Year 281 (CCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Probus and Tiberianus (or, less frequently, year 1034 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 281 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.

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• Cai Mo (or Daoming), Chinese official and politician (d. 356)
• Theodore Stratelates, Roman general and martyr (d. 319)

• Proculus, Roman general and usurper