400-499 (Abrittus)

Due to Rome´s defensive doctrine and friendly relations with the Sassanids, this is a century of relative peace, stability, innovations and increasing living standards in the Mediterranean space.

While the development of the slave-free Roman economy outpaces both their Celtic and Sassanid neighbours, the latter two are also at the height of their imperial glory.

The Celtic Empire conquers the entire British Isles and brings forth an empiricist philosophy which contributes greatly to the early development of modern sciences. Towards the end of the century, the Celtic Empire is indebted to its own citizens and has debased its currency greatly, though.

The Sassanid Empire controls Persia and the Gulf and all the Indo-Aryan lands formerly controlled by the Kushana and Shaka as well as Bactria, Sogdia and more of the Central Asian steppe beyond as well as the steppe between the Caspic Sea and the Aral Sea. In trade as well as in cultural exchange, the Sassanid Empire profits heavily from its intensified contacts to China, India and the Roman Empire. Scientific, theological and cultural innovations are created here. The latest among them, social revolutionary Mazdakism, shakes the foundation of the empire towards the end of the century.

400s
Sassanid / Roman Empire: Indian cotton carding bows come into use across the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

401
Celtic Empire: Caledonians and other Picts cross Antony`s wall and raid Northern Britannia. Caesar Spurious Cumbricus sends a massive army to the North.

402
Celtic Empire: After the last battles in the highlands and on several islands close to the shore, the entire larger British Isle is under control of the Celtic Empire. Clan chiefs are held as hostages or enslaved and several garrisons stationed in the low- and highlands.

403
After repeated raids and acts of piracy, the Roman Senate decides to secure its emporium in Mosylon (in OTL Somalia, which is an important commercial centre and port town for Roman-Indian trade, with a strong naval presence. The Optimates-dominated Senate follows a doctrine elaborated by the Academia Martiana, which defines the protection of the republic's most vital economic interests as acts of "defense", too. The "Aulian Doctrine", named after the academy`s most outspoken professor, marks the definite end of the young republic's ultra-defensive foreign policy and the beginning of a new imperial strategy, aimed not at enlarging imperial territory, plundering foreign cities, exacting tributes from vassals or capturing slaves, but at safeguarding good business of Rome`s quickly developing enterprises, i.e. access to resources, safe and affordable transport routes and access to outlet markets.

404
Sassanid Empire (India): At the University of Barygala, mathematicians in the Devangari tradition come up with the idea of a number "zero".

406
Celtic Empire: The two new provinces Caledonia and Pictandia become a part of the Empire, its inhabitants become Celtic citizens.

410s
Roman Empire: The technique of blowing glass over oil lamps is greatly improved in the Cyrenaic and Egyptian provinces.

410
Franconia: High King Lothar I. dies. The Celtic Caesar, the Roman Emperor and many Germanic kings attend his funeral in Bonn, where many stone buildings are erected which would house the organs of the Frankish confederal institutions and administration.

He is succeeded by his son, Lothar II., who soon starts a program of building Roman-style roads and aquaeducts.

412
Roman Empire: At a Syrian Academia Vulcania in Damascus, the first vertical windmill is planned. A first  improved version is installed six years later near Caesarea.

413
The small town and market place of Peresechen on the river Hierasus (OTL Siret) is mentioned for the first time. Romans and Romanised Visigoths from Dacia trade with members of the Slavic tribes of the Corvats and the Serbs.

414
Saxony / Frisia: Angrivarian Saxons invade the largest Frisian town, Dorestad, where more than 25,000 people live from trade with the Celtic, and to a lesser extent also Roman, Empire. They demand high tribute payments for the city`s "protection".

415
Aksum / Nobatia: Under pressure from Nobatian bishops, who fear a Simonist rebellion in Nobatia, King Silko officially accepts Aksumite suzerainty.

The plan did not work out quite the way the miaphysitic bishops had hoped, though. Aksum stationed troops in Nobatia and secured its new sub-kingdom / province, but in the same year, Emperor Eon guaranteed freedom of religion to all his subjects, although he continued to sponsor exclusively the state church of Aksum - a move with which he aimed to alleviate tensions in Southern Makuria, where animinist nomad populations opposed Christianisation. Thus, Simonists were tolerated in Nobatia as well. Since education at a school of the Church of Aksum was the ticket into leading administrative positions, though, Aksumite miaphysitism remained dominant in Nobatia, though.

