsiao-wen ti) until his death in 499.
The Suevian general Ricimer kills the Roman emperor Anthemium and replaces him with Olybrius. Ricimer dies August 19, the Burgundian general Gundobad assumes command of the Western army, Olybrius dies November 2, and the western Roman empire is without an emperor (see 473 A.D.).
The Burgundian general Gundobad nominates Glycerius as western Roman emperor, but Julius Nepos marches on Rome with backing from the eastern Roman emperor Leo I, ousts Glycerius, and makes himself emperor June 24.
The eastern Roman emperor Leo I dies of dysentery at Constantinople January 18 at age 73 after a 17-year reign. He is succeeded February 3 by the 7-year-old son of his Isaurian son-in-law Zeno, now 48; the boy reigns for much of the year as Leo II before dying himself and is then succeeded by his father, who will reign for all but 20 months of the next 17 years as the Byzantine emperor Zeno.
The new Byzantine emperor Zeno abdicates under pressure in January as his wife's uncle Basiliscus stages a coup d'état at Constantinople with support from Zeno's trusted adviser and fellow Isaurian Illus. Basiliscus usurps the throne to begin a 20-month reign, Zeno and his supporters flee to Isauria, but the religious views of Basiliscus will make him highly unpopular (see 476 A.D.).
The western Roman emperor Julius Nepos grants the Visigoth king Euric I legal tenure of his conquests, which include Auvergne. "Our slavery is the price of others' security," writes the poet Sidonius Apollinaris, who was elected bishop of Clermont 3 years ago. The emperor's commander Orestes drives Julius Nepos out of Italy and makes his own son, Romulus Augustus, western emperor.
The Byzantine emperor Basiliscus loses his throne in August to the former emperor Zeno, who has regained the support of his erstwhile adviser Illus and returns to Constantinople, regaining the power that he will hold until his death in 491.
The western Roman Empire founded by Augustus in 27 B.C. ends formally August 28 at Ravenna, although the Germanic tribes have long since protected and run the empire. The emperor Augustulus (Romulus Augustus) is deposed by the Herulian (Saxon) leader Odovacar (Odoacer); because he is a mere boy, Augustulus is sent off to Naples with an annual pension of 6,000 pieces of gold.
The Vandal king Gaeseric dies in the province of Africa and is succeeded by his son Huneric, an Arian Christian who will persecute Roman Catholics.
China's Liu Song dynasty nears its end as its emperor is killed by order of general Xiao Daocheng, who sets himself up as regent (see 479 A.D.).
China's new regent establishes Buddhism as the state religion.
China's Southern Qi dynasty is founded by general Xiao Daocheng, who has the boy emperor and all members of the imperial Liu Song family put to death. Hostilities resume between the Toba and the south.
Rome's former emperor Julius Nepos dies in exile in Dalmatia, which is occupied by the Herulian (Saxon) leader Odovacar (Odoacer).
The Burgundian king Chilperic dies and is succeeded by his brother Gundobad, whose realm covers much of Eastern Gaul and has two capitals, at Lyons and Geneva.
The Visigoths extend their rule from the Loire to Gibraltar and from the Bay of Biscay to the Rhine. Their seat of empire is Toulouse.
The king of the Salian Franks Childeric I dies at Tournai at age 44 after a 24-year reign. He is succeeded by his 15-year-old son, who will reign until 511 as Clovis I.
Armenians revolt against Persian rule in an uprising that will continue until 484 (see 451 A.D.). Led by Vahan Mamikonian, a nephew of the late Vardan, they will obtain religious and political freedom in return for military aid, and Vahan will be installed as governor (marzpan).
The Byzantine emperor Zeno promulgates an Edict of Union (Henotikon) in an unsuccessful effort to soften the decision made in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon and resolve differences between the eastern and western Churches. Zeno wishes to placate the Monophysite churches of Egypt and Syria for political reasons, but the Monophysite controversy continues to divide the Churches (see 484 A.D.).
Pope Simplicius dies at Rome March 10 after a 15-year reign and is succeeded March 13 by a cleric who will reign until 492 as Felix III (or II).
The Isaurian Illus raises a rebellion against the Byzantine emperor Zeno, who faces a revolt also from the Ostrogoth king Theodoric (see 488 A.D.).
The Visigoth king Euric dies and is succeeded December 28 by his son, who will reign until 507 as Alaric II. Euric has built a rampart to protect the city of Carcassonne southeast of Toulouse on a bend of the Aude River; the city has been occupied since the 5th century B.C. (see 508 A.D.)
Pope Felix III (or II) excommunicates Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople, for his role in having the emperor Zeno issue his Edict of Union (Henotikon) 2 years ago. The pope considers the edict to be heretical, and the schism between the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople widens. The Acacian Schism will not be resolved until 519.
China's Northern Wei dynasty emperor Xiaowen Di (Hsiao-wen ti) institutes an "equal-field" system of agriculture, assigning each peasant family about 19 acres (140 mou) of land, of which a small portion is to be kept permanently by the farmer and his family with the rest reverting to the state upon his death or retirement. To make sure that the people supervise each other in implementing the new system, he divides the population into groups, with five families constituting a neighborhood (lin), five neighborhoods a village (li), and five villages an association (tang) headed by a chief (chang). Xiaowen's land-reform system will discourage farmers from selling off their properties to large landholders and will be continued in essence for well over 1,000 years.
