Culture & Society in the 5th century

40 sourced entries, 401 CE to 499 CE, oldest first. Also see Culture & Society across every century or everything else in the 5th century.

• 401The Mahabharata, an Indian Sanskrit epic, is finalised.source
• 406Stained glass is used for the first time in churches in Rome.source
• 408Summer – Emperor Honorius marries Thermantia, second daughter of Stilicho, his famous general (magister militum).source
• 414January 1 – Galla Placidia, half-sister of emperor Honorius, is married to the Visigothic king Ataulf at Narbonne. The wedding is celebrated with Roman festivities and magnificent gifts from the Gothic booty.source
• 414July 4 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigns as regent and proclaims herself empress (Augusta) of the Eastern Roman Empire.source
• 417January 1 – Emperor Honorius forces his half-sister Galla Placidia into marriage to Constantius, his general (magister militum). He is appointed patricius and becomes a prominent member of the House of Theodosius.source
• 421June 7 – Emperor Theodosius II marries Aelia Eudocia, a woman of Greek origin. The wedding is celebrated at Constantinople with chariot racing in the Hippodrome.source
• 422Shao Di, age 16, eldest son of Wu Di, succeeds his father as emperor of the Liu Song dynasty (China).source
• 422Theodosius II receives a statue at Hebdomon, military parade ground on the shores of the Propontis, just outside Constantinople. On its base (fragments are now in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum), an inscription praises him as “everywhere and forever victorious.”source
• 423Early spring – Roman empress Galla Placidia departs with her children Grata Honoria and Valentinian to the court of Constantinople.source
• 424September 17 – (Yuanjia era, 1st year, 8th month (bāyuè), dingyou day) Prince Liu Yilong is formally enthroned as the Emperor Wen of Song of China at its capital in Jiankang.source
• 424October 23 – Emperor Theodosius II nominates his cousin Valentinian, age 5, the imperial title nobilissimus Caesar ("most noble") of the Western Roman Empire. Valentinian is betrothed to Theodosius's own daughter Licinia Eudoxia, who is only 2 years old.source
• 425February 27 – The University of Constantinople is founded by emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia.source
• 425c. 425–426 – Mausoleum of Galla Placidia is built.source
• 431Greek Neoplatonist philosopher Proclus begins studying at the Academy in Athens.source
• 432December 25 – Christmas is celebrated for the first time in Alexandria (approximate date).source
• 435December 8 – On the Mayan calendar, the era of the 9th Baktun begins. There is a change in political alliances just preceding the event when royal personages from the Mexican highland city of Teotihuacan consolidate power individually as Mayan kings.source
• 437October 29 – Valentinian III cements an alliance with the eastern emperor, Theodosius II, by marrying his daughter Licinia Eudoxia in Constantinople. This marks the reunion of the two branches of the House of Theodosius.source
• 438February 15 – The Codex Theodosianus, a collection of edicts of Roman law, is published.source
• 438Aelia Eudocia, wife of Theodosius II, goes on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, bringing back with her holy relics to prove her faith.source
• 439Licinia Eudoxia, wife of emperor Valentinian III, is granted the title of Augusta following the birth of their daughter Eudocia.source
• 444Eudocia, eldest daughter of Emperor Valentinian III, is betrothed to Huneric, son of Vandal King Genseric (hostage in Italy).source
• 445Roman emperor Valentinian III issues Novel 18 (Novella XVIII) on June 19, an imperial edict against Manichaeism. Heavy penalties are decreed against those who do not denounce the religion, and retain Manichaean books.source
• 450August 25 – Pulcheria is forced to marry and co-rule the Eastern Roman Empire. She gives the imperial diadem to the Illyrian (or Thracian) officer and senator Marcian, age 58, and is crowned as empress in the Hippodrome at Constantinople, in the first religious coronation ceremony.source
• 450Nalanda University (India) is founded (approximate date).source
• 451Eudocia, daughter of Emperor Valentinian III, marries Huneric in Ravenna. The engagement serves to strengthen the alliance between the Western Roman Empire and the Vandal Kingdom.source
• 455March 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
• 457Victorius of Aquitaine computes new tables for celebrating Easter.source
• 461November 19 – Libius Severus, Roman senator from Lucania, is declared emperor of the Western Roman Empire.source
• 461Olybrius becomes the second candidate for the western throne. He is the husband of Placidia, who is being held in Vandal captivity.source
• 464King Theodoric II sends Remismund gifts (for recognizing his kingship), including weapons, and a Gothic princess for a wife.source
• 466Tarasicodissa adopts the Greek name of Zeno and marries Ariadne, eldest daughter of Leo I (approximate date).source
• 474A statue of a Standing Buddha from Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, (during the Gupta period) is made. It is now kept at the Sarnath Museum in India (source states the creation date as 1st to 2nd century BCE).source
• 477Earliest date for the oldest known painted depiction of a horse collar, on a cave mural of Dunhuang, during the Northern Wei dynasty.source
• 484King Gundobad proclaims the Lex Burgundionum, a law code of the Burgundians concerning marriage and inheritance, as well as regulating weregild and other penalties (approximate date).source
• 488Kavadh I is crowned by the nobles, and succeeds his blind uncle Balash as the 19th king of Persia.source
• 491May 20 – Anastasius I marries Ariadne shortly after his accession. His reign is disturbed by religious distractions and a civil war started by Longinus, brother of late emperor Zeno.source
• 493Emperor Xiao Wen Di starts adopting a sinicization policy as well as various reforms. He marries Feng Qing, who becomes empress of the Northern Wei Dynasty.source
• 493Theodoric the Great allies with the Franks and marries Audofleda, sister of Clovis I. He also marries his own female relatives to princes or kings of the Burgundians, Vandals and Visigoths, establishing a political alliance with the Germanic kingdoms in the West.source
• 499Crown prince Xuan Wu Di, age 16, succeeds his father Xiaowen and becomes emperor of Northern Wei. He appoints his uncle Yuan Xie provincial governor, who serves temporarily as regent to form a new government.source