416
Celtic Empire: Anaraudus, professor of philosophy at the University of Lutetia, publishes his main work, "De organis scientiae", in which he rejects the "transcendental speculations" of (Neo-)Platonism as well as the New Academic Wchool of Skepticism, and defines standards for an empirical quest for truth. His philosophy quickly becomes the dominant paradigm at Celtic universities, helped along also by leading politicians who see a chance for identity building - which is ironic because historians of science attribute Anaraudus` empiricism to the mechanical revolution in the Roman Empire...

Franconia / Saxony: Saxons attack the Salian kingdoms and, again, demand tribute. High King Lothar II. gathers the confederal troops and defeats the Saxons soundly at Ulft.

417
Franconia / Saxony / Frisia: The Franks retaliate. Frisians, who seek to shake off Saxon overlordship, join them. Especially Lothar's own elite cavalry, who masters the Parthian Maneuver, contributes to a terrible Saxon defeat at Eresburg, where, after Frankish victory, a holy tree of the Saxons (Irminsul) is felled. Westphalia is annexed by Salian Frankish Kings. This defeat and especially the fall of the Irminsul throw the Saxons into a political, but even more a cultural and religious crisis.

418
Gupta India: Kumaragupta I. founds the University of Nalanda, which would become India`s greatest centre of Buddhism and science.

Saxony: At the annual Thing in Marklo, the fatalistic thesis that the Asen (AEsir) have either lost their power, or their interest in humanity, is voiced.

419
The small town / market place of Homia (OTL Homel) is mentioned for the first time in a contract in which local Mordwinian fur traders guarantee to sell their goods exclusively to the Ostrogothic merchant syndicate of the Atarkbaktoi (=the fearless). The document also mentions Slavic farmers inhabiting the lands in the immediate South-Western proximity of Homia.

420
Roman Empire: Researchers at an Academia Cerealia in Thagaste (Africa Carthagensis) invent a mechanical cotton carding machine.

421
Roman Empire / Saba: Rome`s naval presence in Aden is increased to secure Roman-Indian trade. The Roman presence is not extremely popular with Sabans, but it strengthens the local economy and the importance of one of Saba`s largest port towns.

422
Franconia / Alemannia: Led by Ripuarian kings, the Franks defeat Alemannic clans between the Moenus and the Neckar and expand their rule Eastward onto these lands, too.

423
Persian Empire: The largest university of the Sassanid Empire in Gundishapur opens a mathematics department, where many scholars from India work. They introduce the Devanagari numerical system to the West of the Sassanid Empire.

424
Franconia / Alemannia: An Alemannic alliance led by warriors from Alemannia`s largest Northern town, Lopoden / Lopodunum (OTL Ladenburg), tries to push the Franks back North. In a battle near Heppenheim, the Frankish cavalry and infantry prevail. The Franks lay siege on Lopoden. Before the city falls, many Alemanni manage to flee Southwards across the Neckar. Lopoden is made into a Frankish fort.

425
Saxony: At this year`s annual thing in Marklo, the schism between those who believe that the Asen still rule the world, but that humans must rely on their past revelations instead of hoping for present ones, and those who believe that the Asen have been defeated (in the context of agricultural progress like the three-field crop rotation, the most common narrative is that they were defeated by the Vanir). The latter refuse to partake in a ritual in which the choice of this year`s military leader is made and attributed to Tiw. A separation of the Saxons can be averted in the last minute, and all gods are appealed to before the drawing of the lot - but the schism remains.

426
Roman Empire: The first alcohol still is operated in Sicily. Licinus, a landowner, sells brandy made from wine in Syracuse.

427
Celtic Empire: After Scotian attacks on Pictandia, Caesar Marcus Vasco commands the largest invasion fleet in the history of the Celtic Empire into the Hibernian Sea and conquers Scotia (the North-Eastern tip of the island called Ireland in OTL).

428
Gupta India: At the University of Nalanda, a department for Natural Philosophy opens. Its first Dean is from the University of Barygaza in the Sassanid Empire.

Franconia: Ripuarian Franks subdue scattered groups of Hermunduri who had settled south of the hills. To control the land along the Eastern Moenus, castles are built in Virtburg (OTL Würzburg) and Babenberg (OTL Bamberg).

