Crime & Justice in the 3rd century

36 sourced entries, 200 CE to 297 CE, oldest first. Also see Crime & Justice across every century or everything else in the 3rd century.

• 200In Japan, Himiko, whose capital is situated in Yamatai, extends her authority over a number of clans.source
• 200The 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.source
• 200Clement of Alexandria denounces the use of musical instruments instead of human voices in Christian music.source
• 202Some 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.source
• 203The Portico of Octavia is reconstructed.source
• 212Roman jurist Papinian, one of the famous jurists who flourished during the reign of the late emperor Septimius Severus, refuses to write a legal defence for the murder of Caracalla's brother, Emperor Geta. He is beheaded in Rome, in Caracalla's presence.source
• 212Caracalla quiets the objections of the Roman army to Geta's murder, by huge donations.source
• 214The conspiracy against Cao Cao was leaked, empress Fu Shou was arrested by Cao Cao and incarcerated to death.source
• 218Diadumenianus, son of Macrinus, escapes to the Parthian court, but is captured at Zeugma and also put to death.source
• 224September – In the Eastern Wu Kingdom, the Emperor Sun Quan orders the demotion of General Zhang Wen and his removal from command, commenting in the decree, "Oh, Zhang Wen, you are so fortunate to be spared from death." Two other officers, General Ji Yan and General Xu Biao are arrested and permitted to commit suicide rather than to be executed.source
• 227Seius Sallustius is executed for the attempted murder of his son-in-law, Emperor Alexander Severus. Sallustius' daughter, as well as Alexander's wife, Sallustia Orbiana, is exiled to Libya.source
• 228Domitius Ulpianus, a Roman jurist and prefect, is assassinated by the Praetorian Guard, in the presence of Emperor Severus Alexander. His curtailment of the privileges of the palace guard becomes Ulpianus' downfall, who in the course of a riot at Rome is murdered, between the soldiers and the mob.source
• 235March 22 – Emperor Severus Alexander and his mother Iulia Mamaea are murdered by their own soldiers. The soldiers proclaim Maximinus Thrax as emperor. The Severan dynasty ends, marking the beginning of the Crisis of the Third Century.source
• 236The Roman Senate appoints a twenty-man committee to co-ordinate operations against Maximinus.source
• 238The Colosseum is restored after being damaged.source
• 244Plotinus, Greek philosopher, escapes the bloodshed that accompanies the murder of Gordianus III and makes his way to Antioch. Back in Rome he founds his Neoplatonist school and attracts disciples like Porphyry, Castricius Firmus and Eustochius of Alexandria.source
• 249In Alexandria, the populace pillages the homes of Christians.source
• 253Aemilianus is proclaimed "enemy of the State" by the Roman Senate. Trebonianus Gallus is defeated at Interamna Nahars (Umbria); he flees with Volusianus to the north, but at Foligno they are killed by their own troops.source
• 253Lucius is arrested almost immediately following his election and also exiled.source
• 259The Roman fort of Wiesbaden (Germany) is captured by the Alamanni (possibly 260).source
• 259Postumus, governor of Gaul, declares himself Emperor, and continues to rule the Gallic Empire until 269, when he is killed by his soldiers.source
• 268Marcus Aurelius Claudius, who may have murdered Gallienus, becomes the new emperor of Rome and will reign as Claudius II.source
• 268Victorinus is declared emperor of the Gallic Empire by the legions at Augusta Treverorum (Trier), following the murders of his predecessors. He is recognized by the provinces of Gaul and Britain, but Hispania might have reunited with the Roman Empire.source
• 268Gallienus is killed by his senior officers at Mediolanum (Milan) while besieging his rival Aureolus. Aureolus is murdered in turn by the Praetorian guard.source
• 269Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus is killed by his own troops, after not allowing them to sack the city of Mogontiacum.source
• 272Following a series of trials held in Emesa, Cassius Longinus and other advisors of Zenobia are executed for conspiring against Aurelian.source
• 276Probus invites the faction responsible for the murders of Aurelian and Tacitus to a banquet, only to massacre them. He then arrests a surviving conspirator and has him burned alive.source
• 277Tuoba Xilu succeeds his father Tuoba Liwei, as chieftain of the Tuoba clan.source
• 278Piracy along the coast of Lycia et Pamphylia: The Romans besiege the city of Cremna (Pisidia) and kill the Isaurian robber Lydius.source
• 282The praetorian prefect Marcus Aurelius Carus usurps power in Raetia. Probus attempts to organise a campaign against Carus but is murdered by his discontented troops in Sirmium.source
• 284November 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.source
• 284Sabinus Julianus, the praetorian prefect of Emperor Carinus, exploits the instability and usurps the throne in northern Italy.source
• 286Summer: 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.source
• 287September – The first Indiction begins.source
• 293Towards the end of the year, Carausius is murdered by his finance minister Allectus, who proclaims himself the new emperor of Britain.source
• 297August: Domitius Domitianus launches a usurpation against Diocletian in Egypt. He is perhaps aided by popular discontent with Diocletian's taxation reform.source