Timeline of Rome

5th Century AD – Barbarians at the Gates of Rome

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The 5th century AD was a time of cascading upheaval in the Western Roman Empire as waves of barbarian invasions, factional power struggles, and rapid shifts in authority swept across Italy. The capital was relocated to Ravenna for greater protection; Rome faced multiple sacks—most dramatically at the hands of Alaric’s Visigoths and later the Vandals. Meanwhile, ecclesiastical life evolved under successive popes who reinforced the primacy of the Roman Church. Amid these disruptions, traditional Roman life ebbed. The final abdication of Romulus Augustus in 476 typically marks the Western Empire’s end, though vestiges of Roman governance lingered in Italy under new barbarian rulers.

Dioceses Established (5th Century)

  • Alife, Calvi, Cassano all’Jonio, Conversano, Gerace, Isernia, Messina, Penne, Potenza, Rieti, Sessa Aurunca, Sorrento, Telese/Cerreto Sannita, Teramo.

401 AD

  • (Fall) Stilicho counters Vandal and Alan invasions in Rhaetia.
  • (Nov) Alaric leads the first Visigothic invasion into Italy.
  • Pope Innocent I succeeds Pope Anastasius I. Innocent proclaims Roman doctrine as definitive.

402 AD

  • (Jan 1) Eastern Emperor Arcadius proclaims his son Theodosius as Augustus.
  • (Feb) Alaric besieges Milan.
  • Threats in northern Italy prompt relocating the Western Roman capital to Ravenna—safer behind marshes and walls.

404 AD

  • (Jan 1) The last gladiatorial contest in Rome is held; gladiatorial games are abolished.
    • Triggered by St. Telemachus intervening in a gladiator fight; he was killed by the outraged crowd, moving Emperor Honorius to ban such games.

408 AD

  • (May 1) Eastern Emperor Arcadius dies at 31.
  • (Aug 22) Stilicho, master of the Western armies, is assassinated.
  • Alaric exploits Stilicho’s death, invades Italy, and besieges Rome. The city pays a heavy ransom.
  • Famine and plague strike Rome.

409 AD

  • Visigoths under Alaric capture Ostia, besiege Rome again.
  • Attalus, a Roman senator, is set up as a puppet emperor, opposing Honorius at Ravenna.

410 AD: Sack of Rome

  • (Aug 10–16, 24) Alaric and the Visigoths sack Rome for the third time.
  • Marching south, they capture Capua and Nola, fail at Neapolis.
  • Alaric’s plan to invade Sicily and Africa is foiled when a storm wrecks his fleet near Rhegium.
  • (Dec) Alaric dies of malaria at Consentia (Cosenza). Buried in the riverbed of the Busento with treasures; workers are killed to keep the grave secret.
  • Visigoths withdraw north under Athaulf, sacking Etruria en route; they leave Italy in 412.
  • St. Paulinus, once a Roman senator, becomes bishop of Nola.
  • S. Rufino becomes bishop of Capua (~410–420).
  • Pope Innocent I enforces Rome’s ecclesiastical primacy across western churches.

415 AD

  • Hypatia, pagan Neoplatonist philosopher in Alexandria, is murdered by a Christian mob.

416 AD

  • Visigoths invade Spain.
  • (c.) John I becomes bishop of Naples (to ~432).

417 AD

  • (Mar 12) Pope Innocent I dies; succeeded by St. Zosimus (Mar 18).
  • (c.) Mount Etna erupts.

418 AD

  • Franks invade Gaul.
  • (Dec 27) Pope St. Zosimus dies, succeeded by St. Boniface I (Dec 28).
  • Eulalius emerges as antipope.

422 AD

  • (Sept 4) Pope St. Boniface I dies; (Sept 10) St. Celestine I (Campanian) becomes Pope.
    • Celestine sends St. Patrick to evangelize Ireland.

423 AD

  • (Aug 15) Emperor Honorius dies.

425 AD

  • (Oct 23) Valentinian III becomes Western Emperor.

429 AD

  • Angles, Saxons, and Jutes start invading southern Britain.