High King Lothar II. bans Christian churches in the lands of the confederacy, after Christian priests among the subdued Alemanni had preached against the campaign in the East.

429
Celtic Empire: Having consolidated control of Scotia, Marcus Vasco decides to ride the wave of Celtic nationalism and conquer the rest of the island, too. He forges an alliance with the Ulaid of Emain Macha against the Gael of Tara, who were the most powerful overkings in Hibernia, and prepares a joint campaign.

430s
The Saxon schism between those who believe that the AEsir have only chosen to be silent and those who believe that a new age (the "third age" in the Germanic mythology, hence the later label "Third Age interpretation") ruled by the Vanir has begun, deepens. Among the ethelinga, the former prevail, and some of Third Age ethelinga are ousted. They bring their interpretation to the courts of Frankish kings. Among the population, though, the Third Age interpretation becomes more and more popular; it spreads almost simultaneously with its opposite.

430
Celtic Empire: Celtic legions and the Ulaid defeat the Gael in open battle, assume control over all other kingdoms in Hibernia and lay siege on Tara.

431
Celtic Empire: Tara falls. Celtic Caesar Marcus Vasco and Ulaid High King Brian divide the island among themselves, with the entire South falling to the Celtic Empire. Roman Empire: To preserve Visigothic culture within the Roman province of Dacia, king Alanaric founds the first Gothic-speaking university in Vipjabaurg.

Roman Empire: The teachings of Nestor, one of the most renowned theologians at the influential School of Edessa, are declared heresies on the Catholic Council of Ephesus. Nestor and his followers are expelled from their school. They found a new sect (Nestorianism). Because Nestorians use the Aramaic language as liturgical language, they soon gain great popularity among the Syrian population. Catholicism becomes marginalised in Eastern Syria, where fifty years later, it only comes third among the Christian churches after Nestorianism and Simonism.

432
Gupta India: Following the Sassanid example, Kumaragupta I. involves the city councils (mostly dominated by guilds) in the codification of a vast body of laws and regulations aimed at stabilising the rule in his Empire even after his death.

433
Celtic Empire: Scotia and Hibernia become provinces of the Celtic Empire. Arabia / Sassanid Empire: Supported by Saba, which seeks to gain control over the Strait of Hormuz, the South-Eastern arabian tribe of the Azd revolts against Sassanid leadership. The Sassanids unleash their Arabian allies, the Lakhmids, whose mounted archers defeat the revolting Azd. Some rebels flee into remote mountain regions.

434
Roman Empire: To aid trade and the dissemination of inventions, the Senate decides to expand the "cursus publicus" (the Roman postal system) and open it for the use by private persons. Post offices are opened in cities and towns across the empire. Retired professional soldiers are employed in these post offices, on the post ships and as post riders.

Arabia: The Jafnids, led by the Jewish king Jabalah III. ibn al Nu´man, seize the opportunity and attack and plunder al-Hira, the capital of the Lakhmids. Jabalah dies in the battle for al-Hira, though. While still in al-Hira, his three sons each attempt to mobilise support for their claim to leadership.

435
St Kinnon founds the Celtic Church; a pelagianist brand of Christianity.

Persian Empire: Hephtalites invade and plunder Bactria and Sogdia. The huge and diverse Sassanid cavalry, employing knights from Arabia, Persia and India, chases, confronts and defeats them, following the retreating tribes far into their Central Asian steppe territories. In a copy of the Hun Campaign of 384, the Sassanid army enslaves tens of thousands of nomad men, women and children and deports them into Persia and India.

436
Persian Empire: The Sassanids leave a strong military presence in garrisons North of Bactria and Sogdia. In the new garrison towns, soldiers from India as well as Arabia mingle and create a uniquely culturally mixed society.

437
Arabia: In return for Lakhmid support in the war against the Hepthalites, the Sassanid shah Bahram V. lends military support for the reconquest of al-Hira.

438
Arabia: Lakhmids defeat the internally divided Jafnids and conquer them.

439
Persian Empire: Positional notation with Devangari numerals and the "0", which allows elegant calculations, is accepted at all new mathematical faculties across the empire.

440
Gupta India: An ample project of infrastructural improvement (canals, roads, border and town fortifications) is finished by Kumaragupta`s administration.

