395 – Theodosius I dies, leaving the two halves of the empire to his two sons; the half-vandal Stilicho, as magister militum, effectively controls the West
401 – Visigoths cross the Alps into northern Italy
402 – Stilicho defeats the Visigoths
403 – Visigoths invade Italy and are once more defeated by Stilicho
405 – A coalition of Barbarians under Radagaisus invades Italy
406 – Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine; Radagaisus is killed and his army ‘incorporated’ into the Roman one
407 - Constantine III rebels in Britain and crosses into Gaul
408 – Stilicho killed in coup; Alaric again invades Italy
409 – Constantine III’s officials expelled from Britain; Vandals, Alans and Suebians settled in Iberia; Alaric besieges Rome
410 – First Sack of Rome by Alaric’s Visigoths
411 – Constantine III defeated in Gaul; Burgundians and Visigoths settle in Gaul
413 – Visigoths take more of southern Gaul, defeat Roman usurper in the name of the emperor Honorius
415 – Romans drive Visigoths out of southern Gaul and into Iberia, where they clash with the Vandals
417 – Visigoths granted Aquitaine
418 – Visigoths take the rest of Vandal Iberia “for the Empire”
421 – Huns attack Thrace; Ostrogoths settled there in response
423 – Honorius dies, Joannes proclaimed western Emperor, but not accepted by the eastern emperor Theodosius II
424 – Joannes sends Flavius Aetius to ask the Huns for assistance
425 - Joannes defeated by Theodosius II; Valentinian III placed on the throne; Aetius arrives with a large Hunnic force and obtains the rank of magister militum
426 – Aetius starts campaigning against the Visigoths in southern Gaul
427 – Pannonia lost to Huns; Bonifacius revolts in Africa
428 – Bonifacius invites Vandals into Africa
431 – Vandals take Hippo Regius in Africa and then make peace with Bonifacius
432 – Bonifacius defeates Aetius but dies in the process; Aetius achieves control over the Western Empire
436 – Aetius uses Hunnic mercenaries to defeat Burgundians
439 – Vandals occupy Carthage and Mediteranean Islands
442 – Vandal kingdom recognized; Sicilly returned to the Empire
447 – Attila invades and devastates the Balkans
450 – Honoria sends her ring to Attila, who demands half the western empire
451 – Attila invades Gauls but is eventually defeated by a Romano-German coalition led by Aetius
452 – Huns raid northern Italy
453 – Atilla dies, Hunnic Empire fractures
454 – Aetius killed by Valentinian III
455 – Valentinian III killed by some of Aetius’ former bodyguards; Petronius Maximus becomes emperor but is killed when the Vandals sack Rome; Avitus becomes emperor
456 – Avitus defeated by Ricimer and Majorian
457 – Majorian acclaimed Emperor
458 – Majorian succesfully campaigns against various barbarians
460 – Majorian defeated by Vandals
461 – Majorian executed by his magister militum Ricimer, who installs his own puppet emperor
468 – Eastern Emperor Leo I sends a huge expedition against the Vandals which ends in disaster
469 – Visigoths declare independence from the western empire
471 – Visigoths take more of Gaul; Ostrogoths revolt in the Balkans
472 – Ricimer dies, Gundobad becomes magister militum
473 – Gundobad nominates Glycerius as western emperor, Leo I, after some dithering, decides to nominate Julius Nepos (who ruled Dalmatia more or less autonomously) in opposition; Visigoths occupy Provence and again try and fail to invade Italy
474 – Julius Nepos arrives with an eastern army in Ostia and forces Glycerius to abdicate; Zeno becomes eastern emperor
475 – Basiliscus usurps the eastern throne, Zeno flees to Isauria; Julius Nepos appoints Ecdicius as magister militum; Visigoths give Provence back in return for Auvergne; Orestes, with the backing of the Senate, revolts against Nepos; Ecdicius is recalled from Gaul, but Nepos is still forced to flee to Dalmatia; Orestes appoints his son Romulus Augustulus as Emperor
476 – Orestes refuses to grant Odocer and the Heruli foederati status; Odoacer leads the army in revolt and kills Orestes, exiling Augustulus; Zeno defeats Basiliscus, regaining his throne; Julius Nepos is again recognized as nominal emperor after Zeno receives an embassy from the Roman Senate; Visigoths again occupy Provence but are driven out by Odoacer
478 – Goths under Theoderic Strabo revolt against Zeno, but are defeated the following year
479 – Theoderic the Amal revolts against Zeno; Julius Nepos begins ammasing a force to attack Odoacer and assume real control over Italy
480 – Assassination attempt against Nepos fails (POD). Ovida and Glycerius revolt against Nepos, but are betrayed by their own troops after a force of Ostrogoths under Theodric Strabo, who had been sent by Zeno, arrives in the area
481 – Theoderic Strabo is elavated to the title of patrician under the condition that he invades Odoacer’s Italy in support of Nepos
482 – Odoacer invades Dalmatia, hoping to catch his enemies off-guard, but is repulsed; Theoderic Strabo takes his branch of the Ostrogoths and moves into Italy
483 – Odoacer is defeated and killed; Theoderic Strabo confirmed as magister militum, continues to recognize Julius Nepos
484 – Leontius and Theoderic the Amal (who controls the other half of the Ostrogoths still in the Balkans) rebel against Zeno; Zeno achieves an understanding with Theoderic, naming him magister militum of the east and consul
486 – Syagrius is defeated by Clovis in Gaul, leading to the fall of the last Roman outpost west of Italy
488 – Zeno defeats Leontius
489 – Theoderic Strabo’s puppet emperor Julius Nepos dies aged 59;
Flavius Manlius Boethius, from the influential Anicii family, is selected as the new western Emperor by Strabo and acclaimed as such by the Senate; Nepos’ son Leo (named in honor of Leo I, who had supported his fathers bid for the throne) rebels in Dalmatia and petitions Zeno to support him
490 – Theoderic the Amal invades Italy on behalf of Leo Nepos, battling his long-time rival Theoderic Strabo
491 – King Alaric of the Visigoths intervenes on behalf of Theoderic the Amal, who defeats Strabo and Boethius; Leo Nepos is crowned Western Emperor whilst Theoderic becomes King of the now united Ostrogoths and magister militum of the west; the childless Zeno dies and is succeeded by Anastasius; Zeno’s brother Longinus rebels against Anastasius in Asia Minor, starting the Isaurian War
to be continued