- Niall Noigiallach, founder of one of Ireland's greatest dynasties |
- Patrick, Catholic bishop of Armagh in Ireland, completed conversion to Christianity in Ireland |
- Pelagius, priest from Britain, father of Pelagianism |
- Anglo-Saxon futhorc alphabet used in England |
- Riothamus, King of Britons, a candidate for legendary King Arthur |
- Great Britain is abandoned by Romans, Early Middle Ages begin. |
- At some point after 440, Anglo-Saxons settle in Britain. traditional story is that they were invited there by Vortigern. |
- 490 Battle of Mount Badon (approximate date). According to legend, British forces led by Arthur defeated invading Saxons. |
- Mid-4th century – Dish, from Mildenhall, England, is made. It is now kept at British Museum, London. |
- Hadrian's Wall, Great Britain, is built. |
- 122 - 32 10 Hadrian's Wall across Britain |
- Boudica, also known as Boadicea |
- Tacitus mentions Suiones, who will one day be called Swedes. |
- Arminius |
- 1 Lions became extinct in Western Europe. |
- Metal horseshoes become common in Gaul |
- 494 Northern Gaul is united under Frankish King Clovis I, founder of Merovingian dynasty. |
- 481 Clovis I becomes king of Western Franks upon death of Childeric I. |
- 486 Clovis defeats Syagrius & conquers last free remnant of Western Roman Empire. |
- Clovis, first Frankish king to unite Franks; first barbarian king to convert to Catholicism |
- 491 King Clovis I defeats & subjugates Kingdom of Thuringia in Germany. |
- 454 Battle of Nedao. Germanic tribes destroy main Hunnic army & throw off Hunnic domination. |
- 470 Riothamus, King of Britons, helped Roman Empire in Brittany against Visigoths. |
- 496 Battle of Tolbiac. King Clovis subjugates Alamanni, & is baptized as a Catholic with a large number of Franks by Remigius, bishop of Reims |
- Late 4th century – See "The Historia" of Arbogast & Bauto. France |
- 406 eastern frontier of Western Roman Empire collapses as waves of Suevi, Alans, & Vandals cross frozen Rhine near Mainz, & enter Gaul. |
- Theoderic Great, Ostrogothic king |
- Dr Abascantus of Lyon, France. Doctor |
- Germanicus |
- Irenaeus, second bishop of Lyon, author of Against Heresies |
- M. Sattonius Iucundus, restorer of Thermae in Heerlen, Netherlands. |
- Early 4th century – Former audience hall now known as Basilica, Trier, Germany, is built. |
- Early 1st century – Augustus of Primaporta, (perhaps a copy of a bronze statue of ca. 20 BC), is made. It is now kept in Musei Vaticani, Braccio Nuovo, Rome. |
- Early 1st century – Gemma Augustea is made. It is now kept at Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. |
- Early 1st century – House of Silver Wedding, Pompeii, is built. Excavated in 1893, year of silver wedding anniversary of Italy's King Humbert & his wife, Margherita of Savoy, who have supported archaeological fieldwork at Pompeii. |
- August, 79 Pompeii & Herculaneum destroyed by eruption of Mount Vesuvius. |
- Seneca Younger |
- Simon Peter |
- Strabo |
- Tacitus |
- Suetonius, Roman historian |
- 212 - 6 4 Baths of Caracalla. |
- 235 - 284: Crisis of Third Century shakes Roman Empire. |
- Kama Sutra |
- Leo I, bishop of Rome, theologian |
- Gelasius, bishop of Rome |
- Ricimer, Western Roman general, politician & ruler |
- Aetius, last of great Roman generals |
- 410 Rome sacked by Visigoths led by their king Alaric. |
- Alaric I, king of Visigoths that sacked Rome |
- Aspar, Eastern Roman general & politician |
- 66 - 73 First Jewish-Roman War. |
- 258 Valerian's Massacre of Christians. |
- 260 Roman Emperor Valerian I is taken captive by Shapur I of Persia. |
- 378 Battle of Adrianople. Roman army is defeated by Visigoth cavalry. Emperor Valens is killed. |
- 378 - 395 Theodosius I, Roman emperor, bans pagan worship, Christianity is made official religion of Empire. |
- 476 Deposition of Romulus Augustulus by Odoacer: traditional date for Fall of Rome in West. |
