390s

This is a list of events occurring in the 390s, ordered by year.

390

By place

Roman Empire

• April – Massacre of Thessalonica: Resentment among the citizens of Thessalonica (Thrace), after the arrest of a popular charioteer, breaks out into violence. Butheric, military commander of Illyricum, is murdered. Emperor Theodosius I orders vengeance, despite the pleas of Ambrose, bishop of Milan, for mercy, and more than 7,000 inhabitants are massacred by the Roman army.
• Ambrose retires to Milan (residence of Theodosius I) and refusing to celebrate a mass in the emperor's presence, until he repents for ordering the massacre in Thessalonica. Theodosius filled with remorse, kneels in humility and strips of his royal purple, before the altar of the cathedral in Milan, humbling himself before the Christian church.
• The Visigoths and Huns, led by Alaric, invade Thrace. Stilicho, high-ranking general (magister militum) of Vandal origin, raises an army and begins a campaign against the Goths.
• Theodosius I brings an obelisk from Egypt to the Hippodrome of Constantinople.

India

• Rudrasena II becomes emperor of Vakataka in the Deccan Plateau (India). In the same year he marries Prabhavatigupta, daughter of the Gupta king Chandragupta II.

By topic

Art

• C. 390–401 – Priestess of Bacchus: Late Antiquity ivory diptych, documents the relationship of the senators Quintus Aurelius Symmachus and Virius Nicomachus Flavianus. It commemorates the marriage of the two families. The right panel is inscribed "Symmachorum", with a elaborately dressed priestess who makes an offer on an altar. It is now kept at Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Religion

• Jerome, having finished the Latin translation of the New Testament, begins translating the Old Testament.
• The Kama Sutra is revised by Vatsyayana.

391

By place

Roman Empire

• Emperor Theodosius I establishes Christianity as the official state religion. All non-Christian temples in the Roman Empire are closed. The eternal fire in the Temple of Vesta at the Roman Forum is extinguished, and the Vestal Virgins are disbanded.
• Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, urban prefect of Rome, pleads for traditional cult practices. He petitions Theodosius I to re-open the pagan temples, but is opposed by Ambrose.

Asia

• A Rouran chief named Heduohan (曷多汗) is defeated and killed in battle against the Toba Northern Wei Dynasty. Surviving Rouran move west towards the Gaoche, led by Heduohan's son and successor, Shelun.
• King Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo (Korea) ascends to the throne.

By topic

Literature

• Flames destroy the great Library of Alexandria, established in the Mouseion in the fourth century BCE. Among the items lost in the fire are works of science, including parchments by the Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos asserting that the Earth orbits the Sun, and dozens of dramatic works by Euripides and Sophocles.

Religion

• Patriarch Theophilus destroys all pagan tempels in Alexandria under orders from Theodosius I. Christians go on an iconoclastic rampage, smashing religious symbols or monuments through the city and destroying the Temple of Serapis.

392

By place

Roman Empire

• Stilicho, Roman general (magister militum), defeat the Visigoths and Huns in Thrace. Emperor Theodosius I permits Alaric to go free on condition he provides, as foederati, military services to the Roman Empire.
• May 15 – Emperor Valentinian II, age 21, is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbogast. He is found hanging in his residence at Vienne.
• August 22 – Arbogast nominates Eugenius, Roman teacher of rhetoric, as the next emperor of the Western Roman Empire. He send ambassadors to Theodosius's court, asking for his recognition.
• Theodosius I becomes the last emperor who rules the whole Roman Empire. He issues an edict reinforcing the prohibition of prayers or sacrifices at non-Christian temples.

393

By place

Roman Empire

• January 23 – Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his son Honorius, age 8, co-ruler (Augustus) of the Western Roman Empire.
• Theodosius I demands the destruction of pagan temples, holy sites, and ancient objects throughout the Roman Empire.
• Theodosius I abolishes the Greek Olympic Games, ending a thousand years of festivals, as part of the general Christian policy to establish universal Christian worship in accordance with the doctrines set forth in the Nicene Creed.