431 AD

  • Death of St. Paulinus, bishop of Nola.
  • Council of Ephesus proclaims Mary as Mother of God.

432 AD

  • (Apr 6) Pope St. Celestine I dies; succeeded by Sixtus III.

437 AD

  • Vandals raid Sicily.

439 AD

  • (Oct) Gaiseric (Genseric), king of the Vandals, seizes Carthage; the Vandals become masters of North Africa, threatening Rome’s grain supply and dominating the western Mediterranean.

440 AD

  • Vandal fleets ravage Sicily; Palermo under siege.
  • (Aug 18) Pope Sixtus III dies; (Sept 29) Leo I (“the Great”) succeeds him.

441 AD

  • Eastern Emperor Theodosius II’s planned expedition against Vandals in Sicily is canceled due to Persian invasions in the East.

442 AD

  • Earthquake in central Italy damages the Colosseum.

443 AD

  • Priscus, an exile from North Africa, becomes bishop of Capua.

444 AD

  • Allied Vandal-Goth forces conquer Sicily from the Romans.

447 AD

  • Pope Leo I forbids Sicilian bishops to baptize during Epiphany.
  • Empire-wide pestilence spreads.

450 AD

  • A Basilica of S. Costanzo is founded on Capri by Basilian monks.
  • Rome’s population declines to ~500,000 (from ~1,000,000 at Augustus’s peak).
  • St. Mamilianus, bishop of Panormus (Palermo), is exiled by Vandals to the island of Monte Cristo.
  • Pestilence in Rome (lasts until 467).

451 AD

  • Council (or Synod) of Chalcedon reaffirms Pope’s primacy, condemns Nestorians, defines Christ as having both human and divine natures.
  • Valentinian III and Marcian ban pagan worship in temples, threatening property confiscation.

452 AD

  • (June 8) Attila the Hun invades northern Italy, sacking Aquileia, Patavium, Verona, Brixia, Bergomum, Mediolanum.
  • Refugees from Aquileia establish Venice in the marshes.
  • Pope Leo I meets Attila, persuading him not to attack Rome. Attila withdraws north.

453 AD

  • Attila dies.
  • Vandals under Gaiseric pillage Nola.

454 AD

  • Faustus becomes bishop of Rhegium.
  • Monophysite Eutyches preaches Christ’s sole divine nature.

455 AD: Sack of Rome by Vandals

  • (Mar 16) Valentinian III is assassinated.
  • (June 2) Gaiseric’s Vandals enter Rome, sack it for two weeks.
  • Naples and Nola also attacked.

456 AD

  • Capua is sacked by Vandals; rebuilt soon after.
  • Romans defeat Vandals near Agrigentum in Sicily.
  • Scilla (Calabria) is sacked by Vandals.

457 AD

  • Leo I (the Thracian, not the pope) becomes Eastern Emperor.

458 AD

  • Emperor Majorian expels Vandal raiders from Campania.

461 AD

  • (Aug 2) Majorian deposed by the general Ricimer; dies Aug 7, likely murdered.
  • Gaiseric breaks his truce with Rome; raids Italy and Sicily anew.
  • (Nov 10) Pope Leo I dies; (Nov 19) succeeded by St. Hilarius (a Sardinian).

464 AD

  • Roman general Marcellinus drives Vandals from Sicily.

465 AD

  • Diocese of Aquino founded.
  • Felix (Felice) becomes bishop of Sipontum.

468 AD

  • (Feb 28) Pope St. Hilarius dies; Simplicius succeeds him.
  • Joint Roman expedition to recapture Africa fails when Vandals launch a fire-ship ruse off Cape Bon.
  • Marcellinus is assassinated in Sicily, letting Vandals regain control.
  • Vandal king Gaiseric: “Romans have cut off their right hand with their left.”

472 AD

  • (Aug 18) Ricimer dies of fever.
  • (Nov 5–6) Mt. Vesuvius erupts; ash reaches Constantinople.
  • Famine and pestilence grip Rome.

473 AD

  • Pestilence continues in Rome.

474 AD

  • Zeno becomes Eastern Emperor.

