year_label: 2 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Tigranes IV and Erato are restored to the throne after deposing Artavasdes III.

source_title: 0s BC

source_section: Events › 2 BC › Armenia


date: February 5

section: Religion & Belief

text: February 5 – Augustus is proclaimed pater patriae ("father of the country") by the Roman Senate. This bestowed title is the logical consequence and final proof of Augustus' supreme position as princeps, the first in charge over the Roman state.

source_section: Events › 2 BC › Roman Empire


text: The Forum Augustum is dedicated.


section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: c. 2 BC: The Aqua Alsietina (or Aqua Augusta), which was a Roman aqueduct in Rome, is constructed during the reign of Augustus.

source_section: Events › Year unknown › Roman Empire


section: Science & Discovery

text: Julia the Elder, a daughter of Augustus, is exiled on charges of treason and adultery to Pandateria; her mother Scribonia accompanies her.


section: Crime & Justice

text: Phraates V and his mother Musa become rulers of the Parthian Empire following the murder of Phraates IV.

source_section: Events › 2 BC › Parthia


section: Births

text: Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, father of Nero

source_section: Births › 2 BC


section: Deaths

text: Fu, Chinese Grand Empress of the Han dynasty

source_section: Deaths › 2 BC


text: Phraates IV, king of the Parthian Empire


text: Iullus Antonius, Roman consul and son of Mark Antony (b. 43 BC)


year_label: 11 BCE

date: May

text: May – Drusus secures the Rhine frontier and builds Roman fortresses near Bonn, Dorsten, Haltern, and Oberaden.

source_title: 11 BC

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Empire


section: Conflict & Security

text: Battle of Arbalo: Roman forces under Augustus's stepson Nero Claudius Drusus beat off a German ambush.


text: Battle of the Lupia River: Roman forces under Augustus's stepson Nero Claudius Drusus win a victory in Germania.


section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Quintus Aelius Tubero and Paullus Fabius Maximus are Roman Consuls.


text: Herod Agrippa, king of Judea (d. AD 44)

source_section: Births


text: Octavia the Younger, sister of Augustus (b. 69 BC)

source_section: Deaths


year_label: 101 BCE

text: Ptolemy Apion inherits the kingdom of Cyrenaica.

source_section: Events › By place › Libya


date: July 30

text: July 30 – Battle of Vercellae (Battle of the Raudine Plain or Battle of Campi Raudii): The Roman consuls Gaius Marius and Manius Aquillius defeat the Cimbri.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Republic


text: War of the Heavenly Horses: Han general Li Guangli detaches forces to attack Yucheng. After a failed attack by Wang Shengshen and Hu Chongguo, in which Wang is killed, a new Han detachment under Shangguan Jie defeats and captures the king of Yucheng. The king is then killed by the soldiers escorting him to Li Guangli.

source_section: Events › By place › Asia


text: Han-Xiongnu War: At the beginning of the year, Xulihu Chanyu dies from illness and is succeeded by Qiedihou Chanyu. Qiedihou releases the Han envoys detained by the Xiongnu and receives gifts from Emperor Wu of Han.


text: Boiorix, king of the Cimbri (killed at the Battle of Vercellae)


text: Cleopatra III, queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom (assassinated by her son Ptolemy X Alexander I)


year_label: 102 BCE

text: War of the Heavenly Horses: the Han expeditionary force under Li Guangli conquers the state of Luntai. Li Guangli then besieges Alexandria Eschate, the capital of Dayuan in the Hellenistic Ferghana Valley, despite having lost half his army to hunger, thirst and battle by the time he reached the city. The Dayuan are defeated in battle, and after losing their outer wall and their best general Jianmi in battle, the nobles kill King Wugua and offer terms of peace to Li Guangli, who accepts. The Han receive some of the prized horses of Dayuan and Li Guangli appoints Mocai as the new king.


text: Gaius Marius defeats the Sciri and Teutones at Aix-en-Provence (or Battle of Aquae Sextae).


text: The Cimbri defeat the Consul Quintus Lutatius Catulus in the Adige Valley.


text: Marcus Marius was likely elected praetor for 102 BC.


text: Quintus Tullius Cicero, Roman general and statesman (d. 43 BC)


year_label: 103 BCE

text: Gaius Marius prepares a campaign against the Ambrones and Teutones (under king Teutobod) who are settled in Gaul.


text: Tryphon and Athenion lead the Second Servile War in Sicily.


text: Alexander Jannaeus succeeds his brother Aristobulus I as king and high priest of Judea, until 76 BC.

source_section: Events › By place › Judea


text: Marcus Furius Bibaculus, Roman poet.


text: Gaius Lucilius, Roman satirist


text: Khallata Naga of Anuradhapura, king of the Anuradhapura Kingdom


year_label: 104 BCE

text: Second Servile War: Athenion starts a slave rebellion in Segesta (Sicily).


text: War of the Heavenly Horses: Emperor Wu of Han sends an army of 6000 cavalrymen and 10,000 convicts under Li Guangli to attack Dayuan in modern Kyrgyzstan after Wugua, the king of Dayuan, refuses to send the Han any of the prized horses of Dayuan and, following a contentious meeting with the Han diplomats, has a vassal king kill the diplomats and seize their goods. The Han expeditionary force proceeds with difficulty, marching through arid regions and facing hostile cities.


text: Aristobulus I succeeds John Hyrcanus, becoming king and high priest of Judea, until 103 BC.


text: Servilia, mistress of Julius Caesar


text: Dong Zhongshu, Chinese scholar who promoted Confucianism at the central court of the Han dynasty (b. 179 BC)


text: John Hyrcanus, prince and high priest of Judea (b. 164 BC)


text: Rome enacts a state of emergency, as the way to Italy lays open to the Germanic invaders. Gaius Marius, the conqueror of Jugurtha, is elected consul for the second time. He celebrates his triumph over Jugurtha, who is led in the procession and thrown into the Tullianum where he dies of starvation.


text: Jugurtha, king of Numidia (execution by Rome) (b. c. 160 BC)


text: Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, Roman consul and general


year_label: 105 BCE

date: January 1

text: January 1 – Gnaeus Mallius Maximus and Publius Rutilius Rufus become Roman consuls.


text: The Han dynasty forms an alliance with the Wusun by marrying a Han princess to their king.


date: October 6

text: October 6 – The Battle of Arausio, where the Cimbri destroy two Roman armies on the Rhône, is the most severe defeat of Roman forces since the Battle of Cannae.


text: At Rome, the first official gladiator match is demonstrated by gladiators from Capua, as part of a training program for the military.


text: Lucius Cornelius Sulla secures the capture of Jugurtha. His success is made possible by the treachery of Bocchus I, king of Mauretania, and this ends the Jugurthine War (which began in 112 BC).


text: Gaius Marius, together with the consul Publius Rutilius Rufus, initiates sweeping reforms of the Roman army.


text: Marcus Atius Balbus, Roman praetor and governor (d. 51 BC)


text: Decimus Laberius, Roman nobleman and Latin writer (d. 43 BC)


text: Tiberius Claudius Nero, Roman politician and general


text: Marcus Aurelius Scaurus, Roman politician and general, executed as a prisoner of war in the advent of the Battle of Arausio


text: Wuwei Chanyu of the Xiongnu dies and is succeeded by his youthful son Er Chanyu. That winter heavy snowstorms lead to the deaths of many livestock, and there is discontent with the new ruler, who is regarded as belligerent.


year_label: 106 BCE

text: Nicomedes III of Bithynia and Mithridates VI of Pontus share their dominion over Paphlagonia.

source_section: Events › By place › Anatolia


text: The Romans under Quintus Servilius Caepio seize the Gold of Tolosa while recapturing the Volcae town.


date: January 3

text: January 3 – Cicero, Roman politician and author (d. 43 BC)


date: September 29

text: September 29 – Pompey the Great, Roman general and politician (d. 48 BC)


text: Servius Sulpicius Rufus, Roman politician (d. 43 BC)


text: Following the death of General-in-Chief Wei Qing, his sister Empress Wei Zifu and nephew Crown Prince Liu Ju begin to lose influence at court.

source_section: Events › By place › China


text: Wei Qing, Chinese general of the Han dynasty


year_label: 107 BCE

text: The uprising of Saumachus against Mithridates VI in the Bosporan Kingdom.

source_section: Events › By place › Crimea


text: Gaius Marius, to whom the putative Marian reforms of the Roman army are commonly attributed, arrives in North Africa to lead the war against Jugurtha, with a young quaestor named Lucius Cornelius Sulla as a subordinate.


text: In the course of the migration of the Cimbrians and Teutons, a Germanic-Celtic confederation including the Helvetic tribes of the Tigurinians and Tougenians, under the leadership of Divico, ambush and defeat the Roman legions under Lucius Cassius Longinus, Lucius Caesoninus and Gaius Popillius Laenas at the Battle of Burdigala on the Garonne. As a result, the town of Tolosa, populated by the Volcae, revolts against the Roman Empire.


text: 1068 BC: Codrus, legendary King of Athens, dies in battle against Dorian invaders after a reign of 21 years. Athenian tradition considers him the last king to have held absolute power. Modern historians consider him the last king whose life account is part of Greek mythology. He is succeeded by his son Medon.

source_title: 11th century BC

source_section: Events


text: 1069 BC: Ramesses XI dies, ending the Twentieth Dynasty. He is succeeded by Smendes I, who founds the Twenty-first Dynasty.


year_label: 108 BCE

text: Roman forces under Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus defeat the forces of Jugurtha of Numidia at the Battle of the Muthul, with Gaius Marius as a subordinate.


text: Emperor Wu of Han founds Jiuquan in the Hexi Corridor as a military outpost on the Silk Road to Central Asia. It serves to protect diplomats and merchants, and it cuts off the kings of the region from the Xiongnu. He also founds Xianlei in present-day Inner Mongolia, extending Han control further north than before.


text: Lucius Sergius Catilina, Roman politician (d. 62 BC)


text: Marcus Livius Drusus (the Elder), Roman consul


text: Ugeo of Gojoseon, king of Wiman Joseon (Korea)


year_label: 109 BCE

text: Han campaigns against Dian: Emperor Wu launches a new campaign against the Dian Kingdom and establishes the Yizhou commandery in Yunnan during the dynasty's expansion southward.


text: A Roman army under Marcus Junius Silanus is defeated by the Cimbri and Teutones near the river Rhône.


text: The Han general Zhao Ponu and 700 cavalrymen are victorious in the Battle of Loulan in the Tarim Basin, capturing the king of Loulan in the first Han intervention west of the Hexi Corridor.


text: Emperor Wu of Han inspects the Han Empire, traveling . He also sends diplomats to search for the legendary Penglai Island.


text: Sames II Theosebes Dikaios, king of Commagene


text: Paerisades V, king of the Bosporan Kingdom (approximate date)


year_label: 110 BCE

text: Jugurtha, king of Numidia, defeats a Roman army under Aulus Postumius Albinus.