China

• Gao Zu succeeds Tai Zu as emperor of the Later Qin Empire.
• Chinese astronomers observe the guest star SN 393.

By topic

Religion

• Synod of Hippo: A council at Hippo Regius (Algeria) is hosted by the Christian Church. The bishops approve a canon of Sacred Scripture that correspond to the Roman Catholic Church.

394

By place

Roman Empire

• September 6 – Battle of the Frigidus: Emperor Theodosius I defeats and kills the usurper Eugenius. The forces of Theodosius are bolstered by numerous auxiliaries including 20,000 Visigoth federates under Alaric. The Frankish general Arbogast (magister militum) escapes into the Alps and commits suicide.
• Late Roman army: The Notitia Dignitatum shows the development of forces in the Roman Empire. By now 200,000 soldiers guard the borders, and a reserve force of 50,000 is available for deployment. Many non-Roman soldiers are from Germanic tribes: Alamanni, Franks, Goths, Saxons and Vandals.
• Winter – The Huns cross the frozen Danube and destroy the villages build by the Goths. Theodosius I, six hundred miles away in Italy, send no reinforcements to defend the northern frontier.
• In Rome the sacred fire stops burning (see Vesta and Vestal Virgins).

Egypt

• The last known hieroglyph is written in Philae, Egypt.

China

• The last ruler of Former Qin, Fu Chong is killed in battle against an army of Western Qin, bringing Former Qin to an end.

By topic

Religion

• Epiphanius of Salamis attacks Origen's followers and urged John II, Bishop of Jerusalem, to condemn his writings.
• The Council of Bagaï in Africa brings 310 Donatist bishops together.

395

By place

Roman Empire

• January 17 – Emperor Theodosius I, age 48, dies after a disease involving severe edema, at Milan. The Roman Empire is re-divided into an eastern and a western half. The Eastern Roman Empire is centered in Constantinople under Arcadius, son of Theodosius, and the Western Roman Empire in Mediolanum under Honorius, his brother.
• April 27 – Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. His 3-year-old half-sister, Galla Placidia, is send to Rome where she spent her childhood in the household of Stilicho and his wife Serena.
• Alaric, Visigothic leader of the foederati, renounces Roman fealty and is declared king, waging war against both parts of the Roman Empire, and ending a 16-year period of peace.
• The Goths, led by Alaric I, invade and devastate Thrace and Macedonia, impose a tribute on Athens, and then turn their sights on the West. Arcadius unable to defeat them, gives Alaric control of the Balkans, and grant him the position of magister militum in Illyricum.
• November 27 – Rufinus, praetorian prefect of the East, is murdered by Gothic mercenaries under Gainas.

Asia

• The Huns begin their first large-scale attack on the Eastern Roman Empire. They invade Armenia, Cappadocia, and enter parts of Syria, threatening Antioch.

India

• King Rudrasimha III, ruler of the Western Satraps (India), is defeated by the Gupta Empire.

By topic

Agriculture

• An estimated 330,000 acres of farmland lie abandoned in Campania (southern Italy), partly as a consequence of malaria from mosquitoes bred in swampy areas, but mostly because imprudent agriculture has ruined the land.

Arts and Sciences

• Possible date that Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius published his Saturnalia.

Religion

• Augustine, age 40, becomes bishop of Hippo Regius (modern Algeria). His assignment is the reunification of the Roman Catholic Church in Africa, primarily focusing on the Donatist movement led by Primianus.

