The Log of History: 1000xLog(2), 301 A.D.

1000*Log10(2) = c.301 because 10^0.301 = c. 2.

("c." is for circa, meaning "approximately" or "about" in Latin. Multiplying the Log by 1000 makes it look more like a year in the Anno Domini calendar. So why didn't I call this the kilolog of history? Because that sounds clunky!)

So, what happened in the year 301 A.D.?

The event mentioned most often, based on a google search for "history 301 A.D." is the conversion of Armenia to Christianity. This was the first nation to officially declare itself Christian, and the Armenian orthodox church is still around. I remember in 2001 when they celebrated 1700 years of official Christianity, an event which was sadly eclipsed later that year by terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

Another common mention is the Roman Emperor Diocletian's Edict on Maximum Prices. The Romans had stamped out a huge amount of copper coinage to pay for various things and naturally inflation went through the roof. The Edict on Maximum Prices was his response, as he blamed greedy merchants and threatened to kill anyone who charged more than he allowed. I had heard since I was young that in the Roman Empire, sons were required to follow the professions of their father, but I'd never heard any context. According to one website on hyperinflation, Diocletian's price-fixing scheme resulted in merchants refusing to sell their wares at his low set price, so he passed laws against hoarding. So merchants simply went into other businesses rather than stock items with fixed prices. So he passed laws requiring sons to do the same business as their father had done. One silly despotic law leads to another...

In other Italian historical events, Saint Marino supposedly takes refuge on Mount Titano in 301, beginning the history of the Italian city-state of San Marino, which is independent like Lichtenstein or Andorra.

Did anything else happen in the year 301 A.D. that you know about? Silly or serious, it doesn't matter to me, I'm just trying to fix the number "301" in my mind.

The Log of History so far:

Log(1) = 0. Jesus' birth.
Log(2) = c.301 Armenia becomes Christian; Diocletian fixes prices.