text: Lex Iulia de Ambitu penalised bribery when acquiring political offices.


year_label: 18 BCE

section: Culture & Society

text: Lex Iulia de maritandis ordinibus introduced penalties and incentives to promote marriage, and forbade marriage of senators, as well as of their children, to prostitutes and to freedmen.

source_title: 18 BC

source_section: Events › By place › Roman empire


section: Births

text: Arminius, Chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci and a former officer (d. AD 21)

source_section: Births


section: Deaths

text: Cornelia, daughter of Scribonia (second wife of Augustus)

source_section: Deaths


year_label: 171 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Mithradates I succeeds his brother Phraates I as king of Parthia.

source_section: Events › By place › Parthia


section: Conflict & Security

text: Thanks to the efforts of Eumenes II of Pergamum while in Rome, the Romans declare war on Macedonia and send troops to Thessaly, thus beginning the Third Macedonian War. In the resulting Battle of Callicinus the Macedonians, led by their king, Perseus, are victorious over a Roman force led by consul Publius Licinius Crassus.

source_section: Events › By place › Greece


text: Epirus joins Macedonia in the latter's fight against Rome. However, the leagues of southern Greece remain neutral.


text: Boiotian League dissolved by the Romans.


section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The first Roman colony outside Italy is founded at Carteia in southern Hispania after Iberian-born descendants of Roman soldiers appear before the Roman Senate to request a town to live in and are given Carteia, which is named Colonia Libertinorum Carteia.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Republic


section: Religion & Belief

text: Lucius Postumius Albinus is sent by Rome as an ambassador to King Masinissa of Numidia, and to the Carthaginians in order to raise troops for the war against Perseus of Macedonia.


text: Phraates I, King of Parthia, who has ruled the country since 176 BC


year_label: 172 BCE

text: The peace treaty at the end of the Second Punic War requires that all border disputes involving Carthage be arbitrated by the Roman Senate and requires Carthage to get explicit Roman approval before going to war. As a result, envoys from Carthage appear before the Roman Senate to request resolution of a boundary dispute with Numidia. The dispute is decided in Numidia's favour.

source_section: Events › By place › Carthage


text: Eumenes II of Pergamum travels to Rome to warn the Roman Senate of the danger from Perseus of Macedon. On his return from Rome, Eumenes II is nearly killed at Delphi and Perseus is suspected of being the instigator.


text: Xiahou Ying, Chinese official and minister coachman


text: Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, Roman consul and general


text: 1712 BC: According to the middle chronology, Samsu-iluna dies and is succeeded by Abi-Eshuh.

source_title: 18th century BC

source_section: Events


text: c. 1720 BC: The Hyksos invade and conquer Egypt, establishing their capital at Avaris.


text: c. 1720 BC: Adasi, a native king of Assyria, seizes power.


year_label: 173 BCE

text: Antiochus IV pays the remainder of the war indemnity that has been imposed by the Romans on Antiochus III in the Treaty of Apamea (188 BC).

source_section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire


text: The first known session of the Mahestan (a noble advisory council consisting of Zoroastrian priests and aristocrats) is believed to have taken place during Nowruz (the Persian New Year) in this year, under the reign of Mithridates I of Parthia. This council later played a key role in advising the king and, at times, selecting or deposing monarchs.

source_section: Events › By place › Parthian Empire


text: Dedication of the Temple of Fortuna Equestris.


text: Ptolemy VI Philometor marries his sister, Cleopatra II.

source_section: Events › By place › Egypt


text: Antiochus V Eupator, ruler of the Seleucid Empire from 164 BC (d. 162 BC)


text: Wang Zhi, Chinese empress of the Han dynasty (d. 126 BC)


text: Lucius Cornelius Lentulus, Roman consul and general


year_label: 174 BCE

text: The Xiongnu attack the Yuezhi, and force them away from Gansu.

source_section: Events › By place › Mongolia


text: The first street pavements were laid in Rome.

source_section: Events › By place › Rome


text: Titus Quinctius Flamininus, Roman general and statesman whose skillful diplomacy has enabled him to establish a Roman protectorate over Greece (b. c. 227 BC) (approximate date)


text: Mete Khan, emperor and founder of the Xiongnu Empire, who has united various Hun confederations under his rule (b. 234 BC)


text: Publius Aelius Paetus, Roman consul and censor


text: 1736 BC: According to the ultra-long chronology of the ancient Near East, this is the year the sack of Babylon occurred.


text: c. 1740 BC: Akkadian-Assyrian governor Puzur-Sin drives the Babylonians and Amorites into the north, out of the land of Assyria.


text: c. 1740 BC: reigns of pharaoh Neferhotep I and his brother Sobekhotep IV, marking the apex of the Egyptian 13th Dynasty.


year_label: 175 BCE

text: Antiochus manages to oust Heliodorus and takes advantage of Demetrius' captivity in Rome to seize the throne for himself under the name Antiochus IV Epiphanes.


text: During this period of uncertainty in Syria, the Egyptian ruler, Ptolemy VI, lays claim to Coele Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia, which the Seleucid king Antiochus III has previously conquered. Both the Syrian and Egyptian parties appeal to Rome for help, but the Roman Senate refuses to take sides.


text: King Seleucus IV of Syria arranges for the exchange of his brother Antiochus for Demetrius, the son of Seleucus IV, who has been a hostage in Rome following the Treaty of Apamea in 188 BC. However, Seleucus IV is assassinated by his chief minister Heliodorus, who then seizes the Syrian throne.


text: Timarchus is appointed governor of Media in western Persia by Antiochus IV to deal with the growing threat from the Parthians. At the same time, Timarchus' brother, Heracleides, becomes minister of the royal finances.


section: Crime & Justice

text: Latest murder date for Old Croghan Man.

source_section: Events › By place › Ireland


text: The construction of the western front of the altar in Pergamum, Turkey, begins (approximate date) and is finished in 156 BC. A reconstruction of it is now kept at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

source_section: Events › By topic › Art


text: Quintus Caecilius Metellus, Roman consul and dictator (b. c. 250 BC)


text: Cleopatra I of Egypt, mother of Ptolemy VI.


text: Seleucus IV Philopator, king of the Seleucid dynasty, who has ruled since 187 BC (b. c. 217 BC)


text: 1749 BC: Samsu-iluna succeeds Hammurabi as king of Babylon. However, his rule is not very effective, and Mesopotamia endures turmoil during his reign.


text: 1749 BC – 1712 BC: Mesopotamian Rebellions.


text: c. 1750 BC: Vedic period starts in India.


text: 1750 BC: Old Assyrian Empire disestablished


text: 1750 BC: Hyksos occupation of Northern Egypt.


section: Science & Discovery

text: c. 1750 BC: The complaint tablet to Ea-nāṣir is written.


section: Climate & Environment

text: 1750 BC: A colossal volcanic eruption at Mount Veniaminof, located on the Alaska Peninsula.


text: c. 1750 BC: Investiture of Zimrilim (Zimrilim, King of Mari, before the Goddess Ishtar), facsimile of a wall painting on mud plaster from the Zimrilim palace at Mari (modern Tell Hariri, Syria), Court 106, is made. It is now in Musée du Louvre, Paris.


text: c. 1750 BC: Hammurabi (middle chronology)


text: c. 1750 BC: Hammurabi dies and is succeeded by his son, Samsu-iluna, who is already involved in Babylonian government.


year_label: 176 BCE

text: The Roman general, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, subdues Sardinia, enslaving some of the population.


text: Cleopatra I Syra, queen of Egypt from 193 BC, wife of Ptolemy V Epiphanes and regent for her young son, Ptolemy VI Philometor (b. c. 204 BC)


text: King Phriapatius of Parthia dies and is succeeded by his son Phraates I.


text: Cleopatra I Syra dies leaving her son, Ptolemy VI, to rule Egypt alone.


text: 1757 BC: Mari sacked by Hammurabi. Zimrilim's palace is destroyed.


text: 1757 BC: Zimrilim, the King of Mari, dies.


year_label: 177 BCE

text: After two military campaigns, the Romans finally subdue the Illyrian tribe of the Histri.


text: Luni in northern Italy is founded by the Romans with the name Luna at the mouth of the Magra River.


text: Perseus of Macedonia marries Laodice, the daughter of the Seleucid king Seleucus IV.


text: Liu Zhang, Chinese prince of the Han dynasty and a key figure in the anti-Lü clan conspiracy during the Lü Clan Disturbance of 180 BC


text: Liu Xingju, Chinese prince of the Han dynasty and a key player during the Lü Clan Disturbance (180 BC), grandson of Emperor Gao of Han and son of Prince Liu Fei of Qi


text: 1764 BC – 1750 BC: Wars of Hammurabi.


text: 1764 BC: Yarim Lim 1 The Great King of Yamhad


text: 1766 BC: Shang conquest of the Xia dynasty. China.


text: 1770 BC: Babylon, capital of Babylonia becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Thebes, capital of Egypt.


year_label: 178 BCE

text: One of Perseus' first acts on becoming king of Macedonia is to renew the treaty between Macedonia and Rome. In the meantime, Perseus builds up the Macedonian army and puts out feelers for creating an alliance with the Greek leagues, with his northern barbarian neighbours, and also with the Seleucid king Seleucus IV.


text: In Rome, the praetor Lucius Postumius Albinus celebrates a triumph after conquering the Vaccaei and Lusitani during his time as Roman commander in the province of Hispania Ulterior.


text: Chen Ping, Chinese official and chancellor of the Western Han dynasty


text: Liu Jiao, Chinese prince and younger brother of Emperor Gaozu of Han


text: Fu Sheng (Master Fu), Chinese Confucian scholar and writer (b. 268 BC)


text: 1779 BC: Zimrilim, the King of Mari, starts to rule.


year_label: 179 BCE

text: Eumenes II of Pergamum defeats Pharnaces I of Pontus in a major battle. Finding himself unable to cope with the combined forces of Eumenes and Ariarathes IV of Cappadocia, Pharnaces is compelled to purchase peace by ceding all his conquests in Galatia and Paphlagonia, with the exception of Sinope.

source_section: Events › By place › Asia Minor


text: Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus goes to Hispania as Roman governor to deal with uprisings there.


text: Marcus Aemilius Lepidus is appointed both censor and princeps senatus.


section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: The Pons Aemilius is completed across the Tiber River in Rome. It is regarded as the world's first stone bridge.


text: Sima Xiangru, Chinese statesman, poet, and musician (d. 117 BC)


text: Liu An, Chinese prince, geographer, and cartographer (d. 122 BC)


text: Dong Zhongshu, Chinese scholar who is traditionally associated with the promotion of Confucianism as the official ideology of the Chinese imperial state (d. 104 BC)


text: Philip V, king of Macedonia from 221 BC, whose attempt to extend Macedonian influence throughout Greece has occurred at a time of growing Roman involvement in Greek affairs and resulted in his military defeat by Rome (b. 238 BC)


text: Philip V of Macedon dies at Amphipolis in Macedonia, remorseful for having put his younger son Demetrius to death, at the instigation of his older son Perseus. Nevertheless, he is succeeded by his son Perseus.


text: Liu Xiang, Chinese prince involved in the Lü Clan Disturbance in 180 BC and grandson of Emperor Gao of Han


text: 1786 BC: Egypt: Queen Sobekneferu dies. End of Twelfth Dynasty, start of Thirteenth Dynasty, start of Fourteenth Dynasty.


text: 1787 BC – 1784 BC: Amorite conquests of Uruk and Isin.


year_label: 180 BCE

text: Emperor Wen honours the relatives and ancestors of Zhao Tuo, the Chinese-born ruler of Nanyue (in present-day Vietnam and southern China). As a result, Nanyue returns to the Han dynasty as a vassal, although Zhao Tuo continues to call himself an emperor within his own kingdom.

