Mani, born near Seleucia-Ctesiphon, perhaps in the town Mardinu in the Babylonian district of Nahr Kutha, according to other accounts in the town Abrumya, is a Persian of noble descent and a Mithra initiate who has studied early Christian heresies.

Mani's father Pātik, a native of Ecbatana (modern Hamadan, Iran), is a member of the Jewish-Christian sect of the Elcesaites (a subgroup of the Gnostic Ebionites).

His mother, whose name is reported variously, among others Mariam, is of Parthian descent (from "the Armenian Arsacid family of Kamsarakan" (Sundermann, Werner (2009), Mani, the founder of the religion of Manicheism in the third century CE, "...his mother was from the house Jinsajian, explained by Henning as the Armenian Arsacid family of Kamsarakan".)

At ages twelve and twenty-four, Mani had visionary experiences of a heavenly twin of his, calling him to leave his father's sect and teach the true message of Christ.

In 240–41, Mani travels to "India" (i.e.

to the Sakhas, Hindu theological schools that specializes in learning certain Vedic texts, in modern-day Afghanistan), where he had probably been influenced by Greco-Buddhism.

Returning in 242, he joins the court of Shapur I, to whom he dedicates his only work written in Persian, known as the Shabuhragan.

Shapur is not converted to Manichaeanism and remains Zoroastrian.

Mani embarks on a career as an itinerant preacher, declaring himself the “Messenger of Truth,” the Paraclete promised by Jesus.

Traveling throughout the Persian empire, he teaches that salvation requires liberation of the seed of light, the soul, from the material darkness which envelops and binds it, and that this can be achieved through ascetic practices and strict celibacy.

Those who seek perfection must set three “seals” on their lives: on the mouth, to speak only truth and to abstain from meat or impure food of any kind; on the hands, to refrain from war, killing, or injuring life; on the breast, to render impossible the works of the flesh.

These rules apply only to the elect or pure; a less stringent code is described for hearers.

The destiny of the imperfect is continual rebirth in a world of material bodies.

The fifth-century Cologne Mani-Codex and other evidence discovered in the twentieth century establishes Mani as a historical individual.

Sassanid ruler Ardashir I, a king of kings, in a complete reversal of the Parthian form of governance, has centralized power in his hands.

Ardashir is an energetic king, responsible for the resurgence not just of Persia but of Iranian-speaking peoples as a unified nation (ethnous as it appears in the Greek version of his successor's inscription on the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht), the strengthening of Zoroastrianism, and the establishment of a dynasty that will endure for four centuries.

Ardashir has constructed massive building projects in Fars province as a proclamation of imperial grandeur.

While his campaigns against Rome have met with only limited success, he has achieved more against them than the Parthians had done in many decades and has prepared the way for the substantial successes his son and successor Shapur I, who accedes to the throne first as co-ruler and then sole ruler following his father’s death in 242, will enjoy against the same enemy.

Persian cavalry and infantry forces, having invaded and seized most of Syria, now threaten the Roman provincial capital of Antioch.

Roman emperor Gordianus III arrives in Syria in 242 with his father-in-law, the capable general Gaius Furius Sabinus Aquila Timesithesus, at the head of a large army.

Timesitheus defeats the Persians at the Battle of Resaena in 243 and expels them from Roman territory, …

…regaining Nisibis and …

…Carrhae.

Timesitheus, while is planning more campaigns, suddenly becomes ill and dies, preventing Gordian from further exploiting his success.

Gordian, his mother and Tranquillina are saddened by his death.

Little is known about the early life and political career of Philip the Arab, who had been born in what is today Shahba, about fifty-five miles (eighty-nine kilometers) southeast of Damascus, in the Trachonitis district, then in the Roman province of Arabia.

Having received the nickname "the Arab" because his family hails from the Roman province of Arabia, Philip is the son of a Julius Marinus, a local Roman citizen, possibly of some importance.

The name of Philip's mother is unknown, but sources refer to a brother, Gaius Julius Priscus, a member of the Praetorian guard under Gordian III.

In 234, Philip had married Marcia Otacilia Severa, daughter of a Roman Governor.

They have at least one child, a son named Marcus Julius Philippus Severus (Philippus II), born in 238.

Philip’s rise to prominence had begun through the intervention of his brother Priscus, an important official under Gordian.

At the suggestion of Priscus, Philip becomes the new Praetorian prefect, with the intention that the two brothers will control the young Emperor and rule the Roman world as unofficial regents.

Late Antiquity is a narrative of notable events from 244 to 676. (3974 records)

We begin in the easternmost subregions and move westwardly around the globe, crossing the equator as many as six times to explore ever shorter time periods as we continue to circle the planet. The maps of the regions and subregions change to reflect the appropriate time period.

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Okvik Culture (244–387 CE)

St. Lawrence Island’s Distinctive Style and the Dialogues of OBS

The Okvik culture, named for the northern Punuk Islands southeast of St. Lawrence Island, flourished in the mid-3rd to 4th centuries CE. Archaeologists see it as a contemporary counterpart to the developed Old Bering Sea traditionaround 300 CE — its communities inhabiting the same Bering Strait world, but expressing it with distinctive material and social emphases.

Okvik sites are especially renowned for their ivory carving style, marked by bold incisions, spirals, and figurative forms that set them apart from the more geometric OBS patterns. Harpoon heads, snow goggles, and ornaments recovered at Okvik display both artistry and practical refinement. Some depict stylized human or animal faces, perhaps embodying spiritual guardianship.

Subsistence paralleled that of OBS communities: marine hunting of walrus, seals, and whales, complemented by fishing and foraging. Okvik groups also engaged in long-distance exchange — their materials show ties to Siberia, Alaska, and neighboring island groups.

What distinguishes Okvik in the archaeological record is less subsistence and more identity of style. Many specialists treat Okvik as a regional expression of OBS, while others view it as a separate but allied tradition that coexisted and interacted with OBS communities. Either way, the Okvik horizon reveals a world of dialogue between island and mainland, where artistry was as much about signaling belonging and prestige as about decorating tools.

By the later 4th century, the Okvik tradition began to fade, merging into the broader Punuk trajectory that would reshape Bering Strait societies by the early medieval period.

 

Funan's population during this early period in its history is probably concentrated in villages along the Mekong River and along the Tonle Sab River below the Tonle Sap.

Traffic and communications are mostly waterborne on the rivers and their delta tributaries.

The area is a natural region for the development of an economy based on fishing and rice cultivation.

There is considerable evidence that the Funanese economy depends on rice surpluses produced by an extensive inland irrigation system.

Maritime trade also plays an extremely important role in the development of Funan.

The remains of what is believed to have been the kingdom's main port, Óc Eo (now part of Vietnam), contain Roman as well as Persian, Indian, and Greek artifacts.