257

This article is about the year 257. For the number, see 257 (number).

Year 257 (CCLVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerianus and Gallienus (or, less frequently, year 1010 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 257 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:	230s 240s 250s 260s 270s
Years:	254 255 256 257 258 259 260

257 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	257 CCLVII
Ab urbe condita	1010
Assyrian calendar	5007
Balinese saka calendar	178–179
Bengali calendar	−336
Berber calendar	1207
Buddhist calendar	801
Burmese calendar	−381
Byzantine calendar	5765–5766
Chinese calendar	丙子年 (Fire Rat) 2954 or 2747     — to — 丁丑年 (Fire Ox) 2955 or 2748
Coptic calendar	−27 – −26
Discordian calendar	1423
Ethiopian calendar	249–250
Hebrew calendar	4017–4018
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	313–314
- Shaka Samvat	178–179
- Kali Yuga	3357–3358
Holocene calendar	10257
Iranian calendar	365 BP – 364 BP
Islamic calendar	376 BH – 375 BH
Javanese calendar	136–137
Julian calendar	257 CCLVII
Korean calendar	2590
Minguo calendar	1655 before ROC 民前1655年
Nanakshahi calendar	−1211
Seleucid era	568/569 AG
Thai solar calendar	799–800
Tibetan calendar	阳火鼠年 (male Fire-Rat) 383 or 2 or −770     — to — 阴火牛年 (female Fire-Ox) 384 or 3 or −769

Golden Roman helmet found near Sirmium (Serbia)

Events

By place

Roman Empire

• Gallienus enters into a joint consulship with his father Valerianus I, having brought some order to the Danube area.
• Future emperor Aurelian defeats the Goths and brings many prisoners back to Rome.
• In Bavaria the Limes Germanicus (Upper Raetian Limes) along the river Iller is abandoned by the Romans.
• Valerian, under guardianship of Ingenuus, is established at Sirmium (Pannonia) to represent the Roman government in the troubled Illyrian provinces.
• Emperor Valerian recovers Antioch, Syria from King Shapur I of Persia.
• The Goths build a fleet on the Black Sea.
• The Goths separate into the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths.

By topic

Religion

• August 30 – Pope Sixtus II succeeds Pope Stephen I as the 24th pope.
• Valerian's persecution of Christians begins: his edict orders bishops and priests to sacrifice according to the pagan rituals, and prohibits Christians, under penalty of death, from meeting at the tombs of their deceased.

Births

• Gregory the Illuminator, Armenian religious leader (approximate date)
• Jia Nanfeng (or Shi), Chinese empress (d. 300)

Deaths

• August 2 – Stephen I, bishop of Rome
• September 26 – Zhu Yi (or Jiwen), Chinese general
• Wen Qin (or Zhongruo), Chinese general and politician
• Zhang Changpu, Chinese concubine (b. 199)