source_section: Events › By place › China


text: Fearing reprisals should the young Emperor Houshao and his brothers reach adulthood, the conspirators deny that Emperor Hui was the father of Houshao and his brothers. They overthrow the emperor, and despite the imperial pedigree of Liu Xiang as the son of the eldest son of Gaozu of Han, they eventually agree to elevate Gaozu's oldest surviving son, Emperor Wen, to the throne. After being evicted from the palace, Houshao is executed later in the year.


text: Demetrius I starts his invasion of present-day Pakistan, following the earlier destruction of the Mauryan dynasty by general Pushyamitra Shunga.

source_section: Events › By place › Bactria


text: Apollodotus I, a general with Demetrius I of Bactria, becomes king of the western and southern parts of the Indo-Greek kingdom, from Taxila in Punjab to the areas of Sindh and possibly Gujarat. He maintains his allegiance to Demetrius I.


text: Rome completes its subjugation of all of Italy with the defeat of the Ligurians in a battle near modern Genoa. Rome deports 40,000 Ligurians to other areas of the Republic.


text: After three years of intriguing against his younger brother Demetrius, including accusing him of coveting the succession to the Macedonian throne and being allied to Rome, Perseus persuades his father King Philip V of Macedon to have Demetrius executed.


text: Ptolemy VI Philometor, aged 6, rules as co-regent with his mother, Cleopatra I, who, although a daughter of a Seleucid king, does not take King Seleucus IV's side and remains on friendly terms with Rome.


text: Viriathus, Lusitanian chieftain and general (d. 139 BC)

source_section: Births


text: Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus, Roman consul (d. 113 BC)


text: Apollodorus of Athens, Greek scholar and grammarian (d. c. 120 BC)


date: August 18

text: August 18 – Empress Dowager Lü, de facto ruler of the Chinese Han dynasty and wife of Emperor Gao (b. 241 BC)

source_section: Deaths


date: September 26

text: September 26 – Lü Clan Disturbance. Following the death of Empress Lü, who had been the de facto ruler of the Han dynasty, the Lü Clan is overthrown and massacred by the imperial princes Liu Zhang and Liu Xiang, General-in-Chief Zhou Bo and Prime Minister Chen Ping.


text: Lucius Valerius Flaccus, Roman statesman, consul in 195 BC, censor in 183 BC and colleague of Cato the Elder


text: Aristophanes of Byzantium, Greek scholar, critic and grammarian, particularly renowned for his work in Homeric scholarship, but also for work on other classical authors such as Pindar and Hesiod. After early studies under leading scholars in Alexandria, he has been chief librarian since about 195 BC (b. 257 BC)


text: Ptolemy V Epiphanes, king of Egypt (b. 210 BC)


text: Following the death of Aristophanes of Byzantium, Aristarchus of Samothrace becomes librarian at Alexandria.


text: Liu Hong, fourth emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty (b. 190 BC)


text: c. 1792 BC – 1750 BC: (middle chronology) – Hammurabi rules Babylonia and has to deal with Mari, which he conquers late in his career.


text: c. 1792 BC – 1750 BC: (middle chronology) – Stela of Hammurabi, from Susa (modern Shush, Iran) is made. It is now in Musée du Louvre, Paris.


text: 1800 BC – 1300 BC: Troy VI flourishes.


text: 1800 BC: Beginning of the Indo-Aryan migration


text: c. 1800 BC: Sedentary Mayan communities in Mesoamerica


text: c. 1800 BC: Hyksos start to settle in the Nile Delta. They had the capital at Avaris in northeastern Nile Delta.


text: 1800 BC: Adichanallur urn-burial site in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu. In 2004, a number of skeletons dating from around 3,800 years ago.


text: 1800 BC: Beginning of the Nordic Bronze Age in the period system devised by Oscar Montelius.


text: 1800 BC – 1700 BC: Decline of the Indus Valley Civilisation


year_label: 19 BCE

text: King Yuri becomes ruler of the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo.

source_title: 19 BC

source_section: Events › By place › Asia


text: The Cantabrians, living on the northernmost coast of Spain, are brought under Roman control. The region is completely subdued until 16 BC.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Empire


text: King Herod the Great begins renovation of the Temple in Jerusalem.


text: In Rome, Lucius Cornelius Balbus receives the honor of a triumph on the Forum Romanum, for his victories over the Garamantes in Africa.


text: Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa completes the Aqua Virgo; the aqueduct is 21 km in length and supplies the city of Rome with about 100,000,000 liters of water every day.


text: The Aeneid by the Roman poet Virgil is published after his death. The Aeneid is an epic poem in 12 books that tells the story of the foundation of Rome from the ashes of Troy.


text: Vipsania Julia Agrippina, daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder


date: September 21

text: September 21 – Virgil, Roman poet (b. 70 BC)


text: Dongmyeong, Korean king of Goguryeo


text: Albius Tibullus, Roman poet (b. 54 BC)


year_label: 181 BCE

text: Nanyue's emperor Zhao Tuo attacks the other vassal kingdoms of Minyue, Western Ou and Luo and secures their submission. He also attacks the state of Changsha.


text: Pharnaces I of Pontus decides to attack both Eumenes II of Pergamum and Ariarathes IV of Cappadocia and therefore invades Galatia with a large force. Eumenes leads an army to oppose him, however, hostilities are soon suspended following the arrival of Roman deputies, who have been appointed by the Roman Senate to inquire into the matters in dispute. Negotiations take place at Pergamum but are inconclusive, with Pharnaces' demands being rejected by the Romans as unreasonable. As a consequence, the war between Pontus and Pergamum and Cappadocia is renewed.


text: Empress Lü of the Han dynasty sends an army under Zhou Zao to attack the formerly vassal state of Nanyue in present-day Vietnam and southern China, but the heat and dampness causes many of Zhou's men to fall ill, and he fails to make it across the mountains into enemy territory.


text: Rome founds a colony at Aquileia, on the narrow strip of land between the mountains and the lagoons, as a frontier fortress to check the advance of the Illyrians.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Republic


section: Health & Medicine

text: Ptolemy V is poisoned after a reign of 24 years in which the Egyptian kingdom has declined in power and influence and has lost most of its empire outside Egypt other than Cyprus and Cyrenaica. The elder of his two sons, Ptolemy VI Philometor succeeds him, but since he is an infant, he rules under the regency of his mother Cleopatra the Syrian.


text: c. 1808 BC: Shamshi-Adad I returns from exile and conquers Assur, emerging as the first Amorite king of Assyria.

source_title: 19th century BC


year_label: 182 BCE

text: Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II, king of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt (d. 116 BC)


text: Jin Xi a Han Chinese general under Emperor Liu Bang.


text: Prusias I Chlorus, king of Bithynia (b. c. 228 BC)


text: The king of Bithynia, Prusias I Chlorus dies and is succeeded by his son, who rules as Prusias II.


text: Zhang Ao, Feudal lord of Han dynasty.


year_label: 183 BCE

text: The Roman statesman Titus Quinctius Flamininus is sent to the court of Prusias I, king of Bithynia, to demand the surrender of the former Carthaginian statesman and general Hannibal. When Hannibal finds out that Prusias is about to agree to the Roman demands and thus betray him, he poisons himself in the village of Libyssa in Bithynia.


text: Roman colonies are established at Mutina (later Modena), Pisa and Parma in northern and central Italy.


text: The town of Messene rebels against the Achaean League. When the Achaean League's general, Philopoemen, intervenes to try to control the rebellion, he is captured during a skirmish and imprisoned. He is then given poison to take so that he can die honourably.

source_section: Events › By place › Greece


text: Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio, consul in 138 BC, who will have a prominent part in the murder of Tiberius Gracchus by leading a group of conservative senators and other knights in opposition to Gracchus and his supporters (d. 132 BC).


text: The Roman general Scipio Africanus dies at Liternum in Campania.


text: Hannibal, Carthaginian statesman, military commander and tactician, one of history's great military leaders, who has commanded the Carthaginian forces against Rome in the Second Punic War (b. 247 BC)


text: Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major, Roman statesman and general, famous for his victory over the Carthaginian leader Hannibal in the Battle of Zama in 202 BC, which ended the Second Punic War and gave him the surname Africanus (b. 236 BC)


text: Philopoemen, Greek general and statesman, strategos of the Achaean League on eight occasions and a major figure in the demise of Sparta as a Greek power (b. 253 BC)


text: c. 1825 BC: The oldest known medical text in Egyptian history, the Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus, is written.

source_section: Events


year_label: 184 BCE

text: Empress Lü has Emperor Qianshao of Han deposed and executed. Qianshao had vowed to kill his enemies after learning that his mother was a concubine and that she had been put to death by Empress Lü. Emperor Houshao of Han, a half-brother of Qianshao, ascends to the throne.


text: With concerns rising in Rome over whether Philip V of Macedon is preparing for a new war with the Romans, Appius Claudius Pulcher is sent at the head of an embassy into Macedonia and Greece to observe Philip's activities.


text: Around this time, Empress Lü outlaws the trade of iron and horses with the vassal state of Nanyue in present-day Vietnam and southern China, being concerned by its military strength. In response, Nanyue's king Zhao Tuo ends his vassal status, declares himself emperor and attacks the neighbouring vassal kingdom of Changsha, seizing a few border towns.


text: The town of Pisaurum is established by the Romans as a colony in the territory of the Picentes, a tribe living in the Marche on the Adriatic.


text: Cato the Elder, along with his colleague, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, are elected censors in Rome. Already the champion of the ancient, austere Roman way of life, Cato inaugurates a puritanical campaign. He aims at preserving the mos maiorum ("ancestral custom") and combating all Greek influences, which he believes are undermining the older Roman standards of morality. He passes measures taxing luxury and strictly revises the list of persons eligible for the Senate. Abuses by tax gatherers are brought under control, and public building is promoted as a worthy cause.


text: The oldest known basilica, the Basilica Porcia, is completed in Rome by Cato the Elder during the time he is censor. The building is used by the Romans for transacting business and disposing of legal matters.


text: Liu Wu, Chinese prince of the Han dynasty (approximate date)


text: Titus Macchius Plautus, Roman comic dramatist, whose works, loosely adapted from Greek plays, established a truly Roman drama in the Latin language (b. c. 254 BC)


text: Liu Gong, Chinese emperor of the Han dynasty (b. 193 BC)


text: c. 1839 BC: Senwosret III (Twelfth Dynasty) died.


year_label: 185 BCE

text: The civil war between the northern and southern areas of Egypt ends with the arrest of Ankmachis by the Ptolemaic general Conanus.


text: The Roman general Scipio Africanus and his brother Lucius are accused by Cato the Elder and his supporters of having received bribes from the late Seleucid king Antiochus III. Scipio defies his accusers, reminds the Romans of their debt to him, and retires to his country house at Liternum in Campania. However, Cato is successful in breaking the political influence of Lucius Scipio and Scipio Africanus.


text: Pushyamitra Shunga assassinates the Mauryan emperor Brhadrata, which brings an end to that dynasty, after which he founds the Shunga dynasty.

source_section: Events › By place › India


text: Panaetius of Rhodes, Greek philosopher (d. 110 BC)


text: Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, leading general and politician of the Roman Republic. As consul he will be the commander of the final siege and destruction of Carthage and will be the leader of the senators opposed to the Gracchi (d. 129 BC)


text: Brhadrata, Indian emperor, last ruler of the Indian Mauryan dynasty (from 197 BC)


year_label: 186 BCE

text: Eumenes II of Pergamum defeats Prusias I of Bithynia.


text: The first burial at the famous archaeological site of Mawangdui is made during the Western Han dynasty of China.