text: Marcus Petreius, Roman general and politician (d. 46 BC)


text: Asander, king of the Bosporan Kingdom (d. 17 BC)


text: Hillel the Elder, Jewish religious leader (approximate date) (d. AD 10)


text: Titus Pomponius Atticus, Roman banker (d. 32 BC)


text: Sima Tan, Chinese astrologist and historian


year_label: 12 BCE

text: Marcus Valerius Messalla Appianus and Publius Sulpicius Quirinius are Roman consuls.

source_title: 12 BC


text: Roman armies based at Xanten, Cologne and Mainz campaign beyond the Rhine.


text: Tiberius Claudius Nero summoned to Pannonia due to severe revolt by the Delmatae.


text: Emperor Augustus is given the title Pontifex Maximus.


text: Approximate date – Pyramid of Cestius erected in Rome.


text: First official mention of Argentoratum, the city known in modern times as Strasbourg.


text: Halley's Comet makes an appearance, as recorded by Chinese Astronomers for about 56 days. Written in the Annal of Han as "In the first year of Yuan Yen (12 B.C.), in the Autumn the seventh month, on the day Sing Wei, a comet swept in Gemini, went through Pollux and Castor, and passed over Leo and Virgo. It was then behind the sun about six degrees, and appeared in the east earlier in the morning. After thirteen days the comet became an evening star shining in the west, whence it swept over Arcturus, moved slowly to Serpens, and reached Ophiuchus. After 56 days it disappeared in Scorpio."

source_section: Events › By topic › Astronomy


text: Agrippa Postumus, son of Julia the Elder and grandson of Augustus (d. AD 14)


text: King Azes II dies. The rule of the Indo-Scythians crumbles as the Kushans, one of the five tribes of the Yuezhi who live in Bactria expand into India to create a Kushan Empire.

source_section: Events › By place › India


text: Mithridates III, king of Commagene (Armenia)


text: Gaius Caninius Rebilus, Roman senator and suffect consul


text: Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Roman statesman (b. c. 63 BC)


text: Marcus Valerius Messalla Appianus, Roman consul (b. c. 45 BC)


text: Sextius Propertius, Roman Latin poet and writer (b. c. 50–45 BC)


year_label: 111 BCE

text: Han-Xiongnu War: the Han generals Gongsun He and Zhao Ponu invade deep into Xiongnu territory, Gongsun marching from Wuhuan and Zhao from Lingju. However, neither come upon a Xiongnu army. There follows a period of several years in which the Han and Xiongnu seek to establish peace.


text: Jugurtha, king of Numidia, bribes the commander Lucius Calpurnius Bestia and Roman friends to secure easy terms. He is given a safe conduct to Rome in order to account for his actions in the Roman Senate. Jugurtha contemptuously bribes his way through all difficulties.


section: Disasters & Accidents

text: The city of Rome is devastated by fire.


text: Spartacus, Roman slave and rebel leader (d. 71 BC, presumably)


text: Tryphaena, queen consort of the Seleucid Empire


text: Zhao Jiande, last king of Nanyue (or Nam Viet)


year_label: 112 BCE

text: The Roman Senate declares war against Jugurtha following the Siege of Cirta (ends 105 BC).


text: Emperor Wu executes his favourite necromancer Luan Da for fraud.


text: 1111 BC—Pharaoh Ramesses IX of Egypt dies, is buried in KV6, and succeeded by Ramesses X, possibly his son.

source_section: Events and trends


text: 1115 BC—Tiglath-Pileser I becomes king of Assyria.


text: c. 1120 BC—Destruction of Troy VIIb1.


year_label: 113 BCE

text: The state of Nanyue, a vassal of the Han dynasty, agrees to submit to Han laws and receives envoys to oversee the succession of the young king Zhao Xing.


text: Celtiberians lead a war against the Romans.


text: Antiochus IX Cyzicenus becomes king of the Seleucid Empire.

source_section: Events › By place › Syria


text: Germanic tribes attack Gaul and northern Iberia.


text: Cirta is besieged by Jugurtha.

source_section: Events › By place › Numidia


section: Culture & Society

text: An incense burner, later found in the tomb of Liu Sheng, Prince of Zhongshan in Mancheng, Hebei, is made during the Han dynasty. It is now kept at Hebei Provincial Museum, Shijiazhuang.

source_section: Events › By topic › Art


text: Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus, Roman consul and general (b. 180 BC)


text: Zhang Qian, Chinese explorer, official and diplomat (b. 164 BC)


text: Liu Sheng, Chinese prince of the Han dynasty


text: 1122 BC—Legendary founding of Pyongyang


text: 1122 BC—Legendary founding emigration of Gija to Gija Joseon.


year_label: 114 BCE

text: Horos, son of Haruotes, a resident of the temple of Isis in Egypt, attacked a worshiper at the temple.


text: The Scordisci defeat Gaius Porcius Cato


text: Silk Road routes opened to traders and merchants, exporting goods from east to west.


text: Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, Roman consul (d. 63 BC)


text: Quintus Hortensius, Roman consul and orator (d. 50 BC)


text: Lucius Orbilius Pupillus, Roman grammarian and writer


text: Zhang Qian, Chinese explorer and diplomat (b. 195 BC)


year_label: 115 BCE

text: Parthia makes a trade treaty with China.

source_section: Events › By place › Middle East


text: Marcus Aemilius Scaurus defeats the Carni Celtic tribes of Northern Italy, leading to their submission to Roman rule.


text: The Kingdom of Sheba collapses.


text: Gaius Marius is praetor in Rome: he defeats Celtic tribes in modern-day Spain.


text: Marcus Licinius Crassus, Roman general and consul (d. 53 BC)

source_section: Births


text: Publius Mucius Scaevola, Roman consul and jurist

source_section: Deaths


text: Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus, Roman consul (b. c. 210 BC)


year_label: 116 BCE

text: Ptolemy IX Philometor Soter II Lathyros becomes king of Egypt and claims the throne.

source_section: Events › By place › Egypt


text: Marcus Terentius Varro (a.k.a. "Varro"), Roman scholar and writer (d. 27 BC)


date: June 26

text: June 26 – At the death of Ptolemy VIII Physcon, Cleopatra III has chosen her younger son Ptolemy X Alexander as co-regent, but the Alexandrians force her to bring Ptolemy IX from Cyprus, of which he is governor.


text: June 26 – Ptolemy VIII Physcon, king (pharaoh) of Egypt (b. c. 182 BC)


text: Cleopatra II, queen of Egypt (b. c. 185 BC)


text: Zhang Tang, Chinese official and politician


text: 1153 BC—Death of pharaoh Ramesses III of Egypt

source_section: Significant people


year_label: 117 BCE

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


text: Ptolemy XII Auletes, king (pharaoh) of Egypt (d. 51 BC)


text: Huo Qubing, Chinese general of the Han dynasty (b. 140 BC)


text: Sima Xiangru, Chinese statesman, poet, and musician (b. 179 BC)


year_label: 118 BCE

text: The Second Dalmatian War ends with victory for Rome. Lucius Caecilius Metellus assumes the surname Delmaticus.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Republic


text: The Roman colony of Narbo Martius is founded in Gallia Transalpina.


text: Emperor Wu of Han secretly executes his favourite necromancer Shao Weng for fraud.


text: Lucius Licinius Lucullus, Roman consul (d. 56 BC)


text: Marcus Porcius Cato, Roman consul and orator


text: Micipsa dies and Numidia, following the king's wish, is divided into three parts, a third each ruled by Micipsa's own sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal I, and the king's adopted son, Jugurtha.


text: Micipsa, king of Numidia (approximate date)


text: c. 1180 BC—Invaders raze Hattusa, causing the collapse of the Hittite Empire.


year_label: 119 BCE

text: Spring: Han Chinese forces under the General-in-Chief Wei Qing and the cavalry general Huo Qubing invade the Xiongnu Empire.


text: The second Dalmatian war begins.


text: Emperor Wu suspends further campaigning against the Xiongnu due to a shortage of horses.


section: Economy & Finance

text: Government monopolies are established in iron, salt and liquor.


text: Li Guang, Chinese general of the Han dynasty


text: Di Shan, Chinese politician of the Han dynasty


text: 1181 BC—Menestheus, legendary King of Athens and veteran of the Trojan War, dies after a reign of 23 years and is succeeded by his nephew Demophon, a son of Theseus. Other accounts place his death a decade earlier and during the Trojan War (see 1190s BC).


text: 1182 BC—A desperate letter of Ammurapi, the last king of Ugarit, reporting the approaching fleet of the Peoples of the Sea. Shortly thereafter they destroyed both Ugarit and Alasiya (Cyprus).


text: 1184 BC—April 24, the traditional date of the fall of Troy.


text: 1186 BC—End of the Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt, start of the Twentieth Dynasty.


text: c. 1188 BC–Late Bronze Age collapse.


year_label: 120 BCE

text: Mithridates VI Eupator becomes king of Pontus.

source_section: Events › By place › Asia Minor


text: Retaliating against the Han conquest of the Hexi Corridor in the previous year, the Xiongnu invade the provinces of Youbeiping and Dingxiang, killing or capturing over 1000 inhabitants.


text: The Teutons and the Cimbri migrate south and west to the Danube valley where they encounter the expanding Roman Republic (approximate date).

source_section: Events › By place › Europe


date: May 21

text: May 21 – Aurelia Cotta, mother of Julius Caesar (d. 54 BC)


text: Lucius Cornelius Sisenna, writer and politician (d. 67 BC)


text: Berenice III, reigning Queen of Egypt (d. 80 BC)


text: Verres, corrupt praetor (approximate date) (d. 43 BC)


text: Hipparchus, Greek astronomer and mathematician, on Rhodes (approximate date) (b. c. 190 BC)


text: c. 1200 BC: San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán starts to flourish.

source_title: 1200s BC (decade)


text: c. 1200 BC: Start of Pan-Illyrians


text: c. 1200 BC: Final destruction of the major Mycenian city excavated at Iklaina.


text: c. 1200 BC: Migration and expansion of Dorian Greeks. Destruction of Mycenaean city Pylos.


text: c. 1200 BC: Possible battle in the Tollense River Valley of northern Germany.


text: c. 1200 BC: Collapse of Hittite power in Anatolia with the destruction of their capital Hattusa.


text: c. 1200 BC: The Cimmerians are conjectured to have started settling the steppes of southern Russia.


text: c. 1200 BC: The proto-Scythian Srubna (Timber-grave) culture expands from the lower Volga region to cover the whole of the North Pontic area.


text: c. 1200 BC: Massive migrations of people around the Mediterranean and the Middle-East. See Sea People for more information.


text: c. 1200 BC: Olmec culture starts and thrives in Mesoamerica.


text: c. 1200 BC: Aramaic nomads and Chaldeans become a big threat to the former Babylonian and Assyrian Empire.


text: c. 1200 BC: Ancestral Puebloan civilization in North America. (approximate date)


text: c. 1200 BC: The Israelite highland settlement takes place, with a notable increase in the settled population in the hills north of Jerusalem during this time.


text: c. 1200 BC: The Yajurveda is composed.


year_label: 13 BCE

text: The Ara Pacis Augustae ("Altar of Augustan Peace") is commissioned by the Roman Senate to honor the triumphal return of Emperor Augustus from Hispania and Gaul.

