Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus (ca.245-313), Roman Emperor Diocletian. Marble bust, XVIIth century, Florence, Italy. On display at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, France.
235
The Crisis of the Third Century
Also known as the Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis (AD 235–284), was a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed. The crisis ended due to the military victories of Aurelian and with the ascension of Diocletian and his implementation of reforms in 284, including the Tetrarchy. The crisis began in 235 with the assassination of Emperor Severus Alexander by his own troops.
invasions against the Roman Empire in the 3rd century
249
The Plague of Cyprian
Was a pandemic that afflicted the Roman Empire from about AD 249 to 262. The plague is thought to have caused widespread manpower shortages for food production and the Roman army, severely weakening the empire during the Crisis of the Third Century. Its modern name commemorates St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, an early Christian writer who witnessed and described the plague.
Cyprian ( Latin: Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus; c. 210 – 14 September 258 AD , was a bishop of Carthage and an early Christian writer of Berber descent, many of whose Latin works are extant. He is recognized as a saint in the Western and Eastern churches.
He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education. Soon after converting to Christianity, he became a bishop in 249. A controversial figure during his lifetime, his strong pastoral skills, firm conduct during the Novatianist heresy and outbreak of the Plague of Cyprian (named after him due to his description of it), and eventual martyrdom at Carthage established his reputation and proved his sanctity in the eyes of the Church.
His skillful Latin rhetoric led to his being considered the pre-eminent Latin writer of Western Christianity until Jerome and Augustine.
Panorama of Monte Albán from the South Platform.
A funerary urn in the shape of a "bat god", or perhaps a jaguar, from Oaxaca, dated to AD 300–650. Height: 9.5 in (23 cm).
Zapotec mosaic mask that represents a Bat god, made of 25 pieces of jade, with yellow eyes made of shell. It was found in a tomb at Monte Albán
Zapotec mosaic mask that represents a Bat god, made of 25 pieces of jade, with yellow eyes made of shell. It was found in a tomb at Monte Albán
250
The Zapotec civilization
(c. 700 BC–1521 AD) indigenous pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca in Mesoamerica. capital the Monte Alban 250
260
The Battle of Edessa
took place between the armies of the Roman Empire under the command of Emperor Valerian and Sasanian forces under Shahanshah (King of the Kings) Shapur I in 260. The Roman army was defeated and captured in its entirety by the Persian forces; for the first time, a Roman emperor was taken prisoner. As such, the battle is generally viewed as one of the worst disasters in military history.
Relief of triumph of Shapur I over Valerian at Naqsh-e Rostam (ca. 241–272 AD), located 3 km north of Persepolis. It is the most impressive of eight Sasanian rock carvings cut into the cliff beneath the tombs of their Achaemenid predecessors. This carving depicts a famous scene in which the Roman Emperor, Valerian, is kneeling before Shapur I and asking for mercy. Shapur defeated Valerian at the Battle of Edessa, in which the entire Roman army was destroyed and Valerian became Shapour's prisoner. This was the first and only time a Roman emperor was taken prisoner. The Emperor Philip the Arab is depicting standing and Gordian III is dead at the feet of Shapur's horse.
Western Jin porcelain female figurine.
Lacquer screen, from the tomb of Sima Jinlong, 484 CE. Untypical of Northern Wei styles, it was probably brought from the court of the Jin dynasty by Sima Jinlong's father.Alternatively, it could be a Northern Wei work strongly influenced by Jin artistic styles, such as the work of Gu Kaizhi.
Ornamental plaque, Eastern Jin dynasty, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
266
The Jin dynasty or the Jin Empire
, sometimes distinguished as the Sima Jin or the Two Jins , was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao,
267
Septimia Zenobia
c. AD 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner and she married the ruler of the city, Odaenathus. Her husband became king in 260, elevating Palmyra to supreme power in the Near East by defeating the Sassanians and stabilizing the Roman East.
Odaenathus, a bust dated to the 250s
The citadel of Halabiye, renamed "Zenobia" after its renovation by the queen
Zenobia as empress on the obverse of an antoninianus (AD 272)
Bostra, sacked by Palmyra in 270
Roman regions under Odaenathus (yellow) and the Palmyrene kingdom (green)
Inscription at Palmyra honoring Julius Aurelius Zenobius, believed by some to be Zenobia's father
Palmyra at its zenith in 271
Hadrian's Villa; Zenobia reportedly spent her last days in a villa near Hadrian's complex in Tibur.
The Babylon Fortress, where Probus retreated
270
The Palmyrene invasion of Egypt
293
The Tetrarchy
was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the augusti, and their juniors colleagues and designated successors, the caesares. This marked the end of the Crisis of the Third Century.
