297 BCE

Chandragupta Maurya goes to Sravana Belagola, near Mysore, to live in the way of Jains. Ptolemy decides to support Pyrrhus of Epirus and restores him to his kingdom. At first, Pyrrhus reigns with a kinsman, Neoptolemus II of Epirus (who is a son of Cleopatra of Macedonia and a nephew of Alexander the Great), but soon he has him assassinated. Following Cassander's death from illness, Philip IV, Cassander's eldest son, succeeds his father as King of Macedon, but soon after coming to the throne, he suffers from a wasting disease and dies. Antipater, the next son, rules jointly with his brother Alexander V.

In the 290s BC, the 3rd century BC.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Demetrius Poliorcetes returns to Greece with the aim of becoming master of Macedonia. While Demetrius is in Greece, Lysimachus seizes his possessions in Asia Minor.source

Conflict & Security

  • The consul Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus defeats an attempted ambush by the Samnite army in the Battle of Tifernum, killing 3400, capturing 830, and causing the army to flee. He then invades Samnium and storms the town of Cimetra.source
  • Ptolemy decides to support Pyrrhus of Epirus and restores him to his kingdom. At first, Pyrrhus reigns with a kinsman, Neoptolemus II of Epirus (who is a son of Cleopatra of Macedonia and a nephew of Alexander the Great), but soon he has him assassinated.source
  • The consul Publius Decius Mus intercepts and defeats a force of Apulians near Maleventum, who were intending to reinforce the main Samnite army.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • Chandragupta Maurya goes to Sravana Belagola, near Mysore, to live in the way of Jains.source

Religion & Belief

  • Zipoetes I assumes the title of basileus (king) in Bithynia.source

Culture & Society

  • Bindusara, his son, ascends to the Pataliputra throne.source

Deaths

  • King Cassander of Macedon, one of the diadochoi ("successors"), the Macedonian generals who have fought over the empire of Alexander the Great after his death (born c. 358 BC)source
  • Chandragupta Maurya, Emperor of the Maurya Empire in India, r. 322–297 BC (approximate date)source
  • Following Cassander's death from illness, Philip IV, Cassander's eldest son, succeeds his father as King of Macedon, but soon after coming to the throne, he suffers from a wasting disease and dies. Antipater, the next son, rules jointly with his brother Alexander V.source