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The 110s BC

74 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 2nd century BC. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

119 BCE10 entries

  • Huo Qubing crosses the eastern Gobi, defeats and executes Bijuqi, defeats the Tuqi (Worthy Prince) of the Left (East), and captures three kings. He reaches as far as Lake Baikal.
  • Government monopolies are established in iron, salt and liquor.
  • Spring: Han Chinese forces under the General-in-Chief Wei Qing and the cavalry general Huo Qubing invade the Xiongnu Empire.

118 BCE7 entries

  • The Roman colony of Narbo Martius is founded in Gallia Transalpina.
  • The Second Dalmatian War ends with victory for Rome. Lucius Caecilius Metellus assumes the surname Delmaticus.
  • Micipsa dies and Numidia, following the king's wish, is divided into three parts, a third each ruled by Micipsa's own sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal I, and the king's adopted son, Jugurtha.

117 BCE4 entries

  • Quintus Marcius Rex triumphs over the Stoeni tribe of northern Italy.

116 BCE6 entries

  • June 26 – At the death of Ptolemy VIII Physcon, Cleopatra III has chosen her younger son Ptolemy X Alexander as co-regent, but the Alexandrians force her to bring Ptolemy IX from Cyprus, of which he is governor.
  • Ptolemy IX Philometor Soter II Lathyros becomes king of Egypt and claims the throne.

115 BCE7 entries

  • Marcus Aemilius Scaurus defeats the Carni Celtic tribes of Northern Italy, leading to their submission to Roman rule.
  • The Kingdom of Sheba collapses.
  • Gaius Marius is praetor in Rome: he defeats Celtic tribes in modern-day Spain.

114 BCE7 entries

  • Horos, son of Haruotes, a resident of the temple of Isis in Egypt, attacked a worshiper at the temple.
  • Silk Road routes opened to traders and merchants, exporting goods from east to west.
  • The Scordisci defeat Gaius Porcius Cato

113 BCE10 entries

  • Battle of Noreia: The Cimbri and Teutones cross the Danube and enter the lands of the Celtic tribe, the Taurisci (centered in what is now Austria and north-eastern Italy). The latter sent emissaries to Rome, seeking help in dealing with the migration. The Senate sends consul Gnaeus Papirius Carbo across the Julian Alps, to deal with the migration at the head of an army (some 30,000 men). He offers guides to escort them out of the territory of the Taurisci. The guides are instructed to lead the tribes to the town of Noreia, where Carbo sets an ambush. The Cimbri manage to discover Carbo's plan, they turn the tables and defeat the Romans during an ambush. Carbo manages to escape with the remnants of his consular army (some 6,000 men) during a heavy thunderstorm. Later, he is indicted by the Senate for losing the battle, but escapes conviction by committing suicide.
  • The state of Nanyue, a vassal of the Han dynasty, agrees to submit to Han laws and receives envoys to oversee the succession of the young king Zhao Xing.
  • An incense burner, later found in the tomb of Liu Sheng, Prince of Zhongshan in Mancheng, Hebei, is made during the Han dynasty. It is now kept at Hebei Provincial Museum, Shijiazhuang.

112 BCE5 entries

  • The Roman Senate declares war against Jugurtha following the Siege of Cirta (ends 105 BC).
  • Lü Jia, Premier of the Han vassal state of Nanyue, opposes increased Han control and refuses to appear before the king of Nanyue and the envoys of Han. He rebels against the Han when Emperor Wu sends an armed force of 2,000 men to kill him and his allies. Lü kills king Zhao Xing and his regent, Queen Dowager Jiu, massacres the Han force, and installs Zhao Jiande as king.
  • The king of Dongyue, Zou Yushan, sends an army to link up with Yang Pu, but he secretly sends an envoy to Zhao Jiande and halts the transport fleet to await the war's outcome, claiming that the weather is preventing its advance.

111 BCE10 entries

  • Jugurtha, king of Numidia, bribes the commander Lucius Calpurnius Bestia and Roman friends to secure easy terms. He is given a safe conduct to Rome in order to account for his actions in the Roman Senate. Jugurtha contemptuously bribes his way through all difficulties.
  • In winter, the Han general Yang Pu captures Xunxia Gorge and Shimen and defeats the Nanyue army. He and Han general Lu Bode then attack the Nanyue capital Panyu and receive its surrender. Nanyue's King Zhao Jiande and Premier Lü Jia are captured in flight and killed.
  • Han-Xiongnu War: the Han generals Gongsun He and Zhao Ponu invade deep into Xiongnu territory, Gongsun marching from Wuhuan and Zhao from Lingju. However, neither come upon a Xiongnu army. There follows a period of several years in which the Han and Xiongnu seek to establish peace.

110 BCE8 entries

  • Jugurtha, king of Numidia, defeats a Roman army under Aulus Postumius Albinus.
  • Emperor Wu of Han annexes Dongyue and Minyue and relocates their population to the area between the Yangtze and Huai rivers.
  • In winter, the Han general Yang Pu retakes Wulin, and a faction of Dongyue nobles kill their king Zou Yushan before surrendering to the Han general Han Yue.