280

By place

Roman Empire

• Roman usurper Proculus starts a rebellion at Lugdunum, and proclaims himself emperor.
• Emperor Probus drives the Alans off to Asia Minor and suppresses the revolt in Gaul; Proculus is executed.
• The Germans destroy the Roman fleet on the Rhine; Bonosus is proclaimed emperor at Colonia Agrippina.
• Probus defeats the army under Bonosus. Bonosus sees no way out and hangs himself. His family is treated with honours.
• Julius Saturninus, governor of Syria, is in Alexandria, charged with the defense of the East. He is declared emperor and withdraws to Apamea. Probus besieges the city and puts him to death.
• Roman territory is under constant threat of raids from Franks. The cities in Gaul are reinforced with defensive walls.

  Europe

• The Thuringii, a Germanic tribe, appears in the Harz Mountains of central Germania.

  China

• Emperor Wu of the Jin dynasty completes the unification of China, which was previously divided between three contending powers during the Three Kingdoms period. The Jin dynasty's capital of Luoyang becomes a thriving centre of commerce as foreign diplomats and traders travel there.

  Persia

• King Bahram II of the Sassanid Empire sends envoys to seek peaceful relations with Rome.

  India

• The Gupta Empire is founded.

  By topic

Arts and sciences

• The Greek mathematician Pappus demonstrates geometrically the property of the center of gravity.