476 AD: “Fall” of the Western Roman Empire

  • (Aug 28/Sept 4) Romulus Augustus abdicates, often cited as the Western Empire’s end.
    • Yet Julius Nepos (exiled in Dalmatia) remains a claimant until his murder in 480.
  • Odoacer becomes de facto ruler of Italy; recognized as Patrician by Eastern Emperor Zeno.
  • Romulus lives on a pension in Campania for decades; final fate unknown.
  • Gaiseric’s treaty with Zeno recognizes Vandal rule over Africa plus Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Balearics. Gaiseric later cedes most of Sicily to Odoacer but keeps Lilybaeum (Marsala).

480 AD

  • St. Benedict of Nursia (future founder of Montecassino) is born.
  • Massive earthquake shakes Italy and the Balkans; damage from Rome to Constantinople.

483 AD

  • St. Felix III (II) becomes pope.

484 AD

  • The Acacian (Great) Schism splits Eastern and Western Churches (to 519).
  • Faustus, bishop of Rhegium, dies.

488 AD

  • Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, invades Italy with Eastern Emperor Zeno’s approval to overthrow Odoacer.
  • Theodoric seizes Milan.

489 AD

  • Theodoric defeats Odoacer at Verona.

490 AD

  • Odoacer retreats to Ravenna, under siege by Theodoric.
  • Cassiodorus, historian and statesman, is born at Scylletium (Squillace, Calabria).

491 AD

  • Anastasius I becomes Eastern Emperor.
  • He supports the Acacian heresy via Phontinus of Thessalonica.

492 AD

  • St. Gelasius I becomes pope; first to use the title “Vicar of Christ.”

493 AD

  • (Mar 3/15) Theodoric captures Ravenna; Odoacer surrenders.
  • Theodoric assassinates Odoacer at a banquet, destroying the Heruli Confederation.
  • Italy & Sicily join the new Ostrogothic Kingdom.
  • Theodoric, an Arian, tolerates Catholics and Jews.

496 AD

  • Anastasius II becomes pope.

498 AD

  • St. Symmachus becomes pope.

499 AD

  • Archbishop Justus of Acerenza is mentioned.
  • Diocese of Alife attested at the Roman Synod under Pope Symmachus.
  • Gaudentius is earliest known bishop of Salerno; Concordius, first recorded bishop of Acerra.

500 AD

  • (c.) A basilica dedicated to St. Michael is established on Monte Gargano.
  • (c.) Theodoric abolishes heavy duty on papyrus; lauded by Cassiodorus.
  • (c.) Incense introduced in Christian services.
  • Rome’s population falls to ~100,000, while Constantinople grows to ~500,000.

Key Takeaways

  1. Barbarian Invasions and Sack of Rome
    • Alaric’s Visigoths invaded three times, sacking Rome in 410.
    • Vandals launched repeated assaults—most notably in 455—laying waste to the city and Sicily.
  2. Power Shifts & the End of the Western Empire
    • With the capital moved from Milan to Ravenna, the Western Empire eroded under invasions.
    • 476 saw Romulus Augustus abdicate; while 480 marks Julius Nepos’s death—often viewed as the true termination of Western imperial claims.
  3. Emergence of New Kingdoms
    • After toppling Odoacer, Theodoric established the Ostrogothic Kingdom, offering relative stability and religious tolerance, even as an Arian.
  4. Rise of the Papacy & Ecclesiastical Influence
    • Popes like Innocent I, Leo I, and Gelasius I strengthened Roman primacy, extended church doctrine, and navigated invasions by appealing to barbarian leaders.
  5. Decline of Urban Life & Continued Cultural Shifts
    • Rome’s population halved; farmland ravaged by raids and plague.
    • Local bishops grew in importance, dioceses multiplied, and doctrinal councils (Ephesus, Chalcedon) shaped Christian theology.

By 500 AD, Italy’s political scene was transformed by Ostrogothic rule, the Roman Church had fortified its spiritual hegemony, and the once-mighty Western Roman Empire formally ceased to exist—setting the stage for the early Middle Ages in the region.