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The 390s

147 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.

390 CE20 entries

  • April – Massacre of Thessalonica: Resentment among the citizens of Thessalonica (Macedonia) breaks out into violence after the arrest of a popular charioteer. Butheric, military commander of Illyricum, is murdered. Emperor Theodosius I orders vengeance, despite the pleas for mercy by Ambrose, bishop of Milan; more than 7,000 inhabitants are massacred by the Roman army.
  • Theodosius I brings an obelisk from Egypt to the Hippodrome of Constantinople.
  • C. 390–401 – Priestess of Bacchus: Late Antiquity ivory diptych; documents the relationship of the senators Quintus Aurelius Symmachus and Virius Nicomachus Flavianus. It commemorates the marriage of the two families. The right panel is inscribed "Symmachorum", with an elaborately dressed priestess who makes an offer on an altar. It is now kept at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

391 CE13 entries

  • Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, urban prefect of Rome, pleads for traditional cult practices. He petitions Theodosius I to re-open the pagan temples, but is opposed by Ambrose.
  • A Rouran chief named Heduohan (曷多汗) is defeated and killed in battle against the Tuoba Northern Wei Dynasty. Surviving Rouran move west towards the Gaoche, led by Heduohan's brother and successor, Shelun.
  • Flames destroy the great Library of Alexandria, established in the Mouseion in the fourth century BC. Among the items lost in the fire are works of science, including parchments by the Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos asserting that the Earth orbits the Sun, and dozens of dramatic works by Euripides and Sophocles.

392 CE10 entries

  • May 15 – Emperor Valentinian II, age 21, dies while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbogast. He is found hanging in his residence at Vienne under unknown circumstances.
  • 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.
  • November 8 – Theodosius I 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 pagan spiritual significance that could be used in the home, such as incense or spiritual figures.

393 CE10 entries

  • Synod of Hippo: A council at Hippo Regius (Algeria) is hosted by the Church. The bishops approve a canon of Sacred Scripture that correspond to the Roman Catholic Church.
  • 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).
  • Yao Xing succeeds Yao Chang as emperor of the Later Qin Empire.

394 CE17 entries

  • September 6 – Battle of the Frigidus: Emperor Theodosius I defeats and kills the usurper Eugenius. The forces of Theodosius are bolstered by numerous auxiliaries, including 20,000 Visigoth federates under Alaric. The Frankish general Arbogast (magister militum) escapes into the Alps and commits suicide.
  • The last known hieroglyphic inscription, known as the Graffito of Esmet-Akhom, is written in Philae, Egypt.
  • In Rome, the sacred fire stops burning (see Vesta and Vestal Virgins).

395 CE19 entries

  • January 17 – Emperor Theodosius I, age 48, dies of a disease involving severe edema in Milan. The Roman Empire is divided for the final time into an eastern and a western half. The Eastern Roman Empire is centered in Constantinople under Arcadius, son of Theodosius, and the Western Roman Empire in Mediolanum under his brother Honorius.
  • April 27 – Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto (without the knowledge or consent of Rufinus, Praetorian prefect of the East). His seven-year-old half-sister, Galla Placidia, is sent to Rome, where she spends her childhood in the household of Stilicho and his wife Serena.
  • December 8 – Later Yan is defeated by its former vassal Northern Wei at the Battle of Canhe Slope, during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period of China.

396 CE9 entries

  • Emperor Jìn Ān Dì, age 14, succeeds his father Emperor Xiaowu as ruler of the Eastern Jin dynasty after he is murdered by his concubine Honoured Lady Zhang.
  • Lü Guang claims the title "Heavenly Prince" (Tian Wang), signifying his claim to the Later Liang Kingdom.
  • Revolt of Alaric I: The Visigoths, led by Alaric I, rampage through Greece and plunder Corinth, Argos and Sparta. They destroy the Temple of Eleusis, and harry the Peloponnese. Stilicho makes peace with the Goths, and allows them to settle in Epirus (Balkans).

397 CE17 entries

  • April 4 – Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, dies in his diocese after 23 years in office, during which he dominated the political life of the Roman Empire.
  • August 28 – Council of Carthage: The biblical canon is definitely declared.
  • September 7 – First Council of Toledo: Hispanic bishops, including Lampius, condemn Priscillianism.

398 CE16 entries

  • Eutropius, Roman general (magister militum), celebrates his victory over the Huns ("the wolves of the North") in a parade through Constantinople (see 395).
  • 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.
  • Augustine of Hippo completes his Confessions, an autobiography that recounts his intellectual and spiritual development.

399 CE16 entries

  • 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.
  • King Bahram IV dies after an 11-year reign. He is succeeded by Yazdegerd I, who becomes the thirteenth Sassanid Emperor of Persia.