196
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2011}}
{{About year|196}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2019}}
{{Year nav|196}}
{{M1 year in topic}}
Year 196 (CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 196 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 ==
- Emperor Septimius Severus attempts to assassinate Clodius Albinus but fails, causing Albinus to retaliate militarily.
- Emperor Septimius Severus captures and sacks Byzantium; the city is rebuilt and regains its previous prosperity.{{cite book |last1=Jacobs |first1=David |title=Istanbul: A History |date=2015 |publisher=New Word City |isbn=9781612309262 |page=24 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fyYsCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT24|language=en}}{{cite web |title=Istanbul {{!}} History, Points of Interest, & Map |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Istanbul |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=29 March 2019 |language=en}}
- In order to assure the support of the Roman legion in Germany on his march to Rome, Clodius Albinus is declared Augustus by his army while crossing Gaul.
- Hadrian's wall in Britain is partially destroyed.
== China ==
- First year of the Jian'an Era, during the reign of the Xian Emperor of the Han.
- The Xian Emperor returns to war-ravaged Luoyang and seeks the protection of warlord Cao Cao. He is advised to move the capital to Xuchang; the emperor becomes a pawn in the hands of the Chinese warlords.