Year 478 (CDLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Illus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1231 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 478 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

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• Narses, Byzantine general (d. 573)

• Lupus of Troyes, French bishop and saint (approximate date)
• Shen Youzhi, Chinese general of Liu Song