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Roman Empire
Battle of Edessa: With a large army, said to number 70,000 men, Valerianus attempts to drive the Persians back from Edessa. The Roman army is surrounded and most of its troops are killed or captured. Valerianus is taken prisoner for the remainder of his life.
Shapur I sends Valerian to Bishapur and uses the captured Roman army for engineering plans. They construct the Band-e Kaisar (Bridge of Valerian).
Gallienus becomes the sole emperor of Rome; during his reign the Pannonian governor Ingenuus revolts on the Danube.
Gallienus evacuates the fortifications (limes) in the Agri Decumates (Germania Superior), covering the Black Forest area in the face of invading Alamanni.
Gallienus establishes himself at Mediolanum (modern Milan); he reorganizes the army, supported by elite cavalry, and dispatches troops to the Rhine frontier.
Postumus, Roman usurper, forms the Gallic Empire and protects the Rhine against an invasion of Germanic tribes.
Saloninus, son of Gallienus, is proclaimed Augustus by his troops. Postumus besieges Cologne, where Silvanus is praetorian prefect and Roman ruler of Gaul.
Postumus executes Saloninus and his adviser Silvanus after breaching the walls of Cologne. He is recognized as emperor and establishes his capital at Trier.
Postumus wins over all the Roman provinces west of the Alps, including Gaul, Britain and Hispania.
The Roman fort of Wiesbaden (Germany) is captured by the Alamanni.
The Franks take control over the Scheldt estuary (approximate date).
Asia
Persian king Shapur I destroys Caesarea Mazaca in Asia Minor.
Cao Huan succeeds Cao Mao as ruler of the Chinese Kingdom of Wei.
Syria, Egypt and Palestine break off from the Roman Empire to form the Persian-supported Palmyrene Empire.
Arts and sciences
Earliest known date of chess.
Religion
Pope Dionysius convenes a synod at Rome to demand an explanation from bishop Dionysius of Alexandria, who has been charged with separating the members of the Trinity as three distinct deities.
Paul of Samosata becomes Patriarch of Antioch.
Roman Empire
Emperor Gallienus crushes the Alemanni at Milan (possible date).
Gallienus repeals the edict of 258, which led to the persecution of the Christians.
Gallienus usurpers: The rebellion of Macrianus Major, Macrianus Minor, and Quietus against Gallienus comes to an end. They march from Asia to Europe but are defeated in Thrace by Gallienus' general Aureolus, and both are killed. Quietus flees to Emesa, where he is killed by Odaenathus of Palmyra.
Roman–Persian Wars: Balista, Roman usurper, collects ships from Cilician ports and defeats the Persian fleet near Pompeiopolis, capturing the harem of king Shapur I.
Britain elects to join the Gallic Empire.
Asia
Michu ascends the Silla throne, becoming the first king of the long Kim line.
Roman Empire
The Goths invade Asia Minor and destroy the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.
An earthquake strikes Ephesus and another strikes Cyrene.
The Heruls accompany the Goths, ravaging the coasts of the Black Sea and the Aegean.
Roman Empire
King Odenathus of Palmyra declares himself ruler of the area west of the River Euphrates and is declared Dux Orientalis by the Roman emperor Gallienus.
Asia
The Wei Kingdom conquers the kingdom of Shu Han, one of the Chinese Three Kingdoms.
Arts and sciences
Liu Hui writes a commentary on The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, describing what will later be called Gaussian elimination, computing pi, etc.
Asia
Jiang Wei tries to restore the Kingdom of Shu by persuading Zhong Hui to declare a rebellion against Sima Zhao, ruler of Cao Wei. They receive no support from the Wei troops, and Zhong Hui, Jiang Wei and their families are put to death.
Sun Hao succeeds Sun Xiu as ruler of the Chinese Kingdom of Wu.
Roman Empire
Emperor Gallienus tries twice to crush the usurper Postumus, but on the first occasion Aureolus, commander of the elite cavalry, carelessly lets him escape. The second time, Gallienus sustains an arrow wound and has to break off his siege of a Gallic town where Postumus has holed up. He makes no other serious attempt to overcome his rival, devotes his attention to the political and military problems in the Danube and eastern parts of the Roman Empire.
Postumus makes no move to march on Rome and claim his territory south of Gaul.
Gallienus gives the order to fortify Milan and Verona.
Gallienus repels the invasion of the Goths in the Balkans.
A general of Gallienus' army, Victorinus, defects to Postumus.
Asia
Three Kingdoms: Sima Yan forces emperor Cao Huan to abdicate the throne to him, ending the Kingdom of Wei in China.
