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Fade the Butcher
01-17-2007, 12:46 AM
The purpose of this thread is to confirm incidents from the JesusNeverExisted.com timeline (http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/dark-age.htm) and expand it with new entries as I come across them.

40 - Philo of Alexandria (Philo Judaeus): wrote first commentary on creation account in Genesis and originated the handmaiden approach to scripture and faith. [Grant, 2004, p.xiv]

[B]1st century[/B] - Two important Latin encyclopedic authors who had a significant influence on the Middle Ages: Seneca (d.68), who wrote [I]Natural Questions[/I], and Pliny (23/24-27), the author of the [I]Natural History[/I] in thirty-seven books. [Grant, 2004, p.xiv]

[B]2nd century[/B] - Claudius Ptolemy wrote the most important books on astronomy and astrology in the ancient world. Galen was the greatest physician in antiquity whose medical treatises were dominant until the seventeenth century. [Grant, 2004, p.xiv]

[B](184-254)[/B] - Life of Origen, a famous Christian philosopher and scholar who showed that Greek philosophy was compatible with Christianity. Later denounced by St. Jerome and condemned as a heretic. [Grant, 2004, p.xiv]

[B](204-270)[/B] - Life of Plotinus, founder of Neoplatonism.

[B]215 [/B]- Clement of Alexandria: one of earliest Church Fathers to advocate that science and philosophy can be studied as handmaidens to theology and fiath.

[B]226[/B] - Ardashir founds Sasanian dynasty in Persia.

[B](241-72)[/B] - Shapur I of Persia.

[B](251-356)[/B] - St. Anthony of Egypt, famous ascetic.

[B](293-373)[/B] - Life of Athanasius

[B](300-367)[/B] - Life of Hilary of Poitiers.

[B](309-379)[/B] - Shapur II of Persia.

[B](310-400)[/B] - Ausonius, poet.

[B](311-81)[/B] - Ulfilas, apostle to the Goths.

[B]313 -[/B] The Roman emperor Constantine issues the [B]Edict of Milan[/B], or Edict of Toleration, which conferred on Christianity full legal equality with all other religions in the Roman Empire. [Grant, 2004, p.xiv]

[B]314 [/B]- Birth of Libanius in Antioch, famous pagan orator.

[b]315[/b] - Donatist, Bishop of Carthage, denies the efficacy of sacraments administered by priests in a state of sin.

[B]324 [/B]- Constantine and his engineers survey the site of Byzantium as the planned location for his new capital. Construction of Constantinople begins.

(???) - Constantine discourages pagan ceremonies and sacrifices. [Durant, 1950, p.8]

[B]325 [/B]- [B]Council of Nicaea[/B], denounces the Arian heresy and formulates the Nicene Creed proclaiming that the Son was "consubstantial, of one substance with Father". Arius deposed from his see and banished. A majority of bishops in the east openly or secretly side with Arius, and the controversy over Arianism continues until the Council of Constantinope in 381. [Durant, 1950, p.7]

[B](325-391)[/B] - Ammianus Marcellinus, historian.

[B](329-379)[/B] - Life of St. Basil. Saint Basil of Caesarea: regarded as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, was bishop of Caesarea from 370-379, and an opponent of Arianism. As a famous preacher, many of his homilies were preserved. [Grant, 2004, p.xiv]

[B](329-389)[/B] - Life of Gregory Nazianzen.

[B]330[/B] - Dedication of Constantinople as the new capital of the "Christian Empire."

Constantine flees Greece of pagan architecture to decorate his new captial. [Durant, 1950, pg,5]

[B]331 [/B]- Constantine invites Arius to a personal conference, finds no heresy in him, and recommends the restoration of Arius and the Arians to their churches. Bishop Athanasius protests. [ Durant, 1950, p.7]

Birth of Julian.

[B]335 [/B]- Bishop Athanasius, a stalwart supporter of the Trinity, deposed from his see in Alexandria by a council of Eastern bishops at Tyre. [Durant, 1950, p.7]

[B]337[/B] - Death of Constantine. Constantine is baptized on his deathbed by an Arian bishop, Eusebius of Nicomedia. [Durant, 1950, p.8] Afterwards, Athanasius is restored to his see.

