Eastern Hemisphere at the beginning of the 4th century AD.

Eastern Hemisphere at the end of the 4th century AD.

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century (per the Julian calendar and Anno Domini/Common era) was that century which lasted from 301 to 400.

Overview[link]

In the West, the early part of the century was shaped by Constantine I, who became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. Gaining sole reign of the empire, he is also noted for re-establishing a single imperial capital, choosing the site of ancient Byzantium in 330 (over of the current capitals, which had effectively been changed by Diocletian's reforms to Milan in the West, and Nicomedia in the East) to build the city soon called Nova Roma (New Rome); it was later renamed Constantinople in his honor.

The last emperor to control both the eastern and western halves of the empire was Theodosius I. As the century progressed after his death it became increasingly apparent that the empire had changed in many ways since the time of Augustus. The two emperor system originally established by Diocletian in the previous century fell into regular practice, and the east continued to grow in importance as a centre of trade and imperial power, while Rome itself diminished greatly in importance due to its location far from potential trouble spots, like Central Europe and the East. Late in the century Christianity became the official state religion, and the empire's old pagan culture began to disappear.^{[citation needed]} General prosperity was felt throughout this period, but recurring invasions by Germanic tribes plagued the empire from AD 376 onward. These early invasions marked the beginning of the end for the Western Roman Empire.

According to archaeologists, sufficient archaeological correlates of state-level societies coalesced in the 4th century to show the existence in Korea of the Three Kingdoms (AD 300/400–668) of Baekje, Goguryeo, and Silla.

Events[link]

Contemporary bronze head of Constantine I.

• Early 4th century – Former audience hall now known as the Basilica, Trier, Germany, is built.
• 301: Armenia first to adopt Christianity as state religion, followed by Ethiopia, circa 320, San Marino is founded as a republic
• 306 – 337: Constantine I, ends persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire (see also Constantinian shift) and Constantinople becomes new seat of government (New Rome)
• 325: Constantine I calls the First Council of Nicaea to pacify Christianity in the grip of the Arian controversy.
• 337: Constantine I is baptized on his death bed
• 350: About this time the Huns begin to invade the Sassanid Empire.^[1]
• Mid-4th century – Dish, from Mildenhall, England, is made. It is now kept at The British Museum, London.
• Mid-4th century - Wang Xizhi makes a portion of a letter from the Feng Ju album. Six Dynasties period. It is now kept at National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
• 376: Visigoths appear on the Danube and are allowed entry into the Roman Empire in their flight from the Huns.
• 378: Battle of Adrianople. Roman army is defeated by Visigoth cavalry. Emperor Valens is killed.
• 378 – 395: Theodosius I, Roman emperor, bans pagan worship, Christianity is made the official religion of the Empire.
• 381: First Council of Constantinople reaffirms the Christian doctrine of the Trinity by adding to the creed of Nicaea.
• 383: Battle of Fei River in China
• 395: Roman Emperor Theodosius I dies, causing the Roman Empire to split permanently.
• Late 4th century – See "The Historia" of Arbogast and Bauto.
• Late 4th century – Cubiculum of Leonis, Catacomb of Commodilla, near Rome, is made.
• Late 4th century – Atrium added in Old St. Peter's Basilica, Rome.

Significant people[link]

• Ambrose, Christian theologian, bishop of Milan whose preaching converted Augustine
• Augustine, Christian theologian, bishop of Hippo
• Basil the Great, Christian theologian, bishop in Cappadocia
• Constantine I (306-337), Roman Emperor
• Fa-Hsien, Chinese Buddhist monk
• Gregory of Nazianzus, Christian theologian, bishop
• Iamblichus (245-c. 325), Neoplatonist philosopher
• Jerome, Christian priest, monk, and translator of the Bible into Latin
• John Chrysostom, Syrian-born Patriarch of Constantinople
• Kumārajīva, (344-413), Buddhist monk from India, translator of sutras into Chinese
• Tao-un (312-385), Chinese Buddhist monk, translator who elimnates Taoist words from Buddhist writings
• Theodosius I (378-395), Roman Emperor
• Ulfilas, Arian priest and translator of the Bible into Gothic

Inventions, discoveries, introductions[link]

• The stirrup was invented in China, no later than 322^[2][3]
• Kama Sutra
• Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209, earliest Christian bibles
• Book of Steps, Syriac religious discourses

References[link]

• Greek Fire

External links[link]

• Fourth-Century Christianity Website

Decades and years[link]

Hewasandatchige Asiri Prasanna Wishvanath Jayawardene (Tamil: பிரசன்ன ஜயவர்தனா) (born 9 October 1979, commonly known as Prasanna Jayawardene) is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a wicketkeeper.

Having toured England in 1998 as a 19-year-old, Jayawardene was touted for a long career as a Sri Lankan cricketer, but soon found himself out of play thanks to the emerging talent of Kumar Sangakkara in 2000. His career was again thwarted by the good form of Romesh Kaluwitharana, but since this he has managed to make a few appearances since for the Sri Lankan team. With the Sri Lankan selectors having concerns about Sangakkara's playing ability, Jayawardene was once again called into action against Zimbabwe in April 2004. Since 2004 Jayawardene has played Twenty20 cricket.

Revived Test career[link]

Due to Kumar Sangakkara's status as a true wicketkeeper-batsman all-rounder, the Sri Lankan selectors felt that they could afford to play a specialist keeper in Test matches. As a result of this, both Sangakkara and Jayawardene have played Test cricket in the same team of late, Sangakkara as a specialist batsman and Jayawardene as the specialist keeper down the order.

Jayawardene donned the gloves for Sri Lanka thanks to an injury to Sangakkara in Sri Lanka's 1st Test against Australia on 8 November 2007. In the Test series against England in December, Jayawardene flourished with two vital fifties and nine catches. On the 27 May 2011 Jayawardene scored a patient yet fluent 112 at the SWALEC stadium in Cardiff

Player statistics[link]

Test centuries[link]

The following table is a summary of the Test centuries scored by Prasanna Jayawardene.

• In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
• The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's career

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