source_title: 13 BC

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Empire


text: Drusus is granted governor of Gaul and mobilises a Roman army to beat the Germans back across the Rhine. He travels to the North Sea and pays tribute to the Frisii.


text: Revolt in Thrace against Roman rule led by Vologases.


text: Tiberius Claudius Nero and Publius Quinctilius Varus are Roman Consuls.


text: The Roman general Nero Claudius Drusus builds the stronghold of castrum Moguntiacum in the location of the modern-day city of Mainz, Germany.


text: Livilla, daughter of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor (d. AD 31)


text: Artaxias III, Roman client king of Armenia (d. AD 34)


text: Rhescuporis II, king of the Odrysian Kingdom


text: Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Roman consul (b. c. 90 BC)


text: Paullus Aemilius Lepidus, Roman consul (b. c. 77 BC)


year_label: 121 BCE

text: Consul Quintus Fabius Maximus, allied with the Aedui, defeats the Arverni and Allobroges in Transalpine Gaul, thus establishing the province for Rome.


text: Generals Li Guang and Zhang Qian ride north from Youbeiping, but Zhang Qian, with the larger army, is slow to rendezvous with Li Guang. As a result, Li Guang loses more than half his army in battle against the Tuqi (Worthy Prince) of the Left (East).

source_section: Events › By place › China


text: The rapid conquest of the Hexi Corridor provides the traditional western provinces of China with greater security. As a result, Emperor Wu halves the number of soldiers garrisoning the provinces of Longxi, Beidi and Shang.


text: Spring - The Han general Huo Qubing attacks the Supu, vassals of the Xiongnu, and kills their king. He then invades the Hexi Corridor, where he fights a six-day running battle against a son of Yizhixie Chanyu. The Xiongnu are defeated, and the ruler of Lan and king Lu, both vassals of the Xiongnu, are killed in the fighting. Huo Qubing then attacks and defeats the Hunye, capturing the son of the Hunye king and his ministers and chief commandants.


text: Autumn - Yizhixie Chanyu plans on executing the Hunye and Xiutu kings for their failures against Huo Qubing, but learning of this, the vassal kings inform the Han of their intention to surrender. Emperor Wu of Han sends Huo Qubing across the Yellow River with an army to oversee their surrender. Some of the enemy troops and leaders then refuse to surrender, but Huo Qubing massacres 8000 of them as they attempt to flee. Huo Qubing receives the surrender of thirty-two Xiongnu vassals, and the Hunye king and other vassals are enfeoffed as marquises in China.


text: Summer - Huo Qubing again invades the Hexi Corridor. In an engagement in the Qilian Mountains, he captures the king of the Qiutu. In a second engagement, he then captures five vassal kings of the Xiongnu and a consort of the Chanyu, killing or capturing more than 30,000 Xiongnu soldiers.


text: The finest vintage of Falernian wine, known as the Opimian vintage, is bottled from vines grown on Mt Falernus between Latium and Campania.


text: A tribunal is established in Rome that executes 3,000 followers of Gracchus.


text: Quintus Sertorius, Roman general (d. 72 BC)


text: Publius Sulpicius Rufus, Roman statesman (d. 88 BC)


text: Gaius Gracchus, Roman politician (b. 154 BC)


text: Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, Roman consul


text: Cleopatra Thea, Seleucid queen


text: The Roman Senate passes the motion senatus consultum ultimum, which the consul Lucius Opimius interprets as giving him unlimited power to preserve the Republic. He gathers an armed force of Senators and their supporters to confront Gaius Gracchus. A pitched battle is fought inside Rome, resulting in the death of Gracchus and many of his followers.


text: 1204 BC: Theseus, legendary King of Athens, is deposed after a reign of 30 years and succeeded by Menestheus, great-grandson of Erichthonius II of Athens and second cousin of Theseus' father Aegeus. Menestheus is reportedly assisted by Castor and Polydeuces of Sparta, who want to reclaim their sister Helen from her first husband Theseus. Theseus seeks refuge in Skyros, whose King Lycomedes is an old friend and ally. Lycomedes, however, considers his visitor a threat to the throne and proceeds to assassinate him. (Other accounts place these events a decade earlier. See 1210s BC.)


text: 1206 BC: Approximate starting date of Late Bronze Age collapse, a period of migration, unrest and destruction in the eastern Mediterranean and Ancient Near East, and beginning of the Iron Age in the Near East.


year_label: 122 BCE

text: Gracchus passes a law requiring the state to provide weapons and equipment for the soldiers in the Roman army.


text: Marcus Fulvius Flaccus and Gaius Gracchus become tribunes and propose a number of radical reforms in Rome.


text: Emperor Wu of Han appoints Liu Ju, his son by Empress Wei Zifu, as Crown Prince.


text: Liu An, Chinese prince, geographer, and cartographer (b. 179 BC)


year_label: 123 BCE

text: Spring: The Han General-in-Chief Wei Qing launches two invasions of Xiongnu territory from Dingxiang, defeating two Xiongnu armies and killing or capturing several thousand of the enemy.


text: A conspiracy led by Liu An, king of Huainan, is discovered. Liu An commits suicide, and his queen and crown prince are executed. Huainan becomes Jiujiang Prefecture.


text: Quintus Caecilius Metellus conquers the Balearic Islands for Rome, for which he earns the agnomen "Balearicus." He settles 3,000 Roman and Iberian colonists on the islands and founds the cities of Palma and Pollentia.


text: Gaius Gracchus elected Roman tribune for the first time. He waits until after his re-election the following year before pushing forward the various civil and agrarian reforms that his brother championed in 133 BC.


text: Aix-en-Provence founded under the name of Aquae Sextiae by the Roman consul Sextius Calvinus.


text: Alexander II Zabinas, king of the Seleucid Empire


text: 1221 BC—Pharaoh Merneptah defeats a Libyan invasion.


year_label: 124 BCE

text: Cleopatra II of Egypt and her brother Ptolemy VIII of Egypt reconcile.


text: Spring: The Han general Wei Qing, with an army of 30,000 cavalry, proceeds from Gaoque into Xiongnu territory, and in a night attack surrounds the Tuqi King of the Right in his camp. The Tuqi escapes, but numerous petty chiefs are captured in this and a second engagement.


text: Emperor Wu of Han rewards Wei Qing by making him General-in-Chief.


text: Mithridates II succeeds Artabanus I as King of Parthia.

source_section: Events › By place › Parthia


text: Fregellae's revolt against Rome begins in Latium. Later the city is captured and destroyed by the Romans.


text: Autumn: The Xiongnu retaliate by invading the Prefecture of Dai, where they kill its chief commandant, Zhu Ying.


text: Li Xi and Zhang Cigong invade Xiongnu territory from Youbeiping Prefecture but encounter no enemy forces.


text: 1234 BC – Theseus of Athens begins his 30-year reign (if the end of his reign is agreed to have ended in 1204 BC).


year_label: 125 BCE

text: In Rome, Marcus Fulvius Flaccus proposes the extension of Roman citizenship to the northern Italians, but the Senate reacts by sending him off to deal with disturbances around Massilia. And in so doing, commences the conquest of Transalpine Gaul.


text: In retaliation for the Han conquest of the Ordos Plateau two years prior, three Xiongnu forces raid the Prefectures of Dai, Dingxiang and Shang.


text: The Xiongnu Tuqi (Worthy Prince) of the Right (West), especially angry at the loss of the Ordos Plateau, invades the region and kills or carries off a large number of officials and other inhabitants.


text: Completion of Aqua Tepula aqueduct in Rome.


text: Quintus Sertorius, Roman statesman and general (d. 73 BC)


text: Cleopatra Thea succeeds to the rule of the Seleucid Empire on the death of Seleucus V. She appoints Antiochus VIII Grypus as co-ruler.


text: Seleucus V Philometor (killed by Cleopatra Thea)


text: Demetrius II, king of the Seleucid Empire


year_label: 126 BCE

text: To avoid the Xiongnu and Qiang of the north-west and west respectively, Emperor Wu begins a policy of exploring a possible route of contact with Daxia (Bactria) via India, sending envoys to establish diplomatic relations with and movement through the Dian Kingdom. Wu wishes to receive the submission of Daxia and other states in western Eurasia.


text: Seleucus V Philometor succeeds his father Demetrius II as king of the Seleucid Empire. Due to his youth, his stepmother Cleopatra Thea acts as regent.


text: Having used the Xiongnu civil war to escape his imprisonment, the diplomat Zhang Qian returns to China and reports on the lands to the west.


text: Tyre successfully revolts from the Seleucid Empire.


text: Summer: In retaliation for the Han conquest of the Ordos Plateau in the previous year, the Xiongnu invade the province of Dai, kill its governor, Gong You, and capture over 1000 of its inhabitants.


text: Autumn: The Xiongnu cross into Yanmen and kill or capture over 1000 of the inhabitants.


text: Wang Zhi, Chinese empress of the Han dynasty (b. 173 BC)


text: Phraates II, king of the Parthian Empire


text: Winter 127/6: The Xiongnu ruler Junchen Chanyu dies, and his younger brother Yizhixie, the Luli King of the Left (East), overthrows Junchen's son Yudan and sets himself up as the new Chanyu. Yudan flees to the Han and dies a few months later.

source_section: Events › By place › Xiongnu


year_label: 127 BCE

text: The Han rationalize the northern frontier, abandoning the remote region of Zaoyang to the Xiongnu.


text: Wei Qing defeats a Xiongnu army near Gaoque. He then invades the Ordos Plateau, defeats the Xiongnu and their Baiyang and Loufan allies in the battles of Puni and Fuli, and then defeats the main Xiongnu force. The conquered territory becomes Shuofang Commandery. Wu orders the foundation of Shuofang City, and the system of defenses that had been built by the Qin dynasty general Meng Tian are repaired.


text: The Scythians defeat the Parthians in a battle around Media.


text: Nicomedes II (Epiphanes), king of Bithynia


text: Zhufu Yan, Chinese politician and official of the Han dynasty (or 126 BC)


text: c. 1263 BC—Ramses II, king of ancient Egypt, and Hattusilis III, king of the Hittites, sign the earliest known peace treaty.


text: 1263 BC—The approximate date traditionally offered for the biblical Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt under the leadership of Moses.


year_label: 128 BCE

text: Artabanus I becomes king of Parthia (approximate date)


text: In response to Han incursions, in 128 or 127 the Xiongnu invade northern China. They kill the governor of Liaoxi, defeat the governor of Yuyang, capture 2000 of the inhabitants of Liaoxi and Yuyang and defeat the Han general Han Anguo. Han Anguo and his cavalry force are surrounded in their camp but the arrival of relief forces coming from Yan causes the Xiongnu army to withdraw. The Xiongnu also invade Yanmen and kill or capture 1000 people.


text: The Han general Wei Qing, with an army of 30,000 cavalrymen, defeats a Xiongnu army north of Yanmen. The Han general Li Xi attacks the Xiongnu further to the east, riding out of Dai Prefecture.


