240

Year 240 (CCXL) was a leap 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 Sabinus and Venustus (or, less frequently, year 993 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 240 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.

Millennium:	1st millennium
Centuries:	2nd century 3rd century 4th century
Decades:	220s 230s 240s 250s 260s
Years:	237 238 239 240 241 242 243

240 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	240 CCXL
Ab urbe condita	993
Assyrian calendar	4990
Balinese saka calendar	161–162
Bengali calendar	−353
Berber calendar	1190
Buddhist calendar	784
Burmese calendar	−398
Byzantine calendar	5748–5749
Chinese calendar	己未年 (Earth Goat) 2936 or 2876     — to — 庚申年 (Metal Monkey) 2937 or 2877
Coptic calendar	−44 – −43
Discordian calendar	1406
Ethiopian calendar	232–233
Hebrew calendar	4000–4001
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	296–297
- Shaka Samvat	161–162
- Kali Yuga	3340–3341
Holocene calendar	10240
Iranian calendar	382 BP – 381 BP
Islamic calendar	394 BH – 393 BH
Javanese calendar	118–119
Julian calendar	240 CCXL
Korean calendar	2573
Minguo calendar	1672 before ROC 民前1672年
Nanakshahi calendar	−1228
Seleucid era	551/552 AG
Thai solar calendar	782–783
Tibetan calendar	阴土羊年 (female Earth-Goat) 366 or −15 or −787     — to — 阳金猴年 (male Iron-Monkey) 367 or −14 or −786

Hatra ruins

Events

Roman Empire

• The Roman Empire is threatened on several fronts at the same time. Africa revolts and tribes in northwest Germania, under the name of the Franks, are raiding the Rhine frontier.

Persia

• April 12 – Shapur I becomes co-emperor of the Sasanian Empire with his father Ardashir I.
• Siege of Hatra (240-241) by the Sasanians.

India

• Maharaja Sri-Gupta becomes Emperor of Gupta.
• The Kushan Empire falls.

Religion

• At the court of Ardashir I, Mani, a young mystic of Ctesiphon, proclaims himself a prophet and preaches his doctrine, Manichaeism, throughout the Persian Empire.

Births

• Lactantius, Christian writer (d. 320) (approximate date)
• Sporus of Nicaea, Greek mathematician and astronomer (approximate date)
• Zenobia, queen of the Palmyrene Empire (d. 274)

Deaths

• Ammonius Saccas, Neoplatonic philosopher (approximate date)

References