- 455 Vandals sack Rome. |
- 493 Theodoric Ostrogoth ousts Odoacer to become king of Italy. |
- Victor I, bishop of Rome |
- 395 Roman Emperor Theodosius I dies, causing Roman Empire to split permanently. |
- 452 Pope Leo I meets personally with Attila on Micino River & convinces him not to sack Rome. |
- Cornelius, bishop of Rome |
- 452 Metropolis of Aquileia is destroyed by Attila Hun |
- 480 Assassination of Julius Nepos, last de jure Emperor of Western Roman Empire, in Dalmatia. |
- Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209, earliest Christian bibles |
- Early 5th century – Baptistry of Neon, Ravenna, Italy, is built. |
- Late 4th century – Cubiculum of Leonis, Catacomb of Commodilla, near Rome, is made. |
- Late 4th century – Atrium added in Old St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. |
- 150 - 250 100 Nagarjuna, Buddhist monk India |
- End of 1st century – codex replaces scroll. |
- 132 - 135 Bar Kokhba's revolt against Rome |
- 144 Marcion, rejected by Church of Rome, founds Marcionism |
- 167 - 175 First Marcomanni War |
- 178 - 180 Second Marcomanni War (depicted in movie Gladiator) |
- Galen, Roman medical writer |
- Juvenal Roman satirical poet |
- Pliny Younger |
- 78 Beginning of Saka Era used by South Asian calendars. |
- 347 - 420 83 Jerome, Christian hermit, priest, Latin translator of Bible & other theological works. Slovenia. |
- Spread of Roman Empire, reaches largest size under Trajan. |
- Arena (colosseum) is constructed, origin of name Arena. |
- Late 1st century—Cityscape, detail of a Second Style wall painting from a bedroom in House of Publius Fannius Synistor, Boscoreale, is made. It is now at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. |
- painting "Alexander Great confronts Darius III at Battle of Issos", detail of mosaic floor decoration from Pompeii, Italy is made. It is a Roman copy after a Greek painting of c. 310 BC, perhaps by Philoxenos or Helen of Egypt. It is now at Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy. |
- Late 1st century – Bedroom, from House of Publius Fannius Synistor, Boscoreale is made. It is reconstructed with later furnishings at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. |
- Late 1st century – Seascape, detail of a wall painting from Villa Farnesina, Rome, is made. |
- Late 1st century – Young Woman Writing, detail of a wall painting, from Pompeii, is made. It is now kept at Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples. |
- Late 1st century – Mausoleum under Construction, relief from tomb of Haterius family, Via Labicana, Rome, is made. It is now kept at Musei Vaticani, Museo Gregoriano Profano, ex Lateranese, Rome. |
- Late 1st century – Middle-Aged Flavian Woman, is made. It is now kept at Musei Vaticani, Museo Gregoriano Profano, ex Lateranese, Rome. |
- Mid-1st century – Wall niche, from garden in Pompeii, is made. It is now kept at Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, England. |
- Mid-1st century – Detail of a wall painting in House of M. Lucretius Fronto, Pompeii, is made. |
- 6 Census of Quirinius. Rome. |
- 9 Three Roman legions were ambushed & destroyed at Teutoberg Forest by Germans under leadership of Arminius. |
- July 19, 64 Great Fire of Rome, first Roman mass Persecution of Christians, earliest significant recognition of Christians in Rome. |
- 58 BC - 29 AD Livia 87 Roman Empress |
- 59 BC - 17 AD Livy. Roman Historian. |
- Paul of Tarsus |
- 23 - 79 46 Pliny Elder, Rome |
- 20 - 31 51 Sejanus of Rome |
- 80 - 15 65 Vitruvius Roman writer. |
- Codex, first form of modern book, appears in Roman Empire |
- Bookbinding |
- 100 - 60 60 Valentinius, Gnostic philosopher in Rome. |
- Early 3rd century – Burial in catacombs becomes common. |
- Early 3rd century – Caracalla, is made. It is now kept at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. |
