Year 181 (CLXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Burrus (or, less frequently, year 934 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 181 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.

• Imperator Lucius Aurelius Commodus and Lucius Antistius Burrus become Roman Consuls.
• The Antonine Wall is overrun by the Picts in Britannia (approximate date).

• The volcano associated with Lake Taupō in New Zealand erupts, one of the largest on Earth in the last 5,000 years. The effects of this eruption are seen as far away as Rome and China.^[1]

• April 2 – Xian of Han, Chinese emperor (d. 234)
• Zhuge Liang, Chinese chancellor and regent (d. 234)

• Aelius Aristides, Greek orator and writer (b. 117)^[2]
• Cao Jie, Chinese court eunuch and official