396

By place

Roman Empire

• Stilicho, Roman general (magister militum), controls the young emperor Honorius as his regent and becomes the actual ruler of the Western Roman Empire. He enlists the Alemanni and the Franks to defend the Rhine frontier.
• The Visigoths, led by Alaric I, rampage through Greece and plunder Corinth, Argos and Sparta. They destroy the Temple of Eleusis and harry the Peloponnese. Stilicho makes peace with the Goths, and allows them to settle in Epirus (Balkans).
• The Gothic leaders – the Ostrogoth, Tribigild, and Gainas, a former Visigothic general of the Roman army – are terrorising Asia Minor and the region around Constantinople and force emperor Arcadius to pardon them.
• The Huns occupy the Walachian Plain (modern Romania).

China

• Emperor Jin Andi, age 14, succeeds his father Jin Xiaowudi as ruler of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. After he is murdered by his concubine consort Zhang.

397

By place

Roman Empire

• Stilicho drives the Visigoths out of Greece and Macedonia. King Alaric I escapes to Epirus in the Balkans.
• Ambrosius dies at Milan after a 23-year reign in which he dominated the political life of the Roman Empire.

China

• The Xiongnu occupy the Gansu area, the economically important province is situated along the Silk Road.

By topic

Religion

• Council of Carthage: The biblical canon is definitely declared.
• Mor Gabriel Monastery is founded and located on the Tur Abdin plateau near Midyat (Turkey).
• September 7 – First Council of Toledo: Hispanic bishops, including Lampius, condemn Priscillianism.
• Sulpicius Severus writes the earliest biography of Martin of Tours, the first known "life of a saint" ever written.
• Augustine of Hippo begins his "Confessions", an autobiograpy that recounts his intellectual and spiritual development.
• Ninian, Scottish apostle, establishes a church (Candida Casa) at Whithorn, and begins his missionary work among the Picts.

398

By place

Roman Empire

• Gildonic Revolt: Gildo, Moorish prince, revolts against Roman rule in Mauretania, taking much of North Africa and cutting off the corn supply to Rome. Flavius Stilicho returns to Italy to raise troops against the rebels. After a short campaign in the desert, he defeats Gildo who flees and commits suicide by hanging.
• Eutropius, Roman general (magister militum), celebrates his victory over the Huns ("the wolves of the North") in a parade through Constantinople (see 395).
• An imperial edict obliges Roman landowners with plantations to yield 1/3 of their fields to the "barbarians" who have been settled in the Roman Empire.
• Emperor Honorius marries, in quick succession, Stilicho's daughter Maria.

By topic

Religion

• John Chrysostom becomes archbishop of Constantinople. He receives a delegation of clergymen who want to close the pagan temples at Gaza (Palestine) where worshipers are openly defying the law. John works through the eunuch Eutropius, who has great power over emperor Arcadius, and within a week an imperial Constitution is issued closing the temples, but the official appointed to execute this order is bribed.

399

By place

Roman Empire

• Emperor Honorius closed at Rome the Gladiatorial schools and legally ends munera (Gladiator games).
• Flavius Mallius Theodorus becomes Roman consul and official at the imperial court of emperor Arcadius.
• Gainas, a Gothic leader, is made magister militum and forms an alliance with deserters of Tribigild along the Bosphorus. He proclaims himself co-regent (usurper) and install his forces in Constantinople. Gainas depose anti-Gothic officials and has Eutropius, imperial advisor (cubicularius), executed.

Asia

• King Bahram IV dies after an 11-year reign. He is succeeded by Yazdegerd I, who becomes the thirteenth Sassanid king of Persia.
• Fa-Hien, Chinese Buddhist monk, travels to India, Sri Lanka and Kapilavastu (modern Nepal).

By topic

Religion

• November 26 – Pope Siricius dies at Rome after a 15-year reign in which he has commanded celibacy for priests, asserted papal authority over the entire Western Church, and threated to impose sanctions who do not follow his dictates.
• Anastasius I succeeds Siricius as the 39th pope. He seeks to reconcile the churches of Rome and Antioch. Anastasius also condemns the doctrine of Origen.
• Flavian I is acknowledged as legitimate bishop of Antioch by the Church of Rome.

Significant people

Births

Deaths

• Aurelius Victor, Roman historian and politician

References