Directory

455 CE

Emperor Valentinian III, age 35, is assassinated by two Hunnic retainers of the late Flavius Aetius, while training with the bow on the Campus Martius (Rome), ending the Theodosian dynasty. His primicerius sacri cubiculi, Heraclius, is also murdered. Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome. A widespread panic occurs when many citizens hear the news that the Vandals are plundering the Italian mainland. Sack of Rome: King Genseric leads the Vandals into Rome, after he has promised Pope Leo I not to burn and plunder the city. Genseric sacks the city for a period of two weeks. Eudoxia and her daughters, Eudocia and Placidia, are taken hostage. The loot is sent to the harbour of Ostia and loaded into ships, from whence the Vandals depart and return to Carthage.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Maximus appoints Avitus, most trusted general, to the rank of magister militum and sends him on an embassy to Toulouse, to gain the support of the Visigoths. He elevates his son Palladius to Caesar and has him marry Eudocia, eldest daughter of Valentinian III.source
  • The Ostrogoths conquer Pannonia and Dalmatia.source

Conflict & Security

  • September 21 – Avitus enters Rome with a Gallic army. He restores the imperial authority in Noricum (modern Austria) and leaves a Gothic force under Remistus, Visigoth general (magister militum), at Ravenna.source
  • Battle of Aylesford: At a place named Agaelesthrep (often identified as Aylesford (Kent), Hengist fight the native Britons. His brother Horsa is killed and his son Oisc takes his place. According to the account preserved in Nennius, they were opposed by Vortimer.source
  • Skandagupta succeeds Kumaragupta I as ruler of the Gupta Empire (India). During his reign he crushes the Hun invasion; however, the expense of the wars drains the empire's resources and contributes to its decline.source
  • Gaero becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • Barter economy replaces organized trade as Romans and other citizens desert their towns for the countryside, where they will be less vulnerable to barbarian raids (approximate date).source

Religion & Belief

  • June 2 – Sack of Rome: King Genseric leads the Vandals into Rome, after he has promised Pope Leo I not to burn and plunder the city. Genseric sacks the city for a period of two weeks. Eudoxia and her daughters, Eudocia and Placidia, are taken hostage. The loot is sent to the harbour of Ostia and loaded into ships, from whence the Vandals depart and return to Carthage.source
  • July 9 – Avitus is proclaimed Roman emperor at Toulouse, and later recognised by the Gallic chiefs in Viernum (near Arles).source

Science & Discovery

  • Earliest recorded date at Chichen Itza on the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico) (approximate date).source

Health & Medicine

  • The city of Vindobona (Vienna) is struck by an epidemic that spreads through the Roman provinces. The disease is probably streptococcus or a form of scarlet fever with streptococcus pneumoniae (approximate date).source

Crime & Justice

  • March 16 – Emperor Valentinian III, age 35, is assassinated by two Hunnic retainers of the late Flavius Aetius, while training with the bow on the Campus Martius (Rome), ending the Theodosian dynasty. His primicerius sacri cubiculi, Heraclius, is also murdered.source
  • May 31 – Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome. A widespread panic occurs when many citizens hear the news that the Vandals are plundering the Italian mainland.source

Culture & Society

  • March 17 – Petronius Maximus, former domesticus ("elite bodyguard") of Aetius, becomes (with support of the Roman Senate) emperor of the Western Roman Empire. He secures the throne by bribing officials of the imperial palace. Maximus consolidates his power by a forced marriage with Licinia Eudoxia, widow of Valentinian III.source

Births

  • Rusticus, archbishop of Lyon (approximate date)source
  • Wang Baoming, empress of the Southern Qi (d. 512)source

Deaths

  • March 16 – Heraclius, Roman courtier (primicerius sacri cubiculi )source
  • March 16 – Valentinian III, emperor of the Western Roman Empire (b. 419)source
  • May 31 – Petronius Maximus, emperor of the Western Roman Empiresource
  • Prosper of Aquitaine, disciple and Christian writer (approximate date)source
  • Niall Noigiallach, High King of Ireland (approximate date)source
  • Kumaragupta I, ruler of the Gupta Empire (India)source
  • Horsa, leader of the Anglo-Saxons (approximate date)source
  • Biyu of Baekje, king of Baekjesource
  • Palladius, son of Petronius Maximus (approximate date)source