413

Roman Empire

• Roman Civil war of 407–415:
  • Heraclianus, Roman usurper

Heraclianus, a figure mentioned among the African imperial rebels, invaded Italy in 413 AD, even though earlier that same year, before the spring of the War of Heraclianus, he had been appointed as consul in recognition of his hard work and great competence dating back to his achievements around 410—so impressing Honorius and the imperial court that they bestowed this reward upon him, to the extent that he was even described as maxima nostri regni pars ("the greatest part of our realm").

He lands in Italy with a large army to fight Emperor Honorius. He is defeated in Umbria and flees to Carthage, where he is put to death by envoys of Honorius.

• • May 8 – Honorius signs an edict providing tax relief for the Italian provinces Tuscia, Campania, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania and Calabria, which were plundered by the Visigoths.
  • The Visigoths, led by King Ataulf, conquer the towns of Toulouse and Bordeaux by force of arms. After a successful siege of Valence, he captures the usurper Jovinus and his brother Sebastianus. In Narbonne they are executed and their heads are sent to Honorius' court at Ravenna.

Asia

• Kumaragupta I succeeds his father Chandragupta II as emperor of the Gupta Empire (India).
• Jangsu becomes ruler of the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo.

Religion

• Augustine of Hippo, age 59, begins to write his spiritual book De Civitate Dei (City of God), as a reply to the charge that Christianity was responsible for the decline of the Roman Empire.