Eastern Hemisphere at the beginning of the 5th century AD.
Eastern Hemisphere at the end of the 5th century AD.
The
5th century is the period from
401 to
500 in accordance with the
Julian calendar in
Anno Domini/
Common Era.
Overview
This century is noted for being a time of repeated disaster and instability both internally and externally for the
Western Roman Empire, which finally unravelled, and came to an end in AD
476. The west was ruled by a succession of weak
emperors, and true power began to fall increasingly into the hands of powerful generals. Internal instability and pressing military problems caused by foreign invaders finally resulted in the sacking of Rome by a
Visigoth army in
410. Some recovery was made in the following decades, but the Western Empire received a serious blow when another barbarian group, the
Vandals occupied
Carthage, capital of the extremely important province of
Africa, a major supplier of wealth and grain. Attempts to retake the province were interrupted by the invasions of the
Huns under
Attila. After Attila's final defeat and death both Eastern and Western empires joined forces for a final assault on Vandal North Africa, but their campaign was a spectacular failure.
The Fall of the Western Roman Empire
The year
476 is widely understood as the point at which the
Western Roman Empire came to an end. In
476 the last Western Roman Emperor,
Romulus Augustus (nicknamed
Augustulus "Little Augustus") was deposed by a Germanic
foederati general named
Odoacer. The Eastern Roman Empire finally ceased trying to prop up its hopeless Western twin, whose former lands were then divided into numerous
barbarian kingdoms. The last
de jure Western Roman Emperor,
Julius Nepos was murdered in Dalmatia in 480 AD. The last fragment of the Western Empire, the
Domain of Soissons ruled by Duke
Syagrius, was conquered by the Frankish
King Clovis in 486. Roman power continued in the east however, under the rulers of Constantinople. Scholars normally refer to their empire as the
Byzantine Empire, however its inhabitants considered themselves Roman throughout. Recognizable Roman culture continued to exist in the east for another 200 years before the Arab invasions of the
7th Century set off a chain of events that forever changed the face of the
Eastern Roman Empire, and the entity that emerged in the next few centuries is what one might refer to as the true
Medieval Byzantine Empire.
Events
Romulus Augustus, Last Western Roman Emperor
- 399 – 412: The Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian sails through the Indian Ocean and travels throughout Sri Lanka and India to gather Buddhist scriptures.
- 407: Constantine III leads many of the Roman military units from Britain to Gaul, occupying Arles (Arelate). This is generally seen as Rome's withdrawal from Britain.
- 452: Pope Leo I allegedly meets personally with Attila the Hun and convinces him not to sack Rome.
- 453: Death of Attila. The Hunnic Empire is divided between his sons.
- 454: Battle of Nedao. Germanic tribes destroy the main Hunnic army and throw off Hunnic domination.
- 455: Vandals sack Rome. The city of Chichen Itza is founded in Mexico.
- 480: Assassination of Julius Nepos, the last de jure Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, in Dalmatia.
- 486: Clovis defeats Syagrius and conquers the last free remnant of the Western Roman Empire.
- 491: King Clovis I defeats and subjugates the Kingdom of Thuringia in Germany.
Significant persons
- Aspar, Eastern Roman general and politician
- Clovis, first Frankish king to unite all the Frankish peoples
- Geiseric, Vandal king and founder of the Vandal kingdom in North Africa
- Ricimer, Western Roman general, politician and ruler
- Sozomen, Christian church historian
Inventions, discoveries, introductions
Other
The
gomphothere, an
elephant-like species, becomes
extinct.
