3 March 458 A.D. Simplicius Against the Monophysites
3 March 458 A.D. Simplicius Against the Monophysites Graves, Dan. “Simplicius Against the Monophysites.” Christianity.com. May 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/simplicius-against-the-monophysites-11629702.html . Accessed 31 Jul 2014. When Simplicius became bishop of Rome on this day, March 3, 468 , it must have seemed to him that his troubles would come from the western half of the disintegrating Roman Empire. There Vandals, Visigoths, and Franks had replaced Roman power with their own. For thirteen years the western empire had been ruled by puppet emperors, controlled by these barbarians. Furthermore, Odovakar, a Herulian (one of the Teutonic tribes) seized power in Rome. Despite these omens, it was the East that gave Simplicius his greatest headaches. In the West, the Arian Odovakar treated the Catholic church with respect. In the East, however, events were not so fortunate. A usurper drove Emperor Z...