- 212 Constitutio Antoniniana grants citizenship to all free Roman men. |
- Menorahs & Ark of Covenant, wall painting in a Jewish catacomb, Villa Torlonia (Rome), is made. |
- Late 3rd century-early 4th century – Good Shepherd, Orants & Story of Jonah, painted ceiling of Catacombs of Marcellinus & Peter, Rome, is made. |
- Hippolytus, considered first Antipope |
- 360 - 435 75 John Cassian, Christian monk & theologian. Romania. |
- Tyrannius Rufinus, priest of Aquileia, hermit, Latin translator |
- Attila Hun, barbarian ruler of Huns |
- 469 Death of Dengizich, last Khan of Hunnic Empire. |
- 451 Huns under Attila facing Romans & Visigoths are defeated in Battle of Chalons |
- Heavy plow in use in Slavic lands |
- 453 Death of Attila. Hunnic Empire is divided between his sons. |
- 347 - 420 Jerome, Christian priest, monk, & translator of Bible into Latin. Slovenia |
- 376 Visigoths appear on Danube & are allowed entry into Roman Empire in their flight from Huns. |
- 46 - 120 74 Plutarch, Greek historian |
- Goths settle in northern Poland, which they called Gothiscandza, & shape Wielbark culture. |
- Decebalus, Dacia in Romania |
- Goths move from Gothiscandza to Ukraine, giving birth to Chernyakhov culture. |
- Cyril of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria, theologian |
- Hypatia of Alexandria, woman philosopher |
- Dioscorus, patriarch of Alexandria |
- Hero of Alexandria |
- 439 Vandals conquer Carthage. |
- Augustine of Hippo, bishop, theologian |
- Pappus of Alexandria, Greek mathematician |
- Clement of Alexandria, Christian head of Catechetical School of Alexandria |
- Diophantus of Alexandria, wrote Arithmetica |
- Augustine, Christian theologian, bishop of Hippo Algeria |
- 413 St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo begins to write The City of God. |
- Geiseric, Vandal king & founder of Vandal kingdom in Carthage North Africa |
- Boniface, Roman comes in charge of province of Africa |
- Ptolemy compiles a catalogue of all stars visible to naked eye. He also compiles three of most influential books in western history: |
- Ptolemy's Almagest which becomes basis for western & Middle Eastern astronomy until time of Copernicus & Kepler; |
- Astrological treatise, Tetrabiblos by Claudius Ptolemy. |
- Cartography treaty Geographia of Claudius Ptolemy. |
- Cyprian, bishop of Carthage |
- kingdom of Aksum emerges |
- Ptolemy, Greek astronomer, astrologer & geographer |
- Origen of Alexandria, Christian theologian & priest |
- Plotinus of Alexandria, founder of Neoplatonism |
- 160 - 220 60 Tertullian of Carthage. Christian theologian, Father of Christian Latin literature |
- Coptic period is said to have started in 3rd century. |
- African & Indonesian settlers reach Madagascar. |
- August, 70 destruction of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem by Romans under Titus. |
- 44 Death of Herod Agrippa. |
- John Baptist |
- Saint Mesrob, Armenian monk |
- Yazdegerd I, Sassanid Shah of Persia |
- John Chrysostom, Syrian-born Patriarch of Constantinople |
- Socrates Scholasticus, Byzantine Church historian |
- John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople |
- Armenian alphabet created by Mesrob Mashtots c. 405 |
- Masoretes adds vowel pointings to text of Tanakh, Hebrew Bible. |
- 26 Jesus begins his ministry. |
- 30 Death of Jesus on cross. Beginning of Christian Church. |
- 306 - 337 Constantine I, ends persecution of Christians in Roman Empire (see also Constantinian shift) & Constantinople becomes new seat of government (New Rome) |
- 325 Constantine I calls First Council of Nicaea to pacify Christianity in grip of Arian controversy. |
- 337 Constantine I is baptized on his death bed |
- 407 Constantine III leads many of Roman military units from Britain to Gaul, occupying Arles (Arelate). This is generally seen as Rome's withdrawal from Britain. |
