__NOTOC__ Year 377 ( CCCLXXVII) 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 Augustus and Merobaudes (or, less frequently, year 1130 ''

Ab urbe condita ''Ab urbe condita'' ( 'from the founding of the City'), or ''anno urbis conditae'' (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is an exp ...

''). The denomination 377 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.

Events

By place

Roman Empire

Gothic War Gothic War may refer to: *Gothic War (248–253), battles and plundering carried out by the Goths and their allies in the Roman Empire. *Gothic War (367–369), a war of Thervingi against the Eastern Roman Empire in which the Goths retreated to Mont ...

Famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

in Lower Moesia (occupied by the Goths) takes a fearsome toll. Fritigern and his followers appeal for help, but the governors Lupicinus and Maximus regard them as second-class citizens. Little help is forthcoming, and thousands starve to death. The pressure on the Roman frontier is still severe, with the Taifali and other hostile bands of Goths on the Danube. In addition, groups of Huns and Alans have also moved up to the river. * Emperor Valens requests his nephew Gratian to send Roman troops against the Goths. He responds by sending the ageing General Frigeridus with elite reinforcements that Ammianus calls ‘Pannonian and Transalpine auxiliaries (''Pannonicis et Transalpinis auxiliis'').’ Gratian also sends Richomeres, his Frankish commander of household troops ('' comes domesticorum''), at the head of a number of troops drawn from the Gallic field army. * Battle of the Willows: The Romans abandon the guerrilla strategy and are attacked by the Goths. The battle is indecisive but both sides suffer heavy casualties. The only

Roman army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval continu ...

available to face the Goths is no longer a fighting force. Richomeres withdraws his troops south of

Marcianople Marcianopolis or Marcianople (Greek: Μαρκιανούπολις), also known as Parthenopolis was an ancient Greek, then Roman capital city and archbishopric in Moesia Inferior. It is located at the site of modern-day Devnya, Bulgaria. The a ...

( Bulgaria). * Valens sends

Saturninus Saturninus may refer to: * Lucius Appuleius Saturninus (died 100 BC), tribune, legislator * Gaius Sentius Saturninus, consul 19 BC, military officer, governor * Marcus Aponius Saturninus (1st century AD), governor of Moesia, and partisan of first ...

to the

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border betw ...

to block the passes. These efforts are possibly supported by units of '' limitanei'' (

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

) withdrawn from areas under Goth control. Split into small bands and unable to join the Tervingi in sufficient strength to overcome the Roman cordon, the Goths grow increasingly desperate. * The Goths (possibly Greuthungi) make an alliance with some of the Huns and Alans along the Danube, and entice them across the river. With the balance of power now shifted Saturninus concentrates his forces to avoid his outposts being overrun. This opens the passes, allowing the Goths, Huns and Alans to break out into the lowlands of southern Thrace. * Autumn – Bands of predatory "barbarians" spread throughout the province in search of

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

, supplies and booty. Most Roman troops are bottled up in the towns. Some elite units remain in the field and skirmish with the Goths. One such action takes place outside the town of Dibaltum. The Scutarii heavy cavalry is destroyed in a mad charge against the Goths. * The Goths, now seeking a military victory to force the Empire to make terms, aim to dislodge the army of Frigeridus from Beroea. He withdraws over the Succi ( Ihtiman) Pass back to Illyrium, and reports to Gratian that an expedition by the main imperial armies is required to repulse the Goths in Thrace. * Valens concludes a peace with the

Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

and leaves enough troops to defend the eastern frontier. The Saracens under Queen Mavia revolt and devastate a swath of territory stretching from Phoenicia and

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

as far as the

Sinai Sinai commonly refers to: * Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God Sinai may also refer to: * Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...

( Egypt). Valens successfully brings the uprising under control. * Gratian declares heretics to be enemies of the Roman Catholic Church.

Persia

* Persian king Shapur II pushes the Huns back across the Caucasus.

By topic

Art and Science

* Chinese painter Gu Kaizhi paints his work, ''"The Nymph of the Luo River"''.

Births

* Arcadius, Roman consul and emperor (approximate date) * Euthymius the Great, Armenian abbot and bishop (d.

473 __NOTOC__ Year 473 ( CDLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Leo without colleague (or, less frequently, year 122 ...

) *

Valerian of Abbenza Saint Valerian (377–457) was bishop of Abbenza in North Africa, probably ''Dioecesis Zabensis''.( it) He was martyred in 457 when he refused to surrender the sacred vessels of his church to the Vandals led by Arian Arianism ( grc-x-koine ...

, Christian bishop and saint (d.

457 __NOTOC__ Year 457 ( CDLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Rufus (or, less frequently, year 1210 ...

)

Deaths

Chi Chao Chi Chao (336–377), courtesy name Jingxing or Jingyu, was a Chinese politician of the Jin dynasty (266–420). He was an advisor and close friend to the Jin Grand Marshal Huan Wen, aiding him in his northern expeditions and abdication of Empe ...

(or Jingyu), Chinese adviser and politician (b.

336 Year 336 ( CCCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Nepotianus and Facundus (or, less frequently, year 1089 ''Ab urbe ...

) * Huan Huo (or Langzi), Chinese general (b.

320 __NOTOC__ Year 320 (Roman numerals, CCCXX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Constantinus (or, less freq ...

) * Julian Sabas (the Ascetic), Byzantine hermit *

Sahak I Sahak I ( hy, Սահակ Ա. Մանազկերտցի) was a catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the first of several catholicoi during the Albaniosid Dynasty in fourth century. According to Faustus of Byzantium, a popular assembly s ...

, Armenian archbishop and

catholicos Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient ...

References

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