The First Millenium

[Vince]

Welcome to 443.

Breaking his treaty with the Eastern Empire, Attila the Hun attacks Naissus, a major city in south-eastern Europe. Using battering rams and mobile towers, the Huns seize the city, massacring all its inhabitants. Years later, bones were still visible. Considered a gateway between the East and West, Naissus has still not fully recovered.

After being devastated by the Germans, survivors of the Burgundian kingdom had become Roman allies. Now a minor German tribe, they establish a second kingdom in France that survives for about a century.

 

[Vince]

Here it is, the year 444.

St. Patrick founds the city of Armagh in Northern Ireland, making it the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland. The city still exists.

Dioscorus I becomes the 25th pope of Alexandria. A strong foe of Nestorianism, he teaches that Jesus only had one nature, and he was later deposed and exiled for this. Considered a saint by the Oriental and Coptic churches, he is regarded as a heretic by the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The fact that he has excommunicated the Pope didn't help matters any.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 445!

In northern China, Buddhist monasteries have become powerful land-owners with hereditary slaves. The Taoists lead a people’s revolt against the corrupt monks, and the government commands the death sentence on all Buddhist monks. Buddhist images and writings are ordered destroyed.

We're not sure what happened. Attila the Hun went hunting with his older brother Bleda, who was his co-king. When it was over, Bleda was dead. It might have been an accident, murder, or self-defense, but Attila is now sole ruler of the Huns.

The Western Empire has been raising taxes, as it loses more territory and yet has to defend what's left. The provinces are becoming increasingly disloyal.

 

[Vince]

Let's see how 446 works out.

Vortigern becomes a major English king. He invites the Saxons to settle in Britain in return for supplying troops against the Scots and Irish. The Saxons agree, and the English win a victory so massive that the Irish and Scots are driven out. It is possible that Bishop Germanus, the brilliant military leader who trained his troops to yell “Hallelujah!†when they charged, helped in this conflict. The whole thing, however, is a political mistake. Settled in the extreme southeastern part of England, the Saxons invite their relatives over, and eventually they revolt.

In Wales, the College of Theodosius is burned down. Rebuilt sixty years later, it becomes a major center of British education.

Flavian becomes Patriarch of Constantinople for three years. An honest man, he enrages Chrysaphius (the evil minister of the Eastern Emperor, who actually controls the Eastern Empire) by refusing to pay a bribe. It takes Chrysaphius a few years, but he helps incite two bishops to attack and murder Flavian.

 

[Vince]

447 AD is a very bad year for the Eastern Empire.

A massive earthquake levels the walls of Constantinople. Learning this, Attila the Hun leads his forces to seize the city. The Huns get into the Balkans, where they are met by an Eastern Empire army at the Battle of the Utus in Bulgaria. The Romans lose, but with heavy losses on both sides.

Attila leads his shattered army southward, meeting no opposition, sacking and burning a large number of cities. But the Eastern Empire had drafted every man they could and re-built Constantinople's walls in just sixty days, and the Huns, their numbers greatly reduced after the Battle of the Utus, realize they cannot conquer Constantinople.

"The Annals of Wales" is a major historical document written about five centuries later. However, it begins recording events for this year. While focused on Welsh history, it records a variety of events in other nations as well. Interestingly, it records King Arthur, his evil nephew Mordred, and even Merlin as literal people.

 

[Vince]

It is now 448.

Sent by the Eastern Empire as an ambassador to Attila the Hun, Priscus records valuable information on the Hun court. Attila hated his oldest son but treasured his youngest son, whom Attila believed would restore the Hun kingdom from defeat (which had not yet happened).

Eutyches is condemned as a heretic for his belief that Jesus only had one nature. Eventually, his followers join the Syriac Orthodox Church. With about 2 1/4 million members, this church came from Antioch (where the disciples were first called Christians) and was begun when the Apostle Peter was bishop of Antioch.

 

[Vince]

We are now in the year 449.

Vortigen, the British warlord who had invited the Saxons to settle in England as his allies, hasn't learned from his mistake. He forms an alliance with Hengist and Horsa, leaders of the Jutes. Later, these two men begin an invasion of England. The Jutes were a German tribe living in modern Denmark, and small numbers of them had invaded and settled in England.

