Eastern Hemisphere at the beginning of the 3rd century AD.Map of the world in AD 250.Eastern Hemisphere at the end of the 3rd century AD.
The3rd century was the period from AD201 (represented by theRoman numerals CCI) to AD 300 (CCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar.
In this century, theRoman Empire saw acrisis, starting with the assassination of the Roman EmperorSeverus 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 theGallic Empire in the west and thePalmyrene Empire in the east, which all together threatened to destroy the Roman Empire in its entirety, but the reconquests of the seceded territories by EmperorAurelian and the stabilization period under EmperorDiocletian due to the administrative strengthening of the empire caused an end to the crisis by 284. This crisis would also mark the beginning ofLate Antiquity. While in North Africa, Roman rule continued with growing Christian influence, particularly in the region of Carthage.
In Persia, theParthian Empire was succeeded by theSassanid Empire in 224 afterArdashir I defeated and killedArtabanus V during theBattle of Hormozdgan. The Sassanids then went on to subjugate many of the western portions of the decliningKushan 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.[1]
In China, thechaos that had been raging since 189 would ultimately continue to persist with the decisive defeat ofCao Cao at theBattle 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,Wu, andWei, colloquially known as theThree Kingdoms period, which started in 220 with the formal abdication ofEmperor Xian of Han to Cao Cao's son,Cao Pi, thereby founding Wei, which would go on toconquer Shu in 263, but would ultimately be united again under theJin dynasty, headed by theSima clan, who would usurp Wei in 266, andconquer Wu in 280.
After the death ofCommodus in the late previous century the Roman Empire was plunged into a civil war. When the dust settled,Septimius Severus emerged as emperor, establishing theSeveran 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 theMilitaryMonarchy as a result. The system fell apart in the230s, giving way to a fifty-year period known as the Military Anarchy or theCrisis of the Third Century, following the assassination of the 28-year-old emperorSeverus 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 growingPersian 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 ofDiocletian, one of them being to divide the empire into an eastern and western half, and have a separate ruler for each.
Late 3rd century – early 4th century: Good Shepherd, Orants and Story of Jonah, painted ceiling of theCatacombs of Marcellinus and Peter inRome, is made.