text: The rapid spread of the Bacchanalia cult throughout the Roman Republic, which, it is claimed, indulges in all kinds of crimes and political conspiracies at its nocturnal meetings, leads to the Roman Senate issuing a decree, the Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus, by which the Bacchanalia are prohibited throughout all Italy except in certain special cases which must be approved specifically by the Senate.


text: Ptolemy VI Philometor, king of Egypt, who will reign from 180 BC (d. 145 BC)


text: Li Cang, Marquis of Dai, buried in one of the Mawangdui


text: c. 1855 BC: Pharaoh Senwosret III dies (other date is 1839 BC).


text: c. 1860 BC: Amenemhat III starts to rule


text: c. 1860 BC: Senusret III inspects the Nubian frontier, he leads four punitive campaigns against the Nubians.


year_label: 187 BCE

text: The Seleucid king, Antiochus III, attempts to collect tribute from a temple near Susa, Persia, where he was killed. He is succeeded by his son, Seleucus IV, who inherits an empire consisting of Syria, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, western Iran.

source_section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire


text: The construction of the Via Aemilia, a trunk road in the north Italian plains, running from Ariminum (Rimini), on the Adriatic coast, to Placentia (Piacenza) on the river Padus (Po), is completed.


text: Queen Cleopatra I is appointed Vizier (Chief Minister) to the King Ptolemy V Epiphanes.

source_section: Events › By place › Egypt


text: Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus is elected tribune of the plebs, in which capacity he is recorded as having saved Scipio Africanus from prosecution by interposing his veto. Tiberius is no friend nor political ally of Scipio's, but feels that the general's services to Rome merit his release from the threat of trial like any common criminal. Supposedly, in gratitude for this action, Scipio betrothes his youngest daughter, Cornelia, to him.


text: Demetrius I Soter, king of Syria (approximate year)


text: Antiochus III the Great, Seleucid king of the Hellenistic Syrian Empire from 223 BC (b. c. 241 BC)


year_label: 188 BCE

text: The leader of the Achaean League, Philopoemen, enters northern Laconia with his army and a group of Spartan exiles. His army demolishes the wall that the former tyrant of Sparta, Nabis, has built around Sparta. Philopoemen then restores Spartan citizenship to the exiles and abolishes Spartan law, introducing Achaean law in its place. Sparta's role as a major power in Greece ends, while the Achaean League becomes the dominant power throughout the Peloponnese.


text: The continuing quarrels among the Greek cities and leagues increases the conviction in Rome that there will be no peace in Greece until Rome takes full control.


text: Through the peace treaty of Apamea (in Phrygia), the Romans force the Seleucid king, Antiochus III, to surrender all his Greek and Anatolian possessions as far east as the Taurus Mountains, to pay 15,000 talents over a period of 12 years and to surrender to Rome the former Carthaginian general Hannibal, his elephants and his fleet, and furnish hostages, including the king's eldest son, Demetrius. Rome is now the master of the eastern Mediterranean while Antiochus III's empire is reduced to Syria, Mesopotamia, and western Iran.


text: Following the peace of Apamea, Eumenes II receives the provinces of Phrygia, Lydia, Lycia, Pisidia, and Pamphylia from his Roman allies, as the Romans have no desire to actually administer territory in Hellenistic Anatolia but want to see a strong, friendly state in Anatolia as a buffer zone against any possible Seleucid expansion in the future.


text: Hannibal flees via Crete to the court of King Prusias I of Bithynia who is engaged in warfare with Rome's ally, King Eumenes II of Pergamum.


text: Jing of Han, emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty, who ruled from 157 BC (d. 141 BC)


text: Following the death of Emperor Hui of Han, his mother Empress Lü makes Hui's son Emperor Qianshao of Han and appoints members of her clan as kings, thereby establishing her effective control over China.


text: Hui of Han, the second emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty, who ruled from 195 BC (b. 210 BC)


text: c. 1874 BC: Pharaoh Senwosret III starts to rule (other date is 1878 BC).


text: c. 1874 BC: Pharaoh Senwosret II dies (other date is 1878 BC).


text: c. 1878 BC: Senwosret III (Twelfth Dynasty) started to rule.


text: 1878 BC: Senwosret II (Twelfth Dynasty) died.


text: c. 1880 BC: Pharaoh Senwosret II starts to rule (other date is 1897 BC).


year_label: 189 BCE

text: The defeat of Antiochus III by the Romans in the Battle of Magnesia robs the Aetolian League of its principal foreign ally and makes it impossible for them to stand alone in continued opposition to Rome. The League is forced to sign a peace treaty with Rome that makes it a subject ally of the Republic. Although the League continues to exist in name, the power of the League is broken by the treaty and it never again constitutes a significant political or military force.


text: Cato the Elder criticizes the consul Marcus Fulvius Nobilior for giving awards to Roman soldiers for doing ordinary tasks, such as digging wells.


text: The Romans under consul Gnaeus Manlius Vulso, along with a Pergamene army under Eumenes II, defeat the Galatians in Anatolia and make them subjects of Pergamum.


text: The territory of Artsakh first became known for being inhabited by Armenians-notably within the city of Tigranakert, one of four cities named after Tigranes the Great in the ancient Armenian empire.


text: The city of Philadelphia (now Alaşehir, Turkey) is founded by King Eumenes II of Pergamon. Eumenes names the city after his brother, Attalus, whose loyalty earns him the nickname, "Philadelphus", literally meaning "one who loves his brother".


text: Zhang Liang, Chinese rebel and taoist, who has helped Liu Bang establish the Han dynasty (b. 262 BC)


text: Liu Fei, Chinese prince and proclaimed king of the former Qi State (Zhou dynasty) (b. 221 BC)


text: Fan Kuai, Chinese general and politician of the Han dynasty (during the Chu-Han Contention)


year_label: 190 BCE

text: Following Antiochus III's defeat by the Romans, two of Antiochus III's Armenian satraps, Artaxias and Zariadres, declare themselves independent of the Seleucids. With Roman consent, they establish themselves as kings of the Kingdom of Armenia and the district of Sophene (Armenia Minor), respectively. Artaxias builds his capital, Artaxata, on the Araxes River (now the Aras River) near Lake Sevan.


text: For assisting the Romans in defeating Antiochus III, Eumenes II of Pergamum is rewarded with a great increase in territory. He is given control over the Thracian Chersonese (the modern Gallipoli peninsula) and over most of the former Seleucid possessions in Anatolia.


text: The Battle of the Eurymedon is fought between a Seleucid fleet and ships from Rhodes and Pergamum, who are allied with the Roman Republic. The Seleucids are led by the famous Carthaginian general Hannibal. The Rhodians and their allies are victorious and Hannibal's fleet is forced to flee.


text: Subsequently, the naval Battle of Myonessus is fought between a Seleucid fleet and a Roman fleet with the help of Rhodian ships. The Romans and their allies are victorious.


text: Meeting no further resistance from the Seleucids and their allies, the Roman army under general Scipio Africanus and his brother Lucius, along with King Eumenes II of Pergamum and other allies, cross the Hellespont into Anatolia.


text: As Philip V of Macedon has aided Rome against her enemies on the Greek peninsula, his tribute to Rome is remitted and his son, Demetrius, is restored to him after being held hostage in Rome for a number of years.


text: One of the main highways in Roman Italy, the Via Appia, is extended to Benevento and Venosa.


text: The statue Nike (Victory) of Samothrace is created (possible date). It is discovered in 1863 and is now kept at Musée du Louvre in Paris.


text: Cornelia, second daughter of Scipio Africanus. She will be considered by Roman society to be the perfect example of a virtuous Roman woman (d. 100 BC)


text: Judah Maccabeus (who then became a leader of the Maccabees) (d. c. 160 BC)


text: Hipparchus, Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician (d. c. 120 BC)


text: Apollonius of Perga, Greek mathematician, geometer and astronomer of the Alexandrian school, known by his contemporaries as "The Great Geometer", whose treatise "Conics" is one of the greatest scientific works from the ancient world (b. c. 262 BC)


text: c. 1897 BC: Senwosret II (Twelfth Dynasty) started to rule. He built Kahun near his pyramid tomb complex at el-Lahun.


text: c. 1900 BC: Minoan Old Palace (Protopalatial) period starts in Crete.


text: c. 1900 BC: Fall of last Sumerian dynasty.


text: c. 1900 BC: Late Harappan phase of the Indus Valley civilization begins


text: c. 1900 BC: The Mokaya along the Pacific coast of present-day Chiapas, Mexico were preparing cacao beverages.


text: c. 1900 BC: Port of Lothal is abandoned.


text: c. 1900 BC: Transition from Early Helladic III to Middle Helladic culture in Greece.


year_label: 20 BCE

date: May 12

text: May 12 – Emperor Augustus Caesar negotiates a peace with Parthia, making Armenia a buffer zone between the two major powers. The captured eagles of Marcus Licinius Crassus and Mark Antony are returned.

source_title: 20 BC


date: June 3

text: June 3 – Lucius Aelius Sejanus, advisor of Tiberius (d. AD 31)


text: Lucius Antonius, grandson of Mark Antony d. AD 25)


text: Philo of Alexandria, Jewish philosopher (d. AD 50)


text: Gaius Caesar, grandson of Augustus Caesar (d. AD 4)


text: Artavasdes I, king of Media Atropatene (approximate date)


text: Mirian II (or Mirvan), king of Iberia (Georgia)


text: Fuzhulei Ruodi, ruler of the Xiongnu Empire


text: Artaxias II, king of Armenia (Artaxiad dynasty)


text: Mithridates II, king of Commagene (Armenia)


year_label: 191 BCE

text: Cisalpine Gaul becomes a Roman province.


text: The Carthaginians manage to collect the indemnity due to Rome (through the peace treaty signed between them ten years earlier) but not payable in full for 50 years. The Romans, in order to keep their hold on Carthage, refuse to accept the early payment of the indemnity.

source_section: Events › By place › Carthage


text: Scipio Africanus persuades the Roman Senate to continue the war against Antiochus III by making him the chief commander and allowing him and his brother, Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus, to follow Antiochus into Anatolia.


text: The Romans under Manius Acilius Glabrio and Cato the Elder cut the Seleucid king Antiochus III off from his reinforcements in Thrace and outflank his position at the pass of Thermopylae in the Battle of Thermopylae. With the remainder of his troops, Antiochus flees to Chalcis on Euboea and from there he retreats by sea to Ephesus.


text: Arsaces II, king of Parthia is succeeded by his cousin Phriapatius.

source_section: Events › By place › Parthia


text: Manius Acilius Glabrio then turns his attention to the Aetolian League, which has persuaded Antiochus to declare war against Rome, and is only prevented from crushing them by the intercession of Titus Quinctius Flamininus.


text: Emperor Hui of Han lifts the ban on Confucian writings ordered in 213 BC.


text: The Roman calendar, which is four months ahead of the seasons, is adjusted (by Lex Acilia de intercalando).


text: Arsaces II, King of Parthia, who had reigned from about 211 BC


year_label: 192 BCE

text: The Achaeans respond to Sparta's renewed interest in recovering lost territory by sending an envoy to Rome with a request for help. In response, the Roman Senate sends the praetor Atilius with a navy, as well as an embassy headed by Titus Quinctius Flamininus.


text: Philopoemen's plans for capturing Sparta itself are put on hold at the request of the Roman envoy Flaminius after his arrival in Greece. In return, Nabis decides, for the moment, to accept the status quo.


text: When Philopoemen reenters Laconia for a second attempt, his forces are ambushed by the Spartan tyrant, Nabis, but nevertheless Philopoemen manages to gain a victory over the Spartan forces.


