Ambrose retires to Milan (residence of Theodosius I) and refuses to celebrate a mass in the emperor's presence, until he repents for ordering the massacre in Thessalonica. Theodosius, filled with remorse, kneels in humility and strips off his
royal purple, before the
altar of the
cathedral in Milan, humbling himself before the church.
A
Rouran chief named Heduohan (曷多汗) is defeated and killed in battle against the Toba
Northern Wei Dynasty. Surviving Rouran move west towards the
Gaoche, led by Heduohan's son and successor, Shelun.
Patriarch
Theophilus destroys all pagan temples in
Alexandria under orders from Theodosius I.
Christians go on an
iconoclastic rampage, smashing
religious symbols or monuments through the city and destroying the
Temple of Serapis. The "Order of Monks" known as the
Parabalani take charge of patrolling the streets.
August 22 – Arbogast nominates
Eugenius, Roman teacher of
rhetoric, as the next emperor of the
Western Roman Empire. He sends ambassadors to Theodosius's court asking for his recognition.
Theodosius I becomes the last emperor who rules the whole Roman Empire. He issues an
edict reinforcing the prohibition of prayers or sacrifices at non-
Christian temples, leading to the
persecution of pagans and the end of the almost 2,000-year-old
Eleusinian Mysteries. He also bans items of spiritual significance that could be used in the home, such as incense or spiritual figures.
Asia
Asin becomes king of the Korean kingdom of
Baekje.[3]
Theodosius I demands the destruction of
pagan temples, holy sites, and ancient objects throughout the
Roman Empire.
Theodosius I abolishes the Greek
Olympic Games, ending a thousand years of festivals, as part of the general
Christian policy to establish universal Christian worship in accordance with the doctrines set forth in the
Nicene Creed (the next
Olympic Games will not be held until
1896).
Winter – The
Huns cross the frozen
Danube and destroy the villages built by the Goths. Theodosius I, six hundred miles away in
Italy, sends no reinforcements to defend the northern frontier.
Alaric,
Visigothic leader of the foederati, renounces Roman fealty and is declared king, waging war against both parts of the Roman Empire, and ending a 16-year period of peace.
Alaric besieges Constantinople. After commitments from
Rufinus, the Pretorian prefect of the East, and chief adviser to Arcadius, the Goths move further west.
Stilicho arrives in the fall with his army to fight the Goths. Rufinus, the strong man of the east, persuades the emperor to cancel Stilicho's campaign. Emperor Arcadius forbite Stilicho to attack Alaric and demandes that his army leave the territory of the East Roman Empire.
The
Huns begin their large-scale attack on the Eastern Roman Empire. They invade
Armenia,
Cappadocia, and enter parts of
Syria, threatening
Antioch.[6]
Gothic War (395-398):
Stilicho traps the
Visigoths under
King Alaric in the
Peloponnese, but decides to abandon the campaign against the Visigoths in Greece, thus allowing King Alaric to escape north to
Epirus with his loot. Presumably, Stilicho has left Greece in order to prepare for military action in northern Africa, where a rebellion (see
Gildonic Revolt in 398) seems imminent.[7]
Emperor Honorius passes a law making barbarian styles of dress illegal in the city of
Rome. As a result of this law, everybody in Rome is forbidden from wearing boots, trousers, animal skins, and long hair. This law is passed in response to the increasing popularity of barbarian fashions among the people of Rome.[8][9]
China
The
Xiongnu occupy the
Gansu area, an economically important province situated along the
Silk Road.
Gothic War (395-398): After Stilicho returned to Italy, the Eastern Roman Empire concludes a peace treaty with Alaric. The Visigoths are given a settlement area in Illyricum and their king is appointed magister militum per Illyricum.
Gildonic Revolt:
Gildo, a Berber serving as a high-ranking official (comes) in
Mauretania, rebels against the
Western Roman Empire. The Gildonic Revolt is instigated by a powerful official in the Eastern Roman Empire named
Eutropius, who wishes to undermine his enemies in the Western Roman Empire by cutting off the grain supply to Rome.[10] After Gildo takes much of
North Africa and cuts off the grain supply to
Rome,
Flavius Stilicho returns to
Italy to raise troops against the rebels. After a short campaign in the
desert, he defeats Gildo. Gildo flees and commits
suicide by hanging himself.
An imperial
edict obliges Roman landowners with
plantations to yield 1/3 of their fields to the "barbarians" who have been settled in the
Roman Empire.
The Emperor
Honorius of the Western Roman Empire, who is only 15 years old, closes the
gladiatorial schools in
Rome, and legally ends munera (gladiator games).
November 26 –
Pope Siricius dies at Rome after a 15-year reign in which he has commanded
celibacy for
priests, asserted papal authority over the entire Western Church, and threatened to impose sanctions on those who do not follow his dictates.
Anastasius I succeeds Siricius as the 39th
pope. He seeks to reconcile the churches of
Rome and
Antioch. Anastasius also condemns the doctrine of
Origen.
^Burrell, Emma (2004). "A Re-Examination of Why Stilicho Abandoned His Pursuit of Alaric in 397". Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 53 (2): 251–256.
JSTOR4436726.
^Elton, Hugh (1996). "Fravitta and Barbarian Career Opportunities in Constantinople". Medieval Prosopography. 17 (1): 95–106.
ISSN0198-9405.
JSTOR44946209.
^Charles, Michael (2005). "Transporting the Troops in Late Antiquity: Naves Onerariae, Claudian and the Gildonic War". The Classical Journal. 100 (3): 275–299.
ISSN0009-8353.
JSTOR4133022.
