Edict of Thessalonica: Christianity becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire by order of Emperor Theodosius.

Theodosius is Roman Emperor (office of Augustus held jointly with Valentinian II) Theodosius settles the Germanic Goths barbarians on the borders of the Empire, enlisting them as federates

Starving Visigoths attack the Roman city of Marcianople, in present-day Bulgaria; it is a bloodbath.

The Visigoths, exasperated by the taxes and bribes demanded by Roman officials, react and defeat the Romans in battle.

The Huns violently attack the peaceful Visigoth villages on the shores of the Black Sea, in present-day Ukraine

Valentinian II is Roman Emperor (office of Augustus held jointly with Theodosius)

The Picts and Irish manage to breach Roman defences in the North and West of England

The oldest list corresponding to the current canon of the Christian Bible is first found in a letter of Athanasius of Alexandria in 367, in accordance with the subsequent decree of Pope Damasus in 382. This canon has prevailed to this day through the mediation of the Vulgate, the translation of the Bible into Latin made by St. Jerome at the commission of Pope Damasus. A generation later, at the papal councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397), the bishops and theologians formally canonized this list of recommendations which became the New Testament.

Geminiano becomes bishop of Modena. San Zemiàn l’è elêt Vaschev ed Modna

Roman Empire. The Christian emperors forbade the destruction of the pagan temples that adorned the cities.

Edict of Constantine: full freedom is granted to the Christian religion.

Geminiano, future bishop of the city and then patron saint, was born in Cognento (Modena).

The Huns invade northern China and the imperial court is forced to flee south; the Huns will remain in northern China for 300 years.

Iran. A large silver plaque depicts Shapur II on horseback killing a deer, which in Zoroastrian belief represents the king who imposes divine order on demonic chaos. The universe, according to Zoroastrianism, is in fact a conflict between the rival forces of good and evil, and is not eternal. This idea of the conflict between good and evil also shaped parts of the Christian and Islamic religions, as well as pagan politics in the centuries that followed (think of the “Great Satan” cited by the ayatollahs or the Evil Empire cited by Ronald Reagan).

Constantine the Great is crowned Roman Emperor in York (Eboracum to the Romans)

The first sung Christian vigils (or at least the first ones for which there is evidence) were composed at the foot of Mount Ararat in Armenia.

Armenia is the first country to adopt Catholicism as its official religion.

Thanks to the technology of three-hulled canoes, the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean was reached and populated by Austronesians from the island of Borneo. There is no evidence that they came from Africa via the Middle East, so they must have really crossed the entire Indian Ocean!

The Visigoths in Romania are invaded by other Germanic tribes who are also fleeing from the Huns

The Visigoths settle north of the Danube and in Dacia (Romania)

Tsu Ch’ung Chi values pi = 3.1416

Depopulation of the countryside in the Roman Empire due to low agricultural yields after centuries of exploitation of the topsoil

An African priest named Arius denies the equality of the Son and the Father (thus clashing with the Principle of the Trinity) and affirms that Christ was created by God as the first creature; Arianism is born.

In Britain, the invasions of the Saxons, a Germanic population, are repelled.

Massacre of Christians in Egypt

Emperor Probus repelled the invasions of the Alamanni and Franks in Gaul

The western part of the Roman Empire suffers the incursion of the Alamanni, the Franks and other Germanic peoples who devastate Gaul, Spain and northern Italy.

Zenobia’s rebel army and Aurelian’s imperial army clash in Asia Minor; the rebels are defeated and retreat into Palmyra. The city falls, and Zenobia seeks refuge among the Persians but is taken prisoner by the Romans. The integrity of the Roman Empire is restored once again.

Aurelian again pushes back the Alamanni, who had advanced as far as the Po, then faces the Vandals who have reached Piacenza, but is defeated.

Zenobia conquers Egypt and sets her sights on central power. She blackmails Rome with grain produced in the Nile Valley. Aurelian refuses, and Zenobia finds herself organizing a march on Rome.

As proposed by Zenobia, leader of the “Saracens” of the eastern part of the Roman Empire, Wahballat establishes himself as “Emperor” in the eastern part of the Empire, while Aurelian takes the title of Augustus and controls the western part.

Claudius II Gothicus, Aurelian, Tacitus, Probus, Carus and his sons Carinus and Numerian succeed one another as Roman Emperors

The Roman general Odaenathus is assassinated on the initiative of one of his own men. Upon his death, Zenobia inherits all of her husband’s power.

Orontes River, present-day Syria: Odenathus defeats the Persians and restores a balance on the eastern front that will hold for three centuries to come.

Roman Empire: the situation is so critical that the Emperor himself is taken prisoner by the king of Persia, Shapur I, after a military defeat. It will take the intervention of Odaenathus to defeat the Persians and restore balance on the eastern front.

Infiltrations of Franks, Alamanni and Goths in Spain, Northern Italy, Asia Minor

Emperor Decius falls near Nicopolis (in present-day Bulgaria) during a military campaign against the Goths

Gallienus is Roman Emperor

Palestine. The Mishnah is born: a collection, organization, and sometimes reformulation of thousands of teachings and precepts on Jewish worship and criminal, civil, and marital law.

Peak of Buddhism in China during the Han Dynasty

Maximum expansion of the Roman Empire: from Britain and North Africa to Dacia to Armenia and Georgia. East of Cyrenaica, Syracuse, Greece, Greek is spoken; in the rest of the empire, Latin is spoken.

Mississippi Plain and the eastern coast of North America, now the Eastern United States. Corn cultivation arrives from Mexico, much later than in Mexico due to the barrier of the North American deserts. And even later than in Eurasia. Bean cultivation, again from Mexico, only arrived in the 12th century.

The Cult of Isis (or Queen of Heaven, or Star of the Sea), wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, is at its peak; the Cult rivals Christianity, but will later be incorporated in the form of the adoration of the Virgin Mary.

The Cult of Mithras is at its peak: an all-male sect; Mithras was born on December 25th and this date will be incorporated into the Christian tradition.

Palmyra, now Syria, was elevated to the rank of Colony, and therefore placed on a par with the cities of the Roman metropolis.

Caracalla is Roman Emperor (office of Augustus held jointly with Septimius Severus)

Pertinax, Didius Julianus succeed one another as Roman Emperors

In Britain the peoples of the North cross the Antonine Wall and are then pushed back