text: Seleucid forces under their king, Antiochus III, invade Greece at the invitation of the Aetolian League, who are revolting against the Romans. The Aetolians appoint him commander in chief of their league. Antiochus lands in Demetrias, Thessaly with only 10,500 men and occupies Euboea. However, he finds little support for his cause in central Greece.


text: Not waiting for the Roman fleet to arrive, the Achaean army and navy head towards Gythium under the command of Philopoemen. The Achaean fleet under Tiso is defeated by the Spartan fleet. On land, the Achaeans are unable to defeat the Spartan forces outside Gythium and Philopoemen retreats to Tegea.


text: Nabis then appeals to the Aetolians for help. They send 1,000 cavalry under the command of Alexamenus to Sparta. However, the Aetolians murder Nabis and temporarily occupy Sparta. The Aetolian troops seize the palace and set about looting the city, but the inhabitants of Sparta are able to rally and force them leave the city. Philopoemen, however, takes advantage of the Aetolian treachery and enters Sparta with his Achaean army. Now in full control of Sparta, Philopoemen forces Sparta to become a member state of the Achaean League.


text: Xiang Bo, Chinese nobleman of the Chu State (Seven Kingdoms)


text: Nabis, tyrant and last independent ruler (from 207 BC) of Sparta


text: 1913 BC – 1903 BC: Egyptian-Nubian war.

source_title: 20th century BC


text: 1917 BC: Bön founder Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche is born.


text: c. 1920 BC: Jishi Gorge flood. It may have sparked the beginning of the first Chinese dynasty (Xia, Erlitou culture)


year_label: 193 BCE

text: In the meantime, the Spartan ruler, Nabis, moves to recover lost territory, including Gythium.


text: Flamininus is sent to negotiate with Antiochus III and warns him not to interfere with the Greek states. Antiochus does not accept that Flamininus has the authority to speak for the Greeks and promises to leave Greece alone only if the Romans do the same.


text: Flamininus attempts to rally the Greeks against Antiochus III and to counter the pro-Seleucid policy of the Aetolians. When the Aetolians call on Antiochus III for aid, Flamininus persuades the Achaean League to declare war on both parties. He also prevents Philopoemen from taking Sparta.


text: The first porticos were built in Rome.

source_section: Events › By place › Rome


text: Eumenes II of Pergamum appeals to Rome for help against the Seleucid king Antiochus III who is threatening to conquer Greece. The Roman proconsul Titus Quinctius Flamininus supports the Roman championship of Greek autonomy in Anatolia.


text: Carneades of Cyrene moves to Athens to found the third or new Academy.


text: Cleopatra I Syra, daughter of Antiochus III and Laodice, marries the Egyptian King Ptolemy V Epiphanes.


text: Xiao He, prime minister of the early Han dynasty in China who has been a key figure in Liu Bang's rise to power after the fall of the Qin dynasty


text: 1924 BC: Gungunum, king of Larsa, conquers Isin and takes its king Lipit-Ishtar into captivity. (Middle chronology)


text: c. 1928 BC – 1895 BC: "Harvest scene", tempera facsimile by Nina de Garis Davies of wall painting in the tomb of Khnumhotep II, Beni Hasan. Twelfth Dynasty.


year_label: 194 BCE

text: The Italian towns of Liternum and Puteoli become Roman colonies.


text: With the Roman legions under Flaminius returning to Italy, the Greek states are once again on their own. The Romans leave the dominant powers in the region; the kingdom of Macedonia, the Aetolians, the strengthened Achaean League and the weakened Sparta. The Aetolians, who have opposed the Roman intervention in Greek affairs, incite the Spartan leader, Nabis, to retake his former territories and regain his influence in Greek affairs.


text: Empress Lü protects the accession of her son Emperor Hui by executing Consort Qi and her son to Gaozu, Liu Ruyi.


text: After checking the ambitions of Nabis, the tyrant of Sparta, the Roman forces under proconsul Titus Quinctius Flamininus finally withdraw from Greece.


text: The Battle of Mutina is fought between the Romans and the Boii (a Gallic tribe). The Romans are victorious in the battle which effectively ends the threat of the Gauls in Italy.


text: With his peace agreement with the Egyptians in place, Antiochus III now turns his attention to the West. He is encouraged to challenge Rome's protection of the Greeks by his advisor, the former Carthaginian general Hannibal.


text: Philip V of Macedon, along with Rhodes, Pergamum, and the Achaean League, join Rome against Antiochus III.


section: Economy & Finance

text: The Wiman Joseon kingdom of northern Korea (Choson) is founded by the Chinese Han dynasty general Wiman.

source_section: Events › By place › Korea


text: The construction of the first city wall of Chang'an begins.


text: Concubine Qi, also known as Lady Qi or Consort Qi, favoured concubine of Han Gaozu (personal name Liu Bang), the first emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty


text: Eratosthenes, Greek mathematician, geographer and astronomer (b. 276 BC)


year_label: 195 BCE

text: A Spanish revolt against Roman consolidation of the ex-Carthaginian colonies is effectively put down by Marcus Porcius Cato ("the Censor"). He avoids one defeat by paying the Celtiberians 200 talents (around 120,000 denarii), a much-criticised tactic. On Cato's return to Rome, Aemilius Paulus succeeds him as Roman governor in Spain.


text: Because of his administrative and constitutional reforms in Carthage, Hannibal becomes unpopular with an important faction of the Carthaginian nobility and he is denounced to the Romans for inciting the Seleucid king Antiochus III to take up arms against the Romans. Rome demands that Carthage surrender Hannibal. However, Hannibal voluntarily goes into exile.


text: Tensions between Antiochus III and Rome increase when Hannibal is given refuge by Antiochus III at Ephesus and becomes his adviser.


text: After Roman diplomatic intervention, Antiochus III finally halts his war with Egypt. In the peace agreement (the Peace of Lysimachia), Antiochus III formally takes possession of southern Syria, which has been fought over for 100 years by the Ptolemies and Seleucids, and also takes possession of the Egyptian territories in Anatolia.


text: Chang'an, the capital of China, is thought to become the largest city in the world at this time, taking over from Pataliputra, the capital of the Mauryan empire.


text: The Roman sumptuary law, the Lex Oppia, which restricts not only a woman's wealth, but also her display of wealth, is repealed despite consul Marcus Porcius Cato's strong opposition.


text: Facing the suspicion of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Lu Wan, the king of the State of Yan, flees north of the Great Wall of China.


text: Aristophanes of Byzantium, Greek scholar, critic and grammarian, becomes the chief librarian at Alexandria.


text: Mithridates I (or Mithradates), "Great King" of Parthia from about 171 BC who turned Parthia into a major political power and expanded the empire westward into Mesopotamia (d. 138 BC)


text: Terence or Publius Terentius Afer, Roman comic playwright (approximate date) (d. 159 BC)


date: June 1

text: June 1 – Gaozu of Han (or Gao), first emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty, who has ruled since 202 BC (b. 256 or 247 BC)


text: Haemosu Dangun, the first ruler of Buyeo, dies and his son Mosuri Dangun succeeds him to the throne.


text: Gaozu sends general Fan Kuai to seek out Lu Wan but then arrests the general on suspicion of planning to murder Consort Qi and her son to Gaozu, Liu Ruyi. Gaozu dies soon after, and Fan's sister-in-law Empress Lü orders his release.


text: c. 1942 BC: The so-called king of Leubingen (today part of Sömmerda) was buried in a large barrow within a 66 ft m stone cairn inside a ring ditch.


year_label: 196 BCE

text: Antiochus III's army crosses the Hellespont into Thrace, where he claims sovereignty over territory that has been won by Seleucus I in 281 BC. A war of harassment and diplomacy with Rome ensues. The Romans send ambassadors demanding that Antiochus stay out of Greece and set free all the autonomous communities in Anatolia. To meet these demands would mean Antiochus III giving up the western part of his Seleucid Empire. Thus Antiochus refuses the Romans' demands.


text: At the Isthmian Games at Corinth, the Roman proconsul Titus Quinctius Flamininus proclaims that all Greeks are to be free and governed by their own laws. For this deed he is hailed in many Greek cities as a saviour and accorded homage alongside the gods.


text: Empress Lü and Prime Minister Xiao He of the Han dynasty have the former General-in-Chief Han Xin executed, suspecting that he was planning a rebellion in cooperation with the rebel Chen Xi.


text: The king of Huainan, Ying Bu, fearing execution, rebels against the Han dynasty. Gaozu and Cao Shen crush the rebellion but Gaozu is wounded by an arrow, and his health subsequently deteriorates.


text: Flamininus accuses the Spartan ruler, Nabis, of tyranny, takes Gythium in Laconia and forces Nabis to surrender Argos.


text: A Han army defeats a raid on the northern frontier by the rogue Xin of Han. Xin is killed in battle.


text: Emperor Gaozu of Han and his generals, including Cao Shen and Zhou Bo, defeat the rebellion of Chen Xi.


text: The Insubres, Gauls of the Po Valley, believed by the Romans to have been incited to revolt by Carthage, are finally defeated.


text: Gaozu sends Zhao Tuo, the king of Nanyue in present-day Vietnam and southern China, a seal recognizing his rulership in return for his nominal submission to the Han. Zhao Tuo accepts his vassal status.


text: Gaozu deposes the king of Liang, Peng Yue, on suspicion of conspiracy. He is then executed on the orders of Empress Lü.


text: A new category of Roman priests, the tresviri epulones, are elected to supervise the feasts of the gods; the first three men selected are Gaius Licinius Lucullus, Publius Manlius, and Publius Porcius Laeca.


text: Increasingly paranoid, Gaozu briefly arrests Prime Minister Xiao He but is persuaded to release him.


text: The first triumphal arch built in Rome.


text: According to the Roman scholar and writer Marcus Terentius Varro, the foundation of a library at Pergamum around this time by Eumenes II of Pergamum, combined with an embargo on papyrus by Ptolemy V, leads to the invention of parchment.

source_section: Events › By place › Anatolia


text: Xin, Chinese king during the Warring States period


text: Peng Yue, Chinese general of the Western Han dynasty


text: Han Xin, Chinese general during the Chu–Han Contention


text: Marcus Cornelius Cethegus, Roman consul and censor


text: 1953 BC: Senusret I launches a military campaign against Lower Nubia and conquers the region down to the Second Cataract.


year_label: 197 BCE

text: Chen Xi begins a rebellion against the Han dynasty in the Dai region of the northern frontier.

source_section: Events › By place › China


text: The Spartan ruler, Nabis, acquires the important city of Argos from Philip V of Macedon, as the price of his alliance with the Macedonians. Nabis then defects to the Romans in the expectation of being able to hold on to his conquest.


text: Antiochus III occupies parts of the kingdom of Pergamum and a number of Greek cities in Anatolia.

source_section: Events › By place › Asia Minor


text: The Egyptian King, Ptolemy V, fights rebels in the Nile Delta, exhibiting great cruelty toward those of their leaders who capitulate.


text: The Iberian revolt breaks out in Citerior and Ulterior against Roman domination.

source_section: Events › By place › Hispania


text: Hispania is divided into Hispania Ulterior and Hispania Citerior.


text: The volcanic island of Hiera emerges from under the sea near Thera.


text: Eumenes II becomes King of Pergamum following the death of his father Attalus I Soter.


text: Attalus I Soter, ruler of Pergamum from 241 BC, who has taken on the title of king after about 230 BC. Through his military and diplomatic skills, he has created a powerful kingdom in Anatolia (b. 269 BC)

source_section: Deaths


text: Liu Taigong, Chinese emperor of the Han dynasty


year_label: 198 BCE

text: After his election to the consulship, Titus Quinctius Flamininus is chosen to replace Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus as the leading Roman general in Macedonia. He then crosses into Macedonia with his army. Flamininus realizes that future peace depends on breaking the power of king Philip V of Macedon, not merely humbling him. He secures the backing of the Achaean League and then opens peace negotiations with Philip at Nicaea in Locris. Though peace proposals are submitted to the Roman Senate, the talks break down, and fighting resumes.