text: The Greco-Bactrian kingdom is overrun by the Tokhari.

source_section: Events › By place › Bactria


text: Having spent a year in Greater Yuezhi, the Han diplomat Zhang Qian begins his return journey to China, having failed to persuade Yuezhi's king to form an alliance against the Xiongnu. Passing by the Pamir, Kunlun, Altun and Qilian Mountains, he and his retinue are then captured by the Xiongnu and taken into custody.


text: Limenius composes the Second Delphic Hymn.

source_section: Events › By topic › Arts and sciences


text: Cn. Octavius and T. Annius Rufus are this year's consuls


text: Liu Ju, Chinese prince of the Han dynasty (d. 91 BC)


text: Liu Fei, Chinese prince of the Han dynasty (b. 169 BC)


text: Phraates II, king of Parthia (approximate date)


year_label: 129 BCE

text: Having been freed by the Parthians, Demetrius II of Syria recovers the throne of the Seleucid Empire.

source_section: Events › By place › Syria


text: C. Sempronius Tuditanus celebrates his triumph over the Iapydes of Illyria.

source_section: Events › By place › The Roman Republic


text: The Kingdom of Pergamon becomes the Roman Province of Asia upon the defeat of Aristonicus, pretender to the Attalid throne, by M. Perperna.


text: Winter: the Xiongnu retaliate by crossing the border several times, especially ravaging Yuyang.


text: Scipio Aemilianus, victor of Carthage is possibly assassinated by his enemies in Rome.


text: Spring: the Xiongnu raid Shanggu, killing officials and other inhabitants.


text: Battle of Ecbatana: the Seleucid King Antiochus VII Sidetes is defeated and killed by the Parthians under Phraates II, ending Seleucid control over Media or Mesopotamia.


text: Autumn: Emperor Wu launches his first offensive into the northern steppe against the Xiongnu and their allies. The invasion consists of four armies, each of 10,000 cavalrymen. Two of the four armies are defeated, namely those of Li Guang and Gongsun Ao, and only the army of Wei Qing achieves a victory. Although a modest success, Wei Qing's victory is the first Han success against the Xiongnu. Moreover, it is won at Longcheng, a sacred site far to the north, beyond the Gobi Desert, where the Xiongnu offer sacrifices.


text: The Han diplomat Zhang Qian escapes Xiongnu custody and resumes his mission of forming an anti-Xiongnu alliance with the Yuezhi. He reaches the State of Dayuan in the Ferghana Valley, whose trade with the Han had been prevented by the Xiongnu and who supply Zhang with guides. Zhang then travels to the states of Kangju, Greater Yuezhi and Daxia (Bactria). He also learns of the Parthian Empire, Daqin, the Caspian Sea and the source of the Yellow River.


text: Total solar eclipse, used by Hipparchus to estimate distance to the Moon.

source_section: Events › By topic › Astronomy


date: March

text: March: Chen Jiao is deposed as Empress after she asks a sorceress to curse Emperor Wu's favourite consort, Wei Zifu, this being regarded an act of heresy and treason. Wei Zifu is made the new Empress.


text: Hipparchus publishes his catalog of stars.


text: Carneades, philosopher, and founder of Third Academy (b. c. 214 BC)


text: P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Numantinus (Africanus the Younger) (b. 185 BC)


text: Antiochus VII Sidetes (killed in battle)


year_label: 130 BCE

text: The tribune Gaius Papirius Carbo passes a measure allowing the use of secret ballots in legislative assemblies.


text: Roman census carried out by Quintus Pompeius and Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus.


text: King Ptolemy VIII murders Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator or Ptolemy Memphites, the puppet ruler of Cleopatra II.


text: Concubine Wei Zifu gives birth to Liu Ju, the future Crown Prince.


text: Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus, Roman consul (approximate date)


text: Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius, Roman consul and general (d. 63 BC) (approximate date)


text: Ptolemaeus of Commagene, Seleucid satrap


text: Consul Marcus Perperna defeats Aristonicus in battle, besieges him at Stratonicea, dies at Pergamon.


text: Ariarathes V, king of Cappadocia


text: Appius Claudius Pulcher, Roman consul


text: Pacuvius, Roman tragic poet (b. c. 220 BC)


year_label: 14 BCE

text: Caesar Augustus makes Beeroth (modern Beirut) a colonia, named Colonia Julia Augusta Felix Berytus.

source_title: 14 BC


text: Winter – The Roman Legio X Fretensis is stationed in Syria, and the legionaries are settled at the ancient city of Beirut.


text: The Roman general Nero Claudius Drusus fortifies Augusta Vangionum, the modern city of Worms, Germany.


text: Ma Yuan, Chinese general of the Han dynasty (d. AD 49)


text: Drusus Julius Caesar, son of the Emperor Tiberius and step-grandson of the Emperor Augustus (d. AD 23)


text: Claudia Pulchra, daughter of Paullus Aemilius Lepidus and Claudia Marcella Minor (d. AD 26)


text: Agrippina the Elder, daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder (d. AD 33)


text: Lucius Varius Rufus, Roman Latin poet and writer


text: Sulpicia, wife of Lucius Cornelius Lentulus


year_label: 131 BCE

text: Capture of Thebes: Egyptian rebel Harsiesi seized Thebes in the summer of 131 BC, proclaimed pharaoh, for a short period of time.


text: During Aristonicus of Pergamon uprising against Rome, the consul Publius Licinius Crassus Mucianius is killed in the fighting.


section: Health & Medicine

text: For the first time in Roman history, both censors are plebeians (Metellus and Quintus Pompeius).


text: The Roman censor Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus attempts to remove the tribune Gaius Atinius Labeo Macerio from the Senate, the angry Atinius drags him to be thrown off the Tarpeian Rock, and Metellus is only saved by the intervention of other senators.


text: Mithridates VI Eupator – king of Pontus (c.120-63 BC)


text: Scipio Nasica Serapio – Roman statesman


text: Publius Licinius Crassus Mucianus – Roman consul and commander


year_label: 132 BCE

text: The First Servile War ends when Publius Rupilius quelled the rebellion.


text: The Late Formative (or pre-Classic) period of the Maya civilization begins.

source_section: Events › By place › Mexico


text: Eunus, leader of the Slave Revolt (136–132 BC) in Sicily


text: Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio, Roman consul


date: June

text: 24 (or April 13 1308 BC) – Mursili II launches a campaign against the Kingdom of Azzi-Hayasa.

source_section: Events › 1312 BC › June


text: Enlil-nirari succeeds his father as king of Assyria.

source_section: Events › 1317 BC


text: (or 1306 BC)—Horemheb assumes the throne of Ancient Egypt.

source_section: Events › 1319 BC


text: The reign of Ay comes to an end.


year_label: 133 BCE

text: Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, as consul, is sent against the slaves in Italy. Gaius Marius serves under Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus at Numantia.


text: June – A large army of the Han dynasty, under the overall command of Han Anguo, attempts to ambush the Xiongnu leader Junchen Chanyu in the Battle of Mayi. By pretending to betray the city of Mayi, a Han official had lured Junchen onto Han soil. However, a captured Chinese officer tips off Junchen, and so he avoids the ambush. The episode abrogates the Xiongnu-Han treaty (called heqin 和親 or "harmonious kinship") and marks the beginning of Emperor Wu's Han-Xiongnu War.


text: Scipio Aemilianus captures Numantia, after a siege of eight months, suffering famine and pestilence. The remnant population of 4,000 citizens, surrender and set their city on fire. Thus ends the Numantine War.


text: The Kingdom of Pergamum is deeded to Rome, Aristonicus starts a rebellion against this.


text: Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, is elected tribune of the people. He attempts to pass a law to redistribute the public land to benefit small landowners. Opposed by wealthier factions in the Roman Senate, he is killed by a group of senators and their followers that same year.


text: Foreign Minister Wang Hui, who, against the opposition of Han Anguo, had advocated for war, fails to attack the retreating supply column of the Xiongnu and is sentenced to death. He commits suicide.


text: Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus the Roman tribune (assassination) (b. 168 BC)

source_section: Deaths


text: Attalus III, king of Pergamon. In his will, he makes the people of Rome his heirs (b. 170 BC)


text: 1323 BC – Death of Pharaoh Tutankhamun of Egypt. Ay succeeds him as pharaoh.

source_section: Events


text: 1324 BC – The Hittite Empire prince Zannanza was killed on his way to Egypt at the request of the Egyptian queen Ankhesenamun to become her husband and king of Egypt.


year_label: 134 BCE

text: Caius Fulvius Flaccus, as consul, is sent against the slaves. Uprising of 4,000 slaves crushed at Sinuessa, in Campania. Slave uprisings repressed in Attic silver mines and on the island of Delos.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Republic


text: Scipio Aemilianus, victor of Carthage, takes command in Spain against the Numantians. He recruits 20,000 men and 40,000 allies, including Numidian cavalry under Jugurtha. Scipio, an expert in sieges, builds a ring of seven forts and a ditch palisade before beginning the Siege of Numantia. The perimeter of the circumvallations is twice as long as that of the city. The river Durius (Douro), enables the defenders to be supplied by small boats.


text: On the advice of philosopher Dong Zhongshu, Emperor Wu of Han promotes Confucianism as the official doctrine of the Han dynasty and assigns special merit to the Book of Rites, the Classic of Music, the Classic of Poetry, the Book of Documents, I Ching (the Book of Changes) and the Spring and Autumn Annals.


text: Hipparchus discovers the precession of the equinoxes.


text: Hipparchus creates a star catalogue.


text: John Hyrcanus becomes high priest and prince (ruler) of Judea, until 104 BC, following the murder of his father Simon Maccabaeus by Ptolemy the son of Abubus in 135 BC.

source_section: Events › By place › Judea


text: Posidonius of Apamea, Stoic philosopher and polymath (d. 51 BC)

source_section: Births


text: Jin Midi, Chinese politician and co-regent (d. 86 BC)


text: Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus, Roman statesman (d. 44 BC)


text: Simon Thassi, High Priest of Judaea (r. 142-134 BC)


text: 1334 BC: Death of Akhenaten, Pharaoh of Egypt. Alternative date is 1333 BC

source_section: Significant people


text: 1334 BC: Death of Smenkhkare, Pharaoh of Egypt and co-ruler with Akhenaten. Alternative date is 1333 BC


text: 1337 BC: Queen Nefertiti of Egypt vanishes from the historical record. Presumed death.


text: 1338 BC: Queen Tiy of Egypt, Chief Queen of Amenhotep III and matriarch of the Amarna family, vanishes from the historical record. Presumed death.


year_label: 135 BCE

text: Emperor Wu makes Zou Chou the king of Minyue, but Zou Yushan carves out two thirds of Minyue as the state of Dongyue, which Wu then recognizes.

source_section: Events › By place › China


text: Marcus Cosconius defeats the Scordisci in Thrace.


text: Servius Fulvius Flaccus defeats an uprising of the Ardiaei in Illyria.


text: A Han military campaign against the Dian Kingdom establishes a military commandery in the Yunnan region.


text: The First Servile War starts in Sicily.