441
Celtic Empire / Ulster: Brian, High King in Eamain Macha, dies. Quarrels break out among his sons, who mobilise different petty kings into a war of succession.

442
Roman Empire: In the process of the extension and modernisation of the dams and mills at Leptis Magna, the first water powered cotton carding machines are built and used.

Celtic Empire: Celtic legions intervene in the war of Ulain succession. They install Mahon as High King. Emain Macha becomes tributary to the Celtic Empire.

444
Persian Empire: Shah Yazdegerd II. order the construction of canals and irrigation systems to make the Central Asian steppe which his troops now firmly control fit for agricultural use, to provide cheap grain for the growing population of his blossoming empire.

446
Saban colonists found the city of Barawa at Africa`s East Coast.

447
Arabia: With military support from Rome, the Jewish Jafnids manage to shake off Lakhmid rule again.

448
Persian Empire (India): In Punavadi, the first Vishnuist Hindu temple, in which Jesus Christ is portrayed as one of Vishnu`s reincarnations, is erected at the request of its donor, a Brahmin magnate who had spent several years among Christians in the Westernmost Sassanid satrapy of Mesopotamia and married a Christian wife.

449
Persian Empire: Sassanid shah Yazdegerd II. orders the implementation of a mail system analogous to the Roman cursus publicus in the Sassanid Empire, too.

450s
The empiricist philosophy of Anaraudus and his eleves have become an important philosophical paradigm at Roman and Sassanid universities, too, where they are referred to as "Celtic philosophy".

450
Persian Empire: Sokotra is conquered by the Sassanids. In response, Saba forges a formal alliance with its fellow Christian kingdoms of Aksum, Armenia, Lasikia and Iberia because Rome does not want to imply itself against the Sassanids.

451
Arabia: After the Nabateans managed to convert a Quraish clan to Simonism, social conflict erupts in Mecca.

452
Aksumite colonists found the city of Kismayu.

Celtic Empire: As the Celtic imperial treasury becomes emptier and emptier, higher tributes are demanded from the Ulster vassal. Mahon refuses to pay such high tributes. Caesar Titus Aquitanus moves six legions into Ulster. Emain Macha falls. The treasure of the Ulain kings is confiscated, their land comes under direct Celtic control.

453
Saxony / Franconia: Saxons attack the Chatti. The Chatti ask for Frankish assistance and promise to join the Frankish Confederacy. Lothar III. signs the pact. All Frankish kings send their troops, who stop the Saxon advance near Tiuschen and pursue the Saxons across the Weser, defeating them in another battle at Uslar, too.

454
Arabia: The Simonists are defeated among the Quraish.

455
Celtic Empire: The Celtic Empire gets its own mail system, too.

India: The faltering alliance between Gupta and Vakataka breaks apart as Vakataka backs an attack of the Pushayamitras against the Guptas. Kumaragupta I. is killed in the battle. His son Skandragupta defeats the Pushayamitras.

456
Arabia: The Quraish attack the Nabateans. After the battle, the Nabateans must assure to abstain from further proselytising among the Quraish.

457
Roman Empire: The extremely wealthy Augustini family, who operates many mills and buys larger and larger amounts of cotton from the Imaziyen, who in turn buy it mostly from the Mandinke in the Wagadu kingdom, awards a great sum of money to Iulianus, an engineer from Carthage`s Academia Vulcania, who has invented a mechanical spinning device that can be integrated into the company`s mechanical system powered by the Leptis Magna dam. The first spinning machine is used in the same year.

India: Skandragupta I. attacks and defeats Vakataka in the battle of Nasika. Vakataka becomes tributary to the Gupta Empire.

458
Franconia: The religious schism between the Third Age interpretation and the interpretation of dei absconditi has taken on dimensions of a social conflict in Franconia, too: Peasants and servants embrace the Third Age interpretation and challenge the rule of a warrior class, who derives their legitimacy in part from the (belligerent) Æsirs` dominance over the (more earth-bound) Vanir. To stabilise social hierarchies, High King Lothar III. seeks to decree the dei absconditi variety by ordering all ancient revelatory stories and myths to be written down, by declaring all temples and sacred places royal property and by appointing all priests directly. The variety of Germanic cult favoured by Lothar and Frankish and Saxon aristocrats will later be labelled "Odinism". It inspires an autochtone school of poetry and philosophy, but never catches on with the populace.