text: Following the defeat of the Han at the hands of Modu Chanyu of the Xiongnu at Baideng in 200 BC, the soldier and advisor Lou Jing is dispatched by the emperor Gaozu for negotiations. The peace settlement eventually reached between the parties includes a Han princess given in marriage to the chanyu, initiating a policy of or marriage alliances; periodic tribute of silk, liquor and rice to the Xiongnu; equal status between the states; and the Great Wall as the mutual border. This treaty sets the pattern for relations between the Han and the Xiongnu for some sixty years.


text: In the resulting peace, Antiochus III agrees to give his daughter Cleopatra in marriage to Ptolemy V.


text: The Battle of Panium is fought between Seleucid forces led by Antiochus III and Ptolemaic forces led by Scopas of Aetolia. The Seleucids win the battle which allows Antiochus III to obtain entire possession of Palestine and Coele-Syria from King Ptolemy V of Egypt. Though the Romans send ambassadors to Ptolemy V, they are unable to lend him any serious assistance against Antiochus III.


text: Titus Quinctius Flamininus' forces manage to push Philip V out of most of Greece, except for a few fortresses. He then defeats Philip V in the Battle of the Aous, near modern Tepelenë in Albania.


text: 1974 BC: Erishum I became the thirty-third ruler of Assyria.


year_label: 199 BCE

text: The Roman general Gnaeus Baebius Tamphilus attacks the Insubres in Gaul, but loses over 6,700 soldiers in the process.


text: Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ankhwennefer succeeds Horwennefer in Upper Egypt, Egypt.


text: Scipio Africanus becomes censor and princeps Senatus (the titular head of the Roman Senate).


text: The Roman law, Lex Porcia, is proposed by the tribune P. Porcius Laeca to give Roman citizens in Italy and provinces the right of appeal in capital cases.


text: c. 1985 BC: Political authority became less centralized in Ancient Egypt.


year_label: 200 BCE

text: The Acarnanians, with Macedonian support, invade Attica, causing Athens, which has previously maintained its neutrality, to seek help from the enemies of Philip. Attalus I of Pergamum, who is with his fleet at Aegina, receives an embassy from Athens asking him to come to the city for consultations. After he is told that Roman ambassadors are also in Athens, Attalus goes there in haste.


text: Conquest of Armenia by the Seleucids.


text: The Roman ambassador to Greece, Syria, and Egypt, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus delivers an ultimatum to Philip V warning Macedonia not to make war on any Greek state. Philip decides to reject the Roman ultimatum and the Romans declare war on Macedon, thus starting the Second Macedonian War.


text: Antiochus III's forces continue their invasion of Coele Syria and Palestine.


text: The Han emperor Gaozu is defeated by the Xiongnu, led by Modu Chanyu, in the Battle of Baideng.


text: Philip V of Macedon's fleet defeat the Rhodians at Lade. His forces then advance into Pergamum, plundering Pergamese territory and attacking cities in Caria.


text: The Roman consul, Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus, asks Attalus I and his fleet to meet up with the Roman fleet off the Greek Aegean coast and they conduct a naval campaign against Philip V, harassing Macedonian possessions in and along the Aegean.


text: Lost-wax casting is known in China and Mesopotamia (approximate date).

source_section: Events › By topic › Art


text: The city of Tiwanaku is founded as a village near Lake Titicaca in modern Bolivia (approximate date).

source_section: Events › By place › South America


text: The construction of the Wei-Yang Palace in the Han dynasty capital (Chang'an) begins.


text: The first good measurement of the distance between Earth and the Sun is made by Eratosthenes (approximate date). By studying lunar eclipses, his result is roughly 150 000 000 km. The currently accepted value is 149 597 870 691 ± 30 metres.

source_section: Events › By topic › Astronomy


text: Roman artists begin attempting to produce the illusion of thin slabs of colored marble covering the walls, which are set off by actual architectural moldings and columns, in private houses. These attempts last for 120 years.


text: Chinese create a padding material.


text: The Early Horizon period in the Andes comes to an end as the Chavin culture vanishes and is succeeded by the Nazca culture (approximate date).


text: Alexander the Great, head from a Hellenistic copy of a statue, possibly after a 4th century BC original by Lysippos is made. It is now kept at the Archeological Museum in Istanbul, Turkey.


text: Jia Yi, Chinese statesman and poet (d. 170 BC)

source_section: Births


text: Chao Cuo, Chinese political advisor and official (approximate date)


text: Gongsun Hong, Chinese statesman and chancellor (d. 121 BC)


text: Wen, Chinese emperor of the Han dynasty (d. 157 BC)


text: Euthydemus I of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom dies and is succeeded by his son Demetrius I of Bactria (approximate date).

source_section: Events › By place › Bactria


text: Abdissares, king of Sophene (Armenian Kingdom) from 212 BC


text: Euthydemus I, king of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom from 223 BC (approximate date) (b. c. 260 BC)


text: c. 1995 BC: Ancient Egypt: Pharaoh Mentuhotep IV died. End of Eleventh Dynasty. Pharaoh Amenemhat I started to rule. Start of Twelfth Dynasty.

source_section: Events


text: c. 1995 BC: Pharaoh Mentuhotep II, Eleventh dynasty of Egypt dies.


text: c. 2000 BC – 1900 BC: the "Priest-king torso" was sculpted at Mohenjo-Daro, part of the Indus Valley Civilization.


year_label: 3 BCE

text: The Pont Julien was constructed in modern southern France.

source_title: 0s BC

source_section: Events › 3 BC › Roman Empire


date: December 24

text: December 24 – Servius Sulpicius Galba, Roman emperor in AD 69.

source_section: Births › 3 BC


year_label: 21 BCE

text: Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa divorces Claudia Marcella Major, and marries Julia the Elder, daughter of Caesar Augustus.

source_title: 21 BC

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Empire


text: Naevius Sutorius Macro, Roman prefect and politician (d. AD 38)


year_label: 201 BCE

text: The Romans oust the Carthaginians from Malta.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Republic


text: On Hannibal's advice, Carthage sues for peace with the Romans, ending the Second Punic War. Carthage is reduced to a client state of Rome. In the peace treaty between Carthage and Rome, Carthage surrenders all her Mediterranean possessions to Rome, including her Iberian territories. The Carthaginians agree to pay Rome 200 talents per year for 50 years, allow Masinissa to rule Numidia as an independent kingdom, make no war without Rome's permission, and destroy all but 10 of the Carthaginian warships.

source_section: Events › By place › Carthage


text: The Spartan king, Nabis, once more invades and captures Messene. However, the Spartans are forced to retreat when the Achaean League army of Philopoemen intervenes. Nabis' forces are decisively defeated at Tegea by Philopoemen and Nabis is forced to check his expansionist ambitions for the time being.

source_section: Events › By place › Greece


text: Rhodes and its allies Pergamum, Cyzicus, and Byzantium combine their fleets and defeat Philip V in the Battle of Chios. His flagship is trapped and rammed by two enemy ships.


text: King Xin of Han, in alliance with Modu Chanyu of the Xiongnu, launches a rebellion against the Han dynasty in the Taiyuan Commandery. He is defeated by Emperor Gaozu of Han and his generals, who chase Xin of Han into Xiongnu territory.


text: In Rome, according to the Roman historian Livy, land is distributed to veterans of the Second Punic War. This is the first documented instance of a practice that later becomes commonplace.


text: Philip V of Macedon captures Samos and the Egyptian fleet stationed there. He then besieges Chios to the north.


text: Following the conclusion of the peace with Rome, Hannibal is elected as suffet, or chief magistrate, of Carthage. The office has over the years become insignificant in Carthaginian politics, but Hannibal restores its power and authority. He sets out to reform the administration and finances of Carthage and reduce the power of the oligarchy which has ruled Carthage before and during the Second Punic War.


text: The construction of city walls around Nanchang begins.


text: Zhongli Mo, Chinese general during the Chu–Han Contention.


text: Gnaeus Naevius, Latin epic poet and dramatist of the Old Latin period, who invented a new genre of written historical plays called fabulae praetextae, which are based on Roman historical or legendary figures and events (b. c. 264 BC).


text: 2004 BC – Ur sacked by the Elamites, bringing an end to the Third dynasty. (Middle Chronology)

source_title: 21st century BC


year_label: 202 BCE

date: February 28

text: 28 February: Liu Bang declares himself Supreme Emperor of China, officially beginning the Han dynasty.


text: Liu Bang gives the area of today's Fujian province to Wuzhu as his kingdom. Wuzhu starts the construction of his own capital Ye (Fuzhou).


text: Liu Bang appoints Han Xin the king of Chu, but he deposes him later in the year after accusing him of disloyalty.


date: October 19

text: October 19 – The Battle of Zama (130 kilometers south-west of Carthage) ends the Second Punic War and largely destroys the power of Carthage. Roman and Numidian forces under the leadership of the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio and his Numidian ally, Masinissa, defeat a combined army of Carthaginians and their Numidian allies under the command of Hannibal and force Carthage to capitulate. Hannibal loses 20,000 men in the defeat, but he is able to escape Masinissa's pursuit.


text: During this period of confusion and change amongst Egypt’s leadership, armies under the Seleucid king, Antiochus III, make serious inroads into the Egyptian territories in Coele-Syria.

source_section: Events › By place › Egypt


text: Accused of treason by the Carthaginians after being defeated by the Romans at the Battle of the Great Plains, Hasdrubal Gisco commits suicide to avoid being lynched by a Carthaginian mob.


text: Agathocles rule provokes Tlepolemus, the governor of Pelusium (Egypt's eastern frontier city), into action. Tlepolemus marches on Alexandria, where his supporters rouse a mob, compelling Agathocles to resign.


text: Following the Battle of Zama, the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio gains the cognomen "Africanus" in honour of his feats in North Africa against Carthage.


text: Liu Bang and Han Xin defeat the remaining loyalists of Xiang Yu.

source_section: Events › By place › China


text: The armies of Han, led by Fan Kuai, suppress a rebellion by the State of Yan, defeating its king Zang Tu.


text: The Egyptian regent and chief minister, Sosibius, retires and Agathocles, another member of the ruling clique, becomes Ptolemy V's guardian.


text: The construction of Changsha begins.


text: The construction of the new Chinese capital Chang'an begins.


text: The Egyptian boy king, Ptolemy V, is encouraged by a mob clamouring for revenge against the murderers of his mother Arsinoe III to agree to Agathocles being killed. As a result, the mob searches out and butchers Agathocles and his family. Tlepolemus takes Agathocles' place as regent. However, he soon proves to be incompetent and is removed.


text: Xiang Yu, rebel leader against the Qin dynasty and nemesis of Liu Bang in the Chu–Han Contention (b. 232 BC)


text: Hasdrubal Gisco, Carthaginian general who has fought against Rome in Iberia and North Africa during the Second Punic War, customarily identified as the son of Gisco (suicide)


text: c. 2017 BC – Ishbi-Erra founds the Amorite kingdom of Isin. (Middle Chronology)


year_label: 203 BCE

text: Hasdrubal Gisco persuades the Carthaginians to raise a new army and to send for Hannibal to return home from Italy. Hannibal finally leaves Italy and returns to Carthage.


text: Han Xin completes the conquest of Qi, and Liu Bang appoints him as its king.


