4th century

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Millennium:	1st millennium
Centuries:	3rd century · 4th century · 5th century
Decades:	300s 310s 320s 330s 340s 350s 360s 370s 380s 390s
Categories:	Births - Deaths Establishments - Disestablishments

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century (per the Julian/Gregorian calendar and Anno Domini era) was that century which lasted from 301 to 400.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Events 3 Significant people 4 Inventions, discoveries, introductions 5 References 6 External links 7 Decades and years

[edit] Overview

In the West, the early part of the century was shaped by Constantine I, who became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. Gaining sole reign of the empire, he is also noted for re-establishing a single imperial capital, choosing the site of ancient Byzantium in 330 (over of the current capitals, which had effectively been changed by Diocletian's reforms to Milan in the West, and Nicomedia in the East) to build the city soon called Nova Roma (New Rome); it was later renamed Constantinople in his honor.

The last emperor to control both the eastern and western halves of the empire was Theodosius I. As the century progressed after his death it became increasingly apparent that the empire had changed in many ways since the time of Augustus. The two emperor system originally established by Diocletian in the previous century fell into regular practice, and the east continued to grow in importance as a centre of trade and imperial power, while Rome itself diminished greatly in importance due to its location far from potential trouble spots, like Central Europe and the East. Late in the century Christianity became the official state religion, and the empire's old pagan culture began to disappear. General Prosperity was felt throughout this period, but recurring invasions by Germanic tribes plagued the empire from AD 376 onward. These early invasions marked the beginning of the end for the Western Roman Empire.

According to archaeologists, sufficient archaeological correlates of state-level societies coalesced in the 4th century to show the existence of the Three Kingdoms (AD 300/400-668) of Baekje, Goguryeo, and Silla.

[edit] Events

• 301: Armenia first to adopt Christianity as state religion, followed by Ethiopia, circa 320
• 306–337: Constantine I, ends persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, calls First Council of Nicaea, see also Constantinian shift, Constantinople becomes new seat of government (New Rome)
• 350: About this time the Huns begin to invade the Sassanid Empire. ^[1]
• 376: Visigoths appear on the Danube and are allowed entry into the Roman Empire in their flight from the Huns.
• 378: Battle of Adrianople. Roman army is defeated by Visigoth cavalry. Emperor Valens is killed.
• 378–395: Theodosius I, Roman emperor, bans pagan worship, Christianity is made the official religion of the Empire.
• 383: Battle of Fei River in China

[edit] Significant people

• Arius, founder of Arianism
• Athanasius, opponent of Arius
• Saint Augustine of Hippo, theologian
• Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan
• Basil of Caesarea, reformer of Christian monasticism
• Julian the Apostate
• Eusebius, famous Christian Church historian
• Frumentius, Apostle of Ethiopia
• Ge Hong, Chinese alchemist
• Gu Kaizhi, Chinese painter
• Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman Historian
• Saint Martin of Tours
• Pachomius, founder of Christian monasticism
• Ulfilas, apostle of the Goths
• Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo, King of ancient Korean state Goguryeo who greatly expanded its territory
• Tao Qian, Chinese poet

[edit] Inventions, discoveries, introductions

• The Stirrup was invented in China, no later than 322^[2][3]
• Kama Sutra
• Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, earliest Christian bibles
• Book of Steps, Syriac religious discourses

[edit] References

1. ^ Roberts, J: "History of the World.". Penguin, 1994.
2. ^ The stirrup and its effect on chinese military history
3. ^ The invention and influences of stirrup

[edit] External links

• Fourth-Century Christianity Website

[edit] Decades and years

v • d • e Decades and Years

4th century 2nd century←3rd century← ↔ →5th century→6th century 290s 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300s 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310s 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320s 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330s 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340s 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350s 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360s 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370s 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380s 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390s 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400s 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409

v • d • e Centuries and millennia

Millennium Century Before Christ / Before Common Era (BC/BCE) 4th 40th 39th 38th 37th 36th 35th 34th 33rd 32nd 31st 3rd 30th 29th 28th 27th 26th 25th 24th 23rd 22nd 21st 2nd 20th 19th 18th 17th 16th 15th 14th 13th 12th 11th 1st 10th 9th 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st Anno Domini / Common Era (AD/CE) 1st 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 2nd 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 3rd 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 4th 31st

af:4de eeu

als:4. Jahrhundert ar:قرن 4 an:Sieglo IV ast:Sieglu IV az:IV əsr be:4 стагоддзе be-x-old:4 стагодзьдзе bs:4. vijek br:IVe kantved bg:4 век ca:Segle IV cv:IV ĕмĕр cs:4. století cy:4edd ganrif da:4. århundrede de:4. Jahrhundert et:4. sajand el:4ος αιώνας es:Siglo IV eo:4-a jarcento eu:IV. mendea fa:سده ۴ (میلادی) fr:IVe siècle fy:4e ieu ga:4ú haois gd:4mh Linn gl:Século IV ko:4세기 hr:4. stoljeće io:4ma yar-cento id:Abad ke-4 is:4. öldin it:IV secolo he:המאה ה-4 jv:Abad kaping 4 ka:IV საუკუნე kk:4 ғ. kw:4a kansblydhen ku:Sedsala 4'an la:Saeculum 4 lb:4. Joerhonnert lij:IV secolo lt:IV amžius li:Veerde iew hu:4. század mk:4 век ms:Abad ke-4 nl:4e eeuw nds-nl:4e eeuw ja:4世紀 no:4. århundre nn:300-talet nrm:IVe s. uz:IV asr nds:4. Johrhunnert pl:IV wiek pt:Século IV ksh:4. Joohunndot ro:Secolul al IV-lea ru:IV век sq:Shekulli IV scn:Sèculu IV simple:4th century sk:4. storočie sl:4. stoletje sr:4. век su:Abad ka-4 fi:300-luku sv:300-talet tt:4. yöz th:คริสต์ศตวรรษที่ 4 vi:Thế kỷ 4 tr:4. yüzyıl uk:4 століття bat-smg:IV omžios zh:4世纪