The First Millenium

[Vince]

463 is a quiet year.

Aegidius was a Roman general in charge of France, which, unfortunately, was mostly controlled by Germans. Loyal to the Emperor Majorian, he refused to recognize the new Emperor appointed by General Ricimus. Gathering about 12,000 Roman refugees to himself, he allied with the Franks to form a small Roman kingdom in France.

 

[Vince]

464 is here!

Olybrius is made consul in Constantinople. A very pious man, his skill as a negotiator will come into play later.

Last year, Aegidius had founded a small Roman kingdom in northern France. It isn't clear who kills him, but he is assassinated. His son Syagrius then rules for the next twenty-two years. His kingdom is known as a "rump state." A rump state is formed when a nation falls, or loses territory, and someone forms a government in the lost area, insisting that it is the legitimate government of the nation. Taiwan, an island off the Chinese coast, is a rump state that claims to be the government of China. Both North and South Korea are rump states that claim to be the legitimate government of all Korea. It is not unusual to have more than one rump state at the same time. Some rump states actually succeed in re-taking all or much of their lost territory. This happened in China, which eventually re-united into one nation. During the American Civil War, "The North" was a rump state that eventually re-seized all its lost territory.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 465.

Hengest and his son Esc, who had established a small German kingdom in south-eastern England, battle the Welsh at the Battle of Wippedesfleot. The Welsh apparently had driven the Germans all the way back to the south-east, but this indecisive battle ended in a draw. However, casualties on both sides were heavy enough that the Germans stayed where they were for a while.

Liu Ziye, a legend of evil, becomes Emperor of China. A murderous tyrant who practiced frequent incest, he is soon assassinated by his uncle.

Peter the Fuller, a cloth maker, incites the population to overthrow the patriarch of Antioch and give him the office. A vigorous persecutor of those who disagreed with him on the nature of Christ, he is overthrown and restored three times.

 

[Vince]

466

Northern China has a new Xiongnu ruler, Emperor Xian-wen. He declares himself a Buddhist. Buddhism is restored in the north. He guards against his own assassination by massacring other princes in his extended family.

Peter the Fuller is overthrown as Patriarch of Antioch.

The Huns have really been taking a beating. This year, however, they invade Romania, but are defeated by the Eastern Empire.

Euric becomes king of the Visigoths. Over the next eighteen years he will defeat other Visigothic rulers and will gain control of most of Spain and Portugal, as well as large areas of France. Most importantly, he officially declares the Visigoth Empire to be independent of Rome.

 

[Vince]

Thank Heaven! It's 467!

With the Western Emperor dead, Eastern Emperor Leo I and General Ricimer appoint Anthemius as Western Emperor. Anthemius was from the Eastern Empire and had been in training for years as a possible Emperor. Leo I sent him to the West with an army, thus getting rid of a rival, keeping the Germans from appointing their choice, and strengthening Italy against German raiders.

A competent general, Anthemius kept good relations with the East. Unfortunately, he drained the Western treasury in two unsuccessful wars against the Vandals who controlled north Africa.

With south-eastern Britain firmly in German control, Germans begins landing in various places along the south-western coast.

 

[Vince]

The year 468 is here.

Simplicius (468-483) becomes Pope. He fought bishops who believed that Mary should not be called “The Mother of God,†and who held that the bishops of the East were equal to the Pope.

It's a mixed year for the Eastern Empire. They send a fleet to stop Vandal raiders from Africa, but the Eastern fleet is defeated. But when the Huns once again invade eastern Europe, the Eastern Empire defeats them again.

Dengizich, the son of Attila the Hun, dies, leaving the Huns temporarily without a king.

 

[Vince]

And now it is 469.

The Vandals land in south-eastern Europe, just north of Greece, but are unable to hold their conquest.

Pope Gelasius I declares February 14 to be St. Valentine's Day. The Pope's goal was to replace the pagan feast of Lupercalia, in which the city of Rome was purified of evil spirits.

Hydatius, a Portugese bishop, dies. His written chronicles of the Iberian Peninsula is the most important historical record of this era.

 

[Vince]

We have reached the year 470 AD.

Riothamus ("Supreme King") appears on the scene. He is of Roman descent, and he rules a large group of Britons in southern Briton and northern France. Allied with the Romans, he attacks the Visigoths in France and is badly defeated. It appears that the Romans betrayed him, deliberately not showing up as promised. He retreats towards the Burgundians and then disappears from history.

 

[Vince]

And now it is 471.

