3rd century

Millennium:	1st millennium
Centuries:	2nd century · 3rd century · 4th century
Decades:	200s 210s 220s 230s 240s 250s 260s 270s 280s 290s
Categories:	Births – Deaths Establishments – Disestablishments

The 3rd century is the period from 201 to 300 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era.

Overview

Map of the world in AD 250

After the death of Commodus in the previous century the Roman Empire was plunged into a civil war. When the dust settled, Septimius Severus emerged as emperor, establishing the Severan dynasty. Unlike previous emperors, he openly used the army to back his authority, and paid them well to do so. The regime he created is known as the Military Monarchy as a result. The system fell apart in the 230s, giving way to a fifty-year period known as the Military Anarchy or the Crisis of the 3rd Century, where no fewer than twenty emperors held the reins of power, most for only a few months. The majority of these men were assassinated, or killed in battle, and the empire almost collapsed under the weight of the political upheaval, as well as the growing Persian threat in the east. Under its new Sassanid rulers, Persia had grown into a rival superpower, and the Romans would have to make drastic reforms in order to better prepare their state for a confrontation. These reforms were finally realized late in the century under the reign of Diocletian, one of them being to divide the empire into an eastern and western half, and have a separate ruler for each.

Events

The Baths of Caracalla, in 2003

• 208: the Chinese naval Battle of Red Cliffs occurs
• 212: Constitutio Antoniniana grants citizenship to all free Roman men
• 212–216: Baths of Caracalla
• 220: The Han Dynasty comes to an end with establish of the Wei Dynasty.
• 230–232: Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east
• 235–284: Crisis of the Third Century shakes Roman Empire
• 250–538: Kofun era, the first part of the Yamato period in Japan
• 258: Valerian's Massacre of Christians
• 260: Roman Emperor Valerian I is taken captive by Shapur I of Persia
• 184–280: Period of the Three Kingdoms in China
• 280–420: Jin Dynasty of China
• Sarnath becomes a center of Buddhist arts in India
• Diffusion of maize as a food crop from Mexico into North America begins
• The Kingdom of Funan reaches its zenith under the rule of Fan Shih-man
• The Goths move from Gothiscandza to Ukraine and she the Chernyakhov culture

Significant persons

• Clement of Alexandria
• Diocletian, Roman emperor
• Diophantus of Alexandria, wrote Arithmetica
• Hippolytus, considered first Antipope
• Liu Hui, Chinese mathematician
• Mani, founder of Manichaeism
• Origen
• Pappus of Alexandria, Greek mathematician
• Plotinus, founder of Neoplatonism
• Tertullian, sometimes called father of Latin church
• Wang Pi, Taoist
• M. Sattonius Iucundus, restorer of the Thermae in Heerlen
• Zhuge Liang, known as the greatest strategist during the period of the Three Kingdoms
• Liu Bei, founding emperor of the Kingdom of Shu
• Cao Cao, founding emperor of the Kingdom of Wei

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

• A primitive form of glasses were developed for a nearsighted princess in Syria.
• The South Pointing Chariot invented by Ma Jun, a wheeled mechanical device that acts as a directional compass

Decades and years

[[::Decades|Decades]] and [[::Years|Years]]

3rd century

[[::1st century|1st century]] ←[[::2nd century|2nd century]] ← ↔ →[[::4th century|4th century]]→[[::5th century|5th century]]