459
Roman Empire: After the Augustini have installed twelve more water powered spinning machines, their devices are destroyed by infuriated Simonist workers, whose jobs in the rising cotton textile industry were lost. The wild strike is finally ended at the intervention of the African Conventum. The Augustini are compensated and order new machinery.

460
Roman Empire: At a naval Academia Martiana in Alexandria, a functional flamethrower with pumps and large containers of oleum petrae is developed.

462
Celtic Empire: The first post mill is built in Batavia.

463
Celtic Empire: The conquered Ulster territories are integrated into the province of Scotia, its inhabitants are granted Celtic citizenship.

464
Persian Empire / Caucasus: Choresm is attacked and plundered by the Awars.

465
Persian Empire: The Sassanid army under Peroz I. defeats the Awars, kills their leaders and enslaves the rest. The enslaved Awars are forced to rebuild Choresm, then led further South into Persian mainland. An increased military protection of Choresm and even the Northern Caucasus is discussed, but postponed due to the overstretched empire`s lack of military resources.

466
Roman Empire: The first experimental flamethrowers are installed on Roman war ships in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

467
Following a persecution in Saba, a large group of Manichaeists flees to the Aksumite colony of Kismayu. The city council of the Christian Kismayu accepts them against the payment of a "Mani tax".

468
Saban colonists found the city of Bar ul-Zandj.

470s
Roman Empire: The Augustini of Leptis Magna have become the wealthiest family in the entire empire. Cotton trade with Africa has increased at the factor 50 over the last 50 years. Africa becomes a wealthy province. New textile mills open up in other provinces, too, now.

Celtic Empire: A dozen monasteries of the Celtic Church have sprung up across Ireland, Britain and Spain. They attract the educated, who would previously have called themselves "druids", but are dissatisfied with the scientific, anti-metaphysical trend of "Celtic philosophy" druidism at the universities.

473
India: Skandragupta I. defeats Vakataka`s ally, Kadamba, in the battle of Banavasi. Kadamba becomes a vassal of the Gupta, too.

475
Imaziyen / Wagadu: Gwafa, a Simonist missionary, preaches the Amazigh Simonist brand of Christianity to the Mandinke in cities across the Wagadu Empire. He is imprisoned and staked at the order of Wagadu`s Divine King. Back home, he is declared a martyr and a saint.

477
Roman Empire: Slavs attempt to cross the Limes Dacicus, but are thrown back.

478
Persian Empire: The Zoroastrian priest Mazdak Jr. begins to proclaim his ideas about the evil nature of private property, the divinity of communal work, the superfluousness of an institutionalised clergy, the evil dark of  patriarchal monogamy which suppresses love, and the virtuousness of joy, especially shared joy. Falling on fertile ground in a well-off society, where the aristocracy has acquired incredible amounts of wealth, Mazdakism gains much more followers than in OTL and will become one of the world`s most influential religions / social philosophies.

480
Franconia / Alemannia: High King Lothar IV. leads another Frankish invasion into the remaining Alemannic territory south of the Neckar. The Alemannic towns have been heavily fortified in the meantime and have formed a stable alliance with a standing mercenary force. This time, Frankish victories are not so resounding and conclusive, and Alemannic guerrilla warfare throws back Frankish attempts at establishing control several times. A seven-year-long war begins.

Sassanid Empire: Among the new urban elites in the Persian heartland, the idea of vegetarianism, imported from India, finds more and more followers - not only among Manichaeists and Jainists.

481
Celtic Empire / Norway: Increased Celtic trade with Norwegian coastal settlements has sparked a ship-building innovation: Norse ship-builders at Sørstad (OTL Kristianstad) design and build longboats with sails (earlier than in OTL).

