Part 9 (1/2)

Mount Vesuvius erupts, destroying Pompeii and the resort town of Herculaneum.

91.

The Han Empire defeats the neighboring Xiongu, or ”Mongols,” forcing them to move west into Central Asia.

100.

The first Chinese dictionary is published.

117.

The Roman Empire reaches its greatest geographic extent.

~200.

The Bantu tribes migrate into Central and South Africa and begin to dominate much of the area.

220.

After four hundred years, China's Han Dynasty collapses.

224.

The Sa.s.sanid Dynasty in Persia is founded by Ardas.h.i.+r I, who overthrows the Parthian Empire.

320.

The Gupta Empire begins with the accession of Chandra Gupta I to the throne of a small northern Indian kingdom.

350.

The Huns invade Persia.

391.

A North African named Augustine becomes a Christian priest, in the city of Hippo, in what is now Algeria.

391.

The Roman emperor Theodosius I makes Christianity the official religion of the empire.

395.

The Eastern and Western Roman empires are formally split by a codicil in the will of Theodosius I.

400.

What is now Afghanistan is invaded and its Buddhist culture destroyed by the Hephthalites, or ”White Huns.”

410.

The Visigoths, under Alaric I, enter Rome and help themselves to the city's goodies.

439.

The North African city of Carthage falls to the Vandals.

476.

The Western Roman Empire formally ends.

480.