# 668

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Calendar year

Calendar year

Years Millennium 1st millennium Centuries 6th century 7th century 8th century Decades 640s 650s 660s 670s 680s Years 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 v t e

668 by topic Leaders Political entities State leaders Religious leaders Categories Births Deaths Establishments Disestablishments v t e

668 in various calendars Gregorian calendar 668 DCLXVIII Ab urbe condita 1421 Armenian calendar 117 ԹՎ ՃԺԷ Assyrian calendar 5418 Balinese saka calendar 589–590 Bengali calendar 74–75 Berber calendar 1618 Buddhist calendar 1212 Burmese calendar 30 Byzantine calendar 6176–6177 Chinese calendar 丁卯年 (Fire Rabbit) 3365 or 3158 — to — 戊辰年 (Earth Dragon) 3366 or 3159 Coptic calendar 384–385 Discordian calendar 1834 Ethiopian calendar 660–661 Hebrew calendar 4428–4429 Hindu calendars - Vikram Samvat 724–725 - Shaka Samvat 589–590 - Kali Yuga 3768–3769 Holocene calendar 10668 Iranian calendar 46–47 Islamic calendar 47–48 Japanese calendar Hakuchi 19 (白雉１９年) Javanese calendar 559–560 Julian calendar 668 DCLXVIII Korean calendar 3001 Minguo calendar 1244 before ROC 民前1244年 Nanakshahi calendar −800 Seleucid era 979/980 AG Thai solar calendar 1210–1211 Tibetan calendar མེ་མོ་ཡོས་ལོ་ (female Fire-Hare) 794 or 413 or −359 — to — ས་ཕོ་འབྲུག་ལོ་ (male Earth-Dragon) 795 or 414 or −358

[Mosaic](/source/Mosaic) panel of [Constantine IV](/source/Constantine_IV) ([Ravenna](/source/Ravenna))

Year **668** (**[DCLXVIII](/source/Roman_numerals)**) was a [leap year starting on Saturday](/source/Leap_year_starting_on_Saturday) of the [Julian calendar](/source/Julian_calendar). The denomination 668 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the [Anno Domini](/source/Anno_Domini) [calendar era](/source/Calendar_era) became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

## Events

### By place

#### Byzantine Empire

- [July 15](/source/July_15) – Emperor [Constans II](/source/Constans_II) is killed under mysterious circumstances in his [bath](/source/Bathtub), during a [mutiny](/source/Mutiny) at [Syracuse](/source/Syracuse%2C_Sicily). The Byzantine court returns to [Constantinople](/source/Constantinople) after an absence of 5 years, in which the [Muslim-Arabs](/source/Umayyad_Caliphate) have made annual invasions and devastations of [Anatolia](/source/Anatolia). Probably [assassinated](/source/Assassination) by his [chamberlain](/source/Chamberlain_(office)) after a 27-year reign, Constans is succeeded by his son [Constantine IV](/source/Constantine_IV) (the "Bearded"), alongside his brothers [Heraclius](/source/Heraclius_(son_of_Constans_II)) and [Tiberius](/source/Tiberius_(son_of_Constans_II)) as co-emperors.

- [Mezezius](/source/Mezezius), Byzantine general and *[patrikios](/source/Patrician_(ancient_Rome)#Late_Roman_and_Byzantine_period)* ("first patrician"), is proclaimed emperor by the army in Syracuse. Constantine IV organizes an expedition to suppress the military revolt in [Sicily](/source/Sicily).

#### Europe

- [Ebroin](/source/Ebroin), [mayor of the palace](/source/Mayor_of_the_palace), becomes *de facto* ruler of [Neustria](/source/Neustria) and (in theory) "of the [Franks](/source/Franks)". According to [Bede](/source/Bede), he runs the nation's [foreign policy](/source/Foreign_policy) and [internal security](/source/Internal_security).

- [Kotrag](/source/Kotrag), ruler (*[khagan](/source/Khagan)*) of [Great Bulgaria](/source/Old_Great_Bulgaria), leads the [Khazars](/source/Khazars) in overthrowing his brother [Batbayan](/source/Batbayan_of_Bulgaria) of the [Onogurs](/source/Onogurs), and moves south into the [Carpathian Mountains](/source/Carpathian_Mountains).

- [Asparukh](/source/Asparukh_of_Bulgaria), leader of the [Utigurs](/source/Utigurs), leaves the [Ongal](/source/Danube_Delta) area to Kotrag, and leads his people into [Moesia](/source/Moesia) in [Northern Bulgaria](/source/Northern_Bulgaria) (approximate date).

