View source for 3rd century

{{Short description|One hundred years, from 201 to 300}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2019}}
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[[Image:East-Hem 200ad.jpg|thumb|300px|Eastern Hemisphere at the beginning of the 3rd century AD.]]
[[Image:World map 250 CE.png|thumb|300px|Map of the world in AD 250.]]
[[Image:East-Hem 300ad.jpg|thumb|300px|Eastern Hemisphere at the end of the 3rd century AD.]]
The '''3rd century''' was the period from AD [[201]] (represented by the [[Roman numerals]] CCI) to AD 300 (CCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar.

In this century, the [[Roman Empire]] saw a [[Crisis of the Third Century|crisis]], starting with the assassination of the Roman Emperor [[Severus Alexander]] in 235, plunging the empire into a period of economic troubles, barbarian incursions, political upheavals, civil wars, and the split of the Roman Empire through the [[Gallic Empire]] in the west and the [[Palmyrene Empire]] in the east, which all together threatened to destroy the Roman Empire in its entirety, but the reconquests of the seceded territories by Emperor [[Aurelian]] and the stabilization period under Emperor [[Diocletian]] due to the administrative strengthening of the empire caused an end to the crisis by 284. This crisis would also mark the beginning of [[Late Antiquity]]. While in North Africa, Roman rule continued with growing Christian influence, particularly in the region of Carthage.

In Persia, the [[Parthian Empire]] was succeeded by the [[Sassanid Empire]] in 224 after [[Ardashir I]] defeated and killed [[Artabanus V of Parthia|Artabanus V]] during the [[Battle of Hormozdgan]]. The Sassanids then went on to subjugate many of the western portions of the declining [[Kushan Empire]]. In Africa the most significant event was the rise of the Aksumite Empire in what is now Ethiopia, which experienced significant military expansion and became a major trading hub in northeast Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-29 |title=Aksum {{!}} History, Map, Empire, & Definition {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Aksum-ancient-kingdom-Africa |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

In China, the [[End of the Han dynasty|chaos]] that had been raging since 189 would ultimately continue to persist with the decisive defeat of [[Cao Cao]] at the [[Battle of Red Cliffs]] in 208, which would increasingly end the hopes of unification and lead to the tripartite division of China into three main empires; [[Shu Han|Shu]], [[Eastern Wu|Wu]], and [[Cao Wei|Wei]], colloquially known as the [[Three Kingdoms]] period, which started in 220 with the formal abdication of [[Emperor Xian of Han]] to Cao Cao's son, [[Cao Pi]], thereby founding Wei, which would go on to [[Conquest of Shu by Wei|conquer Shu]] in 263, but would ultimately be united again under the [[Jin dynasty (265-420)|Jin dynasty]], headed by the [[Emperor Wu of Jin|Sima clan]], who would usurp Wei in 266, and [[Conquest of Wu by Jin|conquer Wu]] in 280.

In other parts of the world, Korea was ruled by the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea]], Japan entered the [[Kofun period]] and the Southeast Asian mainland was mostly dominated by [[Funan]], the first kingdom of the [[Khmer people]]. In [[Indian subcontinent|India]], the [[Gupta Empire]] was on the rise towards the end of the century. In [[1st millennium in North American history|Pre-Columbian America]], the [[Adena culture]] of the [[Ohio River]] valley declined in favor of the [[Hopewell culture]]. The [[Maya civilization]] entered its [[Mesoamerican chronology#Classic Era|Classic Era]].

==Roman Empire==
After the death of [[Commodus]] in the late previous century the Roman Empire was plunged into a civil war. When the dust settled, [[Septimius Severus]] emerged as emperor, establishing the [[Severan]] dynasty. Unlike previous emperors, he openly used the army to back his authority, and paid them well to do so. The regime he created is known as the [[Military]] [[Monarchy]] as a result. The system fell apart in the [[230]]s, giving way to a fifty-year period known as the Military Anarchy or the [[Crisis of the Third Century]], following the assassination of the 28-year-old emperor [[Severus Alexander]] (the last emperor of the Severan dynasty), where no fewer than twenty emperors held the reins of power, most for only a few months. The majority of these men were assassinated, or killed in battle, and the empire almost collapsed under the weight of the political upheaval, as well as the growing [[Sassanid Empire|Persian]] threat in the east. Under its new Sassanid rulers, Persia had grown into a rival superpower, and the Romans would have to make drastic reforms in order to better prepare their state for a confrontation. These reforms were finally realized late in the century under the reign of [[Diocletian]], one of them being to divide the empire into an eastern and western half, and have a separate ruler for each.