The big news is that Theodoric the Great begins his rule as Ostrogothic king. Reigning for 49 years, he had been raised in the court at Constantinople, where he had excelled in learning and in military tactics. Appointed as ruler of the Visigoths, Theodoric inherited his father's kingdom, just to the east of Italy. Loyal to the Eastern Empire, he had to deal with the restlessness of his people, who wanted to expand. More on that later.

Acacius becomes Patriarch of Constantinople. Vigorously persecuting anyone who disagrees with him, he is later deposed by the Pope. Ignoring the Pope, he causes a schism between Rome and Constantinople that lasts for decades.

 

[Pizzaguy]

I hope I can jump in here - where do you get such specific and detailed, well, details of each year? :o

 

[Vince]

I hope I can jump in here - where do you get such specific and detailed, well, details of each year? :o

Would you believe that most of my information comes from Wikipedia? I research a variety of subjects and put the information in a Word document for that year.

Which reminds me that ANYONE who wants to post on this thread is welcome to do so.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 472.

After being defeated by the Vandals, Western Emperor Anthemius invades France, where his army is badly defeated by the Visigoths.

A small civil war breaks out in Italy, as General Ricimer (the real ruler) struggles with Emperor Anthemius for control. Easter Emperor Leo I sends Olybrius to Rome as a mediator, but also sends a second envoy with orders to assassinate both Ricimer and Olybrius. Ricimus intercepts the second messenger and shows the order to Olybrius. The two then besiege the city of Rome, kill Emperor Anthemius, and Ricimer declares Olybrius to be the new Western Emperor.

Five weeks after killing Western Emperor Anthemius, General Ricimer dies a natural death. The newly-appointed Emperor Olybrius appoints Ricimer's nephew Gundobas as general of the armies. And then Emperor Olybrius dies, and Gundobad becomes the real ruler, but does not take the title of Western Emperor.

Mount Vesuvius erupts again, spreading ash as far away as Constantinople.

 

[Vince]

We have now reached the year 473.

German soldiers in the Roman army declare Glycerius to be Emperor, and everybody agrees--except for Eastern Emperor Leo I. Commander of the Imperial Guard at Ravenna, Italy, Glycerius attempts to make peace with the East while keeping his shrunken Western Empire together.

The Visgoths invade Italy, but are defeated by the Romans. But the Ostrogoths come right after them. Emperor Glycerius bribes the Ostrogoths, but they unite with the defeated Visigoths and seize Roman areas of France.

But Eastern Emperor Leo I appoints Julius Nepos as Western Emperor. For now, that's no problem: Julius Nepos is stuck in Constantinople due to bad weather.

Gundobad becomes king of the Burgundians. He spends the next 43 years murdering his opponents and adding their territories to the Burgundian kingdom.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to the exciting year of 474.

In January, Eastern Emperor Leo I dies, and his grandson, Leo II, becomes Emperor. The son of Leo I's daughter, Leo II quickly makes his father Zeno the co-Emperor.

In June, Julius Nepos finally arrives in Rome. Western Emperor Glycerius surrenders, and Julius Nepos becomes the new Western Emperor.

And then, in November, Leo II dies. Zeno becomes sole Emperor of the East. His reign is marked by revolts, but he makes peace with the Vandals, strengthens the Eastern Empire's control in eastern Europe, and stabilizes the Empire.

 

[Vince]

475

Bodhidharma, a bad-tempered, wild-eyed monk, brings Zen Buddhism to China.

Goguryeo attacks Baekje and captures Hanseong (modern day Seoul). But Baekje moves its capital south and survives, despite having its ruler captured and executed.

Eastern general Basciliscus manages to seize Constantinople and is declared Eastern Emperor.

Roman General Orestes revolts, and Emperor Julius Nepos to flee to Dalmatia, still claiming to be Emperor. Orestes declares his twelve-year-old son Romula Augustulus to be the new Western Emperor. Eastern Emperor Zeno refuses to recognize him, but Zeno has to flee from his rebellious general, and the East cannot do anything to help Julius Nepos.

The Jews complete the Babylonian Talmud, a collection of Jewish laws and customs.

Provence, an area in south-eastern France that borders Italy, had been seized by the Visigoths. They return it in exchange for official recognition of Visigoth independence.

 

[Vince]

Folks, we're going to be spending some time on the year 476.

I need to explain some background. Great nations do not begin or end on a single day. For instance, the history books tell us that the United States began on July 4, 1776. However, the Declaration of Independence has been signed two days earlier. It had been written by the Continental Congress, which had been formed months earlier. And the United States was already fielding military forces and had fought some battles.

Furthermore, for the next six years, Britain controlled most of the territory and people of the United States, and British law, not American law, was the norm. So it didn't really all happen on one day. Nations like Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, China, and Japan teach that their origin took place over a period of time, not on a single day.