[[::190s|190s]]	[[::190|190]]	[[::191|191]]	[[::192|192]]	[[::193|193]]	[[::194|194]]	[[::195|195]]	[[::196|196]]	[[::197|197]]	[[::198|198]]	[[::199|199]]
[[::200–209|200–209]]	[[::200|200]]	[[::201|201]]	[[::202|202]]	[[::203|203]]	[[::204|204]]	[[::205|205]]	[[::206|206]]	[[::207|207]]	[[::208|208]]	[[::209|209]]
[[::210s|210s]]	[[::210|210]]	[[::211|211]]	[[::212|212]]	[[::213|213]]	[[::214|214]]	[[::215|215]]	[[::216|216]]	[[::217|217]]	[[::218|218]]	[[::219|219]]
[[::220s|220s]]	[[::220|220]]	[[::221|221]]	[[::222|222]]	[[::223|223]]	[[::224|224]]	[[::225|225]]	[[::226|226]]	[[::227|227]]	[[::228|228]]	[[::229|229]]
[[::230s|230s]]	[[::230|230]]	[[::231|231]]	[[::232|232]]	[[::233|233]]	[[::234|234]]	[[::235|235]]	[[::236|236]]	[[::237|237]]	[[::238|238]]	[[::239|239]]
[[::240s|240s]]	[[::240|240]]	[[::241|241]]	[[::242|242]]	[[::243|243]]	[[::244|244]]	[[::245|245]]	[[::246|246]]	[[::247|247]]	[[::248|248]]	[[::249|249]]
[[::250s|250s]]	[[::250|250]]	[[::251|251]]	[[::252|252]]	[[::253|253]]	[[::254|254]]	[[::255|255]]	[[::256|256]]	[[::257|257]]	[[::258|258]]	[[::259|259]]
[[::260s|260s]]	[[::260|260]]	[[::261|261]]	[[::262|262]]	[[::263|263]]	[[::264|264]]	[[::265|265]]	[[::266|266]]	[[::267|267]]	[[::268|268]]	[[::269|269]]
[[::270s|270s]]	[[::270|270]]	[[::271|271]]	[[::272|272]]	[[::273|273]]	[[::274|274]]	[[::275|275]]	[[::276|276]]	[[::277|277]]	[[::278|278]]	[[::279|279]]
[[::280s|280s]]	[[::280|280]]	[[::281|281]]	[[::282|282]]	[[::283|283]]	[[::284|284]]	[[::285|285]]	[[::286|286]]	[[::287|287]]	[[::288|288]]	[[::289|289]]
[[::290s|290s]]	[[::290|290]]	[[::291|291]]	[[::292|292]]	[[::293|293]]	[[::294|294]]	[[::295|295]]	[[::296|296]]	[[::297|297]]	[[::298|298]]	[[::299|299]]
[[::300–309|300–309]]	[[::300|300]]	[[::301|301]]	[[::302|302]]	[[::303|303]]	[[::304|304]]	[[::305|305]]	[[::306|306]]	[[::307|307]]	[[::308|308]]	[[::309|309]]

[[::Centuries|Centuries]] and [[::Millennia|Millennia]]

Millennium	Century
Before Christ / Before Common Era (BC/BCE)
[[::4th millennium BC|4th]]:	[[::40th century BC|40th]]	[[::39th century BC|39th]]	[[::38th century BC|38th]]	[[::37th century BC|37th]]	[[::36th century BC|36th]]	[[::35th century BC|35th]]	[[::34th century BC|34th]]	[[::33rd century BC|33rd]]	[[::32nd century BC|32nd]]	[[::31st century BC|31st]]
[[::3rd millennium BC|3rd]]:	[[::30th century BC|30th]]	[[::29th century BC|29th]]	[[::28th century BC|28th]]	[[::27th century BC|27th]]	[[::26th century BC|26th]]	[[::25th century BC|25th]]	[[::24th century BC|24th]]	[[::23rd century BC|23rd]]	[[::22nd century BC|22nd]]	[[::21st century BC|21st]]
[[::2nd millennium BC|2nd]]:	[[::20th century BC|20th]]	[[::19th century BC|19th]]	[[::18th century BC|18th]]	[[::17th century BC|17th]]	[[::16th century BC|16th]]	[[::15th century BC|15th]]	[[::14th century BC|14th]]	[[::13th century BC|13th]]	[[::12th century BC|12th]]	[[::11th century BC|11th]]
[[::1st millennium BC|1st]]:	[[::10th century BC|10th]]	[[::9th century BC|9th]]	[[::8th century BC|8th]]	[[::7th century BC|7th]]	[[::6th century BC|6th]]	[[::5th century BC|5th]]	[[::4th century BC|4th]]	[[::3rd century BC|3rd]]	[[::2nd century BC|2nd]]	[[::1st century BC|1st]]
Anno Domini / Common Era (AD/CE)
[[::1st millennium|1st]]:	[[::1st century|1st]]	[[::2nd century|2nd]]	[[::3rd century|3rd]]	[[::4th century|4th]]	[[::5th century|5th]]	[[::6th century|6th]]	[[::7th century|7th]]	[[::8th century|8th]]	[[::9th century|9th]]	[[::10th century|10th]]
[[::2nd millennium|2nd]]:	[[::11th century|11th]]	[[::12th century|12th]]	[[::13th century|13th]]	[[::14th century|14th]]	[[::15th century|15th]]	[[::16th century|16th]]	[[::17th century|17th]]	[[::18th century|18th]]	[[::19th century|19th]]	[[::20th century|20th]]
[[::3rd millennium|3rd]]:	[[::21st century|21st]]	[[::22nd century|22nd]]	[[::23rd century|23rd]]	[[::24th century|24th]]	[[::25th century|25th]]	[[::26th century|26th]]	[[::27th century|27th]]	[[::28th century|28th]]	[[::29th century|29th]]	[[::30th century|30th]]
[[::4th millennium|4th]]:	[[::31st century|31st]]