This article is about the year 312. For the number, see 312 (number). For other uses, see 312 (disambiguation).

Battle of the Milvian Bridge (312)
312 in various calendars
Gregorian calendar 312
CCCXII
Ab urbe condita 1065
Assyrian calendar 5062
Balinese saka calendar 233–234
Bengali calendar −282 – −281
Berber calendar 1262
Buddhist calendar 856
Burmese calendar −326
Byzantine calendar 5820–5821
Chinese calendar 辛未年 (Metal Goat)
3009 or 2802
    — to —
壬申年 (Water Monkey)
3010 or 2803
Coptic calendar 28–29
Discordian calendar 1478
Ethiopian calendar 304–305
Hebrew calendar 4072–4073
Hindu calendars
 - Vikram Samvat 368–369
 - Shaka Samvat 233–234
 - Kali Yuga 3412–3413
Holocene calendar 10312
Iranian calendar 310 BP – 309 BP
Islamic calendar 320 BH – 319 BH
Javanese calendar 192–193
Julian calendar 312
CCCXII
Korean calendar 2645
Minguo calendar 1600 before ROC
民前1600年
Nanakshahi calendar −1156
Seleucid era 623/624 AG
Thai solar calendar 854–855
Tibetan calendar ལྕགས་མོ་ལུག་ལོ་
(female Iron-Sheep)
438 or 57 or −715
    — to —
ཆུ་ཕོ་སྤྲེ་ལོ་
(male Water-Monkey)
439 or 58 or −714

Year 312 (CCCXII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus (or, less frequently, year 1065 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 312 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

  • Constantine I crosses the Cottian Alps with an army (40,000 men) and defeats Maxentius's generals in three battles at Turin, Brescia and Verona.[1] Maxentius's Praetorian Prefect Ruricius Pompeianus is killed in the fighting outside Verona.
  • October 28 – Battle of the Milvian Bridge: Constantine defeats Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge, becoming the only Roman emperor in the West. Prior to the battle, he reportedly has a vision of a cross (labarum) with the phrase "in hoc signo vinces" ("In this sign you shall conquer"). This encourages him to convert to Christianity.
  • October 29 – Constantine enters Rome; he stages a grand adventus in the city, and is met with popular jubilation. Maxentius' body is fished out of the Tiber and decapitated.
  • Constantine forges an alliance with co-emperor Licinius, and offers him his half-sister, Constantia, in marriage. The Praetorian Guard and Imperial Horse Guard (equites singulares Augusti) are disbanded.
  • Emperor Maximinus Daza campaigns unsuccessfully against the Armenians.

By topic

Religion

  • Constantine I adopts the words "in hoc signo vinces" as a motto, and has the letters X and P (the first letters of the Greek word Christ) emblazoned on the shields of his soldiers.
  • The Council of Carthage supports Donatism, which espouses a rigorous application and interpretation of the sacraments. These doctrines will be condemned by the Council of Arles (314).
  • Constantine I promotes a policy of state sponsorship of Christianity, perhaps even becoming a Christian himself (see Constantine the Great and Christianity).


Births

  • Dao'an, Chinese Buddhist monk and writer (d. 385)
  • Huan Wen (or Yuanzi), Chinese general (d. 373)

Deaths

  • October 28 – Maxentius, Roman emperor (b. 283)
  • Clement of Ancyra, Christian bishop and martyr
  • Guo Xiang, Chinese scholar and philosopher (b. 252)
  • Huyan, Chinese empress of the Xiongnu state
  • Ruricius Pompeianus, Roman praetorian prefect

References

  1. ^ Barnes, Timothy David (1981). Constantine and Eusebius. Harvard University Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-674-16531-1. Retrieved February 1, 2024.