text: The Roman general, Publius Cornelius Scipio, while undertaking peace negotiations with the Carthaginians at Utica, makes a surprise attack on the Carthaginian camp and destroys it. Then, sweeping down on the forces that the Carthaginians and their allies, the Numidians, are trying to muster on the Great Plains near the upper Bagradas River (in modern Tunisia), he smashes that army in the Battle of the Great Plains. The Numidian king, Syphax, and the Carthaginian leader, Hasdrubal Gisco, manage to escape separately.


text: After Xiang Yu fails to persuade Han Xin to remain neutral, Han Xin and Liu Bang launch a five-pronged invasion of Chu. They decisively defeat Xiang Yu in the Battle of Chen and the Battle of Gaixia.


text: Masinissa becomes king of both the Massyli and the Massaesyli tribes in Numidia and remains a loyal ally to the Romans.


text: Xiang Yu flees toward Wuyue and, pursued by Han cavalry, commits suicide.


text: A preliminary armistice between Carthage and Rome is declared and the Carthaginian armies accept Scipio's severe terms. However, on his return to Carthage, Hannibal concentrates the remnants of the Carthaginian forces at Hadrumetum (modern Sousse, Tunisia) and prepares them for battle.


text: The Roman general, Gaius Laelius, and Rome's Numidian ally, Masinissa, follow Syphax towards Cirta, the Numidian capital. In the pursuit, Syphax is captured after his badly wounded horse throws him off. He is delivered to Scipio and is made a prisoner of the Romans, dying in the Italian town of Alba Fucens later in the year.


text: Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, Roman general and statesman whose cautious delaying tactics (which have led to his surname Cunctator, meaning "delayer") during the early stages of the Second Punic War have given Rome time to recover its strength and take the offensive against the invading Carthaginian army of Hannibal (b. c. 275 BC)


text: Syphax, Numidian king allied with the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War against Rome


text: The Carthaginian general, Mago Barca, is defeated and wounded by the Romans in the Battle of Insubria. He dies of his wounds on the return voyage to Carthage.


text: Mago Barca, Carthaginian general during the Second Punic War against Rome who has accompanied his brother Hannibal on the invasion of Italy (b. 243 BC)


text: 2025 BC – Naplanum founds the Amorite kingdom of Larsa. (Middle Chronology)


year_label: 204 BCE

text: Philip V of Macedon and Antiochus III of the Syrian-based Seleucid kingdom realize Egypt's weakness and agree to partition Egypt's Anatolian and Aegean possessions. Antiochus' share is to be southern Syria, Lycia, Cilicia and Cyprus, while Philip is to gain western Anatolia and the Cyclades.

source_section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire


text: Roman forces under Publius Cornelius Scipio besiege Utica in Carthaginia. Scipio is unable to stop the combined forces of the Carthaginians under Hasdrubal Gisco and the Numidians under their chief, Syphax, and he is forced to lift his siege of Utica.


text: Han Xin invades the State of Qi, defeats Qi's armies, captures their capital Linzi and crushes a coalition army of Chu and Qi forces under Long Ju in the Battle of the Wei River.


text: Han Xin completes the conquest of Zhao and receives the surrender of Yan. He captures the Zhao capital of Handan and defeats Chu relief forces sent by Xiang Yu.


text: The Battle of Crotona is fought between Hannibal's Carthaginian army, and a Roman force led by Publius Sempronius Tuditanus, with no decisive outcome for either side.


text: Having lost his alliance with the Numidian chief Masinissa, the Carthaginian general, Hasdrubal Gisco, finds a new ally in the Numidian king Syphax, who marries Sophonisba, Hasdrubal's daughter, who, until his defection to Rome, has been betrothed to Masinissa.


text: The late Egyptian King Ptolemy IV's clique of favourites, led by Sosibius, Ptolemy's chief minister, keeps Ptolemy's death a secret, fearing retribution from the new king Ptolemy V's mother, Queen Arsinoe III. They arrange for the murder of Arsinoe, and then the five-year-old king is officially elevated to the throne with Sosibius as his guardian. Arsinoe has been popular with the Egyptian population so rioting follows the news of her assassination.


text: Li Yiji, Chinese politician and adviser (b. 268 BC)


text: Sima Xin, Chinese general of the Qin Dynasty


text: Dong Yi, Chinese general of the Qin Dynasty and conferred with the title of "King of Di"


text: Arsinoe III, queen of Egypt, sister and wife of Ptolemy IV (assassinated) (b. c. 246 BC)


text: Fan Zeng, Chinese adviser during the Chu-Han Contention (206–202 BC) (b. 277 BC)


text: Long Ju, Chinese general and Grand Marshal


text: Ji Xin, Chinese general during the Chu-Han Contention


text: Gong Ao, Chinese ruler of the Eighteen Kingdoms during the Chu-Han Contention


text: Hanno the Elder, Carthaginian general executed by Scipio Africanus


text: Ptolemy IV Philopator, king (Pharaoh) of Egypt


text: c. 2040 BC – Mentuhotep II, ruler of the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt in Thebes, completes the reunification of Egypt following his victory over the pharaohs of Herakleopolis, which marks the beginning of the Middle Kingdom.


year_label: 205 BCE

text: Antiochus III returns from his eastern campaigns, after having defeated the Bactrians and subjugated the Parthians and thus being able to partly restore Seleucid power in these provinces by crushing the revolting governors of Media, Persia and Anatolia. Having established a system of vassal states in the East, Antiochus now adopts the ancient Achaemenid title of "great king", and the Greeks, comparing him to Alexander the Great, surname him "the Great", that is to say Antiochus III Megas.


text: Philip V of Macedon makes a temporary peace (the Peace of Phoenice) with Rome on favourable terms for Macedonia ending the First Macedonian War. The treaty formally acknowledges the favourable position of Macedonia, including their capture of Illyria, but in return Philip effectively repudiates his alliance with Hannibal.


text: A Carthaginian army under Mago Barca lands in Liguria, capturing Genoa and Savona.


text: Scipio sends the Roman general Gaius Laelius to North Africa to prepare the way for his later invasion.


text: Xiang Yu besieges Liu Bang's forces in Xingyang and Chenggao.


text: With the Rhodian fleet and economy suffering from the depredations of the pirates, Philip begins attacking the lands of Rhodes' allies in Thrace and around the Sea of Marmara.


text: Han Xin defeats Wei Bao and conquers the kingdom of Wei.


text: The Xiongnu leader, Modu Chanyu, conquers the neighbouring nomadic Yuezhi and Donghu peoples, thereby establishing the Xiongnu Empire. He appoints a Tuqi King of the left (east) and a Tuqi King of the right (west) to prevent rebellions.

source_section: Events › By place › Northern Asia


text: Han Xin captures Feiqiu, the last holdout of Zhang Han, thus completing the Han conquest of the Three Qins. Zhang Han commits suicide.


text: After the peace, the Spartan king, Nabis, goes to war with the Achaean League. The Achaean general Philopoemen expels Nabis of Sparta from Messene.


text: Ying Bu, the king of Jiujiang, allies with Liu Bang.


text: The Roman propraetor Quintus Pleminius captures the town of Epizephyrian Locris from the Carthaginians. Hannibal's attempt to recapture the town is foiled by the appearance of Scipio's army.


text: Xiang Yu defeats Liu Bang in the Battle of Pengcheng.


text: Han Xin begins the conquest of Dai and Zhao, and he defeats Chen Yu in the Battle of Jingxing.


text: The native Egyptian population rises in rebellion against their Greek rulers. The revolt spreads to Upper Egypt.


text: Publius Cornelius Scipio boldly determines to disregard Hannibal in Italy and political opposition in the Roman Senate and rather decides to strike at the Carthaginian holdings in North Africa. Scipio crosses to Sicily with an army consisting partly of volunteers as the Roman Senate would not provide him with an army.


text: Returning via the Persian provinces of Arachosia, Drangiana, and Carmania, Antiochus III arrives in Persis. He then leads a short expedition down the Persian Gulf and receives tribute of 500 talents of silver from the citizens of Gerrha, a mercantile state on the west coast of the Persian Gulf.


text: Hannibal erects a bilingual Punic/Greek inscription describing his accomplishments in the temple of Juno Lacinia near Crotone.


text: Ptolemy IV dies and is succeeded by his five-year-old son Ptolemy V. However, no public announcement is made about the king's death.


text: Ptolemy IV Philopator, Greek king of Egypt who has reigned from 221 BC (b. c. 238 BC)

source_section: Deaths


text: Zhang Han, Chinese general of the Qin dynasty


text: Sima Ang, Chinese ruler of the Eighteen Kingdoms


text: c. 2050 BC – The beginning of the Middle Kerma culture in Upper Nubia.


year_label: 206 BCE

text: After having successfully driven the Carthaginians out of Spain, Scipio returns in triumph to Rome and is elected consul. He then prepares to carry the war into Carthage's territory in North Africa.


text: The Jian and Dao swords are created during this time (approximate date).


text: Liu Bang makes Yueyang his capital and begins to expand his realm into the Central Plain.


text: The Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio secures Gades, thus making Roman control of Spain complete. With the effective withdrawal of the Carthaginians from Spain, Hispania becomes a Roman province.


text: Xiang Yu divides China in a power-sharing arrangement known as the Eighteen Kingdoms, with himself the de facto supreme ruler as Hegemon-King of Western Chu.


text: Philip V of Macedon is able to take advantage of Roman inactivity. After sacking Thermum, the religious and political centre of Aetolia, Philip is able to force the Aetolians to accept a peace treaty based on his terms.


text: Arsaces II, king of the Parthians, loses territory in battles with Euthydemus I, ruler of Bactria.

source_section: Events › By place › Persia


text: A period of civil war known as the Chu-Han contention begins.


text: Liu Bang, as the newly appointed king of Hanzhong, and his new General-in-Chief Han Xin, invade Guanzhong, defeat the king of Yong, Zhang Han, and conquer the lands of the Three Qins, thus beginning hostilities with Xiang Yu.


text: The city of Italica (northwest of modern Seville, Spain) is founded by Scipio as a place to settle for the Roman soldiers wounded in the Battle of Ilipa.


text: After being an ally of Carthage and fighting with them, Numidian chieftain, Masinissa switches sides when the Carthaginians are driven from Spain and offers to assist Rome. Syphax expels his rival Masinissa and claims himself to be King of Numidia. The Romans support Masinissa's claim to the Numidian throne against Syphax, the pro-Carthaginian ruler of the Masaesyli tribe.


text: In the Battle of Ilipa (Alcalá del Río, near Seville) in Spain, the Carthaginian generals, Mago Barca and Hasdrubal Gisco, are defeated by the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio. Mago retreats to Gades (modern Cádiz) and then sails for the Balearic Islands.


text: Xiang Yu appoints Huai II of Chu as Emperor Yi of China, but he has him assassinated later in the year.


text: The war between Macedonia and Rome drags on with no decisive advantage on either side. Rome's interest lies not in conquest, but in keeping Macedon, the Greek city-states and Greek political leagues continually divided and non-threatening.


text: Xiang Yu campaigns against a rebellion in Qi.


text: Hasdrubal Gisco retreats to the coast and then crosses to North Africa, where he gives his daughter in marriage to Syphax, king of the Numidian Masaesyli tribe, to formalize their military alliance.


text: Antiochus III marches across the Hindu Kush into the Kabul valley and renews his friendship with the Indian king Sophagasenus.


text: Ziying, Chinese ruler of the Qin Dynasty


text: Han Guang, Chinese ruler of the Eighteen Kingdoms


text: Scerdilaidas, Illyrian king of the Ardiaean Kingdom


text: Yi (or Huai II), Chinese ruler of the Chu State


text: Han Cheng, Chinese ruler of the Eighteen Kingdoms


text: Chrysippus, Greek Stoic philosopher (approximate date)


year_label: 207 BCE

text: The Roman consul Gaius Claudius Nero fights an indecisive battle with the Carthaginian general Hannibal at Grumentum. Nero is unable to stop Hannibal's advance into Canusium. Nevertheless, he rapidly marches the elite parts of his army some one hundred kilometres north to reinforce the army of Marcus Livius Salinator.