text: Minyue attacks Nanyue, which are both vassal states of the Han dynasty. The Han send two armies against Minyue under Wang Hui and Han Anguo, and Minyue's king Zou Ying is killed by his brother Zou Yushan, who then surrenders to the Han.


text: Posidonius of Apamea, Greek Stoic philosopher and scientist (d. 51 BC)


text: Pompeius Strabo, Roman consul and father of Pompeius Magnus (d. 87 BC)


text: Sima Qian, Chinese historian of the Han dynasty (approximate date)


text: Mithridates VI, king of Pontus (d. 63 BC)


text: Grand Empress Dowager Dou dies, which allows her grandson Emperor Wu to exert greater control over the empire.


text: Menander I, king of the Indo-Greek Kingdom dies and is succeeded by Epander.


text: Simon Maccabaeus, prince of Judea and High Priest of Judea


text: Menander I, king of the Indo-Greek Kingdom


text: c. 1341 BC - Tutankhamun, Pharaoh of Egypt


text: 1350 BC – Yin becomes the new capital of Shang dynasty China.

source_section: Events and trends


year_label: 136 BCE

text: Confucianism is adopted as the state religion in China by Emperor Wu.


text: The Romans hand Gaius Hostilius Mancinus over to the Numantians in order to repudiate his peace treaty with them.

source_section: Events › By place › Spain


text: Censorship of Appius Claudius Pulcher and Quintus Fulvius Nobilior.

source_section: Events › By place › Rome


text: Carneades retires as head of the Platonic Academy and is replaced by Polemarchus of Nicomedia.

source_section: Events › By place › Greece


text: Lucius Gellius, politician and general.

source_section: Births › Rome


text: c. 1352 BC – Amenhotep III (Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt) dies and is succeeded as Pharaoh by Amenhotep IV.


year_label: 137 BCE

text: Numantine War begins, Quintus Pompeius and M. Popilius Laenas are defeated and disgraced by the Numantians in subsequent years.


text: Q. Pompeius is brought to trial by Q.Metellus and others, but acquitted.


section: Climate & Environment

text: Tiberius Gracchus, quaestor in Spain, observes that slave labor has displaced small freeheld farms.


text: Zhao Tuo, Emperor Wu of Nanyue (b. 240 BC)


year_label: 138 BCE

text: Phraates II becomes emperor of Parthia.

source_section: Events › By place › Parthia


text: Valencia in Spain is founded as a Roman colony.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Empire


text: Attalus III succeeds Attalus II as Attalid king of Pergamon

source_section: Events › By place › Asia Minor


text: Tautalus surrenders to the Romans.


text: Antiochus VII expels Diodotus Tryphon.

source_section: Events › By place › Syria


text: Grand Empress Dowager Dou, the grandmother of Emperor Wu of Han, purges the high administration of officials to consolidate her power. Among those dismissed are Prime Minister Dou Yong and her own half-brother, the General-in-Chief Tian Fen. Two of the young emperor's closest advisors, Zhao Wan and Wang Zang, are arrested and commit suicide.


text: Hymn to Apollo is written and inscribed on stone in Delphi; it is the earliest surviving notated music, in a substantial and legible fragment, in the western world.

source_section: Events › By topic › Arts and sciences


text: Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Roman general and statesman (d. 78 BC)


text: Phaedrus the Epicurean, Greek scholar and philosopher


text: Diodotus Tryphon, king of the Seleucid Empire

source_section: Deaths


text: Attalus II Philadelphus, king of Pergamon (b. 220 BC)


text: Mithridates I, king of Parthia (b. c. 195 BC)


year_label: 139 BCE

text: The Achaean League is reestablished.


text: Emperor Wu of Han sends the diplomat Zhang Qian west to form an alliance with the Yuezhi against the Xiongnu. Wu does this after learning from Xiongnu defectors that the Xiongnu had defeated and killed the king of the Yuezhi, had expelled the Yuezhi from their lands and were using their king's skull as a wine goblet. The Yuezhi had subsequently migrated further west.


text: The Lusitanian War ends when the rebellion collapses after the assassination of Viriathus by a Roman agent.


text: Hipparchus makes a very precise determination of the length of the synodic month.

source_section: Events › By topic › Astronomy


text: Wei Zifu enters Emperor Wu's palace as a concubine and becomes pregnant. Enraged, Liu Piao, the mother of the childless Empress Chen Jiao (wife of Emperor Wu), kidnaps Zifu's brother Wei Qing, who is rescued by Gongsun Ao. Wu responds by advancing the careers of members of the Wei family.


text: Soon after his departure for the west, Zhang Qian is detained by Junchen Chanyu of the Xiongnu. He would remain in Xiongnu custody for more than ten years and would be given a Xiongnu wife.


text: Viriathus, Lusitanian leader (assassinated)


text: c. 1390 BC—Pharaoh Amenhotep III (18th dynasty) starts to rule.


year_label: 140 BCE

text: Simon Maccabaeus crowned king of Judea.


text: Scipio Aemilianus leads a group of Roman ambassadors to Alexandria, where they meet with King Ptolemy VIII.

source_section: Events › By place › Africa


text: Huo Qubing, Chinese general of the Han dynasty (d. 117 BC)


text: Su Wu, Chinese diplomat and statesman (d. 60 BC)


text: Lucius Licinius Crassus, Roman consul and statesman (d. 91 BC)


text: Tigranes the Great, king of Armenia (d. 55 BC)


text: 1398 BC—Birth of Tiy to Egyptian nobleman Yuya and his wife Tjuyu. She later becomes the Chief Queen of Pharaoh Amenhotep III of Egypt and the matriarch of the Amarna family (approximate date).


text: c. 1400 BC – The center of political and cultural power in the Aegean has shifted from Crete to mainland Greece, which at that time is home to wealthy warrior-kings.

source_title: 1400s BC (decade)


text: c. 1400 BC – Assyrians became very powerful.


text: 1400 BC – Estimation: Thebes, capital of Egypt becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Memphis in Egypt.


text: c. 1400 BC – Lion Gate at Hattushash (near modern Boghazkeui, Turkey) is made.


text: 1400 BC – Palace of Minos destroyed by fire.


text: c. 1400 BC – 1200 BC – Two women with a child, found in the palace at Mycenae, Greece, are made. It is now at National Archaeological Museum of Athens.


text: c. 1400 BC – 1350 BC – Garden of Nebamum (Pond in a Garden) wall painting from the tomb of Nebamum, Thebes. Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. It is now kept in The British Museum, London.


year_label: 15 BCE

text: The Raeti tribes of the Alps are subjugated by Tiberius and Nero Claudius Drusus and the new Roman province of Raetia is established with Chur (in modern-day Switzerland) as its capital. During the campaign, Roman triremes destroy the fleet of the Vindelici in the Battle of Lake Constance. Augsburg is founded as Augusta Vindelicorum; and Legio XXI Rapax is stationed at Regensburg in the new province.

source_title: 15 BC


text: Marcus Livius Drusus Libo and Lucius Calpurnius Piso are Roman Consuls.


text: Drusus decides to improve the passage through the Alps for military control of Noricum and Raetia and builds the Via Claudia Augusta through Italy.


date: May 24

text: May 24 – Germanicus, Roman general (d. AD 19)


text: Phaedrus, Roman fabulist and writer


text: Alexander, Herodian prince of Judea


text: Vedius Pollio, Roman equestrian (friend of Augustus)


text: Lucius Munatius Plancus, Roman consul (b. c. 87 BC)


year_label: 141 BCE

text: Yuezhi refugees appear on the borders of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom.

source_section: Events › By place › Bactria


date: March 9

text: March 9 – Emperor Wu of Han ("Martial Emperor") starts to rule the Han dynasty.


text: The Seleucid garrison negotiates the surrender of Jerusalem. Simon Maccabaeus assumes control of the city. He becomes prince (ruler) of Judea until 135 BC.

source_section: Events › By place › Syria and Judea


text: Demetrius II of Syria made prisoner of Mithridates, king of the Parthians. Antiochus VII Sidetes becomes king of the Seleucid Empire in his absence.


text: Salome Alexandra, queen and regent of Judea (d. 67 BC)

source_section: Births


text: Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum, Roman statesman


text: Jing of Han, Chinese emperor of the Han dynasty (b. 188 BC)


year_label: 142 BCE

text: Diodotus Tryphon seizes the throne of the Seleucid Empire.


text: Simon Maccabaeus succeeds his brother Jonathan as High Priest of Judea until 135 BC.

source_section: Events › By place › Judea


text: Ptolemy IX, Egyptian pharaoh (d. 81 BC)


year_label: 143 BCE

text: The Celtiberian War ends when Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus crushes the rebels.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Republic


text: Marcus Antonius, Roman politician and orator (d. 87 BC)


text: Zhou Yafu, Chinese general of the Han Dynasty


text: Jonathan Maccabaeus, Jewish leader of the Maccabees


year_label: 144 BCE

text: Quintus Marcius Rex starts construction of the Aqua Marcia aqueduct in Rome.


text: Liu Wu (a.k.a. Prince Xiao of Liang), Chinese prince of the Han dynasty


text: 1437 BC: Legendary King Erichthonius I of Athens dies after a reign of 50 years and is succeeded by his son Pandion I.

source_title: 15th century BC

source_section: Events


year_label: 145 BCE

text: Ptolemy VII becomes king of Egypt briefly, then is assassinated by Ptolemy VIII the following year.

source_section: Events › By place › Egypt


text: In the Battle of Antioch, Ptolemy VI Philometor defeats the Seleucid usurper Alexander Balas, but dies in the battle.


text: Hipparchus determines the length of the tropical year.


text: Sima Qian, Chinese historian (or 135 BC) (d. 86 BC)


text: Alexander Balas (assassinated)


text: Ptolemy VI of Egypt (killed in battle) (b. c. 186 BC)


text: c. 1448 BC: The Gnbtyw people (Genebtyw or Genebtyu) first appear in Ganibatum during the 32nd year of the reign of Thutmose III, the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

source_section: Events and trends


text: 1449 BC: Fíachu Labrainne, Milesians' High King of Ireland, is killed and succeeded by Eochu Mumu


text: c. 1450 BCE—Mycenaeans attack and capture Crete, destroying many royal palaces including Knossos.


year_label: 146 BCE

text: Spring – Carthage falls to Roman forces under Scipio Aemilianus and the city is completely destroyed. End of the Third Punic War.


text: Achaean War: The Romans conquer the Achaean League and southern Greece becomes a Roman province.

source_section: Events › By place › Greece


text: Roman armies destroy Carthage and Corinth.


text: Hipparchus determines the equinoctial point.


text: Critolaus, general of the Achaean League


text: Gentius, the last king of Illyria (approximate date)


text: 1451 BCE—According to James Ussher's chronology, this is when the Israelites entered the Promised Land.


year_label: 147 BCE

text: Despite being the five years below the minimum age required, Scipio Aemilianus is elected Consul under popular pressure.


text: Demetrius II of Syria returns to Syria (approximate date).


text: Jonathan Maccabaeus conquers Joppa.


text: In Lusitania, Hispania, the Celtic king Viriathus, rallies Lusitanian resistance to Rome.