The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer, by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1883)
303
The Diocletianic or Great Persecution
was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights and demanding that they comply with traditional religious practices. Later edicts targeted the clergy and demanded universal sacrifice, ordering all inhabitants to sacrifice to the gods.
304
The Sixteen Kingdoms
less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states.
Uprising of Five Barbarians in Jin dynasty
Battle of Constantine and Maxentius (detail of fresco in the Vatican Museums) c1650 by Lazzaro Baldi after Giulio Romano at the University of Edinburgh
Center crop of The Battle at the Milvian Bridge, after an unfinished painting by Le Brun, was meant to prove he had surpassed the famous version designed by Raphael for the Vatican in the early 16th century.
The Milvian Bridge
The description from 28 October 312, "A cross centered on the Sun", fits with the atmospheric optical phenomenon of sun dog.
Pieter Lastman, 1613.
312
The Battle of the Milvian Bridge
took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius on 28 October 312. It takes its name from the Milvian Bridge, an important route over the Tiber. Constantine won the battle and started on the path that led him to end the Tetrarchy and become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire
313
The Edict of Milan
was the February 313 AD agreement to treat Christians benevolently within the Roman Empire. Western Roman Emperor Constantine I and Emperor Licinius, who controlled the Balkans, met in Mediolanum (modern-day Milan) and, among other things, agreed to change policies towards Christians following the edict of toleration issued by Emperor Galerius two years earlier in Serdica. The Edict of Milan gave Christianity legal status and a reprieve from persecution but did not make it the state church of the Roman Empire. That occurred in AD 380 with the Edict of Thessalonica.
Remains of the Imperial palace of Mediolanum (Milan). The imperial palace (built in large part by Maximian, colleague of Diocletian) was a large complex with several buildings, gardens, and courtyards, used for the Emperor's private and public activities, and for his court, family, and imperial bureaucracy.
A tetrastyle prostyle Gupta period temple at Sanchi besides the Apsidal hall with Maurya foundation, an example of Buddhist architecture. 5th century CE.
The current structure of the Mahabodhi Temple dates to the Gupta era, 5th century CE. Marking the location where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment.
Nalanda University was first established under Gupta Empire
Dashavatara Temple is a Vishnu Hindu temple built during the Gupta period.
Chandragupta II horse type
Ajanta caves from Gupta era
Bitargaon temple from the Gupta period provide one of the earliest examples of pointed arches anywhere in the world
Krishna fighting the horse demon Keshi, 5th century
324
The Battle of Chrysopolis
was fought on 18 September 324 at Chrysopolis , near Chalcedon , between the two Roman emperors Constantine I and Licinius. The battle was the final encounter between the two emperors. After his navy's defeat in the Battle of the Hellespont, Licinius withdrew his forces from the city of Byzantium across the Bosphorus to Chalcedon in Bithynia. Constantine followed, and won the subsequent battle. This left Constantine as the sole emperor, ending the period of the Tetrarchy.
Licinius (left) Constantine I (right)
The Council of Nicaea, with Arius depicted as defeated by the council, lying under the feet of Emperor Constantine
Icon depicting the Emperor Constantine and the bishops of the First Council of Nicaea (AD 325) holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381.
325
The First Council of Nicaea
(/naɪˈsiːə/; Ancient Greek: Νίκαια [ˈnikεa]) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325.
330
New Rome
was the original name given by the Roman emperor Constantine the in 330 CE to his new imperial capital, which was built as an expansion of the city of Byzantium on the European coast of the Bosporus strait.The city was founded as Byzantion . It was renamed by Constantine the Great first as "New Rome" during the official dedication of the city as the new Roman capital in 330 CE, which he soon afterwards changed to Constantinople (Constantinopolis). The city was officially renamed as Istanbul in the 20th century, after the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923
The four bronze horses that used to be in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, today in Venice
Aerial view of Byzantine Constantinople and the Propontis (Sea of Marmara).
Aqueduct of Valens completed by Roman emperor Valens in the late 4th century AD.
Pammakaristos Church, also known as the Church of Theotokos Pammakaristos (Greek: Θεοτόκος ἡ Παμμακάριστος, "All-Blessed Mother of God"), is one of the most famous Greek Orthodox Byzantine churches in Istanbul
This huge keystone found in Çemberlitaş, Fatih might have belonged to a triumphal arch at the Forum of Constantine built by Constantine I.
Obelisk of Theodosius is the Ancient Egyptian obelisk of Egyptian King Thutmose III re-erected in the Hippodrome of Constantinople by the Roman emperor Theodosius I in the 4th century AD.
