Year 212 (CCXII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asper and Camilius (or, less frequently, year 965 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 212 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.

• The edict of Emperor Caracalla (Constitutio Antoniniana) extends Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Roman Empire, with the exception of a limited group that may include Egyptians. The Jewish people are among those who receive citizenship. All free women in the Empire are given the same rights as Roman women.^{[citation needed]}
• Roman jurist Papinian, one of the famous jurists who flourished during the reign of the late emperor Septimius Severus, refuses to write a legal defence for the murder of Caracalla's brother, Publius Septimius Geta. He is beheaded in Rome, in Caracalla's presence.^{[citation needed]}
• Caracalla quiets the objections of the Roman army to Geta's murder, by huge donations.^{[citation needed]}
• Construction begins on the Baths of Caracalla in Rome.^{[citation needed]}
• Edessa in Mesopotamia becomes a Roman province.^{[citation needed]}

• Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor, daughter of Marcus Aurelius (b. 160)
• Gao You, Chinese scholar, historian, politician and writer (b 168).^[1]
• Ma Teng (or Shoucheng), Chinese general and warlord
• Papinian, Roman jurist and praetorian prefect (b. 142)
• Serenus Sammonicus, Roman poet and physician
• Xun Yu, Chinese politician and adviser (b. 163)
• Zhang Hong, Chinese official and politician (b. 153)