Directory

468 CE

Pope Hilarius dies at Rome after a 6½-year reign, and is succeeded by Simplicius as the 47th pope. Jiaozhou governor Lưu Mục dies of illness. Lý Trường Nhân, a nobleman, launches a coup d'état against the Jiaozhou government, kills the Liu Song officials in Jiaozhou, seizes control of the citadel, then declares himself the governor. Emperor Ming of Song grants Lưu Bột the title of Jiaozhou governor, along with an army to retake Jiaozhou from Lý Trường Nhân. After landing in Jiaozhou, Lưu Bột is quickly defeated by Lý Trường Nhân, and dies shortly afterward.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • November – Lý Trường Nhân sends an envoy to make peace with the Liu Song, and requests the title of "Hành Châu sự", a position with less authority than that of the Governor of Jiaozhou. Emperor Ming approves Trường Nhân's request, granting him the authority to govern Jiaozhou until 479.source
  • Revolt of Euric: The Goths in Aquitania revolts. Their king Euric occupies the south of Gaul.source
  • Dengizich, son of Attila the Hun, sends an embassy to Constantinople to demand money. Leo I offers the Huns settlement in Thrace in exchange for recognition of his authority. Dengizich refuses and crosses the Danube.source

Conflict & Security

  • Roman forces under Anagast defeat the Huns at the river Utus (Vit, Bulgaria). Dengizich is killed and his head is paraded through the streets of Constantinople. Stuck on the end of a wooden pole, it is displayed above the Xylokerkos Gate.source
  • The Vandals reconquer Sicily, administering a decisive defeat to the Western forces.source
  • Battle of Cape Bon: The Vandals defeat the Roman navy under Basiliscus, anchored at Promontorium Mercurii, 45 miles from Carthage (Tunisia). During peace negotiations Genseric uses fire ships, filling them with brushwood and pots of oil, destroying 700 imperial galleys. Basiliscus escapes with his surviving fleet to Sicily, harassed all the way by Moorish pirates.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • Basiliscus returns to Constantinople after a disastrous expedition against the Vandals. He is forced to seek sanctuary in the church of Hagia Sophia to escape the wrath of the people. Leo I gives him imperial pardon, but banishes him for 3 years to Heraclea Sintica (Thrace).source
  • Emperor Anthemius sends a Roman expedition under command of Marcellinus. He expels the Vandals from Sicily and retakes Sardinia. The Eastern general Heraclius of Edessa lands with a force on the Libyan coast, east of Carthage, and advances from Tripolitania.source
  • Emperor Leo I assembles a massive naval expedition at Constantinople, which costs 64,000 pounds of gold (more than a year's revenue) and consists of over 1,100 ships carrying 100,000 men. It is the greatest fleet ever sent against the Vandals and brings Leo near to bankruptcy.source

Crime & Justice

  • August – Marcellinus is murdered in Sicily, probably at the instigation of his political rival, Ricimer. Heraclius is left to fight alone against the Vandals; after a 2-year campaign in the desert he returns to Constantinople.source

Births

  • Nectan of Hartland, Welsh prince and saint (approximate date)source

Deaths

  • February 29 – Pope Hilarius dies at Rome after a 6½-year reign, and is succeeded by Simplicius as the 47th pope.source
  • March – Jiaozhou governor Lưu Mục dies of illness. Lý Trường Nhân, a nobleman, launches a coup d'état against the Jiaozhou government, kills the Liu Song officials in Jiaozhou, seizes control of the citadel, then declares himself the governor.source
  • August – Emperor Ming of Song grants Lưu Bột the title of Jiaozhou governor, along with an army to retake Jiaozhou from Lý Trường Nhân. After landing in Jiaozhou, Lưu Bột is quickly defeated by Lý Trường Nhân, and dies shortly afterward.source
  • Marcellinus, Roman general (magister militum)source
  • Gunabhadra, Indian Buddhist scholar-monk (b. 394)source