270s

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The 270s decade ran from January 1, 270, to December 31, 279.

Contents

Events

270

By place

Roman Empire
  • Emperor Claudius II Gothicus fights a drawn-out campaign against the Gothic raiders in the Balkans, with setbacks suffered on both sides. Eventually, many Goths die of plague and others are absorbed into the Roman legions.
  • Zenobia seizes control of Roman Arabia and Egypt.
  • Claudius dies of plague in Sirmium while preparing to fight the Vandals and Sarmatians, who have invaded Pannonia. He is succeeded by his brother Quintillus, who briefly holds power over the Roman Empire.
  • Victorinus besieges and sacks the city of Autun, which had declared allegiance to Claudius.
  • Lucius Domitius Aurelianus (or Aurelian), the cavalry commander who distinguished himself in the previous year at the Battle of Naissus (Serbia), usurps power in Sirmium and marches against Quintillus in Aquileia. Quintillus commits suicide.
  • Aurelius defeats an incursion by the Iuthungi into Raetia, defeating them as they attempted to re-cross the Danube.
Asia
Africa

271

By place

Roman Empire
  • After an indecisive battle, Emperor Aurelian defeats the Vandals, and forces them from Pannonia, and across the Danube.
  • Battle of Placentia: The Iuthungi [2] invade Italy and sack the city of Piacenza. A Roman army under Emperor Aurelian is ambushed and defeated.
  • Following Aurelian's execution of Felicissimus, the financial minister of the state treasury, on the charge of corruption, the mint workers of the city of Rome, with senatorial support, lead an uprising against Aurelian. In bitter street-fighting on the Caelian Hill the rebels are defeated. The revolt is followed by a purge of Aurelian's senatorial opponents, including Urbanus.
  • Around this time, generals loyal to Aurelian defeat the usurpers Septimius in Dalmatia and Domitian II in southern Gaul. The Iuthungian invasion may have encouraged the spate of revolts.
  • Aurelian begins construction of a new defensive wall to protect Rome. The Aurelian Walls, 19 kilometers (12 mi), enclose the city with fortifications.
  • Perhaps around this time, Aurelian increases Rome's daily bread ration to nearly 1.5 pounds and adds pig fat to the list of foods distributed free to the populace.
  • Aurelian defeats a Gothic raid into the Balkans and then invades the Gothic homeland. Here he defeats the Goths again, killing one of their leaders, Cannabas, who may be Cniva, the Goth who had won the battle of Abritus, at which Emperor Decius was killed.
  • Aurelian withdraws Rome's administrative and military presence from Dacia (modern Romania), thereby rationalizing the Danube frontier and freeing resources for the forthcoming campaign against Zenobia.
Europe
Near East
  • Zenobia invades Asia Minor and seizes control of Cilicia and Galatia before being stalled in Bithynia.
  • Shapur I of the Sasanian Empire dies, and his successor, his son Hormizd I, leads an army against nomads in Sogdiana, perhaps taking command of a war that had begun under his father. (Note: Some scholars date Shapur's death to 270 or 272)

By topic

Art and Science

272

By place

Roman Empire
  • Emperor Aurelian launches a two-pronged invasion of the Palmyrene Empire, sending his commander Marcus Aurelius Probus to restore Roman rule in Egypt while he marches into Asia Minor.
  • As part of a strategy of clemency, Aurelian spares Tyana after capturing the city. This strategy encourages units under Zenobia to defect to Aurelian.
  • Battle of Immae: Aurelian defeats the Palmyrene heavy cavalry ( clibanarii ) near Antioch. Queen Zenobia flees under cover of darkness to Emesa (Syria).
  • Aurelian supports the bishops of Italy in deposing the bishop of Antioch, Paul of Samosata, who had been a supporter of Zenobia. This is the first recorded instance of an imperial intervention in an ecclesiastical dispute.
  • Battle of Emesa: Aurelian decisively defeats the Palmyrene army.
  • Aurelian besieges Palmyra. Zenobia attempts to escape to Persia but is captured on the Euphrates. Palmyra surrenders soon after.
  • Following a series of trials held in Emesa, Cassius Longinus and other advisors of Zenobia are executed for conspiring against Aurelian.