- A primitive form of eyeglasses were developed for a nearsighted princess in Syria. |
- 301 Armenia first to adopt Christianity as state religion, followed by Ethiopia, circa 320, San Marino is founded as a republic |
- 310 - 83 73 Ulfilas, Arian priest & translator of Bible into Gothic Capadocia, Turkey. |
- Book of Steps, Syriac religious discourses. Turkey. |
- Gregory of Nazianzus, Turkey. Christian theologian, bishop |
- 245 - 325 80 Iamblichus Assyrian, Iraq. Neoplatonist philosopher |
- 381 First Council of Constantinople reaffirms Christian doctrine of Trinity by adding to creed of Nicaea. |
- 350 About this time Huns begin to invade Sassanid Empire. |
- 69 - 155 86 Polycarp of Smyrna, Turkey. |
- Thomas Apostle |
- Pontius Pilate |
- 34 Conversion of Saint Paul in Lebanon. |
- Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, Turkey. |
- Apollonius of Tyana, Turkey |
- 17 - 137 120 Akiba in Israel |
- 28 - ? Berenice of Cilicia. Israel |
- Elisha ben Abuyah in Israel |
- 110 BC - 10 AD 120 Hillel Elder Israel |
- Ignatius of Antioch, Turkey |
- ? - 62 James Just, Bishop of Jerusalem. |
- 37 - 100 Josephus. Hagiographer in Jerusalem. |
- 400 - 50 50 Sozomen, Christian church historian Palestein. |
- Mani (prophet) of Assyria, Iraq. founder of Manichaeism |
- Christian Council of Jerusalem. |
- Jewish Council of Jamnia, Israel. |
- Rabbi Akiva Head of all Jewish Sages |
- Rabbi Yehuda haNasi Prince of Jewish people |
- Ignatius, third bishop of Antioch, author of letters |
- 20 BC - 50 AD Philo of Alexandria. |
- Various inventions by Hero of Alexandria, including steam turbine (aeolipile), water organ, & various other water-powered machines. |
- Montanus, Founder of Monatism. Christian heretic from Phrygia, Turkey. |
- Herakleitos of Ephesus, Turkey makes Unswept Floor, mosaic variant of a 2nd century BC painting by Sosos of Pergamon. It is now kept at Musei Vaticani, Museo Gregoriano Profano, ex Lateranese, Rome. |
- Nestorius, archbishop of Constantinople, father of Nestorian heresy |
- Probably 3rd century – Jonah Swallowed & Jonah Cast Up, two statuettes of a group from eastern Mediterranean, probably Asia Minor, are made. They are now kept at Cleveland Museum of Art. |
- Sarnath becomes a center of Buddhist arts in India. |
- Bahram 5, Sassanid Shah of Persia |
- 230 - 232 Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in Roman east. |
- 52 Arrival of Apostle Thomas to Malabar, India. Beginning of Christianity in India. |
- 150 - 250 100 Nagarjuna, founder of Madhyamaka (Mahayana) Buddhism. India. |
- 41 - 54 Rachias, an Ambassador sent from Sri Lanka to court of Claudius. |
- Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka first write down Buddha's teachings, creating Pali canon. |
- regions of present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan & North India come under control of Kushans, a nomadic people forced out of northwest China by Han Dynasty. |
- Late 1st century-early 2nd century – Buddha & Attendants, from Katra Keshavdev, Mathura, Madhya Pradesh, India, is made. Kushan period. It is now kept at Mathura Museum. |
- 2nd century-3rd century – Standing Buddha, from Gandhara (Pakistan), is made. Kushan period. It is now kept at Lahore Museum, Lahore. |
- Siddhartha in Palace, detail of a relief from Nagarjunakonda, Andhra Pradesh, India, is made. Later Andhra period. It is now kept at National Museum, New Delhi, (approximate date). |
- 8 - 2315 Wang Mang temporarily overthrew Han dynasty of China. |
- 28 - 75 Emperor Ming of Han, Buddhism reaches China. |
- 125 Zhang Heng of China invents world's first water-powered armillary sphere |
- 132 Zhang Heng of China invents first seismometer to detect cardinal direction of earthquakes |
- 208 Chinese naval Battle of Red Cliffs occurs. |
- 220: Han Dynasty comes to an end with establishment of Three Kingdoms in ancient China. |
