100s (decade)

Events

Contents: 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109

100

By place

Roman Empire

• Emperor Trajan and Sextus Julius Frontinus become Roman Consuls.
• Bricks become the primary building material in the Roman Empire.
• Pliny the Younger advances to consulship, giving his panegyric on Trajan in the process.
• The Roman Army reaches 300,000 soldiers.
• Tiberius Avidius Quietus' rule as governor of Roman Britain ends.
• Timgad (Thamugas), a Roman colonial town in North Africa is founded by Trajan.
• Trajan creates a policy intended to restore the former economic supremacy of Italy.
• The future emperor Hadrian marries Vibia Sabina.

Europe

• Lions have become extinct in the Balkans in the 100 AD's.

Asia

• Pakores (last king of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom) takes the throne.
• Paper is used by the general populace in China, starting around this year.
• The Kingdom of Himyarite is conquered by the Hadramaut.

Americas

• The Hopewell tradition begins in what is now Ohio circa this date.
• Teotihuacan, at the center of Mexico, reaches a population of 50,000.
• The Moche civilization emerges, and starts building a society in present-day Peru.

By topic

Arts and sciences

• In China, the wheelbarrow makes its first appearance.
• Main hall, Markets of Trajan, Rome, is made (until 112AD).

Religion

• Appearance of the first Christian dogma and formulas regarding morality.
• The Gospel of John is widely believed to have been written around this date.^[1]
• The compilation of the Kama sutra begins in India.
• The Temple of the God of Medicine is built in Anguo, China.
• The Fourth Buddhist Council is convened circa this year.

101

By place

Roman Empire

• Emperor Trajan starts an expedition against Dacia, exceeding the limits of the Roman Empire set by Augustus.
• The Second Battle of Tapae is fought.
• Epictetus writes and publishes The Discourses.

By topic

Arts and sciences

• Plutarch writes his Parallel Lives of Famous Men (in Greek Βίοι Παράλληλοι) containing fifty biographies, of which 46 are presented as pairs comparing Greek and Roman celebrities—for example Theseus and Romulus, Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, Demosthenes and Cicero.

102

By place

Roman Empire

• Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus and Lucius Licinius Sura become Roman Consul.
• Emperor Trajan returns to Rome after a successful campaign against Dacia, through which he reestablishes clear Roman sovereignty over king Decebalus.
• Trajan divides Pannonia into two provinces sometime between this year and 107.
• The port of Portus is enlarged.

Asia

• Having organised the territories of the Tarim basin, Chinese general Ban Chao retires to Luoyang, and dies shortly thereafter.

By topic

Medicine

• The presence of sugar in the urine is interpreted as a sign of illness in India.

103

By place

Roman Empire

• Emperor Trajan and Manius Laberius Maximus become Roman Consul.
• Pliny the Younger becomes a member of the college of Augurs (103–104).
• Legio X Gemina moves to Vienna, where it remains until the 5th century.

By topic

Religion

• In Palmyra, Syria, a Temple of the Sun is erected to the god Baal.

104

By place

Roman Empire

The Trajan's Bridge across the lower Danube, as seen from Drobeta. Reconstruction by the engineer E. Duperrex in 1907

• Pliny the Younger is a member of the college of Augurs (103–104).
• Nijmegen is renamed Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum.
• A fire breaks out in Rome.
• Trajan gives the order to have the Alcántara Bridge built over the Tagus River at Alcántara (Hispania), constructed by the architect Lacer.
• Apollodorus of Damascus builds a stone bridge over the Danube more than 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) long, almost 20 meters (66 feet) high and 15 meters (49 feet) wide. The bridge connects what is now Serbia with Romania (at the time known as Dacia).

By topic

Religion

• In India, figures of Buddha replace abstract motifs on decorative items.

105

By place

Roman Empire

• Emperor Trajan starts the second expedition against Dacia, he leaves with the Imperial Roman fleet from Brundusium. Permanent castrum of Legio II Adiutrix at Aquincum (modern Budapest) in Pannonia.
• Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix and II Traiana Fortis are created by Trajan.
• The Romans conquer Kerak from the Nabateans.
• Pacorus II of Parthia dies after a 27-year reign in which he has reclaimed all of his empire. His successor Vologases III reigns until 147 AD, suppressing brief rebellions as he battles against the Kushan and Alani.