By topic

Religion

273

By place

Roman Empire
Persia
  • King Hormizd I of Persia dies after a brief reign in which he has shown tolerance toward the ascetic, anti-materialist Manichean faith. He is succeeded by his brother Bahram I, who has been governing the province of Atropatene. Bahram proceeds to crush a rebellion by various vassal kings.

274

By place

Roman Empire
Africa
  • The Kingdom of Aksum attains great prosperity thanks to its control of Red Sea trade.

By topic

Religion
Transportation
  • Japanese shipwrights build a 100-foot oar-powered vessel for Emperor Ōjin. The Japanese will not use sails for another seven centuries.

275

By place

Roman Empire
  • Emperor Aurelian puts down unrest in Gaul, and defeats Germanic incursions into Gaul and Raetia (these problems had been caused by Aurelian's defeat and overthrow of the Gallic Empire).
  • The Goths begin to raid Thrace and Asia Minor. Aurelian begins a campaign against the Goths in Thrace, but he is then assassinated near Byzantium (Turkey) by some of his officers. Aurelian had developed a reputation for punishing corruption with severity, and his secretary Eros was under suspicion. As a result, Eros, fearing for his life, had forged a list of high-ranking officers marked for execution. In this way, the secretary tricked the officers into assassinating Aurelian, and they then fled into Asia Minor to avoid the wrath of the soldiers. Unusual for the period, the imperial field army defers to the Senate to choose a successor.
  • September 25 Marcus Claudius Tacitus is proclaimed Emperor by the Senate; his half brother Marcus Annius Florianus becomes praetorian prefect.
  • Tacitus marches into Asia Minor to fight the Goths and track down the faction responsible for assassinating Aurelian.
Asia

By topic

Religion

276

By place

Roman Empire
  • Emperor Tacitus doubles the silver content of the aurelianianus, and halves its tariffing to 2.5 d.c. They carry the value marks X.I.
  • Tacitus campaigns successfully against the Goths who have invaded Asia Minor, and his half-brother, the praetorian prefect Marcus Annius Florianus, continues the campaign.
  • Tacitus' cousin Maximinus administers Syria in a harsh manner, and is assassinated by local men of power, who are joined in the conspiracy by the faction responsible for having assassinated Aurelian in the previous year.
  • Tacitus dies in Tyana, Cappadocia. He either dies of illness, or is murdered by the faction responsible for having assassinated Aurelian and Maximinus.
  • Florianus becomes Roman Emperor with the support of the Senate, but a general in the east, Marcus Aurelius Probus, usurps power against him. Florianus breaks off his campaign against the Goths and marches east from the Bosporus with support from the Roman legions in Britain, Gaul, Spain and Italy.
  • Florianus holds power for some weeks and fights indecisively against Probus in Cilicia, but his soldiers, many of whom are from the colder Rhine and Danube frontiers, suffer from heat and disease. He is overthrown and then assassinated by his own troops near Tarsus (Turkey), in collusion with Probus. Probus, age 44, is proclaimed new Emperor of Rome.
  • Probus returns the aurelianianus to the tariffing of Aurelian.
  • Probus 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.
Sassanid Empire
Asia

277

By place

Roman Empire
China

278

By place

Roman Empire

279

By place

Asia

Significant people

Births

270

271

272

274

275

276

277

278

279

Deaths

270

271

272

273

274

275

276

277

278

279

Notes

  1. The Zizhi Tongjian recorded that the Jin dynasty launched the invasion of Eastern Wu in the 11th month of the 5th year of the Xianning era of Sima Yan's reign. [5] This month corresponds to 21 December 279 to 18 January 280 in the Gregorian calendar.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd century</span> One hundred years, from 201 to 300

The 3rd century was the period from AD 201 to AD 300 (CCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">271</span> Calendar year

Year 271 (CCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelianus and Bassus. The denomination 271 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

The 290s decade ran from January 1, 290, to December 31, 299.

The 250s was a decade that ran from January 1, 250, to December 31, 259.

