CHRONOLOGY.
741
A.M. A.D.
4399 395 Theodosius the Great dies of a dropsy on the 17th
of January, in the .toth year of his reign, andis succeeded in the empire of the east by his sonArcadius.
The H unns break into the eastern provinces of theempire, and commit unparalleled ravages.
The Goths under Alaric ravage a great part of the■ empire, and even threaten Constantinople itself,continuing two years in Greece, destroying allwith fire and sword, and sending away multitudesof captives with all the wealth of the ravagedcou n try.
4400 396 Dreadful earthquakes in most of the eastern provinces
of the empire, the sky appearing all on a flameover Constantinople.
Civil dissensions over the Roman world.
4403 399 Great numbers of Heathen temples shut up, and
others pulled down, both in the eastern andwestern empires, and severe laws enacted againstall manner of idolatrous worship.
4404 400 Alaric, king of the Goths, and lladagaisus, king of
the Hunns, entered Italy, and committed vastravages.
4406 402 TheEuxine sea frozen overfor the space of twenty days.
4407 403 Arcadius promotes his son Theodosius to the impe-
rial dignity.
Alaric, the Gothic king, enters Italy without opposi-tion, and ravages the provinces of Venetia andLiguria, and threatened to besiege the court;whereupon the western emperor removes fromMilan to Ravenna, which from this time becamethe ordinary place of liis residence.
Alaric, king of the Goths, defeated at Pollentia byStilicho, and obliged to sue for peace, which isgranted him.
4408 404 The Hunns ravage Thrace and East Hlyricum, and
retire with great booty beyond the Danube.
The Isaurian robbers distress the eastern provinces.
4409 405 A Gothic army under Radagaisus completely over-
thrown by Stilicho.
4410 406 A dreadful lire reduced great part of Constantinople
to ashes, on the 25th of October; and such mul-titudes of grasshoppers infested Egypt, that turn-ed day into night; and by the stench of themafter they were dead occasioned a very destruc-tive plague.
Prodigious numbers of the northern nations now set-tled themselves in Gaul, which occasioned thedreadful calamities that presently shook the west--ern empire, and brought on its dissolution.
4411 407 Gaul reduced to a most terrible state by the ravages
and slaughter of thei Vandals, Alans, Suevians,and Burgundians.
The British greatly harrassed by the Scots and Piets.
4412 408 Arcadius dies, May 1, at Constantinople, and is suc-
ceeded in the empire of the east by his son Theo-dosius.
Constantine, the Briton, creates great civil commo-tions, made himself master of Gaul, and usurpedthe title of emperor, which Ilonorius confirmedto him upon condition of his assisting him againstthe Gothic king Alaric.
Alaric threatening to lay waste all Italy, is bought offby Stilicho, who sends him 4000 pounds weight ofgold.
Stilicho being convicted of treachery is put to death,together with all his friends and creatures.
Rome besieged by Alaric, upon which a famine be-gins in the city, which is followed by a plague.The Romans send out deputies to treat with Ala-ric, who agrees to raise the siege, and for ever tocontinue faithful to the Romans, upon their deli-veringto him hostages, and paying him 3000 poundsweight of gold, 30,000/. of silver, 4000 silk gar-ments, 3000 purple skins, and 3000/. of pepper ;Voi 1 .—no. 47.
A. M. A. D.
all which was done and ratified by Ilonorius, andthe siege accordingly raised.
The Squiri and Hunns break into Thrace, but areoverthrown by the Romans.
4413 409 Ilonorius neglecting to deliver up to Alaric the hos-
tages agreed on, he returns and besieges Rome asecond time. The inhabitants open their gates tohim, when be obliges them to proclaim Attalus,the prefect of the city, emperor, and to renounceIlonorius. Attains was an Arian, and promotedall of that opinion, making Alaric his gene-ralissimo.
Alaric reduced Liguria and .Emilia, except Bononia,and proclaimed Attalus every where, and forcedthe people to swear allegiance to him.
The Vandals, Alans, ami Suevians, break into Spain,ami proving too hard a match tor the Romans,settle there, and divide those provinces amongthem, committing the most horrid cruelties till411, when having conquered the whole country,they set about tilling the land for their own sub-sistence.
4414 410 Tljfe'Britons implore the Romans to send them some
assistance against the Scots and l’icts, which isgranted them, and has the desired effect of sub-<duing their enemies.
Attains and Alaric disagreeing, the latter besiegedRome, reduced it to extreme necessity, and tookit on the 24th of August, giving his soldiers lwberty to plunder the city, and spare the people.After five or six days spent in plunder, they burn-ed the greatest part of the city to ashes, and mas-sacred an immense number of people ; but sparedall those that had fled to the churches for safety,the only buddings not destroyed.
Alaric lays waste Campania, Lucania, Samnium,Apulia, Calabria, and Brutium ; but died sud-denly near Rhegium, and is succeeded in thekingdom of the Goths by Alaulphus, his sister'shusband.
4415 411 The Saracens break into the frontiers of Egypt, Pa- '
lestine, Phoenicia, and Syria, and carry off greatbooty.
4416 412 The Goths quit Italy, and go into Gaul, and ravage
all tile places they come to.
4417 413 '1 he Franks make an irruption into Gaul, and lay
the country waste.
The Burgundians, Vandals, and Alans, make them-'selves masters of Alsatia, which gives rise to thekingdom of the Burgundians in Gaul under Gon-dicarius or Guntiarius.
4418 414 Honorius published a law, forbidding any one to mo-
lest such as should take sanctuary in churches onpain of being punished for high-treason.
4419 415 Theodosius publishes a law, excluding Pagans from
all employments both civil and military.
4420 416 Attalus is taken by Ilonorius, has his right band cut
off, and is banished to the island of I.ipari.
4421 417 The Avmoriei, who formed themselves into a new
sort of government in 409, are reduced again tothe Roman subjection by Constantius, brother-in-law to the emperor Honorius.
The Franks, after dwelling 200 years on the Ger-man side of the Rhine, are allowed to come andsettle in Thungria, where they were governed bvas many kings as they consisted of cities or cantons.Vallia, king of the Goths, fixing his abode at Tbou-louse, it became the capital of his kingdom.
4422 41S A law issued by the emperor Honorius, making those
guilty of sacrilege that should arrest any onewithin 50 paces ot a church.
Pharamond begins the kingdom of the Franks on theLower Kmne.
4424 420 Treves burnt anti pillaged by the Franks.
4425 421 Abdas, the Persian C'lirLtian prelate, ya*Uv burns
9^ ' down