Jin Wudi becomes ruler of part of China, beginning the Jin Dynasty. He establishes his capital at Luoyang and gives princes of his uncles, cousins, brothers, and sons, independent military commands in the Chinese Empire.
Roman Empire
King Odaenathus of Palmyra invades Persia to conquer the capital, Ctesiphon, and twice comes as far as the walls of the Persian capital, but fails to take it. After his victories in the East he pronounces himself with the title "king of kings".
Ireland
The rule of High King Cormac mac Airt ends (approximate date).
Roman Empire
First Gothic invasion: The Goths, originally from Scandinavia, with the Sarmatians (from modern Iran), invade the Balkans and Greece. They ravage Moesia and Thrace.
The Heruli invade the Black Sea coast; they unsuccessfully attack Byzantium and Cyzicus. The Romano-Byzantine fleet defeats the Herulian fleet (500 ships) but allows them to escape into the Aegean Sea, where they raid the islands of Lemnos and Skyros.
The Goths sack several cities of southern Greece including Athens, Corinth, Argos and Sparta. An Athenian militia force (2,000 men), under the historian Dexippus, pushes the invaders to the north where they are intercepted by the Roman army under emperor Gallienus. He wins an important victory near the Nestos River, on the boundary between Macedonia and Thrace.
Aureolus, charged with defending Italy, defeats Victorinus (co-emperor of Gaul), is proclaimed emperor by his troops, and begins his march on Rome.
Near East
King Odaenathus of Palmyra makes plans for a campaign in Cappadocia against the Goths. He is assassinated along with his eldest son, evidently on orders from emperor Gallienus. His wife Zenobia succeeds him, and rules with her young son Vaballathus the Palmyrene Empire.
Roman Empire
September – Battle of Naissus: Emperor Gallienus, aided by Aurelian, defeats a Gothic coalition (50,000 warriors) near Naissus (Niš, modern Serbia).
Gallienus is killed by his own senior officers at Mediolanum (Milan) while besieging his rival Aureolus, one of the Thirty Tyrants. Aureolus is murdered in turn by the Praetorian guard.
Marcus Aurelius Claudius is charged by the Senate for having murdered Gallienus (it will never be proven). He becomes the new emperor of Rome and will reign as Claudius II.
Claudius II asks the Senate to spare the lives of Gallienus's family and political supporters. Emperor Gallienus is deified and buried in a family tomb on the Appian Way.
The Alamanni invade Italy north of the Po River.
The Visigoths first appear as a distinct people.
November – Battle of Lake Benacus: A Roman army (35,000 men) under emperor Claudius II defeats the Germanic tribes of the Alamanni along the banks of Lake Garda.
Europe
Victorinus is declared emperor of the Gallic Empire by the legions at Augusta Treverorum (Trier), following the murders of his predecessors. He is recognized by the provinces of Gaul and Britain, but Hispania is reunited with the Roman Empire.
Religion
December 26 – Pope Dionysius dies at Rome after a 9-year reign and is succeeded by Pope Felix I.
Roman Empire
Second Gothic invasion: The Goths and other German tribes attack Bosphorean towns on the coast of the Black Sea. Some 2,000 ships and 320,000 men from the Danube enter Roman territory. Emperor Claudius II defeats the invaders and receives the title Gothicus for his triumph. Many of the prisoners will serve in the Roman legions and settle in vacant lands in the Danubian provinces.
Claudius II travels to Sirmium and prepares a war against the Vandals, who raid Pannonia.
The Heruli capture Athens and raid the Aegean Islands as far as Crete and Rhodes.
Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus is killed by his own troops after not allowing them to sack the city of Mogontiacum.
Africa
Queen Zenobia conquers Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt, giving her control of Rome's grain supply. The library at Alexandria is partly burned during a raid by Zabdas, general of Zenobia.
Religion
January 5 – Pope Felix I succeeds Pope Dionysius as the 26th pope.
Paul of Samosata is deposed as Patriarch of Antioch (though he is not removed until 272).
Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus, better known as Galerius. Born c. 260, he would eventually become a Roman emperor.
Gaius Valerius Licinianus Licinius, better known as Licinius. Born c. 263, he would eventually become a Roman emperor.
Saloninus, Roman emperor. Died in 260.
Valerian, Roman emperor. Died between 260 and 264. He was effectively deposed by falling into enemy hands in the Battle of Edessa (260). He spent the rest of his life in captivity, though primary sources about its duration and the manner of his death are contradictory.
Gallienus, Roman emperor. Died in 268.
260s Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