Mosaics of the Great Palace of Constantinople, now in Great Palace Mosaic Museum in Istanbul
The current Hagia Sophia was commissioned by Emperor Justinian I after the previous one was destroyed in the Nika riots of 532. It was converted into a mosque in 1453 when the Ottoman Empire commenced and was a museum from 1935 to 2020.
Investiture of King Ardashir II by the angelic divinity Mithra (left) and Shapur II (right); the dead body of Julian is trampled underfoot. Reliefs at Taq-e Bostan.
The Roman road from Antioch to Chalcis and Aleppo, the first stage of Julian's expedition
363
Julian's Persian expedition
, which began in March 363 CE, was the last military undertaking of the Roman emperor Julian. It was a war against the Sasanian Empire which was ruled by Shapur II.
9 August 378
The Battle of Adrianople
, Battle of Hadrianopolis was fought between an Eastern Roman army led by the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens and Gothic rebels (largely Thervings as well as Greutungs, non-Gothic Alans, and various local rebels) led by Fritigern. The battle took place in the vicinity of Adrianople, in the Roman province of Thracia (modern Edirne in European Turkey). It ended with an overwhelming victory for the Goths and the death of Emperor Valens.
Death of Valentinianus Galates from the 9th-century Paris Gregory
Aqueduct of Valens in Constantinople, capital of the eastern Roman Empire
Medal of Valens showing the nimbate emperor on horseback, marked: gloria romanorum ("the Glory of the Romans") Later set in a pendant and found in the Șimleu Silvaniei, a hoard from the second quarter of the 5th century (Kunsthistorisches Museum)
Solidus of Valens showing Valentinian and Valens on the reverse, marked: victoria augg· ("the Victory of Our Augusti"). They hold together the orb, a symbol of power.
Obverse of a medal of Valens, set in a later pendant and found in the Șimleu Silvaniei, a hoard from the second quarter of the 5th century (Kunsthistorisches Museum)
380
The Edict of Thessalonica
(also known as Cunctos populos), issued on 27 February AD 380 by Theodosius I, made the Catholicism[note 1] of Nicene Christians the state church of the Roman Empire.[2][3][4] It condemned other Christian creeds such as Arianism as heresies of "foolish madmen," and authorized their punishment.[5]
This edict, addressed to the inhabitants of Constantinople whom Theodosius wished to pacify in order to make the city his imperial residence, constitutes the first known secular law which includes in its preamble a clear definition of what a Christian Roman ruler considers as religious orthodoxy, opening the way of repression against dissidents qualified as "heretics". The Edict of Thessalonica was subsequently incorporated into Book XVI of the Theodosian Code and was the milestone of the official Christianization of the Roman Empire.
9th century Byzantine manuscript illumination of I Constantinople. Homilies of St. Gregory of Nazianzus, 879–883.
381
The First Council of Constantinople
The First Council of Constantinople (Latin: Concilium Constantinopolitanum; Greek: Σύνοδος τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως) was a council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) in AD 381 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I.[1][2] This second ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom, except for the Western Church,[3] confirmed the Nicene Creed, expanding the doctrine thereof to produce the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, and dealt with sundry other matters. It met from May to July 381[4] in the Church of Hagia Irene and was affirmed as ecumenical in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon.
394
The Battle of the Frigidus
Also called the Battle of the Frigid River, was fought between 5 and 6 September 394 between the army of the Roman emperor Theodosius and the army of the rebel augustus Eugenius (r. 392–394), in the eastern border of Regio X in Roman Italia. Theodosius won the battle and defeated the usurpation of Eugenius and Arbogast, restoring unity to the Roman Empire
Battle of the Frigidus by Johann Weikhard von Valvasor (1689)
The burial of Alaric in the bed of the Busento River. 1895 wood engraving
24 August 410
The Sack of Rome
Alaric I (/ˈælərɪk/; Gothic: 𐌰𐌻𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃, Alarīks, "ruler of all"; c. 370 – 410 AD) was the first king of the Visigoths, from 395 to 410. He rose to leadership of the Goths who came to occupy Moesia—territory acquired a couple of decades earlier by a combined force of Goths and Alans after the Battle of Adrianople.
418
Theodoric I
Theodericus (c. 390 or 393 – 20 or 24 June 451) was the King of the Visigoths from 418 to 451. Theodoric is famous for his part in stopping Attila (the Hun) at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451, where he was killed.
Imagined portrayal of Theodoric, King of the Goths, by Félix Costello, 1635.
Gaiseric Sacking Rome, a painting by Karl Briullov (1833–1836).
