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The 160s

118 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 2nd century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

160 CE13 entries

  • Appian writes Ρωμαικα, known in English as the Roman History, in which he includes the history of each nation conquered up until the moment of its conquest.
  • In Rome, the manufacturing of soap containing grease, lime and ashes begins.
  • In Jiuzhen (modern day Northern Vietnam) during the second Era of Northern Domination, a rebellion broke out but was swiftly quelled when the rebels surrendered to the newly appointed governor of Jiaozhi, who had previously governed the commandery in the 140s.

161 CE11 entries

  • March 7 – Emperor Antoninus Pius dies, and is succeeded by Marcus Aurelius, who shares imperial power with Lucius Verus, although Marcus retains the title Pontifex Maximus.
  • Autumn – The Parthians invade Armenia, and install their own candidate on the throne. A legion (perhaps Legio IX Hispana) is destroyed at Elegeia.
  • Aurelius reduces the weight of a goldpiece, the aureus, from 7.81 grams to 7.12 grams.

162 CE4 entries

  • Lucius Verus begins a war with the Parthians, due to the invasion of Syria and Armenia by King Vologases IV of Parthia.
  • Arrian, Greek historian and writer, publishes Indica, a work on India and its people.

163 CE7 entries

  • Marcus Statius Priscus re-conquers Armenia; the capital city of Artaxata is ruined.

164 CE8 entries

  • Emperor Marcus Aurelius gives his daughter Lucilla in marriage to his co-emperor Lucius Verus.
  • Avidius Cassius, one of Lucius Verus' generals, crosses the Euphrates and invades Parthia.
  • The Antonine Wall in Scotland is abandoned by the Romans.

165 CE23 entries

  • Discourse to the Greek (Oratio ad Graecos), by the Syrian Tatian, is the first treatise on the evils of paganism in Christian literature.
  • The philosopher Justin of Nablus is executed in Rome as a Christian.
  • Antonine Plague: A pandemic breaks out in Rome, after the Roman army returns from Parthia. The plague significantly depopulates the Roman Empire and China.

166 CE14 entries

  • A plague (possibly small pox) comes from the East and spreads throughout the Roman Empire, lasting for roughly twenty years.
  • The Lombards invade Pannonia (modern Hungary). They are quickly dispatched by the Roman Army.
  • A Roman envoy arrives by sea in Rinan commandery, in southern China (central Vietnam). He travels to the Chinese capital Luoyang, and is greeted by Emperor Huan of the Han dynasty.

167 CE10 entries

  • The Marcomanni tribe wages war against the Romans at Aquileia. They destroy aqueducts and irrigation conduits. Marcus Aurelius repels the invaders, ending the Pax Romana (Roman Peace) that has kept the Roman Empire free of conflict since the days of Emperor Augustus.
  • The Vandals (Astingi and Lacringi) and the Sarmatian Iazyges invade Dacia. To counter them, Legio V Macedonica, returning from the Parthian War, moves its headquarters from Troesmis in Moesia Inferior to Potaissa in Dacia Porolissensis.
  • The Germans devastate the Balkans and ransack the sanctuary of Eleusis, near Athens.

168 CE13 entries

  • Emperor Ling of Han succeeds Emperor Huan of Han as the emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty; the first year of the Jianning era.
  • The Roman army crosses the Alps into Pannonia, and subdues the Marcomanni at Carnuntum, north of the Danube.
  • Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his adopted brother Lucius Verus leave Rome, and establish their headquarters at Aquileia.

169 CE15 entries

  • Marcus Aurelius forces his daughter Lucilla into marriage with Claudius Pompeianus.
  • Marcomannic Wars: Germanic tribes invade the frontiers of the Roman Empire, specifically the provinces of Raetia and Moesia.
  • Confucian scholars who had denounced the court eunuchs are arrested, killed or banished from the capital of Luoyang and official life during the second episode of the Disasters of Partisan Prohibitions, which does not formally end until 184 with the onslaught of the Yellow Turban Rebellion.