[B]339 [/B]- Bishop Athanasius deposed from his see for a second time. A new church ecumenical council declares the [I]likeness[/I], not the [I]consubstantiality[/I], of Christ with the Father. Supporters of the Nicene Creed deposed from their sees. Athanasius will flee from his see on three more occasions. [Durant, 1950, p.8]

[B]340 [/B]- Athanasius restored to his see by Pope Julius I.

[B](340-398)[/B] - Life of St. Ambrose.

[B](340-420)[/B] - Life of St. Jerome.

[B]341[/B] - A council of Eastern bishops deposes Athanasius from his see and appoints a new bishop named Gregory in his place at Alexandria. [ Durant, 1950. p.8]

[B]342[/B] - Murderous riots over theology break out in Alexandria. Athanasius flees the city to end the bloodshed. [Durant, 1950, p.8]

[B](342-343)[/B] - More riots over theology in Constantinople after Constantinus deposes the Orthodox bishop Paul and replaces him with the Arian Macedonius. Three thousand people lose their lives in the controversy. More Christians are slaughtered by other Christians during these years than were killed in all the persecutions by the pagan emperors. [Durant, 1950, p.8]

(???) - "Constans forbids pagan sacrifices and ceremonies on the pain of death; Constantinus orders all pagan temples in the Empire closed, and all pagan rituals to cease. Those who disobeyed were to forfeit their property and their lives; and these penalties were extended to provincial governors neglecting to enforce the decree." [ Durant, 1950, p.8]

[B](345-407)[/B] - Life of St. John Chrysostom.

[B](345-410)[/B] - Life of Symmachus, senator.

[B](348-410)[/B] - Prudentius, poet.

[B]350[/B] - Hunnic attacks on Alans east of River Don and Gothic Greuthungi west of Don destablize area north and east of Black Sea.

[B](353-361)[/B] - Reign of Constantius as sole emperor. Constantius was an Arian. [Durant, 1950, p.8]

[B](354-430)[/B] - Life of St. Augustine. A prolific Latin author who exerted an enormous influence on medieval theology. Like many church fathers, he advocated the handmaiden approach to secular learning. [Grant, 2004, p.xv]

[B]355[/B] - Julian banished to Athens, studies philosophy under Themistius, secretly initiated into the Eleusian Mysteries. Later appointed Caesar by Constantinus II and assigned to the government of Gaul. [Durant, 1950, pp.11-12]

[B]356 [/B]- Julian defeats the Alammani and drives them out of Gaul.

[B](359-408)[/B] - Stilicho, [I]patricius[/I].

[B](361-363)[/B] - Reign of Julian.

[FONT=Arial][COLOR=#ff0000][I][B][SIZE=3]361 to 363 Religious tolerance and restoration of the pagan cults is declared in Constantinople (11th December 361) by the pagan emperor Julian. Orders the restoration of pagan temples, confiscated pagan property, and renews the accustomed state revenues of pagan cults.[/SIZE][/B][/I][/COLOR][/FONT]

[Durant, 1950, p.15]

"He withdrew from the Christian Church all state subsidies, and closed to Christians the chairs of rhetoric, philosophy, and literature in the universities, on the grounds that these subjects could be taught with sympathy only by pagans. He ended the exemption of Christian clergy from taxation and burdensome civic duties, and the free use of the bishops of the facilities supplied for the public post. He forbade legacies to churches; made Christians ineligible to governmental offices; ordered the Christians of each community to make full reparation for any damage that they had inflicted upon pagan temples during preceding reigns; and permitted the demolition of Christian churches that had been built upon the illegally seized lands of pagan shrines." [Durant, 1950, p.18]

Julian orders the restoration of a sacred shrine to Apollo in Antioch (it had been transformed into an amusement part). [Durant, 1950, p.19] Launches an unsuccessful campaign against the Persians in which he is killed.

[b]362[/b] - St. Martin founds a monastery at Poitiers; the first of many that will spring up in Gaul. [Durant, p.57]

[B](363-364)[/B] - Reign of Jovian. Transfers state financial support from the pagan temples to the Church. [Durant, 1950, p.21]

[B](364-367)[/B] - Reign of Valentinian I, Western emperor.

