Ancient World
First Council of Nicaea (325): The Nicene Creed and Arianism
The council condemned Arius's teaching, adopted the Nicene Creed declaring the Son 'of one substance' with the Father, and set a common rule for dating Easter.
Era · c. 3000 BC – AD 500
Ancient World
The first cities, empires and written records, from the pyramids of Egypt to Greece and the Roman Empire.
Ancient World
Founding of Constantinople (330): Constantine's New Rome
Constantine's new city became the main residence of the eastern emperors and, for over a thousand years, the capital of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.
Ancient World
Ezana's Conversion: Aksum Adopts Christianity in the 4th Century
Aksum's king and court adopted Christianity, laying the foundations of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Ancient World
Samudragupta and the Allahabad Pillar Inscription
Samudragupta made the Gupta kingdom the dominant power of northern India, and Harisena's inscription preserved a detailed account of his conquests.
Ancient World
Wulfila's Gothic Bible: Christianity Among the Goths (c. 350)
The Goths gained a written language and a Bible in their own tongue, and Homoian ('Arian') Christianity spread among Germanic peoples.
Ancient World
Fall of Meroë: Aksum's King Ezana and the End of Kush
The Meroitic kingdom of Kush ceased to exist as a unified state by the mid-4th century AD, and the Middle Nile passed to new post-Meroitic societies.
Ancient World
Orchid Pavilion Gathering (353): Wang Xizhi's Famous Calligraphy
The gathering produced a collection of poems and Wang Xizhi's preface, the Lantingji Xu, which became the most admired model of Chinese running-script calligraphy.
Ancient World
Julian the Apostate (361-363): The Last Pagan Roman Emperor
Julian's attempt to revive traditional Greco-Roman religion ended with his death on campaign in Persia, and his successors restored Christianity's privileged position.
Ancient World
Shapur II and Julian's Persian Expedition of AD 363
The invasion failed, Julian was killed, and his successor Jovian ceded Nisibis, Singara and five regions beyond the Tigris to Shapur II.
Ancient World
Mogao Caves at Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on the Silk Road
A small hermit's cave grew into nearly 500 decorated cave temples, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the richest stores of Buddhist art in the world.
Ancient World
Arrival of the Huns in Europe (c. 370): Collapse of the Goths
The Alans and the Gothic kingdoms north of the Black Sea collapsed, and tens of thousands of Goths sought refuge inside the Roman Empire in 376.
Ancient World
Battle of Adrianople (378): Goths Defeat Emperor Valens
Decisive Gothic victory; Emperor Valens and roughly two-thirds of the eastern Roman field army were killed.