Calendar year

303

All data from the card 28

Gregorian calendar: 303CCCIII
Ab urbe condita: 1056
Assyrian calendar: 5053
Balinese saka calendar: 224–225
Bengali calendar: −291 – −290
Berber calendar: 1253
Buddhist calendar: 847
Burmese calendar: −335
Byzantine calendar: 5811–5812
Chinese calendar: 壬戌年 (Water Dog)3000 or 2793 — to —癸亥年 (Water Pig)3001 or 2794
Coptic calendar: 19–20
Discordian calendar: 1469
Ethiopian calendar: 295–296
Hebrew calendar: 4063–4064
- Vikram Samvat: 359–360
- Shaka Samvat: 224–225
- Kali Yuga: 3403–3404
Holocene calendar: 10303
Iranian calendar: 319 BP – 318 BP
Islamic calendar: 329 BH – 328 BH
Javanese calendar: 183–184
Julian calendar: 303CCCIII
Korean calendar: 2636
Minguo calendar: 1609 before ROC民前1609年
Nanakshahi calendar: −1165
Seleucid era: 614/615 AG
Thai solar calendar: 845–846
Tibetan calendar: ཆུ་ཕོ་ཁྱི་ལོ་(male Water-Dog)429 or 48 or −724 — to —ཆུ་མོ་ཕག་ལོ་(female Water-Boar)430 or 49 or −723

Year 303 (CCCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. It was known in the Roman Empire as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and Maximian (or, less frequently, year 1056 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 303 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

Great Persecution: Emperor Diocletian launches the last and largest major persecution of Christians in the Empire. Caesar Galerius and Hierocles are said to have been the instigators. In a series of four edicts published from February 23, 303, to 304, the Christians are forbidden to worship in groups, are made to perform sacrifices, and must surrender sacred texts. Churches are destroyed, and the clergy are arrested en masse. The persecution lasts in some parts of the empire until 313, and thousands of Christians are killed. Those put to death include Agnes of Rome, a 12-year-old Christian girl who has refused marriage and consecrated her virginity to God. Hailed as a martyr, she will be honored as the patron saint of chastity, gardeners, rape victims and virgins.
September 25 – On a voyage preaching the gospel, Saint Fermin of Pamplona is beheaded in Amiens (Modern day France).
November 20 – The Augusti Diocletian and Maximian reunite in Rome to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Diocletian's accession, which is now treated as a joint anniversary for both emperors. A series of columns in the Roman Forum and a triumphal arch are dedicated to the emperors. The two emperors also agree on a plan of abdication.
Galerius wins his third victory over the Carpi and is perhaps joined on campaign by Diocletian. The Arch of Galerius is dedicated in Thessaloniki.
Caesar Constantius I wins a victory over Germanic invaders in the battle of Vindonissa.