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The 200s

139 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 3rd century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

200 CE26 entries

  • September-November - Battle of Guandu: Chinese warlord Cao Cao defeats his rival Yuan Shao.
  • Rudrasena I, Saka ruler of the Western Satrap dynasty, becomes king of Malwa in Classical India.
  • The Severan Tondo, depicting Septimius Severus, Julia Domna and their children Geta and Caracalla, from Fayum, Egypt, is made. It is now kept at Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Antikensammlung.

201 CE6 entries

  • November – A flood in Edessa destroys a Christian church, killing over 2,000 people.
  • Lucius Annius Fabianus and Marcus Nonius Arrius Mucianus become Roman Consuls.
  • Battle of Cangting: Warlord Cao Cao defeats his rival, Yuan Shao.

202 CE13 entries

  • Some 400,000 slaves perform the menial work of Rome, with middle-class citizens often owning eight; the rich from 500 to 1,000; an emperor as many as 20,000. Free urban workers enjoy 17 to 18 hours of leisure each day, with free admission to baths, sport events and gladiatorial games.
  • Emperor Septimius Severus returns to Rome after a five-year absence. Festivals are held to celebrate his six-year reign. Severus undertakes changes in the imperial government, giving the Roman army a dominant role, raising pay in the legions and permitting legionaries to marry in order to secure their loyalty.
  • Severus launches a campaign in Africa; Legio III Augusta under Quintus Anicius Faustus fights a guerrilla war against the Garamantes along the Limes Tripolitanus. They capture several settlements such as Cydamus, Gholaia and their capital Garama, 600 km south of Lepcis Magna. The province of Numidia is enlarged: the Romans annex Castellum Dimmidi, Gemellae and Vescera.

203 CE13 entries

  • Battle of Xiakou: Warlord Sun Quan battles his rival Huang Zu along the Yangtze River near Wuhan.
  • An arch dedicated to Septimius Severus is erected near the Forum.
  • Gaius Fulvius Plautianus and Publius Septimius Geta become Roman Consuls.

204 CE16 entries

  • A trade recession in the Leptis Magna region (Africa) is alleviated by Emperor Septimius Severus, who buys up the country's olive oil for free distribution in Rome.
  • Lucius Fabius Cilo and Marcus Annius Flavius Libo become Roman Consuls.
  • Battle of Ye: Warlord Cao Cao lays siege to and captures the military headquarter of Yuan Shao in Ye.

205 CE17 entries

  • January 22 – Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, a praetorian prefect and father-in-law of Caracalla, is assassinated.
  • Battle of Nanpi: Warlord Cao Cao defeats and kills Yuan Tan, the eldest son of his rival Yuan Shao.
  • Aemilius Papinianus becomes praetorian prefect, after the death of Gaius Fulvius Plautianus.

206 CE7 entries

  • Emperor Septimius Severus goes to Britain, with his sons Caracalla and Geta.
  • Hadrian's Wall is retaken for the first time, since the Pictish uprising of 180.

207 CE7 entries

  • Battle of White Wolf Mountain: Warlord Cao Cao defeats the Wuhuan tribes, sending the Wuhuan into decline.

208 CE21 entries

  • Ardashir I, ruler of Istakhr (Persia), revolts against his brother and founds the Sassanid Dynasty.
  • Britain is divided: in the north, Lower Britain (Britannia Inferior) is administered from the fortress at Eburacum (modern York), and in the south, Upper Britain (Britannia Superior) is controlled by the legions at Deva Victrix (Chester) and Isca Augusta (Caerleon) with its capital at Londinium (London).
  • Emperor Septimius Severus leads an expedition (20,000 men) into Britannia, crosses Hadrian's Wall and moves through eastern Scotland. The Roman army pushes the Caledonians back to the River Tay and Severus signs a peace treaty. He repairs the Antonine Wall (his repairs are sometimes called the Severan Wall).

209 CE13 entries

  • Septimius Severus makes plans to subdue the land to the north of Scotland, ravaging it severely. Road-building and forest-clearing, the Roman army reaches Aber; Scottish tribes begin guerrilla warfare.
  • Chandra Shri Satakarni begins his reign, as ruler of the Satavahana Dynasty in Andhra Pradesh (approximate date).
  • Publius Septimius Geta receives the titles of Imperator and Augustus from his father, Emperor Septimius Severus.