Valentinian issues an edict proclaiming freedom of creed and worship for all. [Durant, 1950, p.25]

??? Priscus, a Neoplatonic philosopher and advisor to Julian, is [B]arrested[/B] by Valens and Valentinian I on a charge of using magic to give them fever. [Durant, 1950, p.123]

[B](364-378)[/B] - Reign of Valens, Eastern emperor.

[B](365-408)[/B] - Claudian, poet.

[B](366-384)[/B] - Pope Damasus I.

[B]372[/B] - Huns cross the Volga.

[B](375-383)[/B] - Gratian, Western emperor.

[B]375 [/B]- After death in battle of a second leader, one major group of Greuthungi moves west into territory of neighboring Gothic Tervingi.

[B]376 [/B]- [B]Greuthungi and 'larger part' of Tervingi arrive on Danube requesting asylum inside Roman Empire.[/B]

[B]377 [/B]- Initial revolt of Tervingi; Greuthungi force their way across Danube.

[B]377/378[/B] - 1st phase of Gothic war, confined to eastern Balkans.

[B]378 [/B]- [B]Battle of Adrianople[/B]. Catastrophic Roman defeat at the hands of the Visigoths. Death of Valens, Eastern Emperor.

[B]379 [/B]- Theon, Alexandrian philosopher and mathematician, last known curator of the museum and father of Hypatia.

[B](379-381)[/B] - 2nd phase of Gothic war spreads to western Balkans.

[B](379-395)[/B] - Reign of Theodosius I.

[u][b]The Syrian Issac founds the first monastery in Constantinople; similar institutions rapidly multiply; by 400 the monks were a power and a terror in the city, [/u][/b]playing a noisy role in the conflicts of patriarch with patriarch, and of patriarch with emperor. [Durant, p.62]

[B]380 [/B]- [B][U]The Emperor Gratian[/U][/B] [B][U]declares the Nicene Creed compulsory "on all the peoples subject to the governments of our clemency," and denounces as "mad and insane" the followers of other faiths. [/U][/B][Durant, , 1950, p.34]

[B]382 [/B]- Peace treaty ends the war (Oct.3); Tervingi and Greuthungi settled in Balkans on relatively generous terms.

[B][U]The Emperor Gratian orders an end to payments by the imperial or municipal treastures for pagan ceremonies, vestal virgins, or priests; confiscates all lands belonging to temples and priestly colleges; and orders his agents to remove the statue of the goddess of victory from the Senate. Banishment of Symmachus from Rome.[/U][/B] [Durant, 1950, p.34]

[B](382-391)[/B] - Altar of Victory removed from Senate. Controversy between Ambrose and Symmachus. [Durant, 1950, p.2; Freeman, 1999, p.430]

[B]385 [/B]- A Spanish bishop, Priscillian, is accused by two bishops of preaching Manicheism and universal celibacy. Tried before the usurping Emperor Maximus at Trier, found guility, and [B]burned at the stake[/B] along with several of his companions. [Durant, 1950, p.47]

[u][b]Theodosius orders the closure of the Oracle of Delphi.[/u][/b] [Freeman, 1999, p.429]

[B]386 [/B]- More Greuthungi try to cross Danube; defeated by Theodosius and settled on harsh terms in Asia Minor.

[B]387 [/B]- Baptism of St. Augustine.

[B]387/388 -[/B] Theodosius I defeats Maximus; Balkan Goths involved in war and some revolt.

[b]388[/b] - Augustinian order founded in North Africa.

Destruction of a Jewish synagogue by a Christian mob. Theodosius orders the local bishop to rebuild it. Relents under pressure from Ambrose. [u][b]End of religious tolerance in practice. [/u][/b][Freeman, 1999, p429]

[B](389-461)[/B] - St. Patrick.

[b](390-459)[/b] - Life of Simeon Stylites, famous Syrian ascetic.

[B]390 [/B]- Massacare of 7,000 men, women, and children in the Hippodrome by Theosodius. [Durant, 1950, p.26]

Penance of Theodosius: strips himself of all the insignia of the empire, enters a cathedral as a humble penitent, and begs heaven to forgive his sins.