==Events==
[[Image:Rome, Italy, The Baths of Caracalla.jpg|thumb|240x240px|The Baths of Caracalla]]

* The [[Kingdom of Funan]] reaches its zenith.
* The [[Goths]] move from [[Gothiscandza]] to [[Ukraine]], giving birth to the [[Chernyakhov culture]].
* ''Menorahs and Ark of the Covenant'', wall painting in a Jewish catacomb, [[Villa Torlonia (Rome)]], are made.
* The [[Coptic period]] begins.
* Siddhartha in the Palace, detail of a relief from [[Nagarjunakonda]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[India]], is made. Now kept at [[National Museum, New Delhi]].
* Two statuettes, ''Jonah Swallowed and Jonah Cast Up'', of a group from the eastern [[Mediterranean]], probably [[Asia Minor]], are made. Now kept at The [[Cleveland Museum of Art]], [[Ohio]].
* The [[Magerius Mosaic]] is made. Now kept at the [[Sousse Archaeological Museum]], Tunisia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bomgardner |first1=David L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YnYjGTh88ZQC&pg=PA211 |title=The Story of the Roman Amphitheatre |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134707393 |page=211 |language=en}}</ref>
* Early 3rd century: Burial in catacombs becomes commonplace.
* [[208]]: the Chinese naval [[Battle of Red Cliffs]] occurs.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McNab |first1=Chris |title=Famous Battles of the Ancient World |date=2017 |publisher=Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC |isbn=9781502632456 |page=74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pipmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA74|language=en}}</ref>
* [[211]]–[[217]]: [[Caracalla]], Roman Emperor.
* [[212]]: [[Constitutio Antoniniana]] grants [[citizenship]] to all free Roman men.
* [[212]]–[[217]]: [[Baths of Caracalla]].
* [[220]]: The [[Han dynasty]] comes to an end with establishment of the [[Three Kingdoms]] in ancient [[China]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Han dynasty {{!}} Definition, Map, Culture, Art, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Han-dynasty |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=17 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[220]]–[[280]]: The [[Three Kingdoms]] period.<ref>{{cite web |title=Three Kingdoms {{!}} ancient kingdoms, China |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Three-Kingdoms-ancient-kingdoms-China |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=17 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[222]]–[[235]]: [[Alexander Severus]], [[Roman Emperor]].[[File:Irnp105-Grobowce Naqsh-E Rustam.jpg|thumb|240x240px|Rock relief of [[Ardashir I]] receiving the ring of kingship by the [[Zoroastrian]] supreme god [[Ahura Mazda]].]]
* [[224]]: [[Ardashir I]] of the [[Sassanid dynasty]] conquers the [[Parthian empire]] at the [[Battle of Hormozdgan]].
* [[230]]–[[232]]: [[Sassanid dynasty]] of [[Persia]] launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the [[Byzantine Empire|Roman east]].
* [[234]]: [[Zhuge Liang]] dies of illness at the standoff of [[Battle of Wuzhang Plains|Wuzhang Plains]].
* [[235]]–[[284]]: [[Crisis of the Third Century]] shook the [[Roman Empire]].
* [[241]]: The [[Kingdom of Hatra]] dissolved after the [[Fall of Hatra]] to Persia
* [[244]]: [[Battle of Xingshi]] in China.
* [[258]]: [[Valerian (emperor)|Valerian]]'s massacre of Christians.
* [[260]]: Roman [[Emperor Valerian I]] is taken captive by [[Shapur I]] of [[Persia]].[[File:Three Kingdoms.png|thumb|240x240px|Political map of China in 262 AD]]
* [[263]]: [[Cao Wei]] [[Conquest of Shu by Wei|conquers]] the [[Shu Han]] Kingdom.
* [[266]]: The [[Jin dynasty (265–420)|Jin dynasty]] is founded after the overthrow of the [[Cao Wei]] dynasty by [[Sima Yan]].
* [[280]]: The [[Jin dynasty (265–420)|Jin dynasty]] reunites [[China]] under one empire after the [[Conquest of Eastern Wu by Jin|conquest]] of [[Eastern Wu]].
* [[284]]–[[305]]: [[Diocletian]], [[Roman Emperor]].
* [[291]]–[[306]]: The [[War of the Eight Princes]], a civil war by the Sima Clan in China.
* [[293]]: Emperor Diocletian forms the [[Tetrarchy]] in Rome. 
* [[300]]–[[538]]: [[Kofun era]], the first part of the [[Kofun period]] in [[Japan]].
* Late 3rd century – early 4th century: Good Shepherd, Orants and Story of Jonah, painted ceiling of the [[Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter]] in [[Rome]], is made.

== Inventions, discoveries, introductions ==
{{main list|Timeline of historic inventions#3rd century}}
* [[Sarnath]] becomes a center of [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] arts in [[India]].
* Diffusion of [[maize]] as a food crop from [[Mexico]] into [[North America]] begins.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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