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Örjan Martinsson

 

The Fall of Rome

= West Roman Empire   = East Roman Empire   = Lost territories 
= Territories ruled by foederati (Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians and Bretons)

The Fall of the Western Empire 395-476

395-397 The Visigothic king Alaric break the peace and start to pillage in the Balkans and in Italy. Peace is concluded when the Visigoths are given the task to defend the province of Illyricum.
401-402
Alaric breaks the peace again and march to Italy. But he returns to Illyricum when the West Roman commander Stilicho defeats him.
404
The capitol of the West Roman Empire is moved to Ravenna.
406
The Rhine frontier is severely weakened when the legions are transferred to northern Italy to ward off Germanic attacks. On new years eve the Rhine is crossed by Vandals, Suevi and Alans who then ravages Gaul the following years.
407
The Burgundians crosses the Rhine and create a kingdom of their own there.
408
Stilicho is murdered by orders from the emperor and the Visigoths under Alaric attack Italy again. They force the city of Rome to pay an indemnity before they settle in Tuscany.
409
The Vandals, Suevi and Alans crosses the Pyrenees to plunder in Spain.
410
Rome is sacked by the Visigoths. The last Roman legions abandon Britain, which is left to its own fate.
411
The Vandals, Suevi and Alans partition the Iberian Peninsula among themselves, only the northern part remain under Roman rule.
416-418
As foederati the Visigoths defeat the Vandals and the Alans. Rome then allows them to settle in Aquitaine in Gaul.
421-422
War against the Persians. In the peace the Persians agrees to stop the persecutions against the Christians in Persia and Romans agree to stop the persecution of the zoroastrians in the Roman Empire.
426
The Vandals conquers the Balearic Islands.
429-435
The Vandals move to Africa where they conquer five of six provinces before they are given the status as foederati.
436
The Burgundian kingdom at the Rhine is crushed by the Romans and the Huns.
439
The Vandals conquer Carthage and make it to their capital. Greek become an official language in the East Roman Empire.
440
Sicily is conquered by the Vandals.
440-442
A new short war against the Persians.
442
The Roman Empire recognise the Vandal kingdom as an independent state.
443
The Burgundians create a new kingdom at the Geneva lake as Roman foederati.
446
Pannonia is lost to the Huns.
450
Celts from Britain settle in Bretagne and are given the status as foederati.
451
Attila and his Huns are defeated by an alliance between Romans and Germanic tribes led by the Roman commander Aëtius in the battle of the Catalaunian Fields.
452
Attila invades northern Italy.
453
Attila dies and his empire that includes the territory between the Rhine, Danube, Baltic Sea and the Caspian Sea is partitioned by his sons.
454
The peoples the Huns had subjugated rise against them and crush their empire. Aëtius is murdered by orders from the West Roman emperor. The Vandals conquer Malta.
455
The Vandals sack Rome.
456
The Suevi who had taken control over the larger part of the Iberian peninsula Spain are defeated by the Visigoths and loses everything except the north-western corner of the peninsula. The Visigoths start to act more and more independent from Rome. The Ostrogoths settles at the same in Pannonia. The Vandals conquers Sardinia.
464
The Roman official Syagrius rule northern Gaul as an independent state.
469
The Vandals conquers Corsica.
473
The Ostrogoths leave Pannonia and migrate to Macedonia and Moesia, where from they ravage the Balkan Peninsula the following years.
474 The Visigoth king Euric cease to recognise the Roman emperor's supremacy and begin to conquer those parts of Gaul that are still controlled by Rome.
476
The German Odovacar depose the last West Roman emperor and proclaim himself king over Italy. The Vandals cede Sicily to him the same year.

= West Roman Empire   = East Roman Empire   = Lost territories 
= Syagrius´s breakaway state (464-86) = Land ruled by ex-emperor Julius Nepos 475-80
= Territories ruled by foederati (Franks, Burgundians and Bretons)

The East Roman Empire Evolves Into the Byzantine Empire

483 The Ostrogoths ravaging of the Balkans cease when they are given the status as foederati. Thereby the Ostrogoths control large part of the Balkans and their king Theoderic the Great is appointed to consul for the year 484.
486
The Frankish king Clovis who controls Belgium defeats Syagrius and conquer his territory in northern Gaul.
488-493
The Ostrogoths led by Theoderic the Great march to Italy there they defeat Odoacer and take over his kingdom.
502-505 War against Persia.
507
The Visigoths are defeated by the Franks and lose the Gallic parts of their kingdom.

= Territories ruled by foederati   = East Roman Empire

527-532 War against the Persians. In the peace emperor Justinian agrees to pay Persia subsidies for defending the passes in the Caucasus against barbarian peoples.
529
Justinian close the academy in Athens.
533-534
The East Roman general Belisarius conquers the Vandal kingdom. The Franks conquer the Burgundian kingdom.
535-553
The Gothic Wars. The East Roman Empire destroys the Ostrogothic kingdom and return Italy to the empire.
540-562
War against Persia. It is interrupted by several armistices. Peace is concluded when the Roman Empire agrees to pay the Persians an annual tribute.
542
The Justinian plague break out and become endemic for a long time afterwards.
554
Andalucia in southern Spain is conquered by the Roman Empire. The Visigoths will spend the following decades to slowly take back the territory.

= Frankish kingdom  = Justinian's conquests  = East Roman Empire

567 The Avars conquers the central Danube region and subjugates the Slavic tribes. The East Roman Empire has thereby got a new formidable enemy.
568
The Germanic Lombards conquers large parts of Italy.
572-591
War against Persia breaks out when East Rome ceases to pay the annual tributes. The war ends when the East Romans intervene in a conflict over the succession in Persia and receives Armenia from the victorious candidate.
ca 580
Slavic peoples crosses the Danube and settles on the Balkan Peninsula. The Slavs will assimilate most of the indigenous population in the Balkans the following centuries. East Rome’s control over the countryside will for the most time only be theoretical during that period.
585
The Visigoths conquers the Suevi kingdom.
602-628
War against Persia, which occupies Syria and Egypt and together with Avars lay siege on Constantinople 626. Emperor Herakleios launches a counter offensive 627 and takes back all occupied territories.
624
The Visigoths seizes the last East Roman possessions in Spain.

= Frankish kingdom   = East Roman Empire   = Lost territories   = Conquest 591

634-659 War against the Arabs who conquers Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Cyrenaica. The Arabs keep their conquest after the peace in exchange of an annual tribute to the Byzantine Empire, which the East Roman Empire now is called. Cyprus will be administered jointly by the Arabs and the Byzantines. But the peace will not last and long series of war against the Arabs will take place the following years.
674-678
The Arabs siege Constantinople.
681
The Bulgars create a kingdom of their own along the lower Danube.
698
The Arabs retakes Carthage, which had fallen to them the previous year.
711
All of North Africa is under Arab control.

= Frankish kingdom   = Byzantine Empire   = Lost territories

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