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Timeline of Roman History ( part 5 of 5 )

(Part 5 of 5)

455 AD - Rome is sacked by the Vandal King Gaiseric. He carries off the empress and her two daughters after plundering the city for two days.
456 AD - The general Ricimer launches a fleet against widescale naval attacks of the Vandals, and defeats the Vandal navy off the coast of Corsica.
457 AD - The general Majorian is proclaimed as emperor in the West and is recognized by the Eastern Emperor Leo, who had replaced the previous emperor Marcian.
460 AD - A humiliating defeat of an Roman imperial navy by a Vandal fleet forced Emperor Majorian to sign an even more humiliating peace treaty.
461 AD - Death of the Emperor Majorian, who was murdered by officers Ricimer at the city of Tortona after loosing his army against the Vandals.
463 AD - The Goths are prevented from crossing the Loire River by the Roman general Aegidius in a battle near Orleans.
467 AD - The Eastern Emperor Leo has the patrician Roman general Anthemius made emperor of the Western Empire.
468 AD - The Vandals are defeated.
472 AD - The Roman mercenary commander, Ricimer, leads his forces on and captures the city of Rome.
474 AD - The death of the Eastern Emperor Leo.
476 AD - The Germanic mercenaries Rome has employed for so long revolt and declare Odoacer as king. They invade Italy and defeat the general Orestes at the battle of Piacenza. Odoacer then marches on and captures the new capital of Ravenna and deposes the Roman emperor Romulus Augustulus. But Romulus is not the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, as Emperor Julius Nepos outlives him. But it is, in practice, the end of Roman emperors in the Western Empire.
476 AD - The exiled Eastern general Zeno the Isaurian enters Constantinople unhindered and immediately capture the present emperor Basiliscus and his family and had them all sentenced to death by beheading.
476 AD - Emperor Zeno is emperor of the East and West, except for Italy, who is at this point King of Italy.
477 AD - The Vandal King Gaiseric dies.
480 AD - Death of the puppet emperor Julius Nepos. This is in theory the end of the Roman Empire in the west, as he is the last Roman emperor and outlasted Romulus Augustulus.
493 AD - The Eastern Emperor Zeno sends his general Theodoric, an Ostrogoth, to depose the usurper Odovacer and to rule there in his name. Theodoric founds a dynasty which lasts right through to 526 AD.
500 AD - Birth of the writer and biographer Procopius in the city of Caesarea Maritima.
500 AD - The terminology of BC - AD/BCE - CE are established by a Christian Monk, but used beginning of AD as 1 AD, as there was no Roman numeral for zero.


