The forces of the new emperor effectively…

Emperor Anastasius recognizes the rule of Theodoric and his Ostrogoths in Italy in 497, sending the imperial standard to Ravenna.

The Isaurians have from 494 to 497 closed themselves in their fortresses in the Isaurian mountains, where they are kept supplied by Longinus of Selinus through the port of Antioch.

John Gibbo captures the last enemy leaders, Longinus of Selinus and Indes, in 498, and sends them to the Emperor, who parades them along the main road of Constantinople to the Hippodrome, where they must perform the proskynesis in front of the imperial kathisma.

The Isaurians, having suffered a number of defeats at the hands of imperial forces, and the destruction of all their strongholds, accept resettlement, in Thrace, of large numbers of their population, thus ending their six-year war with the empire.

After the victory of this year, the loyal subjects of the Eastern Roman emperor can breathe easily: Isaurians had been used to beat Germans, but the wild mountain folk have, in their turn, failed to take permanent possession of the imperial office.

Emperor Anastasius I abolishes the tax throughout the Empire, known as the chrysargyron.

He reforms the monetary system, using Greek numerals instead of Roman.

Kavadh, after escaping from prison and spending two years in exile with the Hephthalites, recovers his throne, but he has been cured of his egalitarian views and decides to liquidate the Mazdakites.

Symmachus was born on Sardinia (then under Vandal rule), the son of Fortunatus; Jeffrey Richards notes that he was born a pagan, and "perhaps the rankest outsider" of all the Ostrogothic Popes, most of whom were members of aristocratic families.

Symmachus had been baptized in Rome, where he became archdeacon of the Church under Pope Anastasius II.

Pope Anastasius II dies on November 16, 498, after a two-year reign in which he has tried to conciliate followers of Acacius, the late patriarch of Constantinople, who had been excommunicated by Felix III.

He is succeeded on November 22 by Symmachus as the fifty-first pope, in the official papal selection in the Lateran Palace (Rome).

Meanwhile, Antipope Laurentius is elected "pope" in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore on the same day by a dissenting minority faction with Eastern Empire sympathies, who are supported by Emperor Anastasius; this causes a schism over who has been legitimately elected pope by the citizens of Rome.

Both factions agree to allow King Theodoric to arbitrate.

He rules that the one who was elected first and whose supporters are the most numerous should be recognized as pope.

An investigation finds the facts favor Symmachus and his election is recognized as proper.

However, an early document known as the "Laurentian Fragment" claims that Symmachus obtained the decision by paying bribes, while deacon Magnus Felix Ennodius of Milan will later write that four hundred solidi were distributed among influential personages, whom it would be indiscreet to name.

Tuoba Ke was born in 483, as the second son of Emperor Xiaowen.

His mother was Xiaowen's concubine Consort, Gao Zhaorong. (As he was born the same year as his older brother Tuoba Xun, he was probably born just briefly after Tuoba Xun, whose mother was Consort Lin.)

Little is known about his childhood, including whether he was raised by his mother Gao or not.

Xiaowen in 496 changed the name of the imperial clan from Tuoba to Yuan, and thereafter he would be known as Yuan Ke.

Yuan Xun, who was in autumn 496 crown prince, but who could not endure the hot weather of the capital Luoyang after Xiaowen moved the capital there from Pingcheng in 494, plotted to flee back to Pingcheng with his followers, but his plot was discovered.

Xiaowen deposed him, and in 497 created Yuan Ke crown prince to replace Yuan Xun. (The creation was in Luoyang, but it is unclear whether prior to his creation, Yuan Xun was at Luoyang or Pingcheng.)

Gao, who was in Pingcheng, traveled south later that year to rejoin her son in Luoyang, but she died on the way.

Historians generally believe that she was murdered by Xiaowen's wife, Empress Feng Run, who wanted to raise Yuan Ke herself.

Whether she was actually able to do so is unclear, but after she is discovered to have carried on an affair with her attendant Gao Pusa in 499, she is put under house arrest, and Xiaowen orders Yuan Ke to have no more contact with her.

Xiaowen, while on a campaign against rival Southern Qi later in 499,  grows ill and dies.

Xiaowen's brother Yuan Xie the Prince of Pengcheng is placed in command of the withdrawing army on an emergency basis, and Yuan Xie keeps Xiaowen's death a secret while summoning Yuan Ke to join the army.

Yuan Ke's attendants largely suspect Yuan Xie of wanting to take the throne himself, but Yuan Xie, once he meets Yuan Ke, shows great deference to his nephew, persuading Yuan Ke of his loyalty.

Yuan Ke, at age sixteen, now assumes the throne as Xuanwu at Luyang (in modern Pingdingshan, Henan), before the army can return to Luoyang.

Xuanwu initially wants to make Yuan Xie, who is popular and well-regarded, prime minister, but Yuan Xie refuses, and is made a provincial governor instead.

The governmental affairs are largely in the hands of six officials: Xiaowen's brothers Yuan Xi the Prince of Xianyang and Yuan Xiang the Prince of Beihai, Xiaowen's cousin Yuan Cheng the Prince of Rencheng, Xiaowen's distant uncle Yuan Jia the Prince of Guangyang, and the officials Wang Su and Song Bian, although Yuan Cheng was soon stripped of his post because he falsely arrested Wang on suspicion of treason.

Xuanwu, once he returns to Luoyang, posthumously honors his mother Gao as an empress, and he createdshis maternal uncles Gao Zhao and Gao Xian, as well as his cousin Gao Meng, none of whom he had previously met, dukes.

Gao Zhao, in particular, will become increasingly powerful during Xuanwu's reign.

Symmachus had proceeded to call a synod, to be held at Rome on March 1, 499, which is attended by seventy-two bishops and all of the Roman clergy.

Laurentius attends this synod.

Afterwards he is assigned the diocesis of Nuceria in Campania.

According to the account in the Liber Pontificalis, Symmachus bestowed the See on Laurentius "guided by sympathy", but the "Laurentian Fragment" states that Laurentius "was severely threatened and cajoled, and forcibly despatched" to Nuceria.

The synod also ordains that any cleric who seeks to gain votes for a successor to the papacy during the lifetime of the pope, or who calls conferences and holds consultations for that purpose, should be deposed.

Xuanwu recalls Yuan Xie by 500 to be prime minister.

With Southern Qi in disarray because of the tyrannical rule of its emperor Xiao Baojuan, Northern Wei annexes the important city of Shouyang (in modern Lu'an, Anhui) when the Southern Qi general Pei Shuye surrenders the city to Northern Wei in fear of adverse actions by Xiao Baojuan.

However, Northern Wei does not take further actions when Southern Qi is subsequently thrown into civil war during the rebellions of the generals Cui Huijing and Xiao Yan.

Xiao Baojuan is an arbitrary and violent ruler, and he often executes high level officials based on his perception of them as threats to his rule.

He executes his prime minister Xiao Yi in winter 500, and Xiao Yi's brother Xiao Yan, the governor of Yong Province (modern northwestern Hubei) declares a rebellion from the capital of Yong Province, Xiangyang (in modern Xiangfan, Hubei).

In response, Xiao Baojuan sends the general Liu Shanyang to Jing Province, ordering him to rendezvous with Xiao Yingzhou and then attack Xiangyang.

Xiao Yan, however, persuades Xiao Yingzhou that Liu's orders are to attack both Jing and Yong Provinces, and Xiao Yingzhou, after making Liu believe his good faith by executing Xiao Yan's messenger Wang Tianhu, surprises and kills Liu, seizing his forces.

He then openly declares rebellion and supports Xiao Baorong as nominal leader.