The Second Council of Ephesus deposes various bishops, including the Patriarch of Constantinople. Two months later, a synod in Rome overturns the entire Council.

 

[Vince]

We are now at the year 450.


Conflicting records suggest that about this time, Saint Patrick arrives in Ireland. Captured by Irish raiders, he had been a slave for four years before escaping, later returning as a bishop. He did not introduce Christianity to Ireland, which had been there for centuries and was not part of the Catholic Church. Conflicting records suggest that he was a Baptist, that he was only in northern and central Ireland, that he was arrested by the Christians for financial improprieties, that he refused to let local kings bribe him, and that he baptized thousands of converts. It is possible that there were two or even three different men named Patrick and that their stories got blended.

The Huns invade India. Called the “Huna†by the Indians, and “White Huns†by historians, this group of Huns was a mixture of German, Iranian, Indian, and other groups.

About this time, Ghana becomes a kingdom in the center of western Africa. It has no coastline, and it does not include the modern nation of Ghana. By domesticating camels, the Ghana people built a profitable trade industry, importing manufactured goods from as far away as the Middle East. It will take another four centuries for it to grow into a powerful kingdom.

Remember Marcian, the Eastern Empire general who had been captured and released by the Vandals? The Eastern Emperor dies, and Marcian is made the new ruler. He immediately stops paying tribute to Attila the Hun, who then turns to attack the Western Empire. Marcian brings order to the finances of the impoverished East, but in order to do so, he effectively abandons the Western Empire.

The large Hun Empire includes all of northeastern Europe, the territory north of the Eastern Empire, north of the Persian Empire, and north of India.

The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invade Britain in large numbers. "Old English," which is practically a foreign language to English-speaking people, today, is formed at this time by combining various German, Latin, and other languages.

 

[Vince]

451 is a really bad year for Attila the Hun. He leads the Huns and their allies into the very heart of Europe, sacking French cities as he goes. As his forces approach Paris, a nun named Geneviève upbraids the cowardly men who wanted to leave town: they remain in Paris, and Attila's barbarians turn away.


They had just breached the walls of Orleans when word of an approaching army reaches them. Attila retreats to a better spot, and finds himself facing a Western Roman army, the Visigothic Kingdom, and some minor German tribes. The Huns are so badly beaten at the battle of Chalons in France that western civilization is able to continue.

But the Romans persuade the Visigoths not to annihilate the shattered Huns. The Visigothic king had been killed, and if the Huns are destroyed, the Visigoths might turn against Rome. So the oldest son is sent back to Spain to claim the throne before his brothers can (thus preventing a civil war), the Romans go home as well, and Attila escapes.

Under severe persecution from Persia, Armenian Christians revolt. Defeated at the Battle of Vartanantz, the Christians inflict such heavy losses on the Persians that they are granted freedom of religion. However, the king of Persia bans the Sabbath and orders the execution of Jewish leaders.

For the next thirty years, eastern Christians fleeing persecution spread Christianity throughout all of Ethiopia. The Bible is translated into the Ethiopian language as well.

The Council of Chalcedon increases the authority of bishops and rejects Constantinople's claim of being equal to Rome. It also declares that Jesus had two natures. The Oriental Orthodox Church breaks away and has never returned.

 

[Vince]

Attila the Hun makes a comeback in 452.

Having gotten the daylights beaten out of him by an alliance of Romans and Germans, Attila invades Italy, now that the alliance has ended. Some of his troops desert into a giant salt-water lagoon on Italy's eastern coast, that is full of islands, and they found the city of Venice.

Heading southward into Italy, the Huns destroy Emona, and after they leave, most of the survivors abandon the ruined city. And then, outside the walls of Rome, a delegation sent by Pope Leo I goes out to talk to Attila. There is no record of what they said to him, but Attila turns around and leaves Italy.

Attila might have been frightened by nightmares that God would kill him if he sacked Rome. He might have been influenced by the fact that his troops had more loot than they could carry. Nobody knows.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 453.

Thorismund, the Visigoth hero who had played a major part in defeating Attila the Hun, had returned to Spain and claimed the throne. But his brother, Theodoric II, murders him and becomes king of the Visigoths.

Driven back into his kingdom, Attila the Hun dies a natural death.

