Directory

230 CE

Pope Pontian succeeds Pope Urban I, as the 18th pope of Rome. Seventy bishops hold the council of the Christian Church of Africa. King Ardashir I of the Persian Empire invades the Roman province of Mesopotamia, and unsuccessfully besieges the fortress town of Nisibis (Turkey). His army threatens the border outposts of Syria and Cappadocia.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Emperor Alexander Severus decides that Thessaly should be a separate province from Macedonia. He increases taxes, in order to maintain the war against the Sassanids, and strengthen the defenses of the Roman Empire.source
  • Jobun becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.source

Conflict & Security

  • Alexander Severus assembles the Roman army, and establishes his headquarters at Antioch. He attempts a diplomatic solution, but the Persians decline and choose war.source
  • King Ardashir I of the Persian Empire invades the Roman province of Mesopotamia, and unsuccessfully besieges the fortress town of Nisibis (Turkey). His army threatens the border outposts of Syria and Cappadocia.source

Religion & Belief

  • July 21 – Pope Pontian succeeds Pope Urban I, as the 18th pope of Rome.source
  • Seventy bishops hold the council of the Christian Church of Africa.source
  • Patriarch Castinus succeeds Ciriacus I as patriarch Constantinople.source

Births

  • Marcus Aurelius Carus, Roman emperor (d. 283)source
  • Gaius Vibius Volusianus, Roman emperor (d. 253)source

Deaths

  • May 23 – Urban I, bishop of Rome (b. 175)source
  • July 9 – Bian, Chinese empress dowager (b. 159)source
  • Zhang Wen, Chinese official and politician (b. 193)source
  • Wu Zhi, Chinese official and general (b. 177)source
  • Marius Maximus, Roman consul and biographersource
  • Liang Xi, Chinese official and politiciansource
  • Zhang Yi, Chinese official and politician (b. 167)source
  • Zhong Yao, Chinese official and calligrapher (b. 151)source