- 265 Jin Dynasty reunites China under one empire after conquest of Eastern Wu. |
- Huiyuan, Chinese Buddhist |
- Zu Chongzhi, Chinese astronomer & mathematician |
- Horse collar invented in China |
- Faxian, Chinese Buddhist monk |
- Kumarajiva, (344-413), Buddhist monk & Chinese translator |
- 250 - 538: Kofun era, first part of Kofun period in Japan. |
- 477 Chan Buddhists found Shaolin Monastery on Mount Shan in Henan, China. |
- Bodhidharma, founder of Chan Buddhism |
- 401 Buddhist monk & translator of sutras, Kumarajiva into Chinese arrives in Chang'an |
- Zhang Daoling, Chinese Taoist hermit |
- Wang Bi, Taoist |
- Zhang Heng, Chinese statesman, poet, inventor, astronomer, geographer, & engineer |
- Zhang Zhongjing, one of most famous Chinese physicians during Han Dynasty |
- 322 stirrup was invented in China, no later than |
- Early 1st century - Inner shrine, Ise, Mie, Mie Prefecture, is built. Yayoi period. Japan. |
- Zhuge Liang, known as greatest strategist during period of Three Kingdoms |
- Liu Bei, founding emperor of Kingdom of Shu |
- Cao Cao, founding emperor of Kingdom of Wei |
- South Pointing Chariot invented by Ma Jun, a wheeled mechanical device that acts as a directional compass |
- 399 - 412 13 Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian sails through Indian Ocean & travels throughout Sri Lanka & India to gather Buddhist scriptures. |
- 312 - 85 73 Tao-un Chinese Buddhist monk, translator who elimnates Taoist words from Buddhist writings |
- 383 Battle of Fei River in China |
- Mid-4th century - Wang Xizhi makes a portion of a letter from Feng Ju album. Six Dynasties period. It is now kept at National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. |
- 344 - 413 69 Kumarajiva Buddhist monk from India, translator of sutras into Chinese |
- Ambrose, Christian theologian, bishop of Milan whose preaching converted Augustine |
- Basil Great, Christian theologian, bishop in Cappadocia |
- Fa-Hsien, Chinese Buddhist monk |
- 27 - 100 73 Wang Chung Chinese Philosopher. |
- 45 BC - 23 AD 68 Wang Mang. emperor |
- Liu Hui, Chinese mathematician |
- 31 Han Dynasty Chinese engineer & statesman Du Shi (d. 38) from Nanyang invented first-known hydraulic-powered bellows to heat blast furnace in smelting cast iron. He used a complex mechanical device that was powered by rushing current against a waterwheel, a practice that would continue in China. |
- Gan Ying China |
- Guangwu of Han |
- 50 BC - 23 AD 73 Liu Xin, Chinese |
- 14 BC - 49 AD Ma Yuan. China. |
- 28 - 75 47 Ming of Han |
- Chinese astronomer Liu Xin (d. 23) documented 1080 different stars, amongst other achievements. |
- 184 - 205 Yellow Turban Rebellion of Han Dynasty in China begins |
- 1st-2nd centuries - Tomb model of a house, is made. Eastern Han dynasty. It is now kept at Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. |
- 32 - 102 Ban Chao China |
- ? - 38 Du Shi China |
- Although Philo of Byzantium described saqiya chain pump in early 2nd century BC, square-pallet chain pump was innovated in China during this century, mentioned first by philosopher Wang Chong around 80 AD. Wang Chong also accurately described water cycle in meteorology, & argued against mainstream 'radiating influence' theory for solar eclipses, latter of which was accepted by many, including Zhang Heng. |
- Buddhism reaches Burma & Indonesia. |
- Kaundinya, an Indian Brahmin marries Soma & establishes Pre-Angkor Cambodian Kingdom of Funan. |
- Kingdom of Funan reaches its zenith under rule of Fan Shih-man. |
- Hawaiiloa, discovered & settled Hawaii |
- Humans arrive on Pentecost Island in Vanuatu & establish Bunlap tribe, among others. |
- Hopewell tradition ends in North America. |
- 455 City of Chichen Itza is founded in Mexico. |
- 430 Ilopango erupted, devastating Mayan cities in present-day El Salvador. |
- Diffusion of maize as a food crop from Mexico into North America begins. |