482
Celtic Empire: The bridge of the Bracchium Truculi (OTL Firth of Tay) is finished. It is the longest bridge in the entire world, and the ultimate symbol of a massive and very expensive program of upgrading the infrastructure of the new Celtic provinces of Caledonia, Pictandia, Scotia and Hibernia and integrating them into the economy of the Celtic Empire. Fueled by Celtic nationalism (which in turn is fueled by an inferiority complex vis-a-vis the Roman neighbour, whose economic development outpaces that of the Celts), the new provinces, inhabited by Celts, are treated extremely well. Its professional elites are integrated into Celtic collegia, universities are founded in Eblana (OTL Dublin) and Lothiana (OTL Edinburgh), where the sons of druids not only learned Latin, empiricist natural philosophy etc., but were also allowed to research into their own language and history. Roads and ports were brought up to the imperial standard and cities fortified against Scandinavian pirates. Celtic self-esteem is at a peak  but all of this came at a price... the new provinces don`t bring a lot of venues and taxes in return, and the Celtic state treasury is not only completely empty, it is also indebted to its citizens, and its currency is so seriously debased that Celtic merchants who trade e.g. with the Franks or the Alemanni have to use Roman denarii instead.

483
Persian Empire: Mazdak and his followers close several Zoroastric temples and convert them into public spaces where - at least according to opponents - wild orgies are celebrated. But the Mazdakists also begin to call for the empire-wide abolition of private property and the dissolution of the army.

India: Trade disputes and minor conflicts between the Gupta and the Pallava lead to a series of military confrontations, in which Budhagupta I. prevails over Nandivarman I. Pallava, which had previously been Vakataka`s vassal, becomes tributary to the Guptas, who now control more than half of OTL India.

484
Saxony: Widukind, a North-Albingian noble, defeats his Anglian neighbours. For the first time in more than 100 years, Saxony`s territory is extended. Widukind does not transplant the Saxon model onto the Anglians, but grants them relative independence as a dukedom tributary to him.

Sassanid Empire / India: The Kalabhra maharaja Achchutavikranta signs a treaty of military, political and commercial cooperation with the Sassanid Empire, represented by ambassadors of shahanshah Balash. For the Sassanids, it`s aimed at consolidating their economic dominance in India. For the Kalabhra, it`s aimed against the Gupta menace in the North and against insurgent Chola, Chera and Pandya aristocrats.

485
Saxony: The Hermunduri plunder and pillage Southern and South-Eastern Saxony. The Saxon ethelinga army is unable to confront and defeat them.

486
Saxony / Venedia: In spring, more Hermundurian attacks in the South of Saxony. In July, bands of Milceni cross the Elbe and threaten Saxon possessions, too. After Wagrians cross the Elbe, too, in August, thousands of frilinga decide to fight under Widukind instead of trusting their ethelinga to choose an appropriate war leader. While a weakened ethelinga army has trouble stopping the Hermunduri, Widukind`s new Saxon army pushes back all Venedian tribes across the Elbe, then tackles the Hermunduri in autumn and defeats them. In the course of this war, Widukind is called "king", for the first time in Saxony,

487
Saxony: The Hermunduri are integrated into Saxony after the Anglian model, becoming the Dukedom of Thuringia.

Franconia / Alemannia: The Frankish-Alemannic War ends with the treaty of Augusta Vindelicorum (signed on neutral Roman territory). The Alemannic towns of Friburg, Offenburg, Basel, Singen and Rottwil remain free and keep decent amounts of territory surrounding them under their control; the rest is divided among. Another 24 Alemannic towns must join the Frankish Confederacy, but do so as separate confederal subjects and retain fiscal autonomy. The rest - mostly small settlements and forts - is divided among three Frankish kingdoms.

Persian Empire: Mazdakism is declared a heresy by the Mobadan Mobad Kartir. Mazdakist herbads are removed from temple service.

488
Roman Empire: The guild of mechanical engineers establishes itself empire-wide and employs a legate in Rome whose job is to "inform" (i.e.: influence) the Senate in the interests of the guild. Thus, the first modern industrial lobbying is institutionalised.

Funan: Advised by Indian counsellors, Kaundinya Jayavarman starts his reforms of the Funan kingdom. Slavery is abolished, the use of Sanskrit is greatly promoted across the entire sphere of influence, and the dependence on Indo-Chinese trade is reduced by extending the fields for the cultivation of rice and the use of several new, more productive varieties - an agricultural reform comparable to the introduction of the three-field crop rotation in Europe, which contributes greatly to Funan`s survival in contrast to OTL. Óc Eo continues to be the most thriving port town in the region, where the new Western trades establish themselves for the first time, while both great Buddhist schools and Hinduist temples are built in the capital Vyādhapura.