text: Bo, Chinese empress of the Western Han Dynasty


year_label: 148 BCE

text: Demetrius II Nicator, claimant to the Seleucid throne had challenged Alexander Balas, in view of the threat of such an invasion Ptolemy VI Philometor entered Coele-Syria, passing through the cities of Ashdod and Jaffa, to Ptolemais.

source_section: Events › By place › Hellenistic Egypt


text: With the defeat of Andriscus in the Battle of Pydna by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus, Macedon is reorganized as a Roman province by 146 BC.


text: Construction of the Via Postumia, linking Aquileia and Genua.


text: Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus divides Numidia among the three sons of the recently deceased Masinissa.


text: Corlea Trackway built in County Longford

source_section: Events › By place › Ireland


text: Liu Rong, Chinese crown prince of the Han dynasty


text: Masinissa, king of Numidia (b. c. 238 BC)


text: Yuan Ang, Chinese statesman of the Han dynasty


text: c. 1473 BC—Hatshepsut (18th Dynasty) started to rule. She is a daughter of Thutmose I. Married to her half brother Thutmose II.


year_label: 149 BCE

text: The turmoil in Spain escalates again with the renewal of the Lusitanian War, under the leadership of Viriathus, and the Celtiberian War.


text: The Third Punic War begins. The Romans land an army in Africa to begin the Battle of Carthage.


text: With Roman help, Nicomedes II overthrows his father Prusias II as king of Bithynia.

source_section: Events › By place › Bithynia


text: Servius Sulpicius Galba is prosecuted for corruption while serving in Spain, but is acquitted after he parades his weeping family members before the tribunal.


text: Lucius Calpurnius Piso passes the lex Calpurnia de repetundis which establishes the first permanent criminal court in Rome.


text: Andriscus, the last king of Macedon, ascends to the throne.

source_section: Events › By place › Macedon


text: Prusias II, Greek king of Bithynia (b. c. 220 BC)


text: Cato the Elder, Roman statesman (b. 234 BC)


text: 1481 BC—August 27—Lunar Saros 43 begins.


text: 1487 BC—Amphictyon, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 10 years and is succeeded by Erichthonius I of Athens, a grandson of Cranaus.


year_label: 150 BCE

text: Nicomedes, the son of king Prusias II of Bithynia, who has been sent to Rome to argue for smaller reparations arising from his father's unsuccessful war against Pergamum, gains the support of the Roman Senate to the point where Prusias sends an emissary with secret orders to assassinate Nicomedes. However, the emissary reveals the plot to Nicomedes and persuades him to rebel against his father.

source_section: Events › By place › Asia Minor


text: Scipio Aemilianus is sent by the Roman general, Lucius Licinius Lucullus, to Numidia to obtain some elephants from the Numidian king Masinissa, the friend of his grandfather Scipio Africanus. While there, he witnesses a great but indecisive battle between the Numidians and the Carthaginians. The latter then ask Scipio Aemilianus to arrange a settlement, but the negotiations break down.

source_section: Events › By place › Carthage


text: The Romans, led by praetor Servius Sulpicius Galba, defeat the Lusitanians in a major battle in Hispania. He then breaks his promise to the defeated Lusitanian rebels by instituting a massacre of 9,000 of their number during the peace talks. Later 20,000 more Lusitanians are sold as slaves in Gaul.

source_section: Events › By place › Hispania


text: Mithridates V Euergetes succeeds his uncle Mithridates IV Philopator Philadelphus as king of Pontus. He continues the strategy of maintaining an alliance with the Romans which was started by his predecessor.


text: The Roman Senate shows displeasure with Carthage's decision to wage war against its neighbour without Roman consent, and tells Carthage that in order to avoid a war it has to "satisfy the Roman People". The Roman censor, Cato the Elder, urges the destruction of Carthage and the Roman Senate orders the gathering of an army.


text: The pretender to the Seleucid throne, Alexander Balas, who claims to be the son of the late Antiochus IV, defeats the Seleucid king, Demetrius I Soter, in battle and kills him. The Roman Senate, along with Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamum and Ptolemy VI Philometor of Egypt, support Alexander Balas and he becomes the ruler of the Seleucid Empire. Demetrius I Soter's son, Demetrius, goes into exile in Crete.

source_section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire


text: The enlargement of the Great Stupa of Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India begins, taking about 100 years.

source_section: Events › By topic › Art


text: The making of the statue Hellenistic Ruler begins and is finished ten years later. It is now kept at the Museo Nazionale Romano in Rome.


text: The new king of the Seleucid Empire, Alexander Balas, marries Cleopatra Thea, a daughter of Ptolemy VI Philometor of Egypt.


text: Mithridates IV Philopator Philadelphus, king of Pontus

source_section: Deaths


text: Paerisades III, king of the Bosporan Kingdom


text: Demetrius I Soter, Seleucid king of Syria (b. c. 187 BC)


text: c. 1500 BC: Queen Hatsheput in Egypt (18th Dynasty).

source_title: 1500s BC (decade)


text: c. 1500 BC — Formative/Preclassic period starts in Mesoamerica.


text: c. 1500 BC — Eleusinian Mysteries start in Ancient Greece.


text: c. 1500 BC — Polynesians settle in Fiji, (controversial Fiji settlement)


text: c. 1500 BC: Indo-Aryan migration is often dated to the 17th to 16th centuries.


text: c. 1500 BC: Settlers from Crete, Greece move to Miletus, Turkey.


text: c. 1500 BC: Early traces of Maya civilization developing in Belize.


text: c. 1500 BC: The Phoenicians develop an alphabet—see Timeline of communication technology.


text: c. 1500 BC: Many scholars date early parts of the Rig Veda to roughly the 16th century.


text: c. 1500 BC — Mycenaean civilization starts in Ancient Greece.


text: c. 1500 BC: The element Mercury has been discovered in Egyptian tombs dating from this decade.


year_label: 16 BCE

text: Noricum is incorporated into the Roman Empire.

source_title: 16 BC

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Empire


text: Caesar Augustus reorganizes the German provinces, making Trier their capital.


text: Clades Lolliana: Roman consul Marcus Lollius is defeated by a Germanic horde.


text: The Noricans having joined with the Pannonians in invading Histria, are defeated by Publius Silius Nerva, proconsul of Illyricum.


text: Construction of the Roman temple of Maison Carrée at Nîmes in Gallia Narbonensis (approximate date).


text: Aemilius Macer, Roman didactic poet and writer


text: Wang, Chinese empress of the Western Han dynasty


text: Scribonius, Roman client king of the Bosporan Kingdom


year_label: 151 BCE

text: The Carthaginian debt to Rome is fully repaid, meaning that, according to Carthage, the treaty with Rome, which was put in place at the end of the Second Punic War, is no longer in force. The Romans do not agree with this interpretation. Instead they view the treaty as a permanent declaration of Carthaginian subordination to Rome.


text: Agnimitra succeeds his father Pushyamitra Shunga as emperor of the Shunga dynasty.

source_section: Events › By place › India


text: Roman armies under the leadership of praetor Servius Sulpicius Galba and the proconsul Lucius Licinius Lucullus arrive in Hispania Ulterior and begin the process of subduing the local population. The revolt of the Celtiberians of Numantia is stopped.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Republic


text: Roman forces help the thriving Greek commercial port of Massilia combat raids from the Celts from Cisalpine Gaul.


text: Numidia launches another border raid on Carthaginian soil, besieging a town. In response Carthage launches a large military expedition (25,000 soldiers) to repel the Numidian invaders.


text: At Polybius' request, Scipio Aemilianus manages to gain the support of the Roman statesman Cato the Elder (whose son has married Scipio's sister Aemilia) for a proposal to release (and return to Greece) the 300 Achaean internees who are still being held without trial after being deported to Rome in 167 BC.


text: Pushyamitra Shunga, Indian emperor and founder of the Indian Shunga dynasty, who has reigned since 185 BC


text: c. 1506 BC — Thutmose I (Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt) starts to rule. Alternatively, a date of c. 1504 BC is a possibility.


text: 1506 BC — Cecrops, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 50 years. Having survived his own son, he is succeeded by Cranaus.


year_label: 152 BCE

text: The pretender to the Seleucid throne, Alexander Balas, makes contact with Jonathan Maccabeus offering him terms even more favorable than those offered by the king Demetrius I Soter. In particular, Alexander offers him the official appointment as High Priest in Jerusalem. In response, Jonathan withdraws his support from Demetrius and declares his allegiance to Alexander. Thus Jonathan becomes the first member of his family to achieve appointment as High Priest.


text: Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Roman statesman, consul, Pontifex Maximus and censor; as a praetor, he has been governor of Sicily in 191 BC.


text: Zhang Cang, Chinese scholar, general and prime-minister (b. 253 BC).


text: Marcus Porcius Cato Licinianus, Roman jurist, son of Cato the Elder by his first wife, Licinia.


year_label: 153 BCE

text: The uprisings in Rome's Hispanic provinces oblige the year's consuls to take office earlier than the traditional date of 15 March, a change that becomes permanent. Some suggest that, as a consequence, January 1 becomes the first day of the Roman year.


text: The Seleucid king Demetrius I Soter's relations with Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamum and Ptolemy VI Philometor of Egypt deteriorate to the point where they support a rival claimant to the Syrian throne, Alexander Balas, who claims to be the son of the former Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes and, therefore, a first cousin of Demetrius. He has been "discovered" by Heracleides, a former minister of Antiochus IV and brother of Timarchus, who has been executed by Demetrius I Soter in 160 BC after leading a revolt against him in Media.


text: As a result of the rise of the pretender, Alexander Balas, Demetrius I Soter is forced to recall most of his garrisons in Judea. To retain control of Judea, he makes a bid to gain the loyalty of Jonathan Maccabeus, whom he permits to recruit an army and to take back the hostages that the Syrians are holding in the city of Acre. Jonathan gladly accepts these terms, takes up residence in Jerusalem and begins to fortify the city, becoming High Priest of Jerusalem until 143 BC.


text: Substantial parts of the city of Sikyon are destroyed by an earthquake.


text: 1521 BC—April 24—Lunar Saros 36 begins.

source_section: Events


text: 1522 BC—Jacob migrates to Egypt, settling in the Land of Goshen, according to the Hebrew calendar.


text: 1525 BC—End of Fifteenth dynasty of Egypt.


text: 1530 BC—End of the First Dynasty of Babylon and the start of the Kassite Dynasty—see History of Iraq.


year_label: 154 BCE

text: The Rebellion of the Seven States against the Han dynasty fails and Emperor Jing of Han further consolidates his power at the expense of the regional, semi-autonomous kings governing the eastern portion of the empire.

source_section: Events › By place › China


text: After his victory, Attalus II insists on heavy reparations from Prusias II. In response, Prusias II sends his son Nicomedes to Rome to ask the Romans' help in reducing the amount of these reparations.


text: After a two-year struggle, Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamum is finally able to defeat Prusias II, the aggressive king of Bithynia in northern Anatolia. He is assisted in his battle against Prusias II by Ariarathes V of Cappadocia (who has sent his son Demetrius to command his forces) and by the Romans.