428
Gaiseric
(c. 389 – 25 January 477), also known as Geiseric or Genseric was King of the Vandals and Alans (428–477), ruling a kingdom he established, and was one of the key players in the difficulties faced by the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century.
431
The Council of Ephesus
was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in AD 431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom, confirmed the original Nicene Creed, and condemned the teachings of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who held that the Virgin Mary may be called the Christotokos, "Christ-bearer" but not the Theotokos, "God-bearer". It met in June and July 431 at the Church of Mary in Ephesus in Anatolia.
Façade of the Celsus library, in Ephesus, near Selçuk, west Turkey.
View from the Gibraltar strait to North Africa where the Vandals crossed into Africa.
435
the Vandal conquest of North Africa
was the conquest of Mauretania Tingitana, Mauretania Caesariensis, and Africa Proconsolaris by the migrating Vandals and Alans. The conflict lasted 13 years with a period of four years of peace, and led to the establishment of the Vandal Kingdom in 435.
451
The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (or Fields)
, also called the Battle of the Campus Mauriacus, Battle of Châlons, Battle of Troyes or the Battle of Maurica, took place on June 20, 451 AD, between a coalition – led by the Roman general Flavius Aetius and by the Visigothic king Theodoric I – against the Huns and their vassals – commanded by their king Attila.
King Attila with the Turul bird in his shield (Chronicon Pictum, 1358)
Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, 1876 painting by Vasily Surikov
451
The Council of Chalcedon
was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bithynia (modern-day Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey) from 8 October to 1 November 451 AD. The council was attended by over 520 bishops or their representatives, making it the largest and best-documented of the first seven ecumenical councils.The principal purpose of the council was to re-assert the teachings of the ecumenical Council of Ephesus against the heresies of Eutyches and Nestorius.Such heresies attempted to dismantle and separate Christ's divine nature from his humanity (Nestorianism) and further, to limit Christ as solely divine in nature (Monophysitism).
Theodoric (or Theoderic)
(454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal , was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy between 493 and 526, regent of the Visigoths (511–526), and a patrician of the Eastern Roman Empire. As ruler of the combined Gothic realms, Theodoric controlled an empire stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Adriatic Sea. Though Theodoric himself only used the title 'king' (rex), some scholars characterize him as a Western Roman Emperor in all but name, since he ruled large parts of the former Western Roman Empire, had received the former Western imperial regalia from Constantinople in 497, and was referred to by the title augustus by some of his subjects.
Mosaic depiction of the front of Theodoric's Palace on the upper part of the south wall of the nave of San Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna.
Coin depicting Flavius Theodoricus (Theodoric the Great). Roman Vassal and King of the Ostrogoths. Only a single coin with this design is known; it is in the collection of Italian numismatic Francesco Gnecchi, displayed in Palazzo Massimo, Rome
Another view of the mosaic in San Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna.
Epigraph originally placed at the amphitheater built in Pavia by Theodoric in which the restorations carried out between 528 and 529 by Athalaric are mentioned, Pavia Civic Museums.
The Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, the church of the Palace of Theodoric in Ravenna
The Mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna
476
Battle of Ravenna
The decisive battle was fought on 2 September 476 near Ravenna, the capital of the Western Roman Empire: it saw the foederati defeat the largely depleted Roman garrison. The city, defended by Paulus (the brother of Orestes) was captured swiftly and easily. Two days later, the sixteen years old emperor Romulus Augustulus was forced to abdicate by Odoacer, ending twelve-hundred years of Roman rule in Italy beginning with the Roman Kingdom in 753 BC. Romulus was sent into retirement in Campania.
Coin of Odoacer minted in Ravenna, 477, with Odoacer in profile
Latin memorial plate from 1521, that mentions Odoacer as Rex Rhutenorum (Petersfriedhof, Salzburg)
The Kingdom of Italy (under Odoacer) in 480 AD.
Castel dell'Ovo or castellum Lucullanum in Naples in southern Italy, where Romulus Augustus lived following his deposition in 476
1839 Monin Map of Ancienne Italy Atlas Universel of Geographical Ancian and Modern.
Rök runestone is one of the most famous runestones, featuring the longest known runic inscription in stone. It can now be seen beside the church in Rök, Ödeshög Municipality, Östergötland, Sweden. It is considered the first piece of written Swedish literature and thus it marks the beginning of the history of Swedish literature. The stone is unique in a number of ways. It contains a fragment of what is believed to be a lost piece of Norse mythology. It also makes a historical reference to Ostrogothic king (effectively emperor of the western Roman empire) Theodoric. It contains the longest extant pre-Christian runic inscription – around 760 characters– and it is a virtuoso display of the carver's mastery of runic expression.
