__NOTOC__ Year 240 ( CCXL) was a

leap year starting on Wednesday A leap year starting on Wednesday is any year with 366 days (i.e. it includes 29 February) that begins on Wednesday 1 January and ends on Thursday 31 December. Its dominical letters hence are ED. The most recent year of such kind was 2020, and the ...

of the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sabinus and Venustus (or, less frequently, year 993 ''

Ab urbe condita ''Ab urbe condita'' (; 'from the founding of Rome, founding of the City'), or (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is ...

''). The denomination 240 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the

Anno Domini The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used when designating years in the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian and Julian calendar, Julian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means "in the year of the Lord" but is often presented using "o ...

calendar era A calendar era is the period of time elapsed since one '' epoch'' of a calendar and, if it exists, before the next one. For example, the current year is numbered in the Gregorian calendar, which numbers its years in the Western Christian era ...

became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events

By place

Roman Empire

* The

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

is threatened on several fronts at the same time.

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

revolts and tribes in northwest

Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...

, under the name of the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

, are raiding the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

frontier.

Persia

April 12 Events Pre-1600 * 240 – Shapur I becomes co-emperor of the Sasanian Empire with his father Ardashir I. * 467 – Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. * 627 – King Edwin of Northumbria is converted to ...

– Prince

Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; ) was the second Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The precise dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent u ...

becomes co-ruler of the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

with his father King

Ardashir I Ardashir I (), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire, the last empire of ancient Iran. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new empire. After defeating the last Par ...

. * Siege of Hatra: The Sasanians besiege the capital of the Kingdom of Hatra ruled by

Sanatruq II Sanatruq II ( Hatran Aramaic: 𐣮𐣭𐣨𐣣𐣥𐣲 snṭrwq) was the last king of Hatra (an ancient city in nowadays Iraq), ruling from about AD 205 to 240/41. He was the son of king Abdsamiya and is attested by nine inscriptions discovered a ...

India

* Maharaja Sri-Gupta becomes ruler of the

Gupta Empire The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian ...

(approximate date).

By topic

Religion

Mani Mani may refer to: People * Mani (name), (), a given name and surname (including a list of people with the name) ** Mani (prophet) (c. 216–274), a 3rd century Iranian prophet who founded Manichaeism ** Mani (musician) (born 1962), an English ...

, a young mystic of

Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; , ''Tyspwn'' or ''Tysfwn''; ; , ; Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified July 28, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/58.) was an ancient city in modern Iraq, on the eastern ba ...

, proclaims himself a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

at the court of Ardashir I. He preaches his doctrine,

Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...

, throughout the Sassanid Empire.

Births

* Lucian of Antioch, Syrian theologian and martyr (d.

312 __NOTOC__ Year 312 (Roman numerals, CCCXII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus (or, less frequently, year 1065 ''Ab urbe co ...

) * Sporus of Nicaea, Greek mathematician (approximate date) *

Zenobia Septimia Zenobia (Greek: Ζηνοβία, Palmyrene Aramaic: , ; 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner, and she married the ruler of the ...

, queen of the

Palmyrene Empire 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 ...

(d.

274 Year 274 (Roman numerals, 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 (or, less frequently, year 1027 ''Ab urbe condita''). The d ...

)

Deaths

Ammonius Saccas Ammonius Saccas (; ; 175 AD243 AD) was a Hellenistic Platonist self-taught philosopher from Alexandria, generally regarded as the precursor of Neoplatonism or one of its founders. He is mainly known as the teacher of Plotinus, whom he taught f ...

Neoplatonic Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common id ...

philosopher (approximate date) * Herodian of Antioch, Roman historian and writer (b. 170) * Huang Quan (or Gongheng), Chinese general

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:240