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Please Note: This page is part of the Book of Darius website. The primary subject of this page and the parent site is the fictional character Darius from the television series Highlander, not King Darius the Great of Persia or any other person, real or imagined, by the name of Darius. This chronology of the life and times of Darius was compiled by tirnanog, based on information gathered from the Highlander television series, the New Watcher Chronicles CD-ROM, and the 1998 Highlander novel, Shadow of Obsession by Rebecca Neason. It also includes references to real historical events. The Highlander sources occasionally differ with each other and with Real History. In order to minimize confusion each event in the timeline is followed by a code or codes indicating its source. These are as follows: SER=television series, WCD=Watcher Chronicles CD, SO=the novel Shadow of Obsession, RH=Real History. A list of the historical references consulted can be found at the end of my article Goths, Sarmatians and Huns. |
| 1st Century CE | Goths living on the River Vistula in Northern Poland, Sarmatian tribe known as Alans living on the Southern Ural steppes. (RH) |
| 50 CE | Darius born: In a nomad's tent east of the Urals, member of an obscure tribe (WCD)/ Among the Goths in "the North". (SO) |
| 95 CE | Darius dies his First Death at age 45 fighting "Germanic hordes." (WCD) |
| Sometime after 95 CE | Ahasuerus the Parthian becomes Darius' first teacher. (WCD) (Date and circumstances unknown, but I believe this likely occurred by 100 CE). |
| Sometime between 95 CE and 409 CE | Darius lives among the Persians and Chinese, travels through the East and to Africa. (SO) |
| Sometime during the 2nd century CE | Darius lives among the Romans. (SO) |
| 3rd-4th Centuries CE | Goths migrate to Black Sea steppes, conquer Sarmatians, intermarry with them, and adopt many of their customs and their ways of war, especially the use of the horse in warfare. Goths raid frontiers of Roman Empire with Sarmatians and other barbarian allies. (RH) |
| 325 CE | Claudianus (Grayson) born in Dacia. (WCD) Later becomes a farmer, marries, and is widowed. (SO) |
| 365 CE | Claudianus' (Grayson's) First Death: Fighting against the Goths, trampled beneath the hooves of Goth cavalry led by Darius. (WCD,SO) He becomes Darius' student and second-in-command. (SER,WCD,SO) He takes the name Grayson because of the gray wolfskin Darius wears into battle and because he sees himself as Darius' son. (SO) |
| 375 CE | Huns from Central Asia attack Alans and Goths in force. (RH) |
| 376 CE | Some Goths and Alans retreat to the Danube and petition Romans for settlement inside the Empire. (These become known as the Visigoths). Soon after, they revolt against ill-treatment by their Roman hosts. (RH) |
| 378 CE | Visigoths defeat Romans at Adrianople and kill Emperor Valens. Goth cavalry is crucial to the victory. (RH) |
| 382 CE | Rome grants Visigoths land in Balkans in exchange for military service. (RH) |
| 395-409 CE | Visigoths revolt again, raid Greece and Illyricum, invade Italy and threaten Rome twice. Alaric I is their leader. (RH,SO) Darius and his Goth warband are frequently Alaric's allies in war, and Darius fights at Alaric's side. He and his warband often share winter quarters with Alaric and his people. (SO) |
| Winter, 409 CE | Darius, together with Grayson, leads his warband to join Alaric at his winter camp in Cremona, Italy, in preparation for Alaric's planned attack on Rome. Darius carries on an illicit love affair with Alaric's Pre-Immortal sister Callestina. (SO) |
| July, 410 CE | Alaric marches to Ravenna to negotiate with Western Emperor Honorius. (RH, SO) Honorius rejects Alaric's demands and the enraged Alaric sacks Ravenna before marching on Rome. (SO) (In Real History, Alaric negotiates with Honorius at Alpes, but meanwhile rival Goth chieftain Sarus attacks Alaric's camp at Rimini. Honorius honors Sarus at Ravenna, arousing Alaric's suspicion and anger. Alaric breaks off negotiations and marches on Rome without sacking Ravenna). |
| Aug.24, 410 CE | Visigoths sack Rome for 3 days, led by: Alaric I and his second-in-command
Athaulf. (RH) / Darius. (SER,WCD) / Alaric with Darius as his ally. (SO) Callestina enters the city, is killed in the fighting, and becomes Immortal. (SO) |
| Aug.27, 410 CE | Alaric forces Honorius to grant his demands and give him his sister Galla Placidia in marriage. (SO) (In Real History, Honorius is in Ravenna when Rome is sacked. Galla Placidia is captured by Athaulf, whom she later marries in 414. She never marries Alaric). |