Ambrose retires to Milan (residence of Theodosius I) and refuses to celebrate a mass in the emperor's presence, until he repents for ordering the massacre in Thessalonica. Theodosius, filled with remorse, kneels in humility and strips off his
royal purple, before the
altar of the
cathedral in Milan, humbling himself before the church.
A
Rouran chief named Heduohan (曷多汗) is defeated and killed in battle against the Toba
Northern Wei Dynasty. Surviving Rouran move west towards the
Gaoche, led by Heduohan's son and successor, Shelun.
Patriarch
Theophilus destroys all pagan temples in
Alexandria under orders from Theodosius I.
Christians go on an
iconoclastic rampage, smashing
religious symbols or monuments through the city and destroying the
Temple of Serapis. The "Order of Monks" known as the
Parabalani take charge of patrolling the streets.
August 22 – Arbogast nominates
Eugenius, Roman teacher of
rhetoric, as the next emperor of the
Western Roman Empire. He sends ambassadors to Theodosius's court asking for his recognition.
Theodosius I becomes the last emperor who rules the whole Roman Empire. He issues an
edict reinforcing the prohibition of prayers or sacrifices at non-
Christian temples, leading to the
persecution of pagans and the end of the almost 2,000-year-old
Eleusinian Mysteries. He also bans items of spiritual significance that could be used in the home, such as incense or spiritual figures.
Asia
Asin becomes king of the Korean kingdom of
Baekje.[3]
Theodosius I demands the destruction of
pagan temples, holy sites, and ancient objects throughout the
Roman Empire.
Theodosius I abolishes the Greek
Olympic Games, ending a thousand years of festivals, as part of the general
Christian policy to establish universal Christian worship in accordance with the doctrines set forth in the
Nicene Creed (the next
Olympic Games will not be held until
1896).
Winter – The
Huns cross the frozen
Danube and destroy the villages built by the Goths. Theodosius I, six hundred miles away in
Italy, sends no reinforcements to defend the northern frontier.
Alaric,
Visigothic leader of the foederati, renounces Roman fealty and is declared king, waging war against both parts of the Roman Empire, and ending a 16-year period of peace.
Alaric besieges Constantinople. After commitments from
Rufinus, the Pretorian prefect of the East, and chief adviser to Arcadius, the Goths move further west.
Stilicho arrives in the fall with his army to fight the Goths. Rufinus, the strong man of the east, persuades the emperor to cancel Stilicho's campaign. Emperor Arcadius forbite Stilicho to attack Alaric and demandes that his army leave the territory of the East Roman Empire.
The
Huns begin their large-scale attack on the Eastern Roman Empire. They invade
Armenia,
Cappadocia, and enter parts of
Syria, threatening
Antioch.[6]
Gothic War (395-398):
Stilicho traps the
Visigoths under
King Alaric in the
Peloponnese, but decides to abandon the campaign against the Visigoths in Greece, thus allowing King Alaric to escape north to
Epirus with his loot. Presumably, Stilicho has left Greece in order to prepare for military action in northern Africa, where a rebellion (see
Gildonic Revolt in 398) seems imminent.[7]
Emperor Honorius passes a law making barbarian styles of dress illegal in the city of
Rome. As a result of this law, everybody in Rome is forbidden from wearing boots, trousers, animal skins, and long hair. This law is passed in response to the increasing popularity of barbarian fashions among the people of Rome.[8][9]
China
The
Xiongnu occupy the
Gansu area, an economically important province situated along the
Silk Road.
Gothic War (395-398): After Stilicho returned to Italy, the Eastern Roman Empire concludes a peace treaty with Alaric. The Visigoths are given a settlement area in Illyricum and their king is appointed magister militum per Illyricum.
Gildonic Revolt:
Gildo, a Berber serving as a high-ranking official (comes) in
Mauretania, rebels against the
Western Roman Empire. The Gildonic Revolt is instigated by a powerful official in the Eastern Roman Empire named
Eutropius, who wishes to undermine his enemies in the Western Roman Empire by cutting off the grain supply to Rome.[10] After Gildo takes much of
North Africa and cuts off the grain supply to
Rome,
Flavius Stilicho returns to
Italy to raise troops against the rebels. After a short campaign in the
desert, he defeats Gildo. Gildo flees and commits
suicide by hanging himself.
An imperial
edict obliges Roman landowners with
plantations to yield 1/3 of their fields to the "barbarians" who have been settled in the
Roman Empire.
The Emperor
Honorius of the Western Roman Empire, who is only 15 years old, closes the
gladiatorial schools in
Rome, and legally ends munera (gladiator games).
November 26 –
Pope Siricius dies at Rome after a 15-year reign in which he has commanded
celibacy for
priests, asserted papal authority over the entire Western Church, and threatened to impose sanctions on those who do not follow his dictates.
Anastasius I succeeds Siricius as the 39th
pope. He seeks to reconcile the churches of
Rome and
Antioch. Anastasius also condemns the doctrine of
Origen.
^Burrell, Emma (2004). "A Re-Examination of Why Stilicho Abandoned His Pursuit of Alaric in 397". Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 53 (2): 251–256.
JSTOR4436726.
^Elton, Hugh (1996). "Fravitta and Barbarian Career Opportunities in Constantinople". Medieval Prosopography. 17 (1): 95–106.
ISSN0198-9405.
JSTOR44946209.
^Charles, Michael (2005). "Transporting the Troops in Late Antiquity: Naves Onerariae, Claudian and the Gildonic War". The Classical Journal. 100 (3): 275–299.
ISSN0009-8353.
JSTOR4133022.