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The 280s

108 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.

280 CE20 entries

  • Julius Saturninus, governor of Syria, is in Alexandria, charged with the defense of the East. He is declared emperor and withdraws to Apamea. Probus besieges the city and puts him to death.
  • The Germans destroy the Roman fleet on the Rhine; Bonosus is proclaimed emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne).
  • The Thuringi, a Germanic tribe, appears in the Harz Mountains (Thuringia) of central Germania.

281 CE6 entries

  • Tiberianus served his first of two terms as Consul.
  • Emperor Probus returns to Rome, where he celebrates his triumph over the Vandals and the usurpers (Bonosus, Julius Saturninus and Proculus).
  • The tombs of King Zhao of Zhou and King Mu of Zhou were "rifled".

282 CE10 entries

  • The Patriarch Theonas of Alexandria becomes one of the first bishops to use the title Pope.
  • Carus appoints his sons Carinus and Numerian as Caesar.
  • Emperor Probus travels towards Sirmium (Serbia). He tries to employ his troops in peaceful projects, such as draining the swamps in Pannonia.

283 CE16 entries

  • December 17 – Pope Caius succeeds Eutychian as the 28th pope of Rome.
  • Exploiting the Persian civil war, Carus leaves Carinus in charge of much of the Roman Empire and, accompanied by his younger son Numerian, invades the Sassanid Empire. They sack Seleucia and Ctesiphon, the capital of the Persian kingdom, and they press on beyond the Tigris. For his victories, Carus receives the title of Persicus Maximus.
  • Carinus and Numerian succeed their father Carus. Numerian, who had accompanied his father into the Persian Empire, leads the army back to Roman territory.

284 CE12 entries

  • November 20 – The commander of Numerian's domestici (household troops), Diocles, is chosen to be the new emperor. In a military assembly outside Nicomedia (modern İzmit, Turkey), Diocles claims that the praetorian prefect (and rival for the throne) Arrius Aper murdered Numerian, and he personally stabs and kills the prefect on the spot. The new emperor changes his name to the Latinised 'Diocletian'. Building on existing trends, Diocletian presents his rule as that of a god-like dominus or autocrat.
  • Emperor Numerian travels through Bithynia (Asia Minor) on his way home to Rome. Suffering from an inflammation of the eyes, he travels in a closed litter in which soldiers find his decaying corpse.
  • King of Kings Bahram II installs Mirian III, of the House of Mihran, on the throne of the Kingdom of Iberia. Mirian would rule the kingdom until his death in c. 361.

285 CE8 entries

  • Spring – Emperor Carinus marches from Britain to northern Italy, and defeats the army of usurper Sabinus Julianus at Verona.
  • Carausius, naval commander at Bononia (modern-day Boulogne), is given the task of clearing the English Channel of Frankish and Saxon pirates.
  • Summer – Battle of the Margus: Emperor Diocletian defeats the forces of Carinus in the valley of the Margus (Serbia). Numerous soldiers desert Carinus during the battle. Carinus then flees to the Pannonian fort of Cornacum, but he is soon slain by his officers.

286 CE10 entries

  • Emperor Diocletian campaigns successfully against Sarmatian raids. The future emperor Constantius defeats the 'Bosporian Sarmatians'.
  • Chaekgye becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.
  • Summer: Carausius, commander of the Classis Britannica, is accused of piracy by Maximian and is sentenced to death. He responds by declaring himself emperor of Britain and Northwestern Gaul. His forces consist of the newly built Roman fleet and three legions in Britain. The Carausian Revolt is supported by Gaulish merchant ships and Frankish mercenaries.

287 CE9 entries

  • September – The first Indiction begins.
  • Around this time, the future emperor Constantius defeats and captures a Germanic king, the latter having prepared an ambush against the Romans.
  • Diocletian signs a peace treaty with King Bahram II of Persia, and installs the pro-Roman Arsacid Tiridates III as king over the western portion of Armenia.

288 CE10 entries

  • Around this time, an army loyal to Maximian, probably led by the future emperor Constantius, defeats the usurper Carausius or his Frankish allies in northern Gaul. In this or the following year, Carausius withdraws his military forces and administrative presence from Gaul, confining himself to Roman Britain.
  • Emperor Diocletian launches a campaign into Germanic territory from the province of Raetia (Switzerland).
  • Around this time, Constantius marries Maximian's stepdaughter, Theodora, and it may also be around this time that the general Galerius marries Diocletian's daughter Galeria Valeria.

289 CE7 entries

  • In this or the following year, Emperor Diocletian campaigns with success against the Sarmatians. The future emperor Galerius may have distinguished himself during this campaign.
  • In this or the following year, Maximian attempts to reconquer Britain from the usurper Carausius but is defeated at sea.