| After Aug.27, 410 CE | Darius rejects Callestina, earning her undying hatred, and marches north with Grayson to take Paris and form his own kingdom. Alaric and his army leave Rome and return to Cremona. (SO) (In Real History, Alaric marches south to the straits of Messina, intending to sail across the Mediterranean to raid Roman provinces in Africa but is unable to carry out his plans due to a lack of ships). |
| Later in 410 CE | Darius kills Holy Man before the gates of Paris and changes from
warmonger to a man of peace, making a permanent enemy of Grayson. (SO)
(WCD and SER mention this event but give no date). Grayson marries Callestina in Cremona and takes her north where he assumes leadership of Darius' warband. He and Callestina are together for 2 centuries. (SO) |
| Dec., 410 CE | Alaric dies of disease at Cosentia in southern Italy and is replaced as king of the Visigoths by Athaulf. (RH) |
| 412 CE | Visigoths under Athaulf invade Southern Gaul. Later they become Roman allies and expand their kingdom into Spain, but never reach Paris. (RH) |
| 451 CE | Attila the Hun invades western Europe. He enters Gaul but does not attack Paris. Aetius defeats him at the Battle of Chalons with the help of the Visigoths and Franks. (RH) |
| 507 CE | Frankish King Clovis defeats the Visigoths and drives them almost completely out of Gaul. He makes Paris his capital. (RH) |
| Sometime before 580 CE | The Basilica of St. Julien the Martyr is built in Paris. (RH) |
| Late 9th Century CE | Normans attack Paris many times and destroy the Basilica of St. Julien and other churches. (RH) |
| Sometime during the 10th century | Darius' Watcher first records that Callestina (who is known at this time as Celeste) tried to have Darius discredited and thrown out of his order, but is unsuccessful. She continues making these unsuccessful attempts for centuries, until just prior to the American Revolution. Then she disappears and the Watchers lose track of her. (SO) |
| ca. 1170-1240 CE | The Church of St. Julien le Pauvre (Darius' Church in the series) is built by Cluniac monks on the site of the former basilica. (RH) |
| Sometime after 1634 CE | Darius meets Ursa, after the childlike Immortal has been placed in sanctuary with the monks of the Abbey of St. Gobain by Duncan MacLeod. (SER) (WCD says the abbey was called St. Bernard). |
| June, 1804 CE | Darius consoles Sean Burns when Sean's former student and dear friend Lady Caroline Mortimer is guillotined along with her mortal husband Jean-Paul. (WCD) |
| June 18, 1815 CE | Battle of Waterloo is fought in Belgium. (RH) Darius meets Duncan on the battlefield and makes a strong impression on him. (SER,WCD,SO) After the battle, Darius returns to Paris. (SO) |
| Fall 1815 CE | Duncan finds Darius in Paris where he is running a makeshift hospital at a church in the rue St. Julien le Pauvre and becomes his student. (SO) (In Real History, the church is closed at this time, and serves as a storehouse of the Hôtel Dieu). |
| Nov. 1815 CE | Duncan finds young Immortal Violane Armand working as a prostitute in Paris and takes her to Darius. (SO) |
| Jan. 30, 1816 CE | Darius is killed by looters at his church but revives. Duncan becomes disillusioned with Europe and leaves for America. (SER,WCD,SO) |
| Spring, 1816 CE | Darius sends Violane to train with Immortal Marie Guilliard, but she runs away after two years, and returns to her old life as a Paris prostitute. (SO) |
| 1842 CE | Duncan returns to Paris to see Darius. Violane attacks him and he takes her head in self-defense. (SO) |
| Early Feb., 1993 CE | Grayson resurfaces and is killing Darius' students. Duncan kills Grayson in Seacouver. (SER,WCD,SO) |
| Late Feb., 1993 CE | Xavier St. Cloud confesses to Darius that he has committed murder, plots to kill Duncan, gets away. (SER,WCD) |
| March, 1993 CE | Duncan consults with Darius about Ursa, who has been seen in the Paris Opera. Darius and Duncan help Grace Chandel, who is being stalked by Carlos Sendaro. (SER,WCD) |
| May 30, 1993 CE | Darius is murdered at St. Julien by James Horton and his renegade Watchers. Afterwards his body is cremated and his ashes are committed to the Seine. (SER,WCD) |
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The Book of Darius URL: https://www.angelfire.com/film/bookofdarius/ Webmaster: tirnanog (This page last updated 12/28/2005) |