 

[Vince]

And now it is time for 454.

Flavius Aetius was the Roman general who actually ruled the Western Empire, and it was he who commanded the force that defeated Attila the Hun. While giving a financial report, he is stabbed to death by the Emperor Valentinian. One of the bystanders supposedly said ""I am ignorant, sir, of your motives or provocations; I only know that you have acted like a man who has cut off his right hand with his left."

Sometimes called "The Last Roman," the brilliant policies of Flavius Aetius had delayed the inevitable end of the Western Empire. His tremendous victory over Attila the Hun would be Rome's last great military success. Overwhelmed by barbarians, he had kept the Empire alive the only way he could: by enlisting the barbarians as soldiers. Now, with no one capable of replacing him, Rome found itself defended by its enemies.

Suddenly, the Gepids emerge as a major power. This tribe of Goths had lived in eastern Germany, and one of Attila's generals seized their throne when Attila died. With the Hun Empire breaking into civil war between Attila's sons, the Gepids win a massive victory in eastern Europe that virtually destroys the part of the Hun Empire that stretched across northern Europe from Germany to the Eastern Empire. The Huns are still powerful, but their hold on Europe is virtually gone.

 

[Vince]

455 is a VERY bad year for the Romans.

Having murdered Flavius Aetius, the Emperor Valentinian III is assassinated by soldiers who were loyal to Aetius. Petronius Maximus, a wealthy senator who had helped convince the Emperor to assassinate Aetius, takes the throne.

And then the Vandals, who had seized Africa and Sicily, invade southern Italy, rapidly advancing towards Rome. The people panic, knowing that their beloved general Flavius Aetius is dead, and a mob kills Petronius Maximus.

Advancing through southern Italy, the Vandals sack Rome. Actually, the Vandals were no more destructive than anyone else, including the Romans, and the word "vandal" comes from this episode. Carrying off all the treasure they can, the Vandals then leave.

The Angles and the Saxons form a variety of small kingdoms in southern England, some of which survive today as counties. Over time, they blend in with the local people.

But in India, the Gupta Empire defeats the Huna, a branch of the Huns, crushing them so badly that they either flee to the north or stay behind to blend in with the Indians. However, the expense of the war, plus the expense of keeping the Huns out of India’s northern border, hastens the collapse of the Gupta Empire.

Roman General Avitus is declared Emperor of the West.

With the Huns' collapse in Europe, the Ostrogoths, another German tribe, seize much of eastern Europe.

Southern Mexico curves towards the east, and then curves northwards, forming the Yucatan Peninsula, which is mostly desert. With a well-maintained historical record, the Maya record the existence of Chichen Itza, that is centered around a giant water hole. Over the next 150 years, Chichen Itza grows into the most important city in the Yucatan Peninsula.

 

[Vince]

Let's see if Rome does any better in the year 456.

Under Vortigen, the British had allowed the Saxons bring warriors and settlers into England, keeping the Picts, Scots, and Irish out. Now, however, the Saxons revolt, and begin ravaging England. Vortigen is variously accused of being evil, incompetent, or just unlucky. The English couldn't protect themselves, so he made an alliance with the Germans, and after a while, the Germans broke the treaty, just as they had done everywhere else.

Retreating southwards, the Vandals destroy Capua in southern Italy, but it is quickly rebuilt.

And now, Ricimer enters the scene. A German who had been raised in the Western Emperor's court, he is made commander of the Western Empire's forces. He assembles a fleet of German mercenaries and defeats a Vandal fleet that had been blockading Italy. Then he lands in Sicily, defeating the Vandals and returning Sicily to the Western Empire.

Now popular with the people, Ricimer leads his army against Rome, defeating the Emperor Avitus. Avitus is forced to become a bishop, and then Ricimer assassinates him. With the approval of Eastern Emperor, Ricimus sets up a series of Western Emperors whom he controls.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 457.

The Eastern Emperor dies, and Leo I takes the throne, A capable administrator, he begins plans to recover lost territory, including the areas lost by the Western Empire.

The Western army declares General Majorian the new Emperor. This is fine with General Ricimer, who had seized power last year and who actually controls the throne. Honest and industrious, Emperor Majorian decides that the Western Empire must re-seize its lost territories in order to survive. He begins reforming the government, rooting out corruption, and making the Senate an enemy as a result. Starting out as General Ricimer's puppet, the new Emperor becomes more independent as his ability and experience grows.