[B]390s[/B] - [u][b]Disappearance of bath houses and gymnasia. [/u][/b]

"The [i]Gymnasia[/i], centers of intellectual as much as sporting activities, had disappeared by the 390s. "it was the collapse of the [i]Gymnasia[/i], the focal point of Hellenism, more than any other event which brought int the Middle Ages," as one scholar has put it. Bath houses also disappear. At Hieriopolis in Asia the bath house becomes a church." [Freeman, 1999, p.429]

[B]391[/B] - [u][b]Edict of Theodosius prohibits pagan sacrifice.[/u][/b]

[B]391/2[/B] - In Alexandria, Egypt, pagans, led by the philosopher Olympius, revolt and after some street fights they lock themselves inside the fortified temple of the god Serapis (the Serapeion). [u][B]After a violent siege, the Christians take over the building, demolish it, burn its famous library and profane the cult images. [/B][/u] [Durant, 1950, p.61; Freeman, 1999, p.429]

[u][b]"In Syria the pagan temples were disposed of in the manner of Theophilus. Imperial edicts ordered them closed;[/u][/b] the surviving pagans resisted the order but resigned themselves to defeat on noting the indifference with which their gods accepted destruction." [Durant, p.62]

[B]392[/B] - Assassination of Valentinian II in Gaul.

[B](392-394)[/B] - Reign of Eugenius as Western Emperor, usurper. Restores statue of Victory. Defeated in a two-day battle near Aquileia by Theodosius. Balkan Goths again involved in war and further revolt.

[B]393/4[/B] - [B][U]The Olympic Games are outlawed[/U][/B] by Theodosius.

(???) - Epicureanism outlawed. [Durant, 1950, p.9]

[B]394 [/B]- Theodosius compels the Senate to [u][b]issue a decree abolishing paganism in all its forms.[/u][/b] [Durant, 1950, p.35]

"The building of the great temple to Apollo at the oracle of Didyma ceases ("templates" for the shapes of column bases are still to be seen on the temple walls). At Aphrodisias the great temple to Aphrodite is given an apse as it is transformed into a Christian church." [Freeman, 1999, p.429]

[B](394-423)[/B] - Reign of Honorius as Western Emperor.

[B](395-408)[/B] - Reign of Arcadius as Eastern Emperor.

[B]395/396[/B] - First major Hunnic attack on Roman Empire, via Caucasus (Persian Empire also heavily affected).

[B](395-411)[/B] -[B] Alaric reigns over Tervingi and those Greuthungi encompassed by 382 treaty.[/B]

[B](395-397)[/B] - Alaric's 1st revolt.

[B]395[/B] - [U][B]End of Eleusian Mysteries[/B].[/U] Two new edicts (22nd July and 7th August) cause new persecutions against pagans. Rufinus, the eunuch Prime Minister of Emperor Flavius [B]Arcadius[/B] directs the hordes of baptised Goths (led by Alaric) to the country of the Hellenes. [B][I]Encouraged by Christian monks[/I] the barbarians sack and burn many cities[/B] (Dion, Delphi, Megara, Corinth, Pheneos, Argos, Nemea, Lycosoura, Sparta, Messene, Phigaleia, Olympia, etc.), slaughter or enslave innumerable gentile Hellenes and burn down all the temples.[B] Among others, they burn down the Eleusinian Sanctuary and burn alive all its priests (including the hierophant of Mithras [I]Hilarius[/I]). [/B][Durant, 1950, p.9]

[B]397[/B] - [I]Confessions[/I] of St. Augustine.

Treaty between Alaric and Eutropius; Alaric becomes Roman general commanding Illyricum.

[B]399 [/B]- Fall of Eutropius; end of treaty.

[B]400 [/B]- [I]Saturnalia[/I] of Macrobius.

Fade the Butcher
01-17-2007, 12:48 AM
400 - Appearance of massive new churches in Rome. Ammianus reports the pope lives like a prince in the Lateran Palace. [ Durant, p.51]

St. Honoratus and St. Gaprasius build a monastery on the island of Lerins, facing Cannes. [Durant, p.57]

British appeal to Stilicho.

[B]401/402[/B] - Alaric's 1st invasion of Italy; battles of Pllentia and Verona.

[B]402 [/B]- Defeat of Alaric at Pollentia.

[B]403 [/B]- Ravenna becomes capital of the West.

John Chrysostom banished from his see by Council of Chalcedon.

[B]404 [/B]- Honorius issues an edict [B]abolishing gladiatorial games.[/B] [Durant, 1950, p.31]

[B](405-408)[/B] - [B]2nd wave of Hun-inspired invasions of Roman Empire, affecting areas west of the Carpathians.[/B]

[B]405/406[/B] - Treaty between Alaric and Stilicho.