The Battle of Noviodnum (Soissons) ends in victory for the Frankish king Clovis I, now 21, who crushes the kingdom of the Roman Syagorius in northern Gaul.
Bishop Sidonius Apollinaris dies at Clermont in the Auvergne at age 54.
Persian Christians who follow Nestorianism gather in the second Council of Seleucia.
The Lateran Council convened by Pope Felix III (or II) establishes conditions for readmitting to the Church those Christians who have been rebaptized by the Vandals.
The Byzantine emperor Zeno regains power from the Roman Catholic usurper Leontius and the Isaurian patrician Illus, who are captured and executed, ending a 4-year rebellion (see 484 A.D.); the Monophysites triumph. Zeno pays the Ostrogoth king Theodoric to invade Italy and expel the Herulian (Saxon) leader Odovacar (Odoacer).
Theodoric and his Ostrogoths lay siege to Ravenna, which the Herulian leader Odovacar has made his capital (see 493 A.D.). The Byzantine emperor Zeno has persuaded Theodoric to leave the Eastern Empire.
The Byzantine emperor Zeno dies April 9 at age 65 after a 17-year reign and is succeeded by his Albanian-born bodyguard and finance minister who is elevated to the throne at age 61; marries Zeno's widow, Ariadne; and will reign until 518 as Anastasius I. The new emperor expels Isaurians from Constantinople. The Isaurians revolt, but Anastasius crushes their resistance at the Battle of Cotiaeum.
Pope Felix III (or II) dies at Rome March 1 after a 9-year reign in which he has excommunicated Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople. He is succeeded by a cleric who will reign until 496 as Gelasius.
The Herulian leader Odovacar surrenders Ravenna March 3 after a 3-year siege to Theodoric, who invites Odovacar to dinner and has him murdered. Theodoric will unite Italy as an Ostrogoth kingdom that will control the peninsula until 554.
China's Northern Wei dynasty emperor Xiaowen Di (Hsiao-wen ti) moves his capital to Luoyang, the former capital of Eastern Han dynasty that ended in 220. He has made Chinese the official language of his court and ordered his nobles to adopt Chinese names.
Pope Gelasius gains support from Italian bishops in his assertion that the spiritual power of the papacy is superior to the emperor's temporal authority. Like his predecessors, the pope opposes the Byzantine emperor Zeno's efforts to establish Monophysite doctrine.
Clovis I of the Salian Franks defeats the Alamanni at Tolbiac, near Strasbourg, on the Rhine. Helped by the Franks of the Rhineland, he drives the Alamanni back east of the Rhine.
Pope Gelasius dies at Rome after a 4-year reign and is succeeded by a Rome-born cleric who will reign until his death in 498 as Anastasius II.
The Byzantine emperor Anastasius I gives formal recognition to the Ostrogoth king Theodoric as his representative in Italy. He sends the imperial standard to Ravenna as a token of this recognition.
The Byzantine emperor Anastasius I pacifies the mountain strongholds of the Isaurians, ending the rebellion that they began upon his ascension to the throne 7 years ago.
The feast of St. Valentine proclaimed by the Church for February 14 honors a Christian priest martyred in the 3rd century; it replaces a holiday honoring the Roman goddess Juno that began as the fertility festival of Lupercalia (see 753 B.C.).
Pope Anastasius II dies at his native Rome November 19 after a 2-year reign in which he has tried to conciliate followers of the late patriarch of Constantinople, Acacius, who was excommunicated by the late Pope Felix III in 484. Anastasius is succeeded by a cleric who will reign until 514 as Symmachus, but another cleric is elected as antipope and will reign as such until 505 as Laurentius.
China's Northern Wei dynasty emperor Xiaowen Di (Hsiao wen-ti) dies of starvation in his capital at Luoyang after a 27-year reign in which he has Sinicized his tribal relatives, created a Chinese-style government, and instituted a land-reform program. Tribal forces under his command have seized the capital in a revolt against his policies, and his dynasty will survive only until 535.
The Aryabhatiya by the 23-year-old Hindu astronomer-mathematician Aryabhata in India summarizes in verse couplets what is known about mathematics, including 33 rules of arithmetic, algebra, plane trigonometry (with sine tables), spherical trigonometry, and astronomy. It applies continued fractions to deal with indeterminate equations, gives an accurate approximation for pi (3.1416) (see Bhaskara II, 1185 A.D.), introduces the versine function (1 minus the cosine of an angle), and is the first to assert that what appears to be a rotation of the heavens is actually the rotation of the Earth on its axis (see Brahmagupta, 628 A.D.; Aryabhata II, 950 A.D.; Nicholas of Cusa, 1440 A.D.). Aryabhata will be credited with having found a way to calculate the cube root of a number.
Bavaria is invaded by the Marcomanni from Bohemia, whose lands are taken up by the Czechs.
Incense is introduced in Christian church services, sweetening the air of congregations of unwashed worshipers.
401 A.D.–425 A.D. 426 A.D.–450 A.D. 451 A.D.–475 A.D. 476 A.D.–500 A.D.
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