5th Century

Events in the 5th Century 10

• 753 BC – 476 The Roman Civilisation The Roman civilisation — kingdom, republic and empire — shaped Western law, language, architecture, religion and governance more profoundly than any other ancient civilisation. From the legendary founding of Rome by Romulus in 753 BC to the deposition of the last western emperor Romulus Augustulus in 476 AD, Rome endured for over twelve centuries, governing at its peak an empire of 70 million people stretching from Scotland to Mesopotamia.
• 300 BC – 1279 Chola dynasty (South India) A great maritime and temple-building power The Cholas of the Tamil south were one of the longest-ruling dynasties in history, rising from the Sangam age to a medieval maritime empire that projected naval power across the Bay of Bengal to Southeast Asia. They built magnificent temples such as the Brihadeeswarar at Thanjavur and patronised bronze sculpture and Tamil literature.
• 224 – 651 Sasanian Empire — last pre-Islamic empire The longest-lived Persian imperial dynasty Founded by Ardashir I, the Sasanian Empire revived Persian power, made Zoroastrianism the state religion, and ruled as a superpower rivalling Rome and Byzantium for over four centuries. It was a golden age of Persian art, architecture and administration before falling to the Arab Muslim conquest.
• 300 – 538 Kofun period Giant keyhole tombs and the rise of Yamato The Kofun period is named for the massive keyhole-shaped burial mounds (kofun) built for powerful rulers. During this era the Yamato court in the Nara plain rose to dominance over rival polities, laying the basis for a unified Japanese state under the imperial line.
• 320 – 550 Gupta Empire — India's Golden Age Peak of science, mathematics, art and literature The Gupta Empire presided over a golden age of Indian civilisation. Scholars made landmark advances in mathematics and astronomy — including the concept of zero and the decimal place-value system — while Sanskrit literature, sculpture and temple architecture reached classical heights.
• 406 Rhine crossing — barbarians flood into Gaul On the night of 31 December 406 AD, the Rhine freezes solid and vast numbers of Germanic peoples — Vandals, Suebi, Alans and Burgundians — cross into Roman Gaul. The Rhine frontier, Rome's western defence line for four centuries, collapses in a night. Within three years these peoples have spread across Gaul, Spain and North Africa. The western empire loses its tax base and its ability to defend its borders. The sequence of events that will end the empire has begun.
• 410 Sack of Rome by the Visigoths On 24 August 410 AD, Alaric and his Visigoths sack Rome — the first time the city has fallen to a foreign enemy in 800 years, since Brennus and the Gauls in 390 BC. The sack lasts three days. Though restrained by ancient standards (Alaric is a Christian and spares the churches), the psychological shock is immense. Jerome writes from Bethlehem: "My voice is choked, and sobs cut short my dictation. The city which had taken the whole world was itself taken." Augustine begins writing the City of God in response.
• 434 – 453 Attila the Hun Attila rules the Hunnic Empire from 434 to 453 AD, terrorising both halves of the Roman Empire. He devastates the Balkans repeatedly, extracts enormous tribute from Constantinople, and invades Gaul in 451 AD — defeated at the Catalaunian Plains by the Roman general Aetius and his Visigothic allies in one of the most consequential battles in history. He invades Italy in 452 AD, sacking Aquileia and threatening Rome, but withdraws — perhaps due to plague, perhaps due to Pope Leo I's legendary intervention. He dies in 453 AD, apparently of a nosebleed on his wedding night.
• 455 Sack of Rome by the Vandals In June 455 AD, the Vandals under King Gaiseric sack Rome for fourteen days — a more thorough plundering than Alaric's three-day raid of 410 AD. They strip the gilded roof tiles from the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus and carry off the treasures of the Temple in Jerusalem (themselves looted by Titus in 70 AD). The Empress Eudoxia and her daughters are taken to Carthage. The word "vandalism" enters languages across the world. Rome will never recover its former wealth.
• 476 Fall of the Western Roman Empire On 4 September 476 AD, the Germanic chieftain Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus — the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire — at Ravenna. Romulus is a teenager, and his very name — combining the founder of Rome with the founder of the empire — gives the moment a bitter symmetry. Odoacer sends the imperial regalia to Constantinople, declaring there is no need for a separate western emperor. Edward Gibbon will later mark this date as the end of ancient history. The Eastern Empire — Byzantium — continues for another 977 years.