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The 330s

139 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 4th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

330 CE20 entries

  • May 11 – Emperor Constantine the Great dedicates the Column of Constantine and Constantinople, or Nova Roma (modern-day Istanbul). He had spent four years expanding the city of Byzantium, having chosen the site for its strategic location on the Bosporus. The city became the capital of the Byzantine Empire.
  • The Goths devastate the city of Tanais, in the Don River Delta.
  • The Bible is translated into the Gothic language by Wulfila.

331 CE13 entries

  • Eusebius of Caesarea writes the Onomasticon.
  • The Fifty Bibles of Constantine are commissioned for use in Constantinople.
  • Gregory the Illuminator withdraws to a small sanctuary in the Daranali province (Armenia).

332 CE5 entries

  • May 18 – Constantine I announces a free distribution of food to the citizens in Constantinople, similar to the food given out in the city of Rome. The amount is approximately 80,000 rations a day, doled out from 117 distribution points around the city.
  • Emperor Constantine I and his son Constantine II, aged 16, defeat the Goths in Moesia. The Goths become Roman allies and protect the Danube frontier.
  • Constantine I continues construction of a bridge (in imitation of Trajan and his architect Apollodorus of Damascus) across the Danube, for forward-staging grounds for planned campaigns against local tribes.

333 CE11 entries

  • December 25 – Constantine I elevates his youngest son Constans to the rank of Caesar at Constantinople.
  • Calocaerus revolts against Constantine I and proclaims himself emperor. Flavius Dalmatius, responsible for the security of the eastern frontier, is sent to Cyprus to suppress the rebellion.
  • Shi Hong succeeds his father Shi Le as Emperor of the Later Zhao Empire, in the Period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, but Shi Hong's third cousin Shi Hu holds the real power. Empress Dowager Liu (widow of Shi Le) fails to get rid of Shi Hu, and Shi Hu has her deposed and killed.

334 CE12 entries

  • Flavius Dalmatius puts down a revolt in Cyprus, led by Calocaerus. Calocaerus is brought to Tarsus (Cilicia), and executed.
  • Emperor Constantine the Great reauthorises gladiatorial combat.
  • The Goths protect the Danube frontier against an invasion by the Vandals.

335 CE19 entries

  • September 14 – Emperor Constantine I consecrates the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
  • September 19 – Flavius Dalmatius is raised to the rank of Caesar, with control of Thracia, Achaia, and Macedonia.
  • December 31 – Pope Sylvester I dies at Rome after a 21-year reign. He is succeeded by Mark as the 34th pope.

336 CE14 entries

  • January 18 – Pope Mark succeeds Pope Sylvester I as the 34th pope of the Catholic Church.
  • Pope Mark begins to build the basilica of San Marco; the church is devoted to St. Mark.
  • The military successes of Emperor Constantine I result in most of Dacia being reconquered by the Roman Empire.

337 CE22 entries

  • February 6 – A 4-month papal vacancy ends; Pope Julius I succeeds Pope Mark, as the 35th pope.
  • May 22 – Constantine the Great, first Christian Roman emperor of the Western Empire (312–324), and of the Roman Empire (324–337), dies in Achyron, near Nicomedia, at age 65, after he is baptized by Eusebius of Nicomedia.
  • September 9 – Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans succeed their father Constantine I as co-emperors. The Roman Empire is divided between the three Augusti.

338 CE11 entries

  • Eusebius of Nicomedia becomes Patriarch of Constantinople, after Paul I is banished.
  • Tuoba Yihuai, ruler of the Tuoba Dai clan, dies and is succeeded by his brother Tuoba Shiyiqian.
  • The Church of Santa Costanza, Rome, starts to be built (approximate date).

339 CE12 entries

  • Pope Julius I gives refuge in Rome to the Alexandrian patriarch Athanasius, who is deposed and expelled during the First Synod of Tyre (see 335).
  • Eusebius of Nicomedia is made bishop of Constantinople, while another Arian succeeds Athanasius as bishop of Alexandria, under the name Gregory.
  • Emperor Constantius II hastens to his territory in the East, where a revived Persia under King Shapur II is attacking Mesopotamia. For the next 11 years, the two powers engage in a war of border skirmishing, with no real victor.