394
Encyclopedia
Year 394 was a common year starting on Sunday
(link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar
. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Flavianus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1147 Ab urbe condita
). The denomination 394 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini
calendar era
became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Common year starting on Sunday
This is the calendar for any common year starting on Sunday, January 1 or for any year in which “Doomsday” is Tuesday. Examples: Gregorian years 1989, 1995, 2006, 2017 and 2023or Julian year 1917...
(link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Flavianus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1147 Ab urbe condita
Ab urbe condita
Ab urbe condita is Latin for "from the founding of the City ", traditionally set in 753 BC. AUC is a year-numbering system used by some ancient Roman historians to identify particular Roman years...
). The denomination 394 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
calendar era
Calendar era
A calendar era is the year numbering system used by a calendar. For example, the Gregorian calendar numbers its years in the Western Christian era . The instant, date, or year from which time is marked is called the epoch of the era...
became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Roman Empire
- September 6 – Battle of the FrigidusBattle of the FrigidusThe Battle of the Frigidus, also called the Battle of the Frigid River, was fought between September 5–6 394, between the army of the Eastern Emperor Theodosius I and the army of Western Roman ruler Eugenius....
: Emperor Theodosius ITheodosius ITheodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...
defeats and kills the usurper EugeniusEugeniusFlavius Eugenius was an usurper in the Western Roman Empire against Emperor Theodosius I. Though himself a Christian, he was the last Emperor to support Roman polytheism.-Life:...
. The forces of Theodosius are bolstered by numerous auxiliariesAuxiliaries (Roman military)Auxiliaries formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate , alongside the citizen legions...
including 20,000 Visigoth federates under AlaricAlaric IAlaric I was the King of the Visigoths from 395–410. Alaric is most famous for his sack of Rome in 410, which marked a decisive event in the decline of the Roman Empire....
. The FrankFranksThe Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
ish general ArbogastArbogast (general)Flavius Arbogastes , or Arbogast was a Frankish general in the Roman Empire. It has been stated by some ancient historians that he was the son of Flavius Bauto, Valentinian II's former magister militum and protector before Arbogast, but modern scholars largely discount this claim...
(magister militumMagister militumMagister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire...
) escapes into the AlpsAlpsThe Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
and commits suicide. - Late Roman armyLate Roman armyThe Late Roman army is the term used to denote the military forces of the Roman Empire from the accession of Emperor Diocletian in 284 until the Empire's definitive division into Eastern and Western halves in 395. A few decades afterwards, the Western army disintegrated as the Western empire...
: The Notitia DignitatumNotitia DignitatumThe Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Roman imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial...
shows the development of forces in the Roman EmpireRoman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. By now 200,000 soldiers guard the borders, and a reserve force of 50,000 is available for deployment. Many non-Roman soldiers are from GermanicGermanic peoplesThe Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
tribes: AlamanniAlamanniThe Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic tribes located around the upper Rhine river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Roman Emperor Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211 to 217 and claimed thereby to be...
, Franks, GothsGothsThe Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
, SaxonsSaxonsThe Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
and VandalsVandalsThe Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
. - In RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
the sacred fire stops burning (see VestaHestiaIn Greek mythology Hestia , first daughter of Cronus and Rhea , is the virgin goddess of the hearth, architecture, and of the right ordering of domesticity and the family. She received the first offering at every sacrifice in the household. In the public domain, the hearth of the prytaneum...
and Vestal Virgins).
Religion
- Epiphanius of SalamisEpiphanius of SalamisEpiphanius of Salamis was bishop of Salamis at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. He gained a reputation as a strong defender of orthodoxy...
attacks OrigenOrigenOrigen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
's followers and urged John II, Bishop of JerusalemGreek Orthodox Patriarch of JerusalemThe Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem is the head bishop of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, ranking fourth of nine Patriarchs in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Since 2005, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem has been Theophilos III...
, to condemn his writings. - The Council of Bagaï in AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
brings 310 Donatist bishops together.
Births
- GunabhadraGunabhadraGunabhadra was a monk of Mahayana Buddhism from Magadha, India. He travelled to China by sea with Gunavarma in 435. They were both treated as honored guests by Emperor Wen, the ruler of South China at the time. In China, he translated one of the key texts of Mahayana Buddhism, the Lankavatara...
, Indian BuddhistMahayanaMahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
scholar-monk (d. 468468Year 468 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Anthemius without colleague...
