WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 3. CENTURY
Find out what all happened in the first half of the 3. century

Pope Fabian succeeds Anterus to become the twentieth pope of Rome. (10. January 236)

Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Pope Fabian is martyred. (20. January 250)

Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians. He leaves the empire in the control of his two quarrelling sons. (4. February 211)

Emperor Gordian III is murdered by mutinous soldiers in Zaitha (Mesopotamia). A mound is raised at Carchemish in his memory. (11. February 244)

Coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place, initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty's rule over China. (28. February 202. BC)

Roman subjects in the province of Africa revolt against Maximinus Thrax and elect Gordian I as emperor. (7. March 238)

First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands – The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end. (10. March 241. BC)

Emperor Elagabalus is assassinated, along with his mother, Julia Soaemias, by the Praetorian Guard during a revolt. Their mutilated bodies are dragged through the streets of Rome before being thrown into the Tiber. (11. March 222)

Liu Bei, a Chinese warlord and member of the Han royal house, declares himself emperor of Shu-Han and claims his legitimate succession to the Han Dynasty. (15. March 221)

Emperor Alexander Severus and his mother Julia Mamaea were murdered by legionaries near Moguntiacum (modern Mainz). The Severan dynasty ended. (18. March 235)

Maximinus Thrax is proclaimed emperor. He is the first foreigner to hold the Roman throne. (20. March 235)

Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman Emperors. (22. March 238)

Roman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated (and succeeded) by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus. (8. April 217)

Gordian II loses the Battle of Carthage against the Numidian forces loyal to Maximinus Thrax and is killed. Gordian I, his father, commits suicide. (12. April 238)

Shapur I is crowned as king of the Sasanian Empire. (12. April 240)

Year of the Six Emperors: The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus and Balbinus, to the throne. (22. April 238)

A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene. (23. April 215. BC)

Julia Maesa, aunt of the assassinated Caracalla, is banished to her home in Syria by the self-proclaimed emperor Macrinus and declares her 14-year old grandson Elagabalus, emperor of Rome. (16. May 218)

First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. (25. May 240. BC)

Battle of Antioch: with the support of the Syrian legions, Elagabalus defeats the forces of emperor Macrinus. He flees, but is captured near Chalcedon and later executed in Cappadocia. (8. June 218)