Radagaisus invades Italy through Austrian passes, is defeted and killed; many followers sold into slavery, elite warriors drafted into Roman army.

[B]406 [/B]- Rhine invaders - Vandals, Alans, Suevi, and smaller groups - break over Rome's Upper Rhine frontier.

[B](407-409) [/B]- Rhine invaders ravage Gaul, then cross Pyrenees into Spain.

[B]407 [/B]- Roman legions depart from Britain. Constantine III leads Roman forces stationed in Britain and Gaul against Rhine invaders.

[B]408 [/B]- Death of Stilicho.

Minor Hunnic leader Uldin invades Eastern Empire.

[B](408-450)[/B] - Reign of Theodosius II in Eastern Empire.

[B](408-411)[/B] - Alaric's 2nd invasion of Italy; creation of Visigoths by addition of Radagaisus' followers to Tervingi and Greuthungi encompassed by 382 treaty.

[B]409 [/B]- Pelagius, theologian.

[B]410 [/B]- Sack of Rome (Aug. 20) by Visigoths under Alaric.

[B](410-485)[/B] - Life of Proclus, mathematician.

[B]410/411[/B] - British provinces revolt against Constantine III.

[B](411-421)[/B] - [B]Flavius Constantius dominates western Empire.[/B]

[B]412 [/B]- Rhine invaders divide Spanish provinces between them.

[B]412/413 -[/B] Honorius sends letter to British provincials telling them central Roman forces can no longer defend them.

[B]413[/B] - Orosius, historian.

[B](413-416)[/B] - Flavius Constantius undermines Athaulf (killed in coup in 415) to force Visigoths into renewed alliance with Western Empire; Visigothic settlement begins in Aquitaine.

[b]413-426[/b] - Augustine writes [i]The City of God[/i].

[b]"The [i]civitas Dei[/i], says Augustine, was founded by the creation of the angels; [u]the [i]civitas terrena[/i] by the rebellion of Satan.[/u] 'Mankind is divided into two sorts; such as live according to man, and such as live according to God. Those we mystically call the 'two cities' or societies, the one predestined to reign eternally with God, [u]the other condemned to perpetual torment with the Devil."[/u][/b] [Durant, p.73]

[b]414[/b] - Regency of Pulcheria, sister of Theodosius II.

[B]415[/B] - In Alexandria, the Christian mob, urged by the bishop Cyril, attacks a few days before the Judeo-Christian [I]Pascha[/I] (Easter) and [u][B]cuts to pieces the famous and beautiful philosopher Hypatia. [/u][/B]The pieces of her body, carried around by the Christian mob through the streets of Alexandria, are finally burned together with her books in a place called Cynaron. [u][b]Flight of Alexandrian philosophers to Athens.[/u][/b] [Durant, 1950, p.123; Freeman, 1999, p.423]

??? - Emperor Theodosius II makes it a [B]penal offense[/B] to give public instruction without a state license. [B]Such licenses are soon confined to Orthodox Christians.[/B] [Durant, 1950, p.121]

Monastery founded at Marseille by John Cassian; includes first Western regimen for a monasteric life. [Durant, p.57]

[u][b]"The statutes of Zeus at Olympia and the Aphrodite of Cnidus were taken off to the new eastern "capital" of Constantinople."[/u][/b] [Freeman, 1999, p.429]

[B]416 [/B]- [u][b]Emperor Theodosius II restricts the freedom of monks to appear in public and orders the exclusion of all pagans from public office.[/B][/u] [Durant, 1950, p.123]

[B](416-418)[/B] Combined Visigothic-Roman campaigns destroy independence of Alans and Siling Vandals in Spain; survivors unite behind Hasding Vandals to create new Vandal-Alan supergroup.

[B]421 [/B]- Promotion to the purple, then death, of Flavius Constantius.

[B](422-429)[/B] - Free hand for Vandal-Alans in Spain culminates in their transfer to Morocco; from 427 led by Geiseric. Suevi establish control in north-western Spain (Galicia).

[B]423 [/B]- Death of Honorius; usurpation of John.

[B]425[/B] - University of Constantinople.