#### Arabian Empire

- Caliph [Muawiyah I](/source/Muawiyah_I) receives an invitation from [Saborios](/source/Saborios), Byzantine commander of the troops in [Armenia](/source/Armenia), to help overthrow Constantine IV in Constantinople.[1] He sends a Muslim army under his son [Yazid](/source/Yazid_I), against the [Byzantine Empire](/source/Byzantine_Empire).

- Yazid reaches [Chalcedon](/source/Chalcedon) in [Bithynia](/source/Bithynia), and takes the important Byzantine center [Amorium](/source/Amorium) (modern [Turkey](/source/Turkey)).[2]

- [Arab](/source/Arab_people) forces conquer the [Garamantes](/source/Garamantes) in the [Sahara](/source/Sahara) desert ([Libya](/source/Libya)).

#### Asia

- Chinese troops sent by the [Tang dynasty](/source/Tang_dynasty) emperor [Gao Zong](/source/Emperor_Gaozong_of_Tang) complete their expedition in the [Korean Peninsula](/source/Korean_Peninsula). Leaders of the expedition have been selected by the emperor's powerful concubine [Wu Zetian](/source/Wu_Zetian). The kingdom of [Goguryeo](/source/Goguryeo) is overthrown; the [Unified Silla](/source/Unified_Silla) period starts.

- Emperor [Tenji](/source/Emperor_Tenji) of [Japan](/source/Japan) officially accedes to the throne, and hunts on the Moor of Ōmi-Gamōno. The letters exchanged between prince [Ōama](/source/Emperor_Temmu) and [princess Nukata](/source/Princess_Nukata) are recorded in [Man'yōshū](/source/Man'y%C5%8Dsh%C5%AB).

- The monk [Gyōki](/source/Gy%C5%8Dki), one of the founders of [Japanese Buddhism](/source/Japanese_Buddhism), is born in the Ōtori District of [Kawachi Province](/source/Kawachi_Province).[3]

### By topic

#### Religion

- [Theodore of Tarsus](/source/Theodore_of_Tarsus) is made [archbishop of Canterbury](/source/Archbishop_of_Canterbury). He introduces a strict Roman [parochial](/source/Parochialism) system that becomes the model for the [secular state](/source/Secular_state).

- [Colman of Lindisfarne](/source/Colman_of_Lindisfarne), accompanied by 30 [disciples](/source/Disciple_(Christianity)), sails for [Ireland](/source/Ireland), settling down at [Inishbofin](/source/Inishbofin%2C_County_Galway) and founds a [monastery](/source/Monastery).[4]

## Births

- [Al-Walid I](/source/Al-Walid_I), Muslim [caliph](/source/Caliph) (d. [715](/source/715))

- [Gyōki](/source/Gy%C5%8Dki), Japanese [Buddhist](/source/Buddhism) priest (d. [749](/source/749))

- [Justinian II](/source/Justinian_II), Eastern Roman Emperor (d. [711](/source/AD_711))

## Deaths

- [September 15](/source/September_15) – [Constans II](/source/Constans_II), Byzantine emperor (b. [630](/source/630))

- [Brahmagupta](/source/Brahmagupta), Indian [mathematician](/source/Indian_mathematics) and [astronomer](/source/Indian_astronomy) (b. ca. [598](/source/598))

- [Judoc](/source/Judoc), Breton [noble](/source/Nobility) and [Catholic](/source/Catholicism) saint (b. [600](/source/600))

- [Saborios](/source/Saborios), Byzantine general (approximate date)

- [Wandregisel](/source/Wandregisel), Frankish [monk](/source/Monk) and [abbot](/source/Abbot)

- [Zhiyan](/source/Zhiyan), Chinese (Buddhist) patriarch (b. [602](/source/602))

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBury1889306_1-0)** [Bury 1889](#CITEREFBury1889), p. 306.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBury1889307_2-0)** [Bury 1889](#CITEREFBury1889), p. 307.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Kashiwahara Y., Sonoda K. "Shapers of Japanese Buddhism", Kosei (1994)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWalsh2007127_4-0)** [Walsh 2007](#CITEREFWalsh2007), p. 127.

### Sources

- [Bury, John Bagnall](/source/J._B._Bury) (1889). *A History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene*. Vol. II. London: Macmillan.

- Walsh, Michael (2007). *A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West*. London: Burns & Oats. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-86012-438-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-86012-438-2).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [668](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/668) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/668?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.