Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a

common year starting on Saturday A common year starting on Saturday is any non-leap year (i.e. a year with 365 days) that begins on Saturday, 1 January, and ends on Saturday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is B. The current year, 2022, is a common year starting on Saturd ...

(link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''

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

''). The denomination 197 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

February 19 Events Pre-1600 * 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies. * 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of pagan ...

– Battle of Lugdunum: Emperor Septimius Severus defeats the self-proclaimed emperor Clodius Albinus at Lugdunum (modern Lyon). Albinus commits

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

; legionaries sack the town. * Septimius Severus returns to Rome and has about 30 of Albinus's supporters in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

executed. After his victory he declares himself the adopted son of the late Marcus Aurelius. * Septimius Severus forms new

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

units, manning all the triremes in Italy with heavily armed troops for war in the East. His soldiers embark on an artificial canal between the Tigris and

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

. * Legio I, II, and III ''Parthica'' are levied by Septimius Severus for his Parthian campaign. * The

Roman army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval continu ...

marches east to repel a Parthian invasion of Mesopotamia; they loot the royal palace at

Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; Middle Persian: 𐭲𐭩𐭮𐭯𐭥𐭭 ''tyspwn'' or ''tysfwn''; fa, تیسفون; grc-gre, Κτησιφῶν, ; syr, ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢThomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modi ...

and capture an enormous number of its inhabitants as slavery, slaves. * Septimius Severus reconstitutes the Province of Mesopotamia under an equestrian governor commanding two Roman legion, legions. * Septimius Severus, who had spared the Senate at the beginning of his reign, now excludes it from controlling the Roman empire by declaring a military dictatorship.

Asia

* War between Cao Cao and Zhang Xiu, Battle of Wancheng: Zhang Xiu (warlord), Zhang Xiu launches a surprise attack at Cao Cao. * Yuan Shu declares himself emperor of the short-lived Zhong dynasty. * Sansang of Goguryeo, Sansang becomes ruler of the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo.

By topic

Art and Science

* Galen, Galen's major work on medicines, ''Pharmacologia'', is published.

Religion

* A Christianity, Christian council is held in Edessa, Mesopotamia, Edessa.

Births

* Empress Cao (Han dynasty), Cao, Chinese empress of the Han dynasty, Han Dynasty (d. 260) * Deng Ai, Chinese general of the Cao Wei state (d. 264)

Deaths

– Clodius Albinus, Roman general and usurper * Cao Ang (or Zixiu), eldest son of Cao Cao (b. 177) * Dian Wei, Chinese general serving under Cao Cao * Gaius Julius Erucius Clarus Vibianus, Roman politician * Gogukcheon of Goguryeo, Korean ruler of Goguryeo * Guo Si (or Guo Duo), Chinese general and regent * Li Jue (Han dynasty), Li Jue, Chinese general serving under Dong Zhuo * Liu Chong (Prince Min of Chen), Liu Chong, Chinese nobleman and Prince of Chen Commandery, Chen * Titus Flavius Claudius Sulpicianus, Roman statesman * Yang Feng, Chinese general serving under Li Jue

References

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