420s

420s: events by year

Contents: 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429

420

By place

Europe

• The legendary Pharamond leads the Franks across the Rhine. He re-colonised the old town of Duisburg (Germany).
• The Huns under leadership of the brothers Octar and Rugila expand their rule through neighbouring tribal groups.

Persia

• Yazdegerd I dies after a 21-year reign and is succeeded by his son Bahram V who becomes king of the Persian Empire.
• Abdas, bishop of Susa, is accused of burning down one of the fire temples of Ahura Mazda.

Asia

• The Jin Dynasty ends in China. Liu Yu (Emperor Wu of Liu Song) is the first ruler of the Liu Song Dynasty.
• The Southern Dynasties begin in China.

421

By place

Roman Empire

• February 8 – Constantius III is appointed co-emperor (Augustus) with his ineffectual brother-in-law, Honorius, and becomes the real ruler of the Western Roman Empire.
• March 25 – Venice is founded at twelve o'clock noon (according to legend) with the dedication of the first church, San Giacomo, at the islet of Rialto (Italy).
• June 7 – Emperor Theodosius II marries Aelia Eudocia, a woman of Greek origin. The wedding is celebrated at Constantinople with chariot racing in the Hippodrome.
• September 2 – Constantius III dies suddenly of an illness, his wife Galla Placidia becomes for the second time a widow. She departs with her children Grata Honoria and Valentinian to the court of Constantinople.

Europe

• Rugila, chieftain of the Huns, attacks the dioceses of Dacia and Thrace (Balkans). Theodosius II allows Pannonian Ostrogoths to settle in Thrace, to defend the Danube frontier.
• The Franks conquer new territories in their kingdom and sack the old Roman capital Augusta Treverorum (modern Trier).

Persia

• Roman–Sassanid War: Theodosius II starts a war against the Sassanids. He send an expeditionary force under command of Ardaburius, and invades Mesopotamia.
• Autumn – Ardaburius devastates Arzanene (Armenia) and forced the Persians to retreat to Nisibis (Syria). King Bahram V allies himself with the Lakhmids Arabs of Hirah.

422

By place

Roman Empire

• End of the Roman–Sassanid War: Emperor Theodosius II signs 100 year peace treaty with Persia after 2 years of war. He agrees a status quo ante bellum ("the state in which things were before the war"), and both parts guarantee liberty of religion in their territories. Theodosius pays a annual tribute to the Huns in order to buy peace.
• The walls of Rome's Flavian Amphitheater (Colosseum) crack during an earthquake.

Europe

• The Roman army invade Gaul, they capture and execute the Frankish king Theudemeres with his family.

Asia

• Shao of Liu Song, age 16, oldest son of Wu of Liu Song succeeds his father as emperor of the Liu Song Dynasty (China).

By topic

Art

• Petrus, bishop of Illyria, starts construction of Church of Santa Sabina (approximate date).

Religion

• September 4 – Pope Boniface I dies after a 4-year reign that was interrupted for 15 weeks by the faction of the antipope Eulalius. He is succeeded by Celestine I as the 43rd pope.

423

By place

Roman Empire

• August 15 – Emperor Honorius, age 38, dies at Ravenna of dropsy, perhaps pulmonary edema. With no children to claim the throne, Joannes, primicerius notariorum ("chief notary", head of the civil service), seizes the throne of the Western Roman Empire, and is declared emperor. Among the supporters are Flavius Aetius, Roman general (magister militum). Joannes' rule is accepted in the dioceses of Gaul, Hispania and Italia, but not in Africa. ^[1]
• Winter – Emperor Theodosius II refuses Joannes to recognise as emperor and prepares for war. He mobilished a expeditionary force under command of Ardaburius and his son Flavius Aspar.

Europe

• The Pannonian Ostrogoths who have been settled in Thrace south of the Danube (see 421) by Theodosius II organize a farmers' strike. Only payment of amounts to a huge farm loan prevents them from occupying Rome.

By topic

Religion

• Theodoret becomes bishop of Cyrrhus (Syria). He converts more then 1,000 Marcionites in his diocese.^[2]

424

By place

Roman Empire

• October 23 – Emperor Theodosius II nominates his cousin Valentinian, age 5, the imperial title nobilissimus Caesar ("most noble") of the Western Roman Empire. He is betrothed to his own daughter Licinia Eudoxia.
• Roman usurper Joannes sends Flavius Aetius, governor of the Palace (cura palatii), to the Huns to ask for their assisstance. After negotiating, he returns back for Italy with a large force.
• Winter – A Roman army under command of Ardaburius leaves Thessalonica (modern Central Macedonia) and marched for Northern Italy where they make their base at Aquileia.

China

• Shao of Liu Song, age 18, is deposed by a group of high officials and succeeded by his younger brother Wen of Liu Song as emperor of the Liu Song Dynasty. Shao is exiled to Suzhou, and later killed by an assassin.

425

By place

Roman Empire

• Summer – Joannes, Roman usurper, is defeated at the fortified city of Ravenna and brought to Aquileia. After a humiliating parade on a donkey and the insults of the populace, he is executed.
• October 23 – Valentinian III, infant son of Galla Placidia, is installed as emperor (Augustus) of the Western Roman Empire. Real power is in the hands of his mother who becomes a regent.
• Flavius Aetius leads a force of Huns (60,000 men) into Northern Italy. He reached a compromise with Placidia in return of obtaining the rank commander-in-chief (magister militum) in Gaul.
• The Huns advance unopposed on Constantinople but are halted by a plague that decimates their hordes (see 433).

Palestine

• The Sanhedrin is disbanded by the Roman Empire.

By topic

Arts and sciences

• Last known usage of Demotic script in Egypt.
• c. 425–426 – Mausoleum of Galla Placidia is built.

Education

• February 27 – The University of Constantinople is founded by emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia.

Religion

• Buddhism begins to spread to Southeast Asia.

426

By place

Europe

• King Gunderic of the Vandals becomes king of the Alans as well (approximate date).

By topic

Religion

• Saint Augustine of Hippo publishes the De Civitate Dei, City of God.
• Sisinnius becomes Archbishop of Constantinople.

427

By place

Europe

• The Roman province of Pannonia Prima is finally assimilated into the Hunnic empire.

Asia

• Pyongyang is declared the capital of Goguryeo by king Jangsu.

428

By place

Europe

• Geiseric becomes King of the Vandals and Alans.

Asia

• Artashes, the last king of Greater Armenia, is deposed. The kingdom becomes a province of the Sasanian Empire.

By topic

Astronomy

• October 26 – The planet Venus occults the planet Jupiter.

Religion

• April 10 – Nestorius is made Patriarch of Constantinople.
• Hydatius becomes bishop of Aquae Flaviae in Gallaecia (modern Chaves in Portugal).
• John succeeds Theodotus as Patriarch of Antioch.
• Euthymius builds a monastery in Palestine, near the Dead Sea.

429

By place

Western Roman Empire

• Vandals under Geiseric cross from the Iberian Peninsula into Roman North Africa.

Eastern Roman Empire

• Theodosius II starts the reform of Roman law.
• Theodosius II orders all funds raised by Jews to support schools be turned over to his treasury.

By topic

Religion

• Pope Celestine I dispatches bishops Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes to Britain to combat the Pelagian heresy.
• St. Hilary becomes bishop of Arles.
• Domnus II, future Patriarch of Antioch, is ordained as a deacon.

Significant people

Births

Deaths

References