489
Saban colonists found the city of Mombasa.

Celtic Empire / Norway: In spite of the emptiness of the imperial treasury, the Celtic navy purchases and commands hundreds of long-boats with sails from the Sørstad shipyards. After the Celts have secured control over the North Sea, there are plans to expand Celtic dominance into the Baltic Sea, but so far, heavy Celtic battleships have turned out to be useless and an easy prey in the shallow waters of the Kattegat, where pirates and other enemies of the Celts inhabit the so far unchartered archipelago. The new Sørstad longboats are meant to make a difference here.

They do make a difference in Sørstad itself, where this business deal turns a few dozen craftsmen / fishermen into an extremely wealthy group of people who start to use their versatile boats and their huge amounts of capital to establish a close-knit autochtone trading network. The Sørstaders stick up for one another; they manage to keep their innovation a secret for another decade, and they maintain their close contact even as they begin to swarm out across the Baltic Sea.

490
Persian Empire: Kavadh I. becomes shahanshah of the Sassanid Empire. He turns out to be a great supporter of Mazdak.

India / Sri Vijaya: Buddhist monks and other scholars from Nalanda found a monastery and school in Palembang, an ascending port town which profits greatly from India`s increased economic output and the intensification of trade with all of India, the Sassanid Empire, Swahili colonies and even Europe. So far, Palembang is still tributary to the Kings of Funan.

491
Baiuvaria: The first guild (gaffers) in the Germanic world is founded in Linza (vis-a-vis the Roman city of Lentia across the Danube, with which the Baiuvarians trade a lot).

492
Persian Empire: Kavadh I. rehabilitates Mazdakist herbads and closes more Zoroastric fire temples.

493
Persian Empire: The first smock mill is built in India near Barygala.

Shah Kavadh I. abolishes slavery in the entire Sassanid Empire and starts welfare programs to feed and house the poor, which are implemented in many provinces. His Mazdakist measures swell the ranks of this social and religious movement even further.

494
Persian Empire: Shah Kavadh I. declares women and men equal in rights.

495
Persian Empire: Shah Kavadh I. prepares a land and a military reform, which would legally abolish the aristocracy, empower the landless peasantry and replace the knight-army with a yeomen self-defense force. Resistance forms. A first attempted assassination fails.

Roman Empire: Italian natural philosophers in the Celtic empiricist tradition discover a variety of highly inflammable liquids that can be gained by distilling petra oleum.

496
Persian Empire: A conspiracy of aristocrats and the clergy against shah Kavadh I., Mazdak and their followers begins. As the first Mazdakist communities are attacked and their members killed, Kavadh I. and Mazdak flee from Ctesiphon into the Arab desert and find asylum among Nabatean Simonists.

Djamasp becomes the new shahanshah. He restores the Zoroastric clergy and abandon`s Kavadh`s reform plans, but also stops the violence against the Mazdakists.

497
Burgundy: The Burgundian yeomen army defeats Slavic tribes who entered their territories.

Roman Empire (Syria): A regionalist, Nestorian-backed majority in the Syrian provincial conventum decides to convert the abandoned parts of the once glorious Catholic School of Edessa, which never recovered from the loss of the Nestor and his followers into a new general University of Edessa, where subjects from mathematics to law and from medicine to natural philosophy would be taught (for the first time in Roman history) in the Aramaic language.

498
Persian Empire: Shah Djamasp passes a progressive tax reform, easing the burden on the peasantry and demanding a greater contribution from the wealthy elites.

Even though moderate reforms are begun, Mazdakist gatherings become greater and greater; they demand the return of Kavadh and Mazdak and all-out social reform. Violence returns. Urban craftsmen and tradesmen in the heartland are divided between supporters and opponents of Mazdakist thought and plans.

Following disagreements with the Simonists, Mazdak and Kavadh move into the Roman province of Syria Paleastina, where they find refuge among a Jewish community of Essenes.

499
Roman Empire: Gaffers in the Roman Empire found an empire-wide guild, too.

Pot stills are used in all provinces of the empire now. Apart from wine, fermented barley concoctions are also used for burning spirits. The overall consumption of hard drinks has skyrocketed in the Roman Empire, and business-minded Ostrogothic and Roman merchants sell the stuff to the Celts, the Germans, the Persians, the Arabs and the Aksumite Africans, too.

Persians have copied the glass production techniques and produce their own stills and their own alcohol, too. Salvador79 (talk) 17:13, March 5, 2014 (UTC)

Abrittus