text: The Egyptian king Ptolemy VI Philometor defeats his brother, Ptolemy VIII Euergetes, after he attempts to seize Cyprus by force. Nevertheless Philometor restores his brother to Cyrenaica, marries one of his daughters to him, and grants him a grain subsidy.

source_section: Events › By place › Egypt


text: The Lusitanians harry the inhabitants of the Roman provinces in Hispania. At the same time, the Celtiberians of Numantia on the Douro revolt against their Roman occupation.


text: Lucius Aelius Stilo Praeconinus, Roman philologist (d. 74 BC)

source_section: Births


text: Gaius Gracchus, Roman politician, younger brother of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, who, like him, will pursue a popular political agenda that ultimately ends in his death (d. 121 BC)


text: Chao Cuo, Chinese advisor and official of the Han dynasty (b. c. 200 BC)


text: Liu Pi, Chinese prince and general of the Han dynasty (b. 216 BC)


text: 1531 BC— Joseph interprets dreams of the Pharaoh, is released from prison and becomes second in Egypt next only to the Pharaoh himself.

source_section: Events and trends


text: 1534 BC—The oldest dated star chart was made in Ancient Egypt.


text: 1539 BC—End of Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt, start of the Eighteenth Dynasty.


text: 1539 BC—Approximate first use of the Valley of the Kings.


year_label: 155 BCE

text: Menander I (known as Milinda in Sanskrit and Pali) begins his reign as king of the Indo-Greek Kingdom. His territories cover the eastern dominions of the divided Greek empire of Bactria (Panjshir and Kapisa) and extend to the modern Pakistani province of Punjab, most of the Indian states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and the Jammu region. His capital is considered to have been Sagala, a prosperous city in northern Punjab believed to be modern Sialkot.

source_section: Events › By place › Bactria


text: As part of the Roman efforts to fully conquer and occupy the whole of Illyria, a Roman army under consul Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum attacks the Dalmatians for the first time and conquers the Dalmatian capital of Delminium. As a result, the Dalmatians are compelled to pay tribute to Rome, which puts an end to the first Dalmatian war. In recognition of his victory, Corculum is granted a triumph in Rome.


text: Under the command of Punicus and then Caesarus, the Lusitani, a Hispanic tribe, reach a point near modern day Gibraltar. Here they are defeated by the Roman praetor Lucius Mummius.


text: Empress Dowager Bo, imperial concubine of Emperor Gao of the Han dynasty.


text: 1545 BC—Ahmose I, Pharaoh and founder of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, dies, according to the High Chronology.

source_section: Significant people


text: c. 1550 BC—New Kingdom starts in Ancient Egypt (other date is 1552 BC).


text: c. 1550 BC—Second Intermediate Period ends in Ancient Egypt (other date is 1552 BC).


text: c. 1550 BC—Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt starts (other date is 1552 BC).


text: 1550 BC—Ahmose I becomes Pharaoh of Egypt (although only de facto ruler of Upper Egypt) according to the Low Chronology.


text: 1550 BC—May 14—Lunar Saros 35 begins.


year_label: 156 BCE

text: The first Dalmatian war begins.


text: c. 1552 BC—End of Second Intermediate period in Ancient Egypt. Start of New Kingdom. 18th–20th Dynasties.


text: 1556 BC—Cecrops I builds or rebuilds Athens following the great flood of Deucalion and the end of the Silver age. He becomes the first of several Kings of Athens whose life account is considered part of Greek mythology.


text: 1557 BC—Estimation: Memphis, capital of Lower Egypt becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Avaris, capital of the Hyksos in Egypt.


year_label: 157 BCE

text: Jonathan Maccabeus is recognised by the Seleucids as a minor king within their dominions.


text: After Ariarathes V has been deposed from the Cappadocian throne by the Seleucid king Demetrius I Soter and has fled to Rome, the new king of Cappadocia, Orophernes, sends two ambassadors to Rome to join the Seleucid emissaries of Demetrius in opposing Ariarathes V's return to power. Despite their efforts, Ariarathes V is restored to his throne by the Romans. However, Rome allows Orophernes to reign jointly with him. The joint government, however, does not last long, as Ariarathes V becomes sole king of Cappadocia shortly afterwards.


text: The Carthaginians, prevented by their treaty with Rome from engaging in armed resistance, but equally guaranteed against any loss of territory, appeal to Rome against the depredations of King Masinissa of Numidia. The Roman censor Marcus Porcius Cato heads a commission which arbitrates a truce between Carthage and her former ally, Masinissa.


text: During his time in Carthage, Cato is so struck by the evidence of Carthaginian prosperity that he is convinced that the security of Rome now depends on the annihilation of Carthage. From this time on, Cato keeps repeating the cry "Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam" ("Moreover, I advise that Carthage must be destroyed") at the end of all his speeches, no matter what subject they concern.


text: 30 July – Wu of Han, who will be emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty from 141 BC (d. 87 BC)


text: Sanatruces (also known as Sinatruces or Sanatruk), King of Parthia who will rule the Parthian Empire from around 77 BC (approximate date) (d. c. 70 BC)


text: Gaius Marius, Roman general, consul (approximate year) (d. 86 BC)


date: July 6

text: July 6 – Wen of Han, Emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty since 180 BC (b. 200 BC)


year_label: 158 BCE

text: At the request of the Romans, Ariarathes V, king of Cappadocia, rejects a proposal from the Seleucid king, Demetrius I, for him to marry the sister of Demetrius I. In response, Seleucid forces attack Cappadocia and remove Ariarathes V from the Cappadocian throne. Demetrius I then replaces him with Orophernes Nicephorus, a supposed son of the late king, Ariarathes IV. With Ariarathes V deprived of his kingdom, he flees to Rome.


text: Publius Rutilius Rufus, Roman consul, statesman, orator and historian (d. c. 78 BC).


text: Emperor Kōgen of Japan, according to legend.


text: 1573 BC—Death of Eber, son of Salah (b. 2037 BC) according to the Hebrew calendar


year_label: 159 BCE

text: Attalus II Philadelphus succeeds his brother Eumenes II as king of Pergamon.

source_section: Events › Greece


text: While Eucratides I is in north west India to claim possession of the previous Bactrian King Demetrius I's territory there, the Parthians, under Mithradates I, annex two Bactrian provinces. Returning from India to reconquer them, Eucratides is murdered by his son.

source_section: Events › Greece › Bactria


text: Quintus Mucius Scaevola Augur, politician of the Roman Republic and an early authority on Roman law (d. 88 BC) (approximate date)


text: Eucratides I, king of Bactria, who has reigned since around 170 BC.


text: With the Seleucid victory in Judea over the Maccabees, Alcimus is re-established as the High Priest of Israel, and a strong force is left in Jerusalem to support him. However, he does not enjoy his triumph for long, as he dies soon after from a paralytic stroke.

source_section: Events › Greece › Seleucid Empire


text: Publius Terentius Afer (Terence), Roman comic dramatist, the author of six verse comedies that are long regarded as models of pure Latin (b. c. 195 BC) (approximate date).


text: Charops of Epirus, ruler of Epirus.


text: Alcimus, high priest of Judea.


year_label: 160 BCE

text: Artavasdes I succeeds his father Artaxias I as king of Armenia.

source_section: Events › By place › Armenia


text: Demetrius I defeats and kills the rebel general Timarchus and is recognized as king of the Seleucid empire by the Roman Senate. Demetrius acquires his surname of Soter (meaning Saviour) from the Babylonians, for delivering them from the tyranny of Timarchus. The Seleucid empire is temporarily united again.

source_section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire


text: Judas Maccabeus is succeeded as army commander and leader of the Maccabees by his younger brother, Jonathan Maccabeus.


text: Judas Maccabeus and many of his supporters regroup to face the Seleucid forces in the Battle of Elasa (near modern day Ramallah). Greatly outnumbered, the Maccabees are defeated and Judas Maccabeus is killed during the battle.


text: The king of Bactria, Eucratides I, is considered to have killed Apollodotus I, an Indo-Greek king who rules the western and southern parts of the Indo-Greek kingdom, when he invades the western territories of that kingdom.


text: In response to the Jewish high priest, Alcimus', request for assistance, the Seleucid general Bacchides leads an army into Judea with the intent of reconquering this now independent kingdom. Bacchides rapidly marches through Judea after carrying out a massacre of the Assideans in Galilee. He quickly makes for Jerusalem, besieging the city and trapping Judas Maccabeus, the spiritual and military leader of the Maccabees, inside. However, Judas and many of his supporters manage to escape the siege.


text: The Seleucid king, Demetrius I Soter defeats a Jewish rebellion at Palestine.


text: A Painted banner, from the tomb of the wife of the Marquis of Dai, of the Han dynasty, in Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan, is made (approximate date). It is nowadays preserved at the Historical museum in Beijing.


text: The Roman playwright Terence's play Adelphoe (The Brothers) is first performed at the funeral of the Roman general, Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus.


text: Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus, Roman statesman and general


text: Theodosius of Bithynia, Greek astronomer and mathematician who will write Spherics, a book on the geometry of the sphere (d. c. 100 BC), later translated from Arabic back into Latin to help restore knowledge of Euclidean geometry to the West.


text: Jugurtha, King of Numidia (d. 104 BC)


text: Timarchus, Seleucid nobleman, possibly from Miletus in Anatolia, appointed governor of Media in western Iran by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes and who has rebelled against his successor, Demetrius I Soter, until he is killed in a battle with Demetrius' forces


text: Apollodotus I, Indo-Greek king who, since 180 BC, has ruled the western and southern parts of the Indo-Greek kingdom, from Taxila in Punjab to the areas of Sindh and possibly Gujarat


text: Artaxias I, king of Armenia who has ruled since 190 BC and the founder of the Artaxiad dynasty, whose members would rule the Kingdom of Armenia for nearly two centuries


text: Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, Roman consul, politician and general whose victory over the Macedonians in the Battle of Pydna ended the Third Macedonian War (b. c. 229 BC)


text: The Parthian King, Mithradates I, seizes Media from the Seleucids following the death of Timarchus.


text: Judas Maccabeus, third son of the Jewish priest Mattathias, who led the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire until his death


text: Gaius Laelius, Roman general and politician who was involved in Rome's victory during the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage (approximate date)


text: 1597 BC—Aaron born to Amram and his wife Jochebed (traditional date)


year_label: 17 BCE

text: Emperor Augustus adopts Gaius and Lucius Caesar.

source_title: 17 BC


text: Emperor Augustus celebrates the secular games in Rome, for which Horace's hymn the "Carmen Saeculare" is commissioned.


date: December 11

text: December 11 – Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, son of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus and Antonia Major (d. AD 40)


text: Lucius Caesar, son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder (d. AD 2)


text: Arminius, Germanic chieftain who defeated the Romans at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (d. AD 21)


text: Asander, Roman client king of the Bosporan Kingdom (b. 110 BC)


year_label: 161 BCE

text: Envoys of Judas Maccabeus conclude a treaty of friendship with the Roman Senate.

