Exploration & Expansion in the 3rd century

29 sourced entries, 200 CE to 298 CE, oldest first. Also see Exploration & Expansion across every century or everything else in the 3rd century.

• 200Emperor Septimius Severus visits the provinces of Syria, Palestine, and Arabia.source
• 202In order to avoid Septimus Severus' persecution of Christians, Clement of Alexandria seeks refuge with Alexander in Cappadocia.source
• 206Emperor Septimius Severus goes to Britain, with his sons Caracalla and Geta.source
• 208Emperor 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).source
• 220An Indian delegation visits the Roman emperor Elagabalus.source
• 229Eastern Wu merchants reach Vietnam; ocean transport is improved to such an extent that sea journeys are made to the Liaodong Peninsula and the island of Yizhou.source
• 236Fabian sends seven missionaries to Gaul to evangelize in the large cities.source
• 237Emperor Maximinus Thrax campaigns on the rivers Danube and Rhine in Germania, defeating the Alemanni, and never visits Rome. He is accepted by the Roman Senate, but taxes the rich aristocracy heavily, and engenders such hostility among them, that they plot against him. He had a road rebuilt in what is now the Golan Heights, between 236 and 237.source
• 239A Chinese expeditionary force from the Eastern Wu state discovers the island of Taiwan.source
• 243Fan Chan of Funan sends a tribute mission to China (approximate date).source
• 245Emperor Philip the Arab entrusts Trajan Decius with an important command on the Danube.source
• 245The philosopher Plotinus goes to live in Rome.source
• 250The Kingdom of Aksum (Axum) takes control of commerce on the Red Sea.source
• 250The Alamanni drive the Romans from the modern area of Donau-Ries.source
• 255Ma Jun, Chinese mechanical engineer from Cao Wei, invents the south-pointing chariot, a path-finding directional compass vehicle that uses a differential gear, not magnetics.source
• 257The Goths build a fleet on the Black Sea.source
• 262The Heruls accompany the Goths, ravaging the coasts of the Black Sea and the Aegean.source
• 265Postumus makes no move to march on Rome and claim his territory south of Gaul.source
• 269Claudius II travels to Sirmium and prepares a war against the Vandals, who raid Pannonia.source
• 274The Kingdom of Aksum attains great prosperity thanks to its control of Red Sea trade.source
• 277Emperor Probus travels with his army west across the Sea of Marmara (Turkey), and through the provinces of Thrace, Moesia, and Pannonia to defeat the Goths along the lower Danube. He acquires from the troops the title of Gothicus.source
• 280The Thuringi, a Germanic tribe, appears in the Harz Mountains (Thuringia) of central Germania.source
• 282Emperor Probus travels towards Sirmium (Serbia). He tries to employ his troops in peaceful projects, such as draining the swamps in Pannonia.source
• 284Emperor 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.source
• 285Carausius, naval commander at Bononia (modern-day Boulogne), is given the task of clearing the English Channel of Frankish and Saxon pirates.source
• 288Emperor Diocletian launches a campaign into Germanic territory from the province of Raetia (Switzerland).source
• 288Far from Carausius' fleet, in the rivers of Gaul, Maximian builds a fleet to contest control of the North Sea and re-take Britain.source
• 298The manufacture of cultured silk becomes popular from Korea to Japan.source
• 298Diocletian then travels into Upper Egypt and possibly campaigns on the Nubian frontier. In either this year or in 300/301, he makes agreements with the Meroitic Nubians and the Blemmyes. He agrees to pay subsidies to both peoples, and he cedes the Dodecashoenos to the Nubians on the understanding that the Nubians will defend the region against the Blemmyes.source