And having said that:

On September 4, 476, the Roman Empire ended, the nation of Italy was formed, and the Middle Ages began. It isn't really true, but we'll be discussing it for a while.

 

[Vince]

We're still in the year 476.

If you've got a good memory, you'll remember that General Orestes was the real ruler of the Western Empire, and he had appointed his young son Romulus Augustus as Emperor. Julius Nepos, the real Emperor, had fled to Dalmatia and still pretended to rule from there. Zeno, the Eastern Emperor, had been forced to flee from one of his generals, but he manages to return to power in 476. However, the Eastern Empire cannot do anything to help the West at this time.

About 30,000 German troops, plus their families, were stationed in Italy, and they had been promised good farmland in return for supporting Orestes' revolt. But Orestes now breaks his pledge, and the German commander Odoacer leads a revolt. The army rallies to him, and he quickly defeats and executes Orestes, becoming the real ruler of the Western Empire. He advances rapidly on Ravenna, where Western Emperor Romulus Augustus is forced to surrender.

General Odoacer could have declared himself Western Emperor, or he could have appointed a puppet Emperor while holding the real power. But Odoacer has a better idea.

 

[Vince]

We don't know exactly what General Odoacer had in mind when he seized the Western Empire, but two things were clear.

For decades, the Eastern Empire had been buying off the Germans, which freed up German troops and supplied them with material to attack the Western Empire. As a result, the East had a healthy economy: they had fewer wars and invasions. Yet the East rarely sent troops to help the West; in fact, Attila the Hun had been defeated by Western troops and their German allies without Eastern help.

With the Vandals controlling north Africa and the island of Sicily, the Italian peninsula was subject to a major invasion from the south. But the West had to keep troops on the north to hold on to their dwindling territory. This tied down German troops in Europe, making it easier for the East to negotiate better treaties--at the expense of the West.

In other words, the shattered Western Empire was being exploited to support the healthy Eastern Empire.

 

[Vince]

Besides the fact that the Eastern Empire was exploiting the Western Empire, General Odoacer had to face another fact about the Western Empire: it was over.

The previous generals and their puppet Emperors had all agreed that Rome MUST regain its lost territories in order to survive. So, the Western Empire had launched a navy against the Vandals in Africa and an army against the Visigoths in France. And the Germans had smashed them both. Rome could not possibly re-take its former territories.

And Rome had run out of dying gasps. Roman Britons, in a desperate attempt to save the Empire, had twice invaded France. All that was left was a rump state in northwestern France.

And Rome couldn't recover. In the past, Romans in Europe had inter-married with local people, producing more Romans. Now, the Germans controlled those areas, and when they blended in with the Romans, the children were Germans. The German population was increasing far more rapidly than the Roman population.

And Odoacer's German army had succeeded where other Germans had failed. Attila, the Vandals, and other Germans had plundered Italy and left. Odoacer's German army had seized the Italian peninsula and now controlled it.

Odoacer was able to grasp reality: it was over.

 

[Vince]

According to the map, Rome was a vast empire spreading across Europe and Asia. According to reality, the Western Empire consisted of Italy, Provence (an area in France that bordered north-west Italy) and Dalmatia (a large area in south-eastern Europe that bordered north-eastern Italy and then ran along the coast of the Adriatic Sea.

On September 4, 476, a couple of weeks after he had seized control of the Western Empire, Odoacer summoned the boy Emperor Romulus Augustus to a meeting and arrested him. A surprisingly kind man, Odoacer informed the Emperor that Italy was seceding from the Roman Empire, was now an independent nation, and Odoacer was its king.

Italy was not obliged to uphold Roman claims over German territory, thus lessening the chance that the Germans would attack. King Odoacer told a relieved Senate that they would keep their offices and authority, but they were now the Italian Senate, not the Roman Senate. Thus, the government of the Western Empire disappeared.

An Arian himself, he swore that there would be no persecution of Catholics. Trying desperately to avoid an alliance of enemies against himself, he swore loyalty to Emperor Romulus Augustus, to former Emperor Julius Nepos (who pretended to rule from Dalmatia), and even sent messengers swearing loyalty to Eastern Emperor Zeno.

The Roman army kept its ranks, but they were now the Italian Army. He pulled back troops from areas that Italy couldn't defend, strengthening Italy against future invasions and helping the economy. The Germans, Romans, Catholics, Arians, Jews, and anyone else who lived in Italy were now one people: the Italians, and they had a nation of their own to love and defend.

The question was: would the Eastern Empire let him get away with it?