East Roman army puts Valentinian III, aged 6, on western throne.

[B](425-455)[/B] - Reign of Valentinian III as Western Emperor.

[B](425-433)[/B] - Struggle for domination at court of Valentinian III, ending with Aetius' defeat of rival generals Felix and Boniface; partial eclipse of influence of emperor's mother Galla Placidia.

[B](428-431)[/B] - Nestorius patriarch at Constantinople.

[B]429 [/B]- Conquest of Africa by Vandals.

[b]430[/b] - Northern Gaul, half-Frankish due to immigration. [Durant, p,88]

[B]431 [/B]- [B]Council of Ephesus[/B]. Highlights include the condemnation of Pelagianism and Nestorianism. Nestorius is excommunicated and banished to the Libyan desert.

Palladius sent by Pope Celestine to convert the Irish.

[B](432-82)[/B] Sidonius Apollinaris

[B](432-462)[/B] - St. Patrick in Ireland.

[b]432[/b] - Pope Sixtus III. Establishes monasteries in Rome.

"Roman ladies of wealth, like Marcella, Paula, and three generations of Melanies, give most of their funds to charity, founded hospitals an convents, made pilgrimages to the monks of the East, and maintained so ascetic a regimen that sme of them died of self-denial." [ Durant, p.51]

[B](433-54)[/B] - [B]Aetius dominates Western Empire.[/B]

[B]435 [/B]- Vandal-Alans granted land in Numidia and Maurentania.

Death of Cassian. 5,000 monks now in Provence living under his rule. [Durant, p.57]

[B]436 [/B]- Aetius' forces suppress Bagaudae in northwest Gaul.

[B]436/437[/B] - Destruction of Burgundian kingdom on both sides of Upper Rhine by Huns; Aetius' resettlement of survivors on Roman territory around Lake Geneva.

[B](436-439)[/B] - Aetius' war with Visigoths in southwest Gaul ends in renewed treaty.

[B](438-441)[/B] - Suevi under King Rechila seize provinces of Baetica and Carthaginiensis.

[B]438[/B] - Theodosian Code. [Durant, 1950, p.2]

[B]439[/B] - Vandal-Alans seize Carthage, capital of Roman North Africa, and provinces of Proconsularis and Byzacena.

[B](440-61)[/B] - Pope Leo I.

[B](440-453)[/B] - [B]Attila becomes supreme leader of Huns.[/B]

[B]440 [/B]- Moses of Chorene, historian

[B]441/442[/B] - Attila's 1st invasion of east Roman Balkans leads to recall of eastern army sent to participate in Sicilian expedition to recapture lost North African provinces.

[B]444 -[/B] Treaty between Geiseric and Western Empire recognizes his control of Proconsularis, Byzacena and Numidia.

[B]445 -[/B] Attila murders brother Bleda to take sole control of Huns.

[B]446 [/B]- Final appeal of British provincials for central Roman assistance against Saxons and other invaders.

[B]447 [/B]- Attila's 2nd invasion of east Roman Balkans; heavy Roman defeats on River Utus and in the Chersonesus.

[B]448 -[/B] Priscus participates in embassy to assassinate Attila.

[b]449[/b] - [b]Council of Ephesus[/b]. Anathemas issued against any man who holds there were two natures in Christ. [Durant, p.49]

[B]450 [/B]- Attila grants Constantinople a generous treaty.

[b]451[/b] - Council of Chalcedon[/b] - Affirms the dual nature of Christ.

"Some monks left their cells or monasteries at will, and troubled the populace with their begging; some went from town to town preaching asceticism, selling real or bogus relics, terrorizing synods, and exciting impressionable people to destroy pagan temples or statuary, or, now and then, to kill an Hypatia. The Council of Chalcedon (451) ordained that great circumspection should be used in admitting persons to monastic vows; that such vows should be irrevocable; and that no one should organize a monastery, or leave it, without permission from the bishop of the diocese." [Durant, p61]

[B](450-67)[/B] - Reign of Marcian over Eastern Empire.

[B](450-67)[/B] - Great age of architecture and mosaic at Ravenna.

[B]451 [/B]- Attila invades Gaul; defeated by Aetius' coalition force of Romans, Burgundians, Visigoths, and Franks at the Catalaunian fields.

