217

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Emperor Caracalla

Year 217 (CCXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Praesens and Extricatus (or, less frequently, year 970 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 217 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.

Events

By place

Roman Empire

• April 8 – Caracalla is assassinated by his legionaries near Edessa. Marcus Opellius Macrinus head of the Praetorian Guard, declares himself Roman emperor.
• Summer – Battle of Nisibis: The Roman army under command of Macrinus, is defeated in a three days battle by the Parthians at Nisibis (southern Turkey).
• King Artabanus IV signs a peace treaty with Rome after he received 200 million sesterces, for the rebuilding of towns destroyed during the war in Parthia.
• Macrinus, of Mauritania, becomes the first equestrian Roman emperor.
• Empress Julia, wife of Septimius Severus and mother of Caracalla and Geta, commits suicide.
• The Colosseum is badly damaged by fire (lightning) which destroys the wooden upper levels of the amphitheater.

By topic

Religion

• December 20 – The papacy of Zephyrinus ends. Callixtus I is elected as the sixteenth pope, but is opposed by the theologian Hippolytus who accuses him of laxity and of being a Modalist, one who denies any distinction between the three persons of the Trinity.
• Hippolytus begins his "pontificate" as antipope and sets up a breakaway church for Christian fowlers.
• Ciriacus succeeds Philadelphus as Patriarch of Constantinople.

Births

• Fu Xuan, Chinese poet (d. 278)
• Hua He, minister under the Kingdom of Wu (d. 279)
• Jia Chong, general of the Jin Dynasty (d. 282)
• Empress Dowager Wang Yuanji, wife of Sima Zhao (d. 268)

Deaths

• April 8 – Caracalla, Roman Emperor (assassinated) (b. 188)
• Julia Domna, Roman Empress (suicide) (b. 170)
• December 20 – Pope Zephyrinus
• Chen Lin, minister of Han Dynasty
• Lu Su, advisor to Sun Quan, sympathetic to Liu Bei (b. 172)
• Wang Can, Chinese poet, scholar, and statesman of Cao Wei (b. 177)
• Sima Lang, official of Han Dynasty (b. 171)

References