text: The Chu rebel Liu Bang invades Guanzhong. After another military defeat, Ziying surrenders to Liu, who then occupies the Qin capital Xianyang. This marks the end of the Qin dynasty.


text: Xiang Yu defeats Zhang Han in the Battle of the Yushui River. Zhang Han then surrenders to Xiang Yu.


text: The Chu rebel Xiang Yu defeats the Qin general Zhang Han in the Battle of Julu and becomes the leader of the rebellion against the Qin dynasty.


text: The Battle of the Metaurus, fought near the Metaurus River in Umbria, is a pivotal battle during the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage. The Carthaginians are led by Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal Barca, and the Roman armies are led by the consuls Marcus Livius Salinator and Gaius Claudius Nero. The Carthaginian army is defeated by the Romans and Hasdrubal is killed in the battle. This major loss by the Carthaginians ends Hannibal's hopes of success in Italy.


text: Emperor Qin Er Shi of the Qin dynasty is assassinated by Prime Minister Zhao Gao. He is replaced by his nephew Ziying, who in turn assassinates Zhao Gao. Ziying takes power as the king of Qin rather than as emperor.


text: The general leading the Achaean League, Philopoemen, introduces heavier Macedonian armour and phalanx tactics. His army then crushes the Spartans under the Spartan regent and general, Machanidas, in the battle of Mantinea. Machanidas is killed by Philopoemen during the battle.


date: June 22

text: June 22 – Hasdrubal Barca, Carthaginian general in the Second Punic War (b. 245 BC)


text: Chrysippus, Greek philosopher from Soloi who was the principal systematiser of Stoic philosophy (b. c. 280 BC)


text: Machanidas, Spartan general and regent (killed in the battle of Mantinea)


text: An Dương Vương, King of Nam Việt since 257 BC


text: Zhao Gao, Chief eunuch in the service of the Emperors of the Qin dynasty of China (assassinated)


text: When king An Dương Vương dies, so does his dynasty and the Triệu dynasty and the kingdom of Nam Việt are established.

source_section: Events › By place › Vietnam


text: Simuka, Indian king from 230 BC and the founder of the Satavahana dynasty (b. 230 BC)


text: Hasdrubal Barca, Carthaginian general who has unsuccessfully attempted to sustain Carthage's military ascendancy on the Spanish peninsula in the face of Roman attacks (b. 245 BC)


text: Nabis, a Syrian sold into slavery, rises to power in Sparta and becomes regent of the young Spartan king, Pelops, following the death of Machanidas. Nabis soon overthrows Pelops, claiming to be a descendant of the Eurypontid Spartan king Demaratus. Nabis then starts a social revolution which will lead to the freeing of all the helots, the destruction of the ruling oligarchy, the redistribution of land and the cancelling of debts.


text: Qin Er Shi, Emperor of the Qin dynasty of China (assassinated) (b. 229 BC)


text: c. 2070 BC – Yu the Great establishes the Xia dynasty in China.


year_label: 208 BCE

text: The Romans under Publius Cornelius Scipio defeat the Carthaginians under their commander Hasdrubal Barca at Baecula (Bailen) in Baetica. As a result, Hasdrubal Barca decides to cross the Pyrenees with his remaining troops into Transalpine Gaul, with the intention of joining his brother Hannibal in Italy.


text: Zhang Han seizes the Zhao capital Handan and besieges its king Zhao Xie in Julu.


text: Hannibal destroys a Roman force at the Battle of Petelia.


text: Xiang Liang's nephew Xiang Yu seizes control of Liang's army.


text: The Roman general Marcus Claudius Marcellus is killed in battle while fighting Hannibal near Venusia, Apulia.


text: Antiochus III advances into Bactria, which is ruled by the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus I, and defeats Euthydemus at the Battle of the Arius. After resisting a siege of his capital Bactra (Balkh) by the Seleucids, Euthydemus obtains an honourable peace by which Antiochus promises Euthydemus' son Demetrius the hand of one of his daughters.


text: Zhang Han defeats and kills the rebel leader Xiang Liang in the Battle of Dingtao.


text: Qin Prime Minister Li Si is executed by Qin Er Shi, having been conspired against by the eunuch Zhao Gao, who replaces him as Prime Minister.


text: Polybius, Greek historian, famous for his book called "The Histories" or "The Rise of the Roman Empire", covering in detail the period between 220 and 146 BC (d. 120 BC)


text: Liu Ruyi, Chinese prince and only son of the first Han emperor Liu Bang (d. 194 BC)


text: Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Roman general who has captured Syracuse during the Second Punic War and has become known as "the sword of Rome" (b. 268 BC)


text: Li Si, Chinese philosopher and politician (assassinated) (b. 280 BC)


year_label: 209 BCE

text: Modun khaan inherits Teoman's Hunnu confederations and founds the Xiongnu Empire in Mongolia proper. Modu's forces push into Northern China, threatening the Qin Empire and forcing them to further fortify the Great Wall.

source_section: Events › By place › Central Asia


text: The rebels restore the monarchies of Chu, Qi, Yan, Zhao, Wei and (in 208) Han.


text: The Battle of Canusium is fought between Hannibal's Carthaginian army and a Roman force led by Marcus Claudius Marcellus. The battle is indecisive.


text: Having helped to conquer Baiyue in northern Vietnam and southern China for the Qin dynasty, the general Zhao Tuo uses the rebellions against the Qin to establish his own independent kingdom in Nanyue, and conquers the neighboring provinces of Guilin and Xiang. He declares himself King Wu of Nanyue.


text: The Qin general Zhang Han defeats an invasion of Guanzhong by the rebel general Zhou Wen.


text: Jiao, Lord of Wey is deposed by Emperor Qin Er Shi, marking the end of the state of Wei


text: As strategos of the Achaeans, the Greek general Philopoemen is responsible for turning the Achaean League into an aggressive military power. He builds up the League's military capability. The Achaean League's army and cavalry under Philopoemen then defeat the Aetolians on the Elean frontier.


text: The King of the Parthians, Arsaces II, is attacked by the Seleucid king Antiochus III, who takes Hecatompylos (southeast of the Caspian Sea), the Arsacid capital and Syrinx in Hyrcania. Antiochus III defeats Arsaces II at the Battle of Mount Labus and then forces Arsaces II to enter into an alliance with the Seleucids.


text: In August, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang begin an uprising to oppose Qin


text: The Romans under Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus capture Tarentum (modern Taranto), which the Carthaginian general Hannibal has held for three years.


text: From his headquarters at Tarraco (Tarragona), Publius Cornelius Scipio, the Roman commander in Spain, launches a combined military and naval assault on the Carthaginian headquarters at Carthago Nova (modern-day Cartagena). He successfully besieges and captures the city. In capturing this city, Scipio gains access to copious stores and supplies, Spanish hostages, the local silver mines, a splendid harbour and a base for an advance further south.


text: Wu Guang is killed by his own officers, and Zhang Han defeats Chen Sheng, who is killed by an attendant while in flight.


text: Touman, chanyu of the Xiongnu Empire. (Killed by his successor)


year_label: 210 BCE

text: The Spanish language evolves from Vulgar Latin, which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the Second Punic War.


text: The Terracotta Army in the mausoleum of Emperor Shihuangdi, Lintong, Shaanxi, is made (Qin dynasty) (approximate date).


text: Qin Er Shi becomes Emperor of the Qin dynasty of China. His advisors Zhao Gao and Prime Minister Li Si forge a decree by the late Emperor Qin Shi Huang that orders the execution of Qin Er Shi's elder brother Fusu and Fusu's ally, the general Meng Tian.


text: The Carthaginian general Hannibal proves his superiority in tactics by inflicting a severe defeat at Herdonia in Apulia upon a proconsular army, slaying the consul Gnaeus Fulvius Centumalus Maximus.


text: After allying with Hannibal, Philip V of Macedon attacks the Roman positions in Illyria, but fails to take Corcyra or Apollonia, which are protected by the Roman fleet. Rome's command of the sea prevents his lending any effective aid to his Carthaginian ally in Italy. The Aetolians, Sparta and King Attalus of Pergamum join the Romans in the war against Philip V. This coalition is so strong that Philip V has to stop attacking Roman territory.


text: The Roman general Marcus Claudius Marcellus is elected consul for the fourth time and takes Salapia in Apulia, which has revolted and joined forces with Hannibal.


text: Arsinoe III, wife and sister of King Ptolemy IV gives birth to the future Ptolemy V Epiphanes. Thereafter, she is sequestered in the palace, while Ptolemy's depraved male and female favourites ruin both the king and his government of Egypt. Although Arsinoe III disapproves of the sordid state of the court, she is unable to exert any influence.


text: The famine and inflation facing Rome is eased with the pacification, by the Romans, of Sicily.


text: Hui, emperor of the Han dynasty (d. 188 BC)

source_section: Births


text: Zhang Yan, Chinese empress of the Han dynasty (d. 163 BC)


text: Ptolemy V Epiphanes, king of Egypt (d. 180 BC)


text: Xu Fu, Chinese alchemist and explorer (b. 255 BC, disappeared at sea)


text: Qin Shi Huang, first emperor of China (b. 259 BC)


text: Meng Tian, Chinese general of the Qin dynasty


text: Bashu Guafu Qing, Chinese businesswoman (b. 259 BC)


text: Tiberius Sempronius Longus, Roman consul and general


text: Gnaeus Fulvius Centumalus Maximus, Roman consul and general


text: Following the death of his father, Publius Cornelius Scipio, and his uncle, Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, at the hands of the Carthaginians, the young Publius Cornelius Scipio takes over command of the Roman troops in Spain. His appointment reflects the Roman Senate's dissatisfaction with the cautious strategy of the propraetor, Gaius Claudius Nero, then commander in Spain north of the Ebro.


text: Meng Yi, Chinese official of the Qin dynasty


text: Fusu, son and heir apparent of Qin Shi Huang


year_label: 22 BCE

text: King Artaxias II returns, with the support of the Parthians, to Armenia and claims the throne. Artavasdes I escapes to Rome, where Caesar Augustus receives him.

source_title: 22 BC


text: The Roman governor of Egypt, Gaius Petronius, marches up the Nile with legions XXII Deiotariana and III Cyrenaica, and destroys the Nubian capital of Napata.


text: Aemilius Lepidus Paullus and Lucius Munatius Plancus are Censors.


text: Lucius Licinius Varro Murena, Roman politician, executed


year_label: 211 BCE

text: The Roman commander Marcus Valerius Laevinus explores the possibility of an alliance with the Aetolian League as the Aetolians are once again ready to consider taking up arms against their traditional enemy, Macedonia. A treaty is signed to counter Philip V of Macedon who is allied to Hannibal. Under the treaty, the Aetolians are to conduct operations on land, the Romans at sea. Also, Rome will keep any slaves and other booty taken and Aetolia will receive control of any territory acquired.


text: Antiochus III's sister arranges for the removal of Armenia's king Xerxes, whom she has recently married. Antiochus III then divides the country into two satrapies.


text: Hannibal marches northwards on the city of Rome in a belated and unsuccessful effort to capture the city.


text: With the capture of Syracuse, the Romans are able to pacify all of Sicily.


text: The Carthaginian general Hasdrubal Barca returns to Spain after his victory over the rebellious Numidians. He then manages to turn the tide against the Romans in Spain, with the Roman generals Publius Cornelius Scipio and his brother Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus killed in separate battles—Publius on the upper Baetis (Guadalquivir) and Gnaeus in the hinterland of Carthago Nova (Cartagena). The Carthaginians recover all their territory south of the Ebro.