Asia

• Emperor He Di dies after a 17-year reign in which court eunuchs and the emperor's in-laws have regained influence. Empress Deng Sui placed her son Shang Di (barely 3 months old) on the throne, as the fifth emperor of the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty.
• Last year (17th) of yongyuan era and start of yuanxing era of the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty.
• A peace treaty is signed between Baekje and Silla in the Korean peninsula (the war started in 85).

By topic

Arts and sciences

• Papermaking is refined by the Chinese eunuch Cai Lun, who receives official praise from the emperor for his methods of making paper from tree bark, hemp, remnant rags and fish nets. Paper had been made in China from the 2nd century BC, but Cai Lun's paper provides a far superior writing surface than pure silk and is much less costly to produce. Bamboo and wooden slips, will remain the usual materials for books and scrolls in most of the world for another 200 years, and paper will remain a Chinese secret for 500 years.
• The Trajan Bridge is finished. For more than a thousand years, it is the longest arch bridge in the world to have been built, in terms of both total and span length.^[2]

Religion

• Pope Alexander I succeeds Pope Evaristus as the sixth pope – traditionally.
• Change of Patriarch of Constantinople from Patriarch Plutarch to Patriarch Sedecion.

106

By place

Roman Empire

Decebalus' suicidal death, from Trajan's Column

• Ignatius writes a letter to Christians in Smyrna (around this year) where the term Catholic Church is used. This is the earliest surviving witness to the use of the term "Catholic Church".
• Emperor Trajan conquers the Dacian Fortresses of the Orăştie Mountains and surrounds the capital, Sarmizegetusa. The Dacians are defeated in the Battle of Sarmizegetusa, the city is encircled with a circumvallation line. When the Romans destroyed the water pipes, king Decebalus flees and commits suicide.
• In August 11, the south-eastern part of Dacia (modern Romania) becomes a Roman province: Roman Dacia. The veterans of the legions are given land in the new province for their service in the Roman army.
• Trajan annexes Nabataean Arabia (with its capital Petra) as a Roman province.
• Aelian writes his Taktike Theoria (probable date).

Asia

• Change of Han Hedi to Han Shangdi of the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty. First and the only year of yanping era.
• Change of Han Shangdi to Han Andi of the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty.

107

By place

Roman Empire

• Lucius Licinius Sura and Quintus Sosius Senecio become Roman Consul.
• Emperor Trajan divides Pannonia into two portions sometime between 102 and this year.
• An Indian ambassador is received by Trajan.

Asia

• First year of yongchu era of the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty.
• Han Andi (An-ti, Ngan-ti), a young man, becomes emperor of China, giving power to Empress Deng Sui.
• Suishō, King of Wa (Japan), sends 160 slaves as presents to the Emperor An of Han.

108

By place

Roman Empire

• Appius Annius Trebonius Gallus and Marcus Appius Bradua become Roman Consul.
• In Rome, the opening of "Doctor's offices" replaces "house calls".

By topic

Arts and sciences

• Tacitus writes Histories, which covers the period from 69 to 96.

109

By place

Roman Empire

• June 24 – The Aqua Traiana is inaugurated by emperor Trajan; the aqueduct channels water from Lake Bracciano, 40 kilometers (25 mi) north-west of Rome.
• The Via Traiana is constructed at the emperor Trajan's personal expense; the road connects Benevento with Brundisium (Brindisi).
• The Baths of Trajan built by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus are dedicated during the Calends. The thermae are constructed on the platform of the Palace of Nero (Domus Aurea) in Rome.
• Osroes I of Parthia succeeds his brother Pacorus II and rules over the western Parthian Empire.
• Pliny the Younger is legate to Bithynia.

By topic

Religion

• The Christian Church proclaims itself to be universal (catholic).

Significant people

• Trajan, Roman Emperor (98–117)

References