Constantine's new Christian city on the site of Byzantium is inaugurated, as Constantinople

Greece begins to find a new and influential role in a Christian context, through the Byzantine empire

The Christian missionary Ulfilas devises an alphabet for the language of the Goths, so that he can translate the Bible into Gothic

St Martin founds the first monastery in western Europe, at Ligugé near Poitiers

The first church of Santa Sophia in Constantinople, begun by Constantine himself, is completed

Julian, the new emperor in Constantinople, plans to reinstate the pagan cult of the ancient Roman empire

The Visigoths inflict a devastating defeat on a Roman army at Adrianople, and win for themselves the status of Roman federates

Theodosius becomes the Roman emperor and revives Constantine's close link between church and state

St Ambrose asserts the authority of the church, refusing communion to the emperor Theodosius in Milan until he does penance for a massacre

The church of Santa Pudenziana in Rome begins the great tradition of Christian mosaics

The ancient games at Olympia, with an unbroken tradition of more than 1000 years, are brought to an abrupt end by the emperor Theodosius

Niall of the Nine Hostages is the first man to be called king of Ireland, though his direct control does not extend beyond Ulster

The Vandals cross the Rhine into Gaul and move into Spain, from which the Visigoths soon push them on into Africa

The Roman city of Nîmes is sacked by the Vandals, in an early indication of the gradual loss of Gaul to the Germanic tribes

Alaric and the Visigoths enter Rome and plunder the city - the first foreign intruders for eight centuries

The Burgundians cross the Rhine and settle round Worms, before moving south to the Savoy region

The Visigoths, after twenty years of destructive wandering, settle in southwest France as Roman federates

Halted by a Roman army in their push southwards, the Franks settle in the Roman province of Belgica, around Tournai

Attila murders his brother and becomes the sole ruler of the Huns, who are now pressing through Dacia and across the Danube

Angles, Saxons and other Germanic groups invade southern England and steadily push the Celts westwards

St Patrick creates a strong tradition of Celtic Christianity in Ireland, from his base in Armagh

Attila and the Huns invade Gaul but are defeated, somewhere near Troyes, by a Roman army supported by Visigoths and Burgundians

Attila invades and ravages northern Italy, but turns back before reaching Rome - possibly influenced by the diplomacy of Leo I

Gaiseric and the Vandals enter Rome and sack the city, but their violence is perhaps restrained by Leo I

The mausoleum of Galla Placidia begins Ravenna's great tradition of Christian mosaic