was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. It is widely thought to have been an outbreak of bubonic plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, but this view has recently been challenged. Usually thought to have started in Central Asia, it had reached the Crimea by 1346 and from there, probably carried by fleas residing on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships, it spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe's population, reducing the world's population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in 1400. This has been seen as creating a series of religious, social and economic upheavals which had profound effects on the course of European history. It took 150 years for Europe's population to recover. The plague returned at various times, resulting in a larger number of deaths, until it left Europe in the 19th century.

Attila the Hun

He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia. After founding the Mongol Empire and being proclaimed "Genghis Khan", he started the Mongol invasions and raids of the Kara-Khitan Khanate, Caucasus, Khwarezmid Empire, Western Xia and Jin dynasties. During his life, the Mongol Empire eventually occupied a substantial portion of Central Asia and China.

Clovis I

He was the son of Childeric I and Basina.

Childeric I (c. 440– c. 481) was the Merovingian king of the Salian Franks from 457 until his death, and the father of Clovis. He succeeded his father Merovech as king, traditionally in 457 or 458. With his Frankish warband he was established with his capital at Tournai, on lands which he had received as a foederatus of the Romans, and for some time he kept the peace with his allies. In about 463 in Orléans, in conjunction with the Roman General Aegidius, who was based in Soissons, he defeated the Visigoths, who hoped to extend their dominion along the banks of the Loire River. After the death of Aegidius, he first assisted Comes ("count") Paul of Angers, together with a mixed band of Gallo-Romans and Franks, in defeating the Goths and taking booty. Odoacer reached Angers but Childeric arrived the next day and a battle ensued. Count Paul was killed and Childeric took the city. Childeric, having delivered Angers, followed a Saxon warband to the islands on the Atlantic mouth of the Loire, and massacred them there. In a change of alliances, he also joined forces with Odoacer, according to Gregory of Tours, to stop a band of the Alamanni who wished to invade Italy. The stories of his expulsion by the Franks, whose women he was taking; of his eight-year stay in Thuringia with King Basin and his wife Basina; of his return when a faithful servant advised him that he could safely do so by sending to him half of a piece of gold which he had broken with him; and of the arrival in Tournai of Queen Basina, whom he married, come from Gregory of Tours' Libri Historiarum (Book ii.12). He died in 481 and was buried in Tournai, leaving a son Clovis, afterwards king of the Franks.

The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (or Fields), also called the Battle of Châlons (also spelled Chalons or Chalon) or Battle of the Campus Mauriacus, took place in 451 between a coalition led by the Roman general Flavius Aetius and the Visigothic king Theodoric I on one side and the Huns and their allies commanded by Attila on the other. It was one of the last major military operations of the Western Roman Empire and marks the apex of the career of Flavius Aetius.

The historical record contains few details of Romulus' life. He was installed as emperor by his father Orestes, the Magister militum (master of soldiers) of the Roman army after deposing the previous emperor Julius Nepos. Romulus, little more than a child, acted as a figurehead for his father's rule. Reigning for only ten months, Romulus was then deposed by the Germanic chieftain Odoacer and sent to live in the Castellum Lucullanum in Campania; afterwards he disappears from the historical record.

Bryce, James Bryce.The Holy Roman Empire, Schocken Books, 1961. Gibbon, Edward. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 3, David Womersley, ed. London; Penguin Books, 1994. Heather, Peter. The fall of the Roman Empire, 2005 Hollister, C. Warren, Medieval Europe: A Short History. New York; McGraw Hill, 1995. Murdoch, Adrian, The Last Roman: Romulus Augustulus and the Decline of the West, Stroud; Sutton, 2006. Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium: A Short History. New York, Vintage, 1997 Ralph, and Geoffrey Nathan, "Romulus Augustulus (475-476 A.D.)--Two Views", De Imperatoribus Romanis

He held the title of emperor in Rome, during 409, and later in Bordeaux in 414. His 1two reigns lasted only a few months; the first one ended when Alaric believed it was hampering his negotiations with Honorius, and the second came to an end after he was abandoned by the Visigoths and eventually captured by Honorius' men. Attalus was obliged to participate in the triumph Honorius celebrated in the streets of Rome in 416, before finishing his days exiled in the Lipari Islands.

Above each lateral archway are pairs of round reliefs dated to the times of Emperor Hadrian. They display scenes of hunting and sacrificing: (north side, left to right) hunt of a boar, sacrifice to Apollo, hunt of a lion, sacrifice to Hercules, (south side, left to right) departure for the hunt, sacrifice to Silvanus, hunt of a bear, sacrifice to Diana. The head of the emperor (originally Hadrian) has been reworked in all medallions: on the north side, into Constantine in the hunting scenes and into Licinius or Constantius I in the sacrifice scenes; on the south side, vice versa. The reliefs, c. 2 m in diameter, were framed in porphyry; this framing is only extant on the right side of the northern facade.

Born c. 278 Died 28 October 312

According to Matthew and Luke, Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea to Mary, a virgin, by a miracle of the Holy Spirit. The circumstances of the two gospels differ by 9 years, and are historically incompatible. In Luke, the angel Gabriel visits Mary to tell her that she was chosen to bear the Son of God.

Teachings and preachings

Marcus Tullius Cicero (pronounced /ˈsɪsɨroʊ/; Classical Latin: [ˈkikeroː]; January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.[1][2]

Hadrian was born Publius Aelius Hadrianus in Italica[2] or, less probably, in Rome,[3] from a well-established family which had originated in Picenum in Italy and had subsequently settled in Italica, Hispania Baetica (the republican Hispania Ulterior), near the present day location of Seville, Spain. His predecessor Trajan was a maternal cousin of Hadrian's father.[4] Trajan never officially designated a successor, but, according to his wife, Pompeia Plotina, Trajan named Hadrian emperor immediately before his death. Trajan's wife was well-disposed toward Hadrian: Hadrian may well have owed his succession to her.

All surviving sources, except Pliny the Elder, characterize Caligula as insane. However it is not known whether they are speaking figuratively or literally. Additionally, given Caligula's unpopularity among the surviving sources, it is difficult to separate fact from fiction. Recent sources are divided in attempting to ascribe a medical reason for Caligula's behavior, citing as possibilities encephalitis, epilepsy or meningitis. The question of whether or not Caligula was insane remains unanswered. Philo of Alexandria, Josephus and Seneca also state Caligula was insane, but describe this madness as a personality trait that came through experience.[42][129][130] Seneca states that Caligula became arrogant, angry and insulting once becoming emperor and uses his personality flaws as examples his readers can learn from.[131] According to Josephus, power made Caligula incredibly conceited and led him to think he was a god.[42] Philo of Alexandria reports that Caligula became ruthless after nearly dying of his illness in 39.[132] Juvenal reports he was given a magic potion that drove him insane. Suetonius said that Caligula suffered from "falling sickness," or Epilepsy, when he was young.[133] Modern historians have theorized that Caligula lived with a daily fear of seizures.[134] Despite swimming being a part of imperial education, Caligula could not swim.[135] Epileptics are encouraged not to swim because light reflecting off water can induce seizures.[136] Additionally, Caligula reportedly talked to the full moon.[69] Epilepsy was also long associated with the moon.[137] Some modern historians think that Caligula suffered from hyperthyroidism.[138] This diagnosis is mainly attributed to Caligula's irritability and his "stare" as described by Pliny the Elder.