BYZANTINE EMPIRE


480 AD - The theoretical creation of the Byzantine Empire occurs. For the remainder the composition of the Western provinces, they are now ruled over by various Germanic and Eastern nomadic tribes, such as the Huns and Sarmatians.
481 AD - A Byzantine general, Theodoric Strabo, marches his army on Constantinople, but he is quickly turned away from his march. He dies soon from an accident.
483 AD - Justinian I is born in the town of Tauresium in Illyria.
484 AD - The Master of the Soldiers, Illus, supports Marcian as emperor against Zeno. Zeno gains the support of Theodoric and crushes the supporters of Marcian.
486 AD - Theodoric, after helping the Byzantine Emperor Zeno, begins to pillage Thrace.
491 AD - The Byzantine Emperor Zeno the Isaurian dies of an epileptic fit.
520 AD - Justinian murders one of the consuls of the year, Vitalian.
521 AD - Justinian is named as consul of the Eastern Empire.
526 AD - A large earthquake destroys large parts of some large eastern cities, including Antioch.
527 AD - The eastern emperor, Justin I, dies. He is succeeded by Justinian I, who is his nephew.
528 AD - A Persian army under a prince named Xerxes numbering 30,000 defeats a Roman army. The general, Belisarius, escapes, but returns to defeat Xerxes with new troops supplied by Justinian.
528 AD - Incursions into the empire by Bulgarians through Lower Moesia and Scythia, in which imperial armies are defeated.
532 AD - The Conflict of the Blue and Green circus factions occurs when a rival eastern emperor is elected. The Emperor Justinian is almost overthrown, but his position is saved by the brutal repression of Belisarius and Theodora, his wife. This becomes known as the Nika riots, and before the revolt is put down, nearly 30,000 are killed and much of Constantinople is wrecked or destroyed.
532 AD - The Hagia Sophia is completed in Constantinople. It is the most lavish Byzantine Church of all.
533 AD - A battle occurs between the Vandals and the forces of Belisarius at Ad Decimum. The Vandals had some of their minor forces of cavalry defeated by the Byzantines.
533 AD - Belisarius captures the city of Carthage and renames it Colonia Justiniana Carthago.
533 AD - The Byzantine general, Belisarius, reconquers North Africa from the Vandals.
534 AD - The Vandals cease to exist as a unified tribe.
534 AD - All Roman law is codified when Emperor Justinian's Corpus Iuris Civilis (body of civil law) is punished.
540 AD - The Byzantine general Belisarius captures the city of Ravenna.
541/42 AD - Belisarius is on campaign against the Persians.
548 AD - While campaigning successfully against the Ostrogoths in Italy, he has his command removed due to fear of him from Emperor Justinian.
555 AD - The Gothic power is forever broken by the Byzantines, and the rulers of Ravenna are governors from the Byzantine Empire.
558 AD - Belisarius is recalled to repel an attempted invasion of Constantinople by Bulgarians.
562 AD - Emperor Justinian becomes so afraid of Belisarius, that he imprisons him for several months on an accusation of conspiracy.
565 AD - Belisarius dies in a peaceful retirement, aged 60.
565 AD - Emperor Justinian dies and is succeeded by his nephew, Emperor Justin II.
565 AD - Death of the writer and biographer Procopius.
578 AD - Emperor Justin II dies. By this point he has gone completely mad.
641 AD - The Persian Empire is defeated and ceases to exist. The Islamic warriors known as the Arabs defeat it. The Arabs become a new threat to the Byzantine Empire.
697 AD - The Arabs capture the city of Carthage.
698 AD - After a war, the city of Carthage is destroyed again and its site is not built upon until modern times.
878 AD - The city of Syracuse is sacked and razed by an invasion by the Saracens. It never regains its former glory.
1448 AD - Constantine XI Dragases is crowned emperor of the Eastern Empire.
1453 AD - The city of Constantinople is captured by the Ottoman Turks. Emperor Constantine XI Dragases is killed in the fighting. This signals the final downfall of the last bastion of the Roman Empire in Europe. Later, modern France is named the Holy Roman Empire, founded by King Charlemange, but the only true traces of the Roman Empire are the ruins and some of the surviving buildings. In total, the true Roman Empire as a whole lasted for 1229 years, while the small existing pockets of the Roman empire lasted for a total of 2206 years, spanned an entire continent and is so far the largest empire in history.

Abbreviations:
A. = Aulus Ap. = Appius D. = Decimus G. = Gaius Gn. = Gnaeus K. = ? L. = Lucius Mam. = Mamercus Man. = Manius Num. = Numerius P. = Publius Q. = Quintus Ser. = Servius Sex. = Sextus Sp. = Spurius T. = Titus Ti. = Tiberius


I would like to acknowledge the information given to me by Robert Tarquinio on the true founding of the city of Rome, and would like to give him my thanks.
Craig Stevenson : Timeline of Roman History

Roman Timeline Years 1000BC - 1500AD
By: Gaius Sentius Bruttius Sura

Timeline of Roman History ( Part 5 of 5 )

Timeline of Roman History ( Part 1 of 5 )
Timeline of Roman History ( Part 2 of 5 )
Timeline of Roman History ( part 4 of 5 )

Timeline of Roman History ( part 5 of 5 )

Timeline of Roman History ( part 3 of 5 )