The 260s decade ran from January 1, 260, to December 31, 269.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aurelian</span> Roman emperor from 270 to 275

Aurelian was a Roman emperor who reigned from 270 to 275 during the Crisis of the Third Century. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disintegrated under the pressure of barbarian invasions and internal revolts. Born in modest circumstances, most likely in Moesia Superior, he entered the Roman army in 235 and climbed up the ranks. He went on to lead the cavalry of the emperor Gallienus, until Gallienus' assassination in 268. Following that, Claudius Gothicus became emperor until his own death in 270. Claudius' brother Quintillus then ruled for three months, before Aurelian took the empire for himself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">274</span> Calendar year

Year 274 (CCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelianus and Capitolinus. The denomination 274 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">272</span> Calendar year

Year 272 (CCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Postumius and Veldumnianus. The denomination 272 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">276</span> Calendar year

Year 276 (CCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tacitus and Aemilianus. The denomination 276 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">275</span> Calendar year

Year 275 (CCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelianus and Marcellinus. The denomination 275 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Year 270 (CCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antiochianus and Orfitus. The denomination 270 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudius Gothicus</span> Roman emperor from 268 to 270

Marcus Aurelius Claudius "Gothicus", also known as Claudius II, was Roman emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alemanni and decisively defeated the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. He died after succumbing to a "pestilence", possibly the Plague of Cyprian that had ravaged the provinces of the Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Probus (emperor)</span> Roman emperor from 276 to 282

Marcus Aurelius Probus was Roman emperor from 276 to 282. Probus was an active and successful general as well as a conscientious administrator, and in his reign of six years he secured prosperity for the inner provinces while withstanding repeated invasions of barbarian tribes on almost every sector of the frontier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallic Empire</span> Breakaway state of the Roman Empire (260–274)

The Gallic Empire or the Gallic Roman Empire are names used in modern historiography for a breakaway part of the Roman Empire that functioned de facto as a separate state from 260 to 274. It originated during the Crisis of the Third Century, when a series of Roman military leaders and aristocrats declared themselves emperors and took control of Gaul and adjacent provinces without attempting to conquer Italy or otherwise seize the central Roman administrative apparatus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Immae</span> Battle between Palmyrene and Roman forces (272)

The Battle of Immae was fought in 272 between the Roman army of Emperor Aurelian, and the armies of the Palmyrene Empire, whose leader, Empress Zenobia, had usurped Roman control over the eastern provinces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmyrene Empire</span> Breakaway state from Roman Empire (270-273)

The Palmyrene Empire was a short-lived breakaway state from the Roman Empire resulting from the Crisis of the Third Century. Named after its capital city, Palmyra, it encompassed the Roman provinces of Syria Palaestina, Arabia Petraea, and Egypt, as well as large parts of Asia Minor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmyrene invasion of Egypt</span> Conflict between the Roman and Palmyrene Empires (270)

The Palmyrene invasion of Egypt occurred in the summer, or possibly in October, of 270 AD when the forces of Queen Zenobia of Palmyra, led by her general Zabdas and aided by an Egyptian general named Timagenes, invaded and subsequently annexed Egypt, which was under control of the Roman Empire at the time.

The Geopolitics of the Roman Empire deals with the "inalienable relationship between geography and politics of the Roman Empire". Once the Roman Empire had reached its natural borders, the location of potential threats to the empire and Roman troop locations played a major role in the elevation of Roman Emperors. Access to the troops, their location were crucial to the empire's internal politics, civil wars, and the eventual Fall of the Western Roman Empire.

References

  1. "List of Rulers of Korea". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  2. Watson, Alaric. Aurelian and the Third Century. London, United Kingdom: Routledge, 1999, p. 50.
  3. Clauss, Manfred (2001). Die römischen Kaiser - 55 historische Portraits von Caesar bis Iustinian. p. 250. ISBN   978-3-406-47288-6.
  4. 1 2 "Saint Felix I | pope". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  5. Zizhi Tongjian 1084, vol. 80: "[咸寧五年]冬,十一月,大舉伐吳"
  6. Knechtges, David R.; Chang, Taiping (2010). Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature (vol.I): A Reference Guide, Part One. BRILL. p. 542. ISBN   9789004191273.
  7. "Quintillus | Roman emperor". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  8. "Aurelian | Roman emperor". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  9. Cruz, Juana Inés de la (2016). Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Selected Works (International Student Edition) (Norton Critical Editions). W. W. Norton & Company. p. 112. ISBN   9780393623406.

Sources