Year 481 (CDLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Maecius without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1234 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 481 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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• Childeric I, king of the Salian Franks (or 482)
• Sabinianus Magnus, Roman general
• Theodoric Strabo, Ostrogothic chieftain
• Timothy III, patriarch of Alexandria