242
Encyclopedia
Year 242 was a common year starting on Saturday
(link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar
. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gratus and Lepidus (or, less frequently, year 995 Ab urbe condita
). The denomination 242 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.
Common year starting on Saturday
This is the calendar for any common year starting on Saturday, January 1 . Examples: Gregorian years 1994, 2005, 2011 and 2022...
(link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gratus and Lepidus (or, less frequently, year 995 Ab urbe condita
Ab urbe condita
Ab urbe condita is Latin for "from the founding of the City ", traditionally set in 753 BC. AUC is a year-numbering system used by some ancient Roman historians to identify particular Roman years...
). The denomination 242 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
calendar era
Calendar era
A calendar era is the year numbering system used by a calendar. For example, the Gregorian calendar numbers its years in the Western Christian era . The instant, date, or year from which time is marked is called the epoch of the era...
became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Roman Empire
- Emperor Gordian IIIGordian IIIGordian III , was Roman Emperor from 238 to 244. Gordian was the son of Antonia Gordiana and an unnamed Roman Senator who died before 238. Antonia Gordiana was the daughter of Emperor Gordian I and younger sister of Emperor Gordian II. Very little is known on his early life before his acclamation...
begins a campaign against king Shapur IShapur IShapur I or also known as Shapur I the Great was the second Sassanid King of the Second Persian Empire. The dates of his reign are commonly given as 240/42 - 270/72, but it is likely that he also reigned as co-regent prior to his father's death in 242 .-Early years:Shapur was the son of Ardashir I...
, the Greek philosopherPhilosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
PlotinusPlotinusPlotinus was a major philosopher of the ancient world. In his system of theory there are the three principles: the One, the Intellect, and the Soul. His teacher was Ammonius Saccas and he is of the Platonic tradition...
joins him and hopes to obtain first-hand knowledge of PersianSassanid EmpireThe Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
and IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n philosophies. - Gordian III evacuates the CimmerianCimmeriansThe Cimmerians or Kimmerians were ancient equestrian nomads of Indo-European origin.According to the Greek historian Herodotus, of the 5th century BC, the Cimmerians inhabited the region north of the Caucasus and the Black Sea during the 8th and 7th centuries BC, in what is now Ukraine and Russia...
cities in the BosphorusBosporan KingdomThe Bosporan Kingdom or the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus was an ancient state, located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus...
(CrimeaCrimeaCrimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
), as the territory is now controlled by the GothsGothsThe Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
.
Persia
- Shapur I makes a pre-emptive attack on AntiochAntiochAntioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
to drive out the RomansRoman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Gordian's father-in-law, TimesitheusGaius Furius Sabinius Aquila TimesitheusGaius Furius Sabinius Aquila Timesitheus was a Roman knight who lived in the 3rd century and was the most important advisor to Roman Emperor Gordian III. Very little is known on his origins. Timesitheus was a Roman of equestrian rank.-Life:...
, leads a Roman armyRoman armyThe Roman army is the generic term for the terrestrial armed forces deployed by the kingdom of Rome , the Roman Republic , the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine empire...
to defeat the PersiansPersian peopleThe Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
at CarrhaeHarranHarran was a major ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia whose site is near the modern village of Altınbaşak, Turkey, 24 miles southeast of Şanlıurfa...
and Nisibis.
Religion
- Patriarch Titus succeeds Patriarch Eugenius I as Patriarch of ConstantinoplePatriarch of ConstantinopleThe Ecumenical Patriarch is the Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome – ranking as primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which is seen by followers as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church....
.
Births
- Cao MaoCao MaoCao Mao , formally known as the Duke of Gaogui, was the fourth emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He was a grandson of Cao Wei's first emperor Cao Pi. Described as intelligent and studious, Cao Mao made repeated attempts to seize back state power...
, fourth emperor of the Kingdom of WeiCao WeiCao Wei was one of the states that competed for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period. With the capital at Luoyang, the state was established by Cao Pi in 220, based upon the foundations that his father Cao Cao laid...
(d. 260260Year 260 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Saecularis and Donatus...
) - SaloninusSaloninusPublius Licinius Cornelius Saloninus Valerianus was Roman Emperor in 259 or 260.-Early life:Saloninus was born around the year 242. His father was the later emperor Gallienus, his mother Cornelia Salonina, a Greek from Bithynia...
, Roman EmperorRoman EmperorThe Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
(d. 260260Year 260 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Saecularis and Donatus...
) - Sun HaoSun HaoSun Hao , style name Yuanzong , originally named Sun Pengzu with the style name Yuanzong , was the fourth and last emperor of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. He was the son of Sun He, a one-time crown prince of the founding emperor Sun Quan...
, last emperor of the Kingdom of WuEastern WuEastern Wu, also known as Sun Wu, was one the three states competing for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period after the fall of the Han Dynasty. It was based in the Jiangnan region of China...
(d. 284284Year 284 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Carinus and Numerianus...
)
Deaths
- Man ChongMan ChongMan Chong , style name Boning , was an official of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history.-Biography:...
, adviser to the Kingdom of Wei - Sun ShaoSun ShaoSun Shao, born Yu Shao , style name Gongli , was a military general of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. He is presumed by some to be the adopted son of Sun Ce. His uncle, Sun He was granted the surname "Sun" by Sun Jian, and Sun Shao is presumed to have been given his...
, general of the Wu Kingdom (b. 188188Year 188 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Fuscianus and Silanus...
)