source_section: Events › by side › Roman Republic


text: The rebel Seleucid general and ruler of Media, Timarchus, who has distinguished himself by defending Media against the emergent Parthians, treats Demetrius I's violent accession to the Seleucid throne as the excuse to declare himself an independent king and extend his realm from Media into Babylonia.

source_section: Events › by side › Seleucid Empire


text: The Maccabees, led by Judas Maccabeus, and a Seleucid army, led by the Seleucid general Nicanor, fight the Battle of Adasa, near Beth-horon. Maccabeus wins the battle and Nicanor is killed.


text: Ptolemy VIII Euergetes, now king of Cyrenaica, convinces the Roman Senate to back his claim for control of Cyprus, but the Egyptian king Ptolemy VI Philometor ignores this threat, and after Ptolemy VIII Euergetes' attempt to conquer the island fails, the Roman Senate disengages from the dispute.

source_section: Events › by side › Egypt


text: With the restoration of peace in Judea, an internal struggle breaks out between the supporters of Judas Maccabeus and the Hellenic party. The influence of the Hellenic Party all but collapses in the wake of the Seleucid defeat.


text: The Jewish High Priest Menelaus, who is supported by the Hellenist party, is removed from office and is executed. His successor is a moderate member of the Hellenic party, Alcimus. However, when Alcimus executes sixty Jews who are opposed to him, he finds himself in open conflict with the Maccabees. Alcimus flees from Jerusalem and goes to Damascus to ask the Seleucid king, Demetrius I, for help.


text: Marcus Pomponius, praetor in 161 BC, obtains a decree of the senate, forbidding philosophers and rhetoricians from living in Rome.


text: The Roman playwright Terence's plays Eunuchus (The Eunuch) and Phormio are first performed.


text: Cleopatra III, queen of Egypt from 142 BC (d. 101 BC)


text: Demetrius II Nicator, king of the Seleucid Empire from 145 BC and 129 BC (d. 125 BC)


text: 1602 BC—Death of Shem, son of Noah, according to the Hebrew Calendar

source_title: 1600s BC (decade)


year_label: 162 BCE

text: With the aid of the Greek statesman and historian Polybius, the son of the former Seleucid king Seleucus IV Philopator, Demetrius escapes from Rome, where he has been held as a hostage for many years, and returns to Syria to claim the throne from his cousin Antiochus V. In the resulting dispute, Antiochus V and his regent, Lysias, are overthrown and put to death. Demetrius then establishes himself on the Seleucid throne.


text: Seleucid forces still control the Acra, a strong fortress within Jerusalem that faces the Temple Mount. Judas Maccabeus lays siege to the fortress and in response, the Seleucid general and regent to the young Seleucid king Antiochus V, Lysias, approaches Jerusalem and besieges Beth-zechariah, 25 kilometres from the city. Judas lifts his own siege on the Acra, and leads his army south to Beth-zechariah. In the ensuing Battle of Beth-zechariah, the Seleucids achieve their first major victory over the Maccabees, and Judas is forced to withdraw to Jerusalem.


text: Lysias then lays siege to the city. Just when capitulation by the Maccabees seems imminent, Lysias has to withdraw when the commander-in-chief under the late Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Philip, rebels against him. As a result, Lysias decides to propose a peaceful settlement which is accepted by the Maccabees. The terms of peace involve the restoration of religious freedom, permission for the Jews to live in accordance with their own laws, and the official return of the Temple in Jerusalem to the Jews.


text: The Maccabees, under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus, continue their struggle against the Seleucids and persecute the Hellenising faction in Judea.


text: The king of Caucasian Iberia, Saurmag I, dies. Having no son, he is succeeded by his son-in-law, Mirian.

source_section: Events › By place › Georgia


text: Saurmag I, king of Caucasian Iberia

source_section: Deaths


text: Lysias or Lusias, Seleucid general and governor of Syria and regent for Antiochus V Eupator


text: Gnaeus Octavius, Roman statesman and general


text: Antiochus V Eupator, ruler of the Seleucid Empire, who has reigned since 164 BC (b. c. 173 BC)


year_label: 163 BCE

text: The Ptolemaic king Ptolemy VI Philometor is restored to his throne through the intervention of the citizens of Alexandria. However, the Romans intervene and partition the kingdom, giving Ptolemy VIII Euergetes Cyrenaica and Ptolemy VI Cyprus and Egypt. The two brothers accept the Roman partition.


text: Regent Lysias tries to make peace with the Jews in Judea. He offers them full religious freedom if they will lay down their arms. Moderates including the Hasideans consent, but Judas Maccabeus argues for full political as well as religious freedom.


text: Maccabee campaigns of 163 BC: The Maccabees attack nearby regions to Judea, fighting in a civil conflict between Gentiles and Jews.


text: The Roman playwright Terence's play Heauton Timorumenos ("The Self-Tormentor") is first performed.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Republic


text: Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, Roman politician and ambassador (d. 89 BC)


text: Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, Roman politician, who, as a plebeian tribune, will cause political turmoil in the Republic through his attempts to legislate agrarian reforms; his political ideals will eventually lead to his death at the hands of supporters of the conservative faction (Optimates) of the Roman Senate (d. 132 BC)


text: In the turmoil following the death of Antiochus IV, the governor of Media, Timarchus becomes the independent ruler of Media, opposing Lysias who is acting as regent for young king Antiochus V Eupator.


text: Zhang Yan, known formally as Empress Xiaohui, empress of the Chinese Han dynasty (b. 202 BC)


text: Manius Juventius Thalna, Roman consul (b. before 206 BC)


year_label: 164 BCE

text: Rhodes signs a treaty with Rome and becomes its ally.


text: The Battle of Beth Zur was fought between Jewish rebel forces led by Judas Maccabeus and a Seleucid army led by the regent Lysias. Judas Maccabeus wins the battle and is able to recapture Jerusalem soon after. Judas purifies the defiled Temple in Jerusalem, destroys the idols erected there by Antiochus IV and restores the service in the Temple. The reconsecration of the Temple becomes an annual feast of dedication in the Jewish calendar, Hanukkah.


text: The Egyptian King Ptolemy VI Philometor is expelled from Alexandria by his brother Ptolemy VIII Euergetes and flees to Rome to seek support.


text: Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus is elected censor in Rome.


text: Halley's Comet makes its regular appearance in the sky, as recorded by a Babylonian scribe. It last appeared in 240 BC.

source_section: Events › By topic › Astronomy


text: Construction of the detail of the frieze from the east front of the altar in Pergamon, Athena Attacking the Giants, begins and is finished eight years later. It is now kept at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Antikensammlung, Pergamonmuseum in Berlin, Germany.

source_section: Events › By topic › Art


text: Cleopatra Thea Euergetis ("Benefactress"), ruler of the Seleucid kingdom from 125 BC, a daughter of Ptolemy VI of Egypt and his sister/wife Cleopatra II (d. 121 BC) (approximate date)

source_section: Births


text: Antiochus IV Epiphanes ("God Manifest"), Seleucid king of the Syrian kingdom who has reigned since 175 BC, and has encouraged Greek culture and institutions but also attempted to suppress Judaism, which has led to the uprisings in Judea towards the end of his reign (b. c. 215 BC)


text: 1633 BC – May 2 – Lunar Saros 34 begins.

source_title: 17th century BC

source_section: Events


year_label: 165 BCE

text: Artaxias I, king of Armenia, is taken captive by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes when he attacks Armenia. Artaxias is forced to recognize Antiochus IV's suzerainty over Armenia before he is released.


text: The Roman playwright Terence's play Hecyra (The Mother-in-Law) is first performed.


text: Sima Tan, Chinese astrologist and historian (approximate date)


text: Mattathias, Jewish leader of the Maccabees


text: Phraates I, king of Parthia (Arsacid dynasty)


text: c. 1650 BC—Middle Kingdom ends in Ancient Egypt (other date is 1674 BC).

source_section: Events and trends


text: c. 1650 BC—Second Intermediate Period starts in Ancient Egypt (other date is 1674 BC).


text: c. 1650 BC—Greeks start to live in Mycenae.


text: c. 1650 BC—Between Rapperswil and Hurden, on the so-called Seedamm, a first wooden bridge was constructed on Lake Zürich in Switzerland


text: c. 1650 BC—The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus is produced.


text: c. 1650 BC—The last Woolly mammoths die on Wrangel Island, rendering the species extinct.


text: c. 1650 BC — "Flotilla" fresco, from Room 5 of West House, Akrotiri (prehistoric city), Thera, is made. Second Palace period. It is now kept in National Archaeological Museum, Athens.


year_label: 166 BCE

text: The Battle of Emmaus takes place between the Jewish rebels led by Judas Maccabeus and Seleucid forces sent by Antiochus IV and led by Lysias and his general, Gorgias. In the ensuing battle, Judas Maccabeus and his men succeed in repelling Gorgias and forcing his army out of Judea and down to the coastal plain in what is an important victory in the war for Judea's independence.


text: The Seleucid king Antiochus IV mounts a campaign against the Parthians who are threatening his empire in the east. He leaves his chancellor, Lysias, with responsibility for the government of southern Syria and the guardianship of his son.


text: The Battle of Beth Horon is fought between Jewish forces led by Judas Maccabeus and a Seleucid army. Maccabeus gains the element of surprise and successfully routs the much larger Syrian army.


text: Laoshang leads 140,000 Xiongnu cavalry in a raid in Anding, and they reach as far as the royal retreat at Yong.

source_section: Events › By place › China


text: The Roman playwright Terence's Andria (The Girl from Andros) is first performed.


text: The leader of the Jewish revolt against Syria rule, Mattathias, dies and his third son, Judas, assumes leadership of the revolt in accordance with the deathbed deposition of his father.


text: Mattathias, father of Judas Maccabaeus, Jewish priest from Modi'in, near Jerusalem, who has started and briefly led a rebellion by the Jews in Judea against the Seleucid kingdom of Syria


text: Perseus, the last Macedonian king of the Antigonid dynasty (b. c. 212 BC)


text: c.1653 BC —Alerce Milenario is estimated to have germinated this year.

source_section: Significant lifeforms


text: c. 1655 BC—Tan-Uli, the ruler of the Elamite Empire, dies.


year_label: 167 BCE

text: Lucius Aemilius Paulus returns to Italy with the King of Macedonia, Perseus, as his prisoner for his triumphal procession in Rome, where the Macedonians captured are sold into slavery. The huge amount of booty brought home after the battle enriches Rome allowing the Government to relieve her citizens of direct taxation. As a gesture of acknowledgment for his achievements in Macedonia, the senate awards Lucius Aemilius Paulus the surname Macedonicus.


text: King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, believing Judea to be in revolt, returns there after the failure of his Egyptian campaign.


text: The Jewish priest Mattathias of Modi'in defies the king Antiochus IV's decrees aimed at hellenizing the Jews and specifically defies the order that Jews should sacrifice to Zeus. Mattathias slays a Syrian official and escapes into the Judean hills with his five sons, beginning the Maccabean Revolt, a Jewish rebellion against Seleucid control of Judea.


text: On his way back to Rome, the Roman general Lucