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The 370s

178 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.

370 CE20 entries

  • An edict issued by Valentinian I and Valens bans the importation of wine and olive oil from areas controlled by the barbarians.
  • Germanic Invasions: Various Germanic tribes are forced against the northern borders of the Roman Empire as they flee the invading Huns.
  • The Huns migrate westward from the Volga into Europe and subjugate the Alans and the Ostrogoths. With their arrival, a tradition of composite bows is introduced.

371 CE15 entries

  • Baekje forces sack the city of P'yongyang in Goguryeo.
  • The Persian Empire attains the zenith of its power under King Shapur II as the Romans renew their war against Persia. Hostilities will continue for the next 5 years.
  • Roman poet Ausonius writes of a voyage on the Rhine and the Moselle in his work 'Mosella'.

372 CE16 entries

  • September 12 – Jin Xiaowudi, age 10, succeeds his father Jin Jianwendi. Empress Chu Suanzi serves as regent, but decisions are made by the high officials Xie An and Wang Tanzhi.
  • The Huns attack the Tervingi on the Dniester, overwhelming them with light cavalry (horse archers), and devastating the settlements of the Goths. King Athanaric is defeated and seeks refuge in Caucaland in the Carpathian Mountains.
  • Saint Augustine adopts Manichaeism.

373 CE15 entries

  • Saint Martin of Tours undertakes the Christianization of Gaul.
  • Battle of the Tanais River: The Huns defeat the Alans near the Don, sending the remnants fleeing westward.
  • The Aqueduct of Valens is inaugurated near Constantinople (modern Istanbul); the aqueduct has a length of 971 meters.

374 CE11 entries

  • May 4 – Spearthrower Owl ascends to the throne and becomes ruler of Teotihuacan (Mexico).
  • December 7 – The people of Milan astonish Ambrosius, governor of Aemilia-Liguria, by acclaiming him bishop. He is the second son of the former praetorian prefect of Gaul, and becomes a creative thinker whose ideas will provide the paradigm for medieval church-state relations.
  • The Quadi cross the Danube and begin ravaging Pannonia. They avoid the fortified cities and plunder the unprotected countryside.

375 CE24 entries

  • November 17 – Emperor Valentinian I concludes an enduring peace with the Alamanni in Germany, then marches into Illyricum to repel an invasion of the Quadi and the Sarmatians on the Danube frontier. While negotiating with the Quadi, Valentinian, age 54, becomes so enraged that he dies in a fit of apoplexy at Brigetio (Hungary). Extreme cruelty has marked his 11-year reign, but he has also founded schools and provided physicians to serve the poor of Constantinople.
  • The Talmud of Babylon is written by Rav Ashi. This commentary on the Mishnah contains approximately 2.5 million words on 5.894 pages.
  • The earliest extant books – a school textbook and an account book – with bound wooden leaves, are lost at the Dakhla Oasis in western Egypt. The desert sands preserve them for modern archaeologists.

376 CE16 entries

  • The Greuthungi, led by Alatheus and Saphrax, displaced by the predations of the Huns and Alans, request asylum within the Roman Empire. They are refused. The Roman frontier forces stretched to the breaking point, they slip across the Danube and unite with Fritigern. With their situation critical and desperately short of food, discontent is rising amongst the Goths.
  • Zhang Tianxi, ruler of Former Liang, submits to Fu Jiān of Former Qin, thus ending the state of Former Liang. Zhang is made "Marquess of Guiyi".
  • The Romans fail to disarm the Visigoths, bungle administration of the refugees, and mistreat them, taking some of their children as slaves. The Goths break out of their containment area along the Danube and strike south towards the low-lying fertile region near Marcianople (Bulgaria). Although defying the local Roman officials, they are not in open revolt.

377 CE17 entries

  • Valens sends Saturninus to the Balkan Mountains to block the passes. These efforts are possibly supported by units of limitanei (light infantry) withdrawn from areas under Goth control. Split into small bands and unable to join the Tervingi in sufficient strength to overcome the Roman cordon, the Goths grow increasingly desperate.
  • Autumn – Bands of predatory "barbarians" spread throughout the province in search of food, supplies and booty. Most Roman troops are bottled up in the towns. Some elite units remain in the field and skirmish with the Goths. One such action takes place outside the town of Dibaltum. The Scutarii heavy cavalry is destroyed in a mad charge against the Goths.
  • Gothic War: Famine in Lower Moesia (occupied by the Goths) takes a fearsome toll. Fritigern and his followers appeal for help, but the governors Lupicinus and Maximus regard them as second-class citizens. Little help is forthcoming, and thousands starve to death. The pressure on the Roman frontier is still severe, with the Taifali and other hostile bands of Goths on the Danube. In addition, groups of Huns and Alans have also moved up to the river.

378 CE29 entries

  • May – Battle of Argentovaria: Emperor Gratian is forced to recall the army he has sent East. The Lentienses are defeated by Mallobaudes near Colmar (France). Gratian gains the title Alemannicus Maximus.
  • July – Frigeridus, Roman general, fortifies the Succi (Ihtiman) Pass to prevent the "barbarians" from breaking out to the north-west (Pannonia).
  • August 9 – Battle of Adrianople: Valens leads an elite Roman army to Thrace to confront revolts, but is defeated.

379 CE15 entries

  • September 13 – Yax Nuun Ayiin (I) becomes ruler of Tikal.
  • Former Qin captures the city of Xiangyang from Eastern Jin. The Buddhist monk Dao'an is transferred from Xiangyang to Chang'an.
  • King Shapur II, ruler of the Persian Empire, age 70, dies after a 69-year reign in which he conquered Armenia and transferred multitudes of people from the western lands to Susiana (Khuzistan). The great town Nishapur in Khorasan (eastern Parthia) is also founded by him. His brother Ardashir II, governor-king of Adiabene, is placed by the nobles on the throne.