Leo I and Majorian get along, although Leo had not appointed him as Western Emperor. Leo probably had planned to reign alone but felt that he could not do anything about Majorian.

The King of Persia dies, and after a brief civil war, his son Peroz the Victorious becomes king. He quickly re-seizes lost Persian territory, and then settles down to be a good king.

 

[Vince]

We have now reached the year 458.

The Saxons conquer Kent, on England's extreme south-eastern coast.

Nulji, king of Silla, dies. Silla was one of three Korean kingdoms, and it had come under the control of Goguryea, another Korean kingdom. Nulji had managed to break free, however, and re-establish his nation's independence.

 

[Vince]

459 is another quiet year. In the West Empire, General Ricimer, the real ruler, helps supervise the raising of new armies. In the East, the new Emperor, Leo I, is benefiting from his predecessor's sound financial policies. He is also building up his armies.

After living on a small platform on top of a pillar for thirty-seven years, Simeon Stylites dies. HI fame as a Christian ascetic attracted large crowds, and some of his sermons and letters survive today.

 

[Vince]

Things wake up in the year 460.


There is a nine-year margin of error in these next two events.

About this time, Riothamus becomes a major English ruler. Desperately trying to re-unite with Rome, he leads a 12,000 man army into France, where he suffers a major defeat by the Germans. He pulls his survivors deeper into France and then disappears from history. His plan seems to have been to conquer much of France for the Western Empire, and then the Western Empire would be able to send troops to re-claim Britain and defeat the Saxons. He took many wealthy Roman families with him into France, promising to return someday. The exodus of these families removed much of the remaining Roman influence.

Ambrosius Aurelianus takes over as English ruler. Unable to stop the steady influx of more Saxon invaders, he races his army around England, trying to contain the Saxons near their landing sites.

The deeds of both of these English kings eventually become blended into the legend of King Arthur.

Western Emperor Majorian invades Spain, determined to re-take it from the Visigoths. He seizes large areas of the country, and then brings his invasion fleet there in preparation for the invasion of Africa. But traitors, in return for bribes, destroy his fleet, and the defeated Romans return to Italy.

The Swabians were an independent German tribe that controlled much of north-western Spain, in addition to their small kingdom in modern Germany. Taking advantage of the chaos, they invade France.

The White Huns invade northern India, destroying what is left of the once-mighty Kushan Empire.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to the year 461 AD.

Hilarius, archdeacon of the city of Rome, is elected Pope. He had been the only representative of the Pope at the Second Council of Ephesus, which dealt with the nature of Christ. Because the decision went against the Pope, Hilarius had to escape the city in order to tell what had happened.

As Pope, Hilarius continued his predecessor’s policy of removing authority from bishops, making himself the final authority in everything. He exerted more control over Spain, where the head bishop had been ordaining new bishops as he thought fit, without the Pope’s permission.

Having failed to restore Africa and Spain to the Western Empire, Western Emperor Majorian heads back to Rome. He is met by General Ricimer, who has the Emperor tortured for five days before beheading him. Three months later, Ricimer puts Libius Severus, an unimportant senator, on the throne.

Because the Eastern Emperor Leo I did not recognize the new Western Emperor, many of the remaining Western provinces also refused to recognize his authority further weakening the Western Empire.

The Irish bishop Palladius and Saint Patrick both die. It appears that some of Palladius' deeds have been attributed to Saint Patrick.

 

[Vince]

And now it is time for the year 462.

About this time, the Eastern Empire adopts a calendar of "indiction cycles." Fifteen years long, the calendar was mostly used for taxes, but it was also used to record historical events.

About 900 years earlier, "The Statue of Zeus at Olympia" had been made. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, this 43-foot tall statue of the sitting Zeus had been made of ivory and gold-plated bronze. He is seated on a magnificent cedar throne, inlaid with precious metals and stones. Somehow, someone made the decision to move the statue to Constantinople, where it is destroyed in a fire.

Zu Chongzhi, a Chinese mathematician and astronomer, had devised some accurate calendars based on celestial objects. This year, he invents "The Daming Calendar," his most famous invention.