) - JangsuJangsu of GoguryeoEmperor Jangsu of Goguryeo was the 20th monarch of Goguryeo, the northernmost of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was born in 394, the eldest son of King Gwanggaeto the Great...
, Korean king of GoguryeoGoguryeoGoguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....
(d. 491491Year 491 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Olybrius without colleague...
)
Deaths
- September 8 – ArbogastArbogast (general)Flavius Arbogastes , or Arbogast was a Frankish general in the Roman Empire. It has been stated by some ancient historians that he was the son of Flavius Bauto, Valentinian II's former magister militum and protector before Arbogast, but modern scholars largely discount this claim...
, Frankish general - September 6 – EugeniusEugeniusFlavius Eugenius was an usurper in the Western Roman Empire against Emperor Theodosius I. Though himself a Christian, he was the last Emperor to support Roman polytheism.-Life:...
, Roman usurperRoman usurperUsurpers are individuals or groups of individuals who obtain and maintain the power or rights of another by force and without legal authority. Usurpation was endemic during roman imperial era, especially from the crisis of the third century onwards, when political instability became the rule.The... - Fu ChongFu ChongFu Chong was an emperor of the Chinese/Di state Former Qin. He assumed the throne in 394 after the death of his father, Fu Deng...
, emperor of the Chinese DiDi (ethnic group)The Di were an ethnic group in China from the 8th century BCE to approximately the middle of the 6th century CE. Note that the character Di is used to differentiate this group from the Beidi , a generic term for "northern barbarians". They lived in areas of the present-day provinces of Gansu,...
state Former QinFormer QinThe Former Qin was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Founded by the Fu family of the Di ethnicity, it completed the unification of North China in 376. Its capital had been Xi'an up to the death of the ruler Fu Jiān. Despite its name, the Former Qin was much later and less powerful than... - Fu DengFu DengFu Deng was an emperor of the Chinese/Di state Former Qin. He assumed the throne in 386 after the deaths of Fu Jiān and Fu Jiān's son Fu Pi , even though he was only a distant relative of theirs, as by that time Former Qin's territory had largely been reduced to the territory under his control...
, emperor of the Di state Former Qin (b. 343343Year 343 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Memmius and Romulus...
) - LibaniusLibaniusLibanius was a Greek-speaking teacher of rhetoric of the Sophist school. During the rise of Christian hegemony in the later Roman Empire, he remained unconverted and regarded himself as a Hellene in religious matters.-Life:...
, Greek rhetoricianRhetoricRhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
and sophistSophismSophism in the modern definition is a specious argument used for deceiving someone. In ancient Greece, sophists were a category of teachers who specialized in using the tools of philosophy and rhetoric for the purpose of teaching aretê — excellence, or virtue — predominantly to young statesmen and...
(approximate date) - Murong YongMurong YongMurong Yong , courtesy name Shuming , was the last emperor of the Chinese/Xianbei state Western Yan. He was the grandson of Murong Yun , the uncle of Former Yan's founder Murong Huang. As a member of Former Yan's imperial clan, he was moved to Guanzhong, Former Qin's capital region, when Former...
, emperor of the XianbeiXianbeiThe Xianbei were a significant Mongolic nomadic people residing in Manchuria, Inner Mongolia and eastern Mongolia. The title “Khan” was first used among the Xianbei.-Origins:...
state Western YanWestern YanThe Western Yan was a state of Xianbei ethnicity during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. It was founded by Murong Hong in 384 in the aftermaths of Former Qin's defeat by Jin Dynasty at the Battle of Fei River, with the stated intent of permitting the Xianbei, whom Former Qin's emperor Fu... - Virius Nicomachus FlavianusVirius Nicomachus FlavianusVirius Nicomachus Flavianus was a grammarian, a historian and a politician of the Roman Empire.A pagan and close friend of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, he was Praetorian prefect of Italy in 390–392 and, under usurper Eugenius , again praetorian prefect and consul...
, Roman historianHistorianA historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and politicianPoliticianA politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
(b. 334334Year 334 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Optatus and Caesonius...
) - Yao ChangYao ChangYao Chang , courtesy name Jingmao , formally Emperor Wuzhao of Qin , was the founding emperor of the Chinese/Qiang state Later Qin...
, emperor of the Qiang state Later QinLater QinThe Later Qin was a state of Qiang ethnicity of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. Note that the Later Qin is entirely distinct from the ancient Qin Dynasty, the Former Qin, and the Western Qin....
(b. 331331Year 331 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Bassus and Ablabius...
)