Northern Africa 453: Sack of Philae

In early 453 the Roman general Maximinus fell ill and died, encouraging the Nobatians and Blemmyes to revoke the treaty that he had negotiated the year before. They then raided Philae and southern Egypt, recovering the hostages that they had surrendered to the Romans.

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Main Events

449? Sasanian–Hunnic War ▲

In the late 440s, possibly in response to news of Attila’s desire to invade Sasanian Persia, Shah Yazdegerd II attacked the Huns in the Caucasus and recaptured the Derbent Pass. To help secure the region, the Persians carried out major fortification projects in both the Derbent Pass and Torpakh-Kala to its south. in wikipedia

450–451 Vardanants War ▲

In 449 Shah Yazdegerd II of the Sasanian Empire of Persia began pressuring the Caucasus peoples to renounce Christianity and adopt Zoroastrianism, provoking Armenia, Iberia, and Albania to revolt in the spring of 450. Led by the Armenian general Vardan Mamikonian, the rebels defeated a Persian army at Khakhkhagh (Qazax, Azerbaijan) before advancing to seize the Derbent Pass and establish an alliance with the Huns of the Caucasus. Supported by the Armenian governor Vasak Siwni, the Persians killed Vardan at the Battle of Avarayr the following year, but even so were forced to abandon their policy of religious conversion to restore order to the region. in wikipedia

8 Oct–1 Nov 451 Council of Chalcedon ▲

In late 451 the Eastern Roman emperor Marcian convoked a fourth ecumenical council in Chalcedon (Kadıköy) to rule on the recent teachings of Eutyches, who had variously been condemned as a Nestorian (viewing Christ’s divine and human natures as separate) or a monophysite (viewing Christ as solely divine). Attended by over 520 bishops or their representatives—making it the largest of the first seven ecumenical councils—the council denounced Eutyches and Nestorianism, and thereby reasserted the teachings of the Council of Ephesus of 431. However, the council was rejected by the Oriental Orthodox Church (later to become the Coptic, Syriac, Armenian apostolic, Ethiopian, and Indian churches), which at this point began separating from the Western churches. in wikipedia

Jul–Aug 452 Alexandrian riots ▲

In November 451 the Council of Chalcedon condemned Patriarch Dioscurus of Alexandria and elected the bishop Proterius to replace him. However, Proterius’ efforts to enforce Chalcedonianism soon provoked riots, which were only suppressed by the deployment of two thousand Roman troops to Alexandria in the summer of 452. Despite this, discontent continued in Egypt, with Proterius himself meeting his death at the hands of an angry mob five years later. in wikipedia

452 Siege of Milan ▲

After sacking Aquileia, Concordia, Altinum (Altino), and Patavium (Padua), Attila and his forces marched across the northern Po Valley to reach Mediolanum (Milan) in the late summer or early fall of 452. Despite being a former imperial residence, this city eventually fell to the Hunnic siege engines and was brutally sacked, with the Huns even razing the basilica of St Ambrose. Attila also took Ticinum (Pavia) at about this time, but this would be the furthest that the Huns, by suffering from disease and famine, would advance in Italy. in wikipedia

453 Sons of Attila ▲

After the death of Attila, his many sons argued among themselves over the division of his empire. This quarrel soon led to a civil war, the details of which have been largely lost. Ultimately, however, it seems that the eldest son Ellac managed to secure control of the core region around the Upper Danube while at least some of the other sons—perhaps Ellac’s younger brothers Dengizich and Ernak—agreed to apportion the remaining Hunnic subject tribes among them. in wikipedia

453 Sack of Philae ▲

In early 453, not long after negotiating a hundred-year treaty with the Nobatians and Blemmyes of the Upper Nile, the Eastern Roman general Maximinus fell ill and died. Learning of his death, the Nobatians and Blemmyes considered the treaty invalidated and promptly attacked Philae, recovering the hostages that they had surrendered to the Romans. They then ravaged much of southern Egypt before returning to their lands. in wikipedia