text: Arsaces II succeeds his father Arsaces I as King of Parthia.

source_section: Events › By place › Parthia


text: The Romans besiege the town of Capua (which is allied with Hannibal). The town eventually falls to the Romans and its citizens are punished by them. The town's nobility are put to the sword, its territory is confiscated and its municipal organisation is dissolved.


text: Rome faces the burdens of inflation and the danger of famine, caused by the disturbed conditions in Italy and Sicily and the withdrawal of so many men from farming. The situation is only relieved by an urgent appeal by the Romans to the King of Egypt, Ptolemy IV, from whom grain is purchased at three times the usual price.


text: Publius Cornelius Scipio, Roman general, consul and proconsul during the Second Punic War


text: Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, Roman general, statesman and brother of Publius Cornelius Scipio


text: Arsaces I, king of Parthia from 250 BC and son of Phriapites, a chief of the seminomadic Parni tribe from the Caspian steppes


text: Manius Pomponius Matho, Roman general, consul and maternal grandfather of Scipio Africanus


year_label: 212 BCE

text: Having recovered the central part of Anatolia from the usurper Achaeus, Antiochus III turns his forces to recover the outlying provinces to the north and east of the Seleucid kingdom.


text: The Battle of the Silarus is fought between Hannibal's army and a Roman force led by praetor Marcus Centenius Penula. The Carthaginians are victorious, effectively destroying Centenius Penula's army.


text: The Roman consuls, Appius Claudius Pulcher and Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, besiege Capua with eight legions. Hanno moves to Beneventum to try to help the inhabitants of Capua, but he is defeated by the Romans.


text: Syphax, king of the western Numidian tribe, the Masaesyli, concludes an alliance with the Romans and they send military advisers to help Syphax train his soldiers. He then attacks the eastern Numidians (the Massylii) ruled by Gala, who is an ally of the Carthaginians. The Carthaginian general Hasdrubal travels to northern Africa from Spain to stamp out the uprising by the Numidians.


text: After being stopped twice by the Romans in his attempts to invade Illyria by sea, and constrained by the Roman commander Marcus Valerius Laevinus' fleet in the Adriatic, Philip V of Macedon keeps his activities in Illyria land based. Keeping clear of the coast, he takes Dassaretis, Atintani and Parthini, and the town of Dimale.

source_section: Events › By place › Illyria


text: The Capuans then send an appeal for help to Hannibal. In response, Hannibal sends 2,000 Numidian cavalry as reinforcements to Capua. The combined Carthaginian forces defeat the Roman force led by Flaccus and Pulcher, the latter of whom will soon die of wounds he has sustained.


text: The Roman generals Publius Cornelius Scipio and his elder brother, Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, capture Saguntum (modern Sagunto) from the Carthaginians.

source_section: Events › By place › Spain


text: The Roman soldiers billeted in Tarentum so alienate the citizens of the city that conspirators admit the Carthaginian general Hannibal to the city. The conspirators then defeat the Roman contingent in it. Hannibal keeps control of his troops so that looting is limited to Roman houses. The citadel in Tarentum remains under Roman control, which denies Hannibal the use of the harbour.


text: After a two year siege, Roman general, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, gradually forces his way into Syracuse and takes it in the face of strong Carthaginian reinforcements and despite the use of engines of war designed by the Greek mathematician and scientist Archimedes (such as the Claw of Archimedes).


text: The Battle of Herdonia is fought between Hannibal's Carthaginian army and Roman forces who are laying siege to Herdonia led by praetor Gnaeus Fulvius Flaccus, brother of the consul, Quintus Fulvius Flaccus. The Roman army is destroyed, leaving Apulia free of Romans for the year.


text: Antiochus III leaves for a campaign in Asia, where he will reach as far as India and mostly manage to recover the areas conquered earlier by Alexander the Great.


text: Publius Licinius Crassus Dives is elected "pontifex maximus" over more distinguished candidates, despite never having held any major offices. He will hold this position until his death.


text: Construction begins on the Epang Palace.


text: Although Marcellus wishes to spare the lives of the Syracusans, he is unable to prevent the sack of the city by his soldiers, which includes the killing of Archimedes. Marcellus carries off the art treasures of Syracuse to Rome, the first recorded instance of a practice which is to become common.


section: Disasters & Accidents

text: Tylis is destroyed by the Thracians.

source_section: Events › By place › Thrace


text: Antiochus III gives his sister Antiochia in marriage to King Xerxes of Armenia, who acknowledges Antiochus III's suzerainty and pays him tribute.


text: Xerxes of Armenia (assassinated by his wife Antiochia)


text: Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, Roman consul from 215 to 213 BC


text: Archimedes of Syracuse, Greek mathematician and scientist, who has calculated formulae for the areas and volumes of spheres, cylinders, parabolas and other plane and solid figures. He has also founded the science of hydrostatics, including the principle of the upthrust on a floating body which has led to his cry, "Eureka". Thirdly, he has invented siege-engines for use against the Romans and the Archimedean screw to raise water (b. c. 287 BC)


text: 2119 BC–2113 BC (middle chronology): Utu-hengal, first king of the third dynasty of Ur, also called the Neo-Sumerian Empire.

source_title: 22nd century BC

source_section: Events


text: c. 2120 BC: Votive statue of Gudea from Lagash (modern Iraq) is made.


year_label: 213 BCE

text: In alliance with Attalus I of Pergamum, Antiochus III finally captures the rebel king of Anatolia, Achaeus, in his capital, Sardis, after a siege of two years. Antiochus III then has Achaeus executed.


text: Archimedes's war machines repel the Roman army that is invading Syracuse.

source_section: Events › By place › Sicily


text: Casilinum and Arpi are recovered by the Romans from Hannibal.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Republic


text: Emperor Qin Shi Huang and Prime Minister Li Si order all Confucian writings destroyed in the burning of books and burying of scholars.


text: Aratus of Sicyon, Greek statesman, general and advocate of Greek unity, who, for many years, has been the leader of the Achaean League (b. 271 BC)


text: Achaeus, Seleucid general and later separatist ruler of most of Anatolia until his defeat and execution by the Seleucid king Antiochus III


text: 2124 BC: Gudea, ruler (ensi) of Lagash, dies.


year_label: 214 BCE

text: Panyu (present-day Guangzhou, or Canton) is established as a city.


text: Roman legions led by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus defeat Hanno's Carthaginian forces in a battle near Beneventum, thus denying Hannibal much needed reinforcements.


text: Carthage persuades Syracuse to revolt against Rome and ally itself with Carthage instead.

source_section: Events › By place › Carthage


text: The Roman general, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, who is in Sicily at the time of the revolt of Syracuse, leads an army which storms Leontini and besieges Syracuse. With the help of Archimedes' ideas and inventions, the Syracusans repel his attacks by sea.


text: The Qin armies under Meng Tian campaign against the Xiongnu and other northern peoples and expand their territories along the north basin of the Yellow River. They subjugate the Luliang region, drive back the Xiongnu tribes to the northwest of the Ordos Plateau, and seize Gaoque, Mt. Tao and Beijia.


text: Qin Shi Huang orders general Ren Xiao (任囂), commanding 200,000 troops, to conquer the kingdoms in present-day northern Vietnam.


text: Upon receiving word from Oricum of Philip V's actions in Illyria, Roman propraetor Marcus Valerius Laevinus crosses the Adriatic with his fleet and army. Landing at Oricum, Laevinus is able to retake the town with little fighting.

source_section: Events › By place › Greece


text: Philip V of Macedon attempts an invasion of Illyria by sea with a fleet of 120 craft. He captures Oricum and, sailing up the Aous (modern Vjosë) river, he besieges Apollonia.


text: Laevinus sends 2,000 men under the command of Quintus Naevius Crista, to Apollonia. Catching Philip's forces by surprise, Quintus Naevius Crista attacks and routs their camp. Philip V is able to escape back to Macedonia, after burning his fleet and leaving many thousands of his men dead or as prisoners of the Romans.


text: Qin Shi Huang orders the construction of Lingqu, the oldest contour canal.

source_section: Events › By place › China


text: Hieronymus, tyrant of Syracuse (b. 231 BC)


text: Demetrius of Pharos, Illyrian ruler


text: 2138 BC: A solar eclipse on 9 May and a lunar eclipse on 24 May' occur and are believed to be the double eclipse that took place 23 years after the ascension of king Shulgi of Babylon by those holding to the long chronology.


year_label: 215 BCE

text: Philip V of Macedon and Hannibal negotiate an alliance under which they pledge mutual support and defence. Specifically, they agree to support each other against Rome, and that Hannibal shall have the right to make peace with Rome, but that any peace would include Philip and that Rome would be forced to give up control of Corcyra, Apollonia, Epidamnus, Pharos, Dimale, Parthini and Atintania and to restore to Demetrius of Pharos all his lands currently controlled by Rome.


text: The Carthaginian general, Hannibal, is denied any reinforcements from Spain for his forces now based in Italy by the activities of the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio and his brother Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, who, in a battle at Dertosa near the Ebro River effectively stop the Carthaginian general, Hasdrubal's attempt to break through to Italy.


text: Battle of Decimomannu, the Romans led by Torquatus defeat a combined Sardinian/Carthaginian army ending the Sardinian rebellion and driving off the Carthaginians.

source_section: Events › By place › Sardinia


text: The Seleucid king, Antiochus III, crosses the Taurus Mountains, uniting his forces with Attalus of Pergamum and, in one campaign, deprives his rebel general, Achaeus, of all his dominions and takes Sardis (with the exception of the citadel).

source_section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire


text: In what is claimed to be a preemptive strike, Qin forces under Meng Tian drive the Xiongnu and other northern peoples from their homeland on the Ordos Plateau.


text: Hannibal's forces occupy the cities of Heraclea and Thurii. However, Hannibal is unable to prevent the Romans from besieging Capua.


text: A Carthaginian invasion fleet bound for Sardinia is delayed by bad weather giving the Romans the time to organize an intervention; the Roman general Titus Manlius Torquatus, one of it original conquerors, is sent to Sardinia with an army.


text: On its return journey the Carthaginian invasion fleet is harassed by Roman squadrons operating from Sicily.


text: The Roman general, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, again repulses an attack by Hannibal on the city of Nola.


text: The Roman law, Lex Oppia, is instituted by Gaius Oppius, a tribune of the plebs during the consulship of Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus and Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus. The Lex Oppia is the first of a series of sumptuary laws introduced in Rome. It not only restricts women's wealth, but also their displaying it.


text: Emperor Qin Shi Huang orders the construction of his mausoleum to begin(source?), including the famous Terracotta Army.


text: Antiochus IV Epiphanes, king of the Seleucid Empire (d. 164 BC) (approximate date)


text: Samprati, Mauryan emperor of Magadha

source_section: Deaths


text: Apollonius of Rhodes, Greek author (b. 295 BC)


text: Emperor Kōrei of Japan, according to legend


text: Hieronymus, grandson of Hiero II of Syracuse and tyrant (assassinated) (b. c. 231 BC)


text: Hiero II, tyrant of Syracuse from 270 BC (b. c. 308 BC)


text: c. 2144 BC: Gudea, ruler (ensi) of Lagash, starts to reign.


text: c. 2150 BC: City state of Lagash in Mesopotamia is established.


year_label: 216 BCE

date: August 2

text: August 2 – The Battle of Cannae (east of Naples) ends in victory for Hannibal whose 50,000-man army defeats a Roman force of 86,000 led by consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus (who is killed in the battle) and Gaius Terentius Varro. 50,000-70,000 Roman troops are killed, making this perhaps the deadliest one-day battle in all history.