[B]452 [/B]- Attila invades Italy, sacks cities including Milan; retreats as disease and Roman harrassment weaken army.

[B]453[/B] - Death of Attila.

[B](453-469)[/B] - Attila's Hunnic Empire collapses.

[B]454 [/B]- Battle of Nedao; Gepids first subject group to reassert independence from Hunnic domination.

Murder of Aetius by Valentinian III.

[B]455[/B] - Murder of Valentinian III by Pertronius Maximus, declared Augustus next day.

Sack of Rome by Geiseric, Petronius Maximus killed fleeing city; Geiseric adds Tripolitania, Sardinia and Balearics to his kingdom. Geiseric is invited to Rome by the Empress Eudoxia whose husband, Valentinian III, was murdered by Maximus.

[B]456 [/B]- Battle of Placentia and deposition of Avitus. Ricimer rules Western Empire.

[B](457-461)[/B] - Majorian rules Western Empire.

[B]459 [/B]- Pannonian Goths of Valamer, now united and independent of Hunnic control, invade east Roman territory to extract annual subsidy of 300 lbs of gold.

[B](461-472)[/B] -[B] Ricimer dominates central imperial politics in West.[/B]

[B]461[/B] - Defeat of Majorian's North African expeditionary force in Spain, followed on Aug. 2 by his deposition and on Aug. 7 by execution; Ricimer's domination of Italy uncontested. Nominated by Ricimer, Nov. 19, Libius Severus becomes Western Emperor.

[B]465 [/B]- Death of Libius Severus.

[B]466[/B] - Euric kills and deposes Theodoric II to become King of Visigoths.

[B](466-83)[/B] - Conquest of Spain by Visigoths.

[B]467 -[/B] Dengizich, son of Attila, makes war on Eastern Empire. After long negotiations between Ricimer and Constantinople, Anthemius declared Western Emperor.

[B](468-476)[/B] - [B]Western Empire unravels.[/B]

[B]468 [/B]- Defeat of final joint east-west Roman expedition against Vandal kingdom.

[B]469 [/B]- Dengizich's head publicly displayed in Constantinople; Hernac, Attila's last surviving son, finds asylum in east Roman territory south of Danube.

Euric's forces advance boundry of Visigothic kingdom northwards to Loire.

[B]472 [/B]- (April) Olybrius declared Western Emperor by Ricimer. (July 11) Murder of Anthemius by Gundobad, Ricimer's ally, after civil war. (Aug. 18) Death of Ricimer. (Nov. 2) Olybrius dies.

[B](474-91)[/B] - Reign of Zeno in Eastern Empire.

Launches persecutions against the Nestorians. [Durant, 1950, p.49]

[B](475-476)[/B] - Romulus Augustulus, last Western Emperor.

[B](475-526)[/B] - Theodoric the Amal, King of the Ostrogoths.

[B](475-524)[/B] - Life of Boethius. Anicius Manlius Servenius Boethius: called "Last of the Romans, first of the scholastics." He exerted an enormous influence on medieval theology and supplied the basic texts for the disciplines of arithmetic, music, and logic. Boethius was the author or translator of almost all of the numerous treatises that comprised the "old logic," which served Western Europe prior to the introduction of Aristotle's logic in the thirteenth century. [Grant, 2004, p.xv]

[B]476[/B] - End of Western Roman Empire.

[B](480-573)[/B] - Life of Cassiodorus.

[B]481[/B] - Clovis and the Franks begin conquest of Gaul.

[B](490-570)[/B] - Procopius, historian.

[B](491-518)[/B] - Reign of Anastasius I in Eastern Empire.

[B](493-526)[/B] - Theodoric rules Italy.

[B]507 [/B]- Conquest of Aquitaine by the Franks.

[B](527-565)[/B] - Reign of Justinian in Eastern Empire.

