399

By place

Roman Empire

• The boy Emperor Honorius of the Western Roman Empire, closes the gladiatorial schools in Rome, and legally ends munera.
• Flavius Mallius Theodorus becomes Roman consul and official at the imperial court of emperor Arcadius.
• Gainas, a Gothic leader, is made magister militum and forms an alliance with deserters of Tribigild along the Bosphorus. He proclaims himself co-regent, and installs his forces in Constantinople. Gainas deposes anti-Gothic officials and has Eutropius, imperial advisor, executed.

  Middle East

• King Bahram IV dies after an 11-year reign. He is succeeded by Yazdegerd I, who becomes the thirteenth Sassanid Emperor of Persia.

  Asia

• Fa-Hien, Chinese Buddhist monk, travels to India, Sri Lanka and Kapilavastu.

  By topic

Religion

• November 26 - Pope Siricius dies at Rome after a 15-year reign in which he has commanded celibacy for priests, asserted papal authority over the entire Western Church, and threatened to impose sanctions on those who do not follow his dictates.
• Anastasius I succeeds Siricius as the 39th pope. He seeks to reconcile the churches of Rome and Antioch. Anastasius also condemns the doctrine of Origen.
• Flavian I is acknowledged as legitimate bishop of Antioch by the Church of Rome.