AD 305-474
The decline and fall of the western empire

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AD 313 Constantine and Licinius – emperors of the west and east, respectively – agree on a policy of toleration towards the Christians.

AD 324 Constantine reunites the empire under his rule and establishes a new capital, Constantinople (modern Istanbul), at the old Greek colony of Byzantium.

AD 337 Constantine dies after a deathbed Christian baptism. The empire is redivided among his three sons. Although it will be reunited at various times before the final collapse in the west, the centre of power now lies to the east.

AD 355 The Germanic tribe, the Alemanni, crosses the Rhine and devastates eastern Gaul.

AD 360 Julian is proclaimed emperor at Paris. A year later, he proclaims himself – and the empire – pagan (and is then known as 'Julian the Apostate' throughout the Christian world). He is killed in a skirmish with the Persians.

AD 375 The Romans' old enemies, the Visigoths, are again on the move, this time fleeing the Huns, who are sweeping across Europe from Siberia.

AD 377 The emperor Valens is killed in battle against the Visigoths, after giving them sanctuary from the Huns.

AD 391 Theodosius becomes sole emperor after defeating his rivals, but he is forced to accept the Visigoths into the empire following a three-year war.

AD 406 Taking the opportunity offered when the Rhine freezes, the Vandals, Sueves and Alans pour across into Gaul, marking the end of Rome's Rhine frontier.

AD 407 The Roman legions are pulled out of Britain.

AD 410 The Visigoths, under King Alaric, sack Rome, moving on to do likewise in Gaul (412) and Spain (415).

AD 418 In return for helping Rome fight the Alans and Vandals in Spain, the Visigoths are ceded their own kingdom in Aquitaine, southern Gaul.

AD 429 The Vandals cross the Straits of Gibraltar and conquer North Africa, capturing Carthage in AD 439.

AD 451 A remarkable alliance of Romans and barbarians, led by the Visigoths, defeats Attila the Hun on the Catalaunian Plains in Gaul.

AD 455 The Vandals sack Rome.

AD 476 The last Roman emperor in the west, Romulus Augustulus, abdicates. By now, Britain, Spain, North Africa and most of Gaul have been abandoned by the Romans. The western empire is finished.

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