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408 Theodosius II
succeeds his father Arcadius as Emperor of the Eastern half
of the Roman Empire. Due to Theodosius' young age, the Praetorian prefect
, Anthemius
, acts as emperor.
502 War breaks out between the Byzantine Empire and Persia
.
506 Byzantine Empire and Persia accept a peace agreement based on status quo.
514 Rebellion in the Byzantine Empire, led by Vitalius.
534 Gelimer
surrenders to Byzantine
general Belisarius
, after spending a miserable winter in the mountains of Numidia
. The Vandal kingdom of North Africa
ends, and the provinces return to the Byzantine Empire.
539 Ravenna
becomes an exarchate of the Byzantine Empire.
544 Khosrau I of Persia unsuccessfully attacks the Byzantine
fortress of Dara
.
546 The Ostrogoths under Totila
retake Rome from the Byzantine Empire.
551 The Byzantine Empire captures part of southern Spain
from the Visigoths.
553 The Ostrogoth
Kingdom is conquered by the Byzantines
after the Battle of Mons Lactarius.
559 The Bulgars
invade and raid Byzantine
territory, but are driven back near Constantinople
by Belisarius
.
562 Peace treaty between the Byzantine
and the Persian
empires.
570 Estimation: Ctesiphon
, capital of the Sassanid Empire
becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Constantinople
, capital of the Byzantine Empire.
572 The Byzantine Empire begins a war with Persia
.
586 First recorded mention of the Vlachs, in a Byzantine
chronicle.
592 The Byzantine Empire regains Singidunum from the Avars
.
610 Heraclius
arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople
, overthrows East Roman Emperor Phocas
and becomes Emperor. His first major act is to change the official language of the East Roman Empire from Latin
to Greek (already the language of the vast majority of the population). Because of this, after AD 610 the East Roman Empire is customarily referred to as the Byzantine Empire (the term Byzantine is a modern term invented by historians in the 18th Century; the people of the Empire itself always referred to themselves as "Romans").
621 Byzantine
Emperor Heraclius
invades Persia
624 After 70 years of Byzantine
rule, the Visigoths recapture Andalusia
.
629 Jerusalem
reconquered by Byzantine Empire from the Persian Empire
(September).
636 Battle of Yarmuk - Byzantine Empire loses Syria
to the Arab
s.
640 The French
city of Lille is founded by Lyderic.
Battle of Heliopolis between Arab
Muslim
armies and Byzantine
.
645 Byzantines
recapture Alexandria from the Arab
s.
655 A Byzantine
fleet is defeated by the Arab
s at Finike.
663 Byzantine
emperor Constans II
invades south Italy
668 Constantine IV becomes Byzantine
Emperor, succeeding Constans II
.
677 Battle of Syllaeum: Arab
fleet destroyed by Byzantines
681 The Bulgars
win the war with the Byzantine Empire; the latter signs a peace treaty, which is considered as the birth-date of Bulgaria
685 Justinian II
succeeds Constantine IV as emperor
of the Byzantine Empire.
688 Emperor Justinian II
of the Byzantine Empire defeats the Bulgaria
ns.
695 People of Byzantium
revolt against Justinian II
. Leontius made emperor, Justinian II is banished.
698 Arabs capture Carthage
from the Byzantine Empire, and destroy it completely.
704 Justinian II
re-takes the throne of the Byzantine Empire
713 Byzantine
Emperor Philippicus deposed. Anastasius II made emperor.
716 Theodosius III leads a revolt against Anastasius II and is proclaimed Byzantine
Emperor.
717 Leo III
usurps the throne of Byzantium
721 Former Byzantine
emperor Anastasius II leads a revolt against emperor Leo III
727 Pope Gregory II condemns iconoclasm
causing Byzantine
Italy to break with the Empire.
730 Emperor Leo III
of the Byzantine Empire orders the destruction of all icon
s. Beginning of the First Iconoclastic
Period
739 Battle of Akroinon - Byzantine forces
defeat Umayyad invasion of Asia Minor.
741 Constantine V
succeeds Leo III
as emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
743 Constantine V
re-ascends the throne of the Byzantine Empire.
748 An earthquake
strikes the Middle East from northern Egypt
to northwestern Mesopotamia
, destroying many remnants of Byzantine
culture.
751 The Lombard
king Aistulf
captures Ravenna
and the Romagna, ending the Byzantine
Exarchate of Ravenna.
775 Leo IV succeeds Constantine V
as Byzantine
Emperor.
780 Constantine VI
becomes Byzantine
Emperor with Irene as guardian.
787 Second Council of Nicaea ends the first iconoclastic
period in the Byzantine Empire
790 A revolt against Empress Irene leads to Constantine VI
being declared sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.
792 Irene is confirmed empress of the Byzantine Empire.
803 Venice
recognized as independent by Byzantine Empire.
805 Emperor Nicephorus I of Byzantium
suffers a major defeat against the Saracens at Crasus.
806 Dalmatia
for a short time is part of the Frankish
rather than the Byzantine
Empire.
813 Byzantine
Emperor Michael I
is defeated in a war against the Bulgaria
ns.
813 A revolt puts Leo V
on the throne of the Byzantine Empire; former emperor Michael
becomes a monk
. Beginning of the Second Iconoclastic
Period.
823 Crete
is conquered from the Byzantines
by the Saracens.
829 Theophilus succeeds Michael II
as emperor of Byzantium
.
843 End of iconoclastic
controversies in Byzantium
.
860 Byzantine
missionaries Cyril | 
Timeline
