Historical eventJanuary 3250

Decius

Decius ordered all people in the Roman Empire (except Jews) to perform a sacrifice to the Roman gods, resulting in widespread persecution of Christians.

Everything on January 3Original source

In context

When
Thursday, January 3 2501776 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
3rd century · 250s
Calendar
Julian — as recorded at the time
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

Dates before 15 October 1582 are in the Julian calendar, so the weekday shown follows the Julian reckoning of the time.

At a glance

Dates: From 250.

What happened

Decius ordered all people in the Roman Empire (except Jews) to perform a sacrifice to the Roman gods, resulting in widespread persecution of Christians.

January 3 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 250Decius
  2. 2009Payment system
  3. 2009Cryptocurrency
  4. 2015Boko Haram
  5. 2016Nimr al-Nimr
  6. 2018For the first time in history, all five major storm surge gates in the Netherlan
  7. 2019Chang'e 4
  8. 2020Qasem Soleimani
  9. 2023Jurong Bird Park
  10. 20242024 Kerman bombings
  11. 2026United States

Sources

Cite this page

“Decius”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/decius-250-january-3, accessed October 30, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did Decius happen?

January 3 250 — 1776 years ago, on a Thursday.

Is this a Julian or a Gregorian date?

It is the date as recorded at the time, on the Julian calendar. The Gregorian equivalent falls about ten days later; sources from different countries may give either.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

Text adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 and from Wikidata (CC0). Images come from Wikimedia Commons; credit and licence are shown with each image. Editorial entries are © What's On This Date. Sources & licensing · How this site works.