[B]529[/B] - Justinian [B]outlaws the Athenian Philosophical Academy [/B]and the other schools of rhetoric and philosophy in Athens. Pagans [B]forbidden[/B] to teach and liable to exile and confiscation of property upon refusal of baptism. [Lloyd, 1973, p.169; Durant, 1950, p.123; Holmes, 2001, p.49; Grant, 2004, p.xv, p.228; Norwich, 2001, p.228; Lindberg, 1992, p.164; Freeman, 1999, p.429]

"In 529, the Roman emperor Justinian closes the neo-Platonic School of Philosoph in Athens, which he regarded as a center of paganism. Two of the most important Greek philosophers of this period were: John Philoponus (fl. first half of century), a Christian neo-Platonist, critic of Aristotle, and the author of important commentaries on Aristotle's natural philosophy that subsequently infleunced Islamic and Christian authors in the Middle Ages; and Simplicius (.500-d. after 533), a commentator on Aristotle's natural philosophy, who defended Aristotle against John Philoponus' criticisms. He, too, had a significant influence on both Islam and the West in the Middle Ages." [Grant, 2004, p.xv]

Destruction of a pagan temple and founding of Monte Cassino on site by St. Benedict. [Durant, 1950, p.517]

[B](531-579)[/B] - King Chosroes I of Persia

[B]531[/B] - King Chosroes I invites and welcomes exiled members of Plato's Academy to Persia. [Lindberg, 1992, p.164; Norwich, 2001, p.228]

[B](532-537)[/B] - Cathedral of St. Sophia.

[B]533[/B] - Conquest of Vandal Africa by Belisarius.

[B](535-553)[/B] - The "Gothic War" in Italy.

[B]536[/B] - Conquest of Burgundy and Provence by the Franks.

??? - Manicheism made a capital crime by Justinian. [Durant, 1950, p.47]

[B](538-594)[/B] - Gregory of Tours, historian.

[B](546-553)[/B] Totila rules Italy.

[B]552 [/B]- Silk worms smuggled into Europe from China.

[B]568 [/B]- Death of Justinian.

[B](557-636)[/B] - Isidore of Seville.

[B](570-632)[/B] - Mohammad and the rise of Islam.

[B]571[/B] - Invasion of Italy by the Lombards.

[B]577[/B] - Anglo-Saxon victory at Deorham. Saxons in control of England.

[B]589[/B] - King Recared forces Catholicism onto the Arian Visigoths in Spain. [Durant, 1950, p.47]

[B](589-628)[/B] - Chosores II of Persia

[B](590-604)[/B] - Papacy of "Gregory the Great."

[B]616 [/B]- Conquest of Egypt by Persians.

[B](637-42)[/B] - Conquest of Persia by Arabs.

[B]641[/B] - End of Sasanian dynasty.

"What did the Church do in these centuries for the minds of men? As Roman schools still existed, she did not feel it her function to promote intellectual development. She exalted feeling above intellect; in this sense Christianity was a "romantic" reaction against the "classic" trust in reason; Rousseau was merely a lesser Augustine. Convinced that survival demanded organization, that organization required agreement on basic principles and belief,s and that the vast majority of her adherents longed for authoritatively established beliefs, the Church defined her creed in unchangeable dogmas, made doubt a sin, and entered upon an unending conflict with the fluid intellect and changeable ideas of men. She claimed that through divine revelation she had found the answers to the old problems of origin, nature, and destiny; "we who are instructed in the knowledge of the truth by the Holy Scriptures," wrote Lactantius (307), "know the beginning of the world and its end." Tertullian had said as much a century before (197), and had suggested a cloture on philosophy. Having displaced the axis of man's concern from this world to the next, Christianity offered supernatural explanations for historical events, and thereby passively discouraged the investigation of natural causes, many of the advances made by Greek science through seven centuries were sacrificed to the cosmology and biology of Genesis."

[Durant, p.78]






Sources:

Thomas Brown, "The Transformation of the Roman Mediterranean, 400-900," George Holmes (ed.), [I]The Oxford History of Medieval Europe[/I] (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001)

Will Durant, [I]The Age of Faith[/I] (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1950)

Charles Freeman, [I]The Greek Achievement: The Foundation of the Western World[/I] (New York: Penguin Books, 1999)

----------------, [I]The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason[/I] (New York: Vintage Books, 2004)

Edward Grant, [I]Science and Religion, From Aristotle to Copernicus, 400 B.C. - 1550[/I] (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2004)

David C. Lindberg, [I]The Beginnings of Western Science[/I] (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1992)

G.E.R. Lloyd, [I]Greek Science After Aristotle[/I] (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1973)

Ramsey MacMullen, [I]Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries[/I] (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1997)

John Julius Norwich, [I]Byzantium: The Early Centuries[/I] (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001)