Culture & Society in the 3rd century

28 sourced entries, 200 CE to 288 CE, oldest first. Also see Culture & Society across every century or everything else in the 3rd century.

• 200The Classic Age of Maya civilization begins (around this year).source
• 202Emperor 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.source
• 203An arch dedicated to Septimius Severus is erected near the Forum.source
• 209Chandra Shri Satakarni begins his reign, as ruler of the Satavahana Dynasty in Andhra Pradesh (approximate date).source
• 216The Baths of Caracalla in Rome are completed with public baths (Thermae), reading rooms, auditoriums, running tracks, and public gardens that cover 20 acres.source
• 216Emperor Caracalla tricks the Parthians by accepting a marriage proposal. He slaughters his bride and the wedding guests after the celebrations.source
• 216The basilica of Leptis Magna, ordered by Septimius Severus, is completed.source
• 217According to a tradition noted by 19th-century historian Stephen Glover, the earliest recorded game of association football (soccer) took place in Derby, England as a celebration on Shrove Tuesday, the day before commencement of the Lent season on Ash Wednesday, and 47 days before Easter Sundaysource
• 219Julia Maesa arranges, for her grandson Elagabalus, a marriage with Julia Paula. The wedding is a lavish ceremony and Paula is given the honorific title of Augusta.source
• 220Elagabalus divorces Julia Paula and marries Aquilia Severa, a Vestal Virgin. The wedding causes an enormous controversy – traditionally, the punishment for breaking celibacy is death by being buried alive.source
• 221June 26 – Emperor Elagabalus adopts his cousin Alexander Severus as his heir, and receives the title of Caesar.source
• 221July – Elagabalus is forced to divorce Aquilia Severa, and marries his third wife Annia Faustina. After five months he returns to Severa, and claims that the original divorce is invalid. The marriage is symbolic, because Elagabalus appears to be homosexual or bisexual. According to the historian Cassius Dio, he has a stable relationship with his chariot driver, the slave Hierocles.source
• 224January 20 – (Huang'chu era, 4th year, 12th month and the bing'yin day) At the Cao Weis kingdom's capital at Xuchang, in what is now the Henan province of China, the Emperor Cao Pi issues a decree demoting the former Emperor Xian of Han to "Duke of Shanyang" and gives Xian's late daughter, Liu Man the posthumous title of "Princess of Changle"source
• 225The first Christian paintings appear in Rome, decorating the Catacombs.source
• 225Emperor Alexander Severus marries Sallustia Orbiana, and possibly raises her father Seius Sallustius to the rank of Caesar.source
• 240April 12 – Prince Shapur I becomes co-ruler of the Sasanian Empire with his father King Ardashir I.source
• 244244–245 – Last phase of construction of the house-style Dura-Europos synagogue in Syria, one of the oldest to survive (wall-paintings in the National Museum of Damascus, Syria).source
• 244244–249 – Bust of Philip the Arab (in Braccio Nuovo, Vatican Museums, Rome).source
• 247Emperor Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome by holding the Ludi Saeculares.source
• 247Rome becomes 1,000 years old. The 1,000th anniversary is commemorated with the Ludi Saeculares festivals, celebrated throughout the Roman Empire.source
• 248The Roman Empire continues the celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Rome, with the ludi saeculares, organized by Philip the Arab.source
• 250The Ludovisi Battle sarcophagus, depicting battle between the Romans and the Barbarians, is made for use in Rome (it is later moved to the collection of the National Roman Museum).source
• 250The family portrait medallion, traditionally called the Family of Vunnerius Keramus, is made (it is later placed in the Brescia Cross, and then in the Museo Civico dell'Etá Cristiana, Brescia).source
• 271King Shapur I builds the Academy of Gundishapur (Iran), which becomes the intellectual center of the Sassanid Empire.source
• 273Marcus Claudius Tacitus, future Roman Emperor, is consul in Rome.source
• 274Rome greets Aurelian as Restitutor Orbis ("Restorer of the World") and accords him a magnificent triumph (victory procession), which is graced by his captives Zenobia, Tetricus I, and his son Tetricus II.source
• 276Mahasena reigns in Ceylon. Orthodox and unpopular, he tries to introduce Mahayana Buddhism to the country.source
• 288Around 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.source