217

217 (CCXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.

Millennium:	1st millennium
Centuries:	2nd century – 3rd century – 4th century
Decades:	180s  190s  200s  – 210s –  220s  230s  240s
Years:	214 215 216 – 217 – 218 219 220

Roman Empire

• April 8 – Caracalla is killed by his legionaries near Edessa. Marcus Opellius Macrinus head of the Praetorian Guard, calls himself Roman emperor.
• Summer – Battle of Nisibis: The Roman army is defeated in a three days battle by the Parthians at Nisibis (southern Turkey).
• King Artabanus IV signs a peace treaty with Rome.
• Macrinus, of Mauritania, becomes the first equestrian Roman emperor.
• Empress Julia kills herself.
• The Colosseum is badly damaged by fire. It destroys the wooden upper levels of the amphitheater.

Religion

• December 20 – The papacy of Zephyrinus ends. Callixtus I is elected as the sixteenth pope. Hippolytus says he should not be Pope.
• Hippolytus begins his "pontificate" as antipope.
• Ciriacus succeeds Philadelphus as Patriarch of Constantinople.

Births

• Fu Xuan, Chinese poet (d. 278)
• Hua He, minister under the Kingdom of Wu (d. 279)
• Jia Chong, general of the Jin Dynasty (d. 282)
• Empress Dowager Wang Yuanji, wife of Sima Zhao (d. 268)

Deaths

• April 8 – Caracalla, Roman Emperor (assassinated) (b. 188)
• Julia Domna, Roman Empress (suicide) (b. 170)
• December 20 – Pope Zephyrinus
• Chen Lin, minister of Han Dynasty
• Lu Su, advisor to Sun Quan, sympathetic to Liu Bei (b. 172)
• Wang Can, Chinese poet, scholar, and statesman of Cao Wei (b. 177)
• Sima Lang, official of Han Dynasty (b. 171)