Events from 250

Origen tortured under Decius - survives but dies from injuries years later, prolific writer of 2000 works

St. Christopher martyred in Lycia - giant who carried travelers across river, converted after carrying Christ child, beheaded under Decius

Origen writes Contra Celsum - Defends Christian use of Old Testament against pagan and Jewish critics

Babylonian Jews and Manichaeism - New dualist religion challenges both Judaism and Christianity in Mesopotamia

Las Médulas abandoned - gold exhausted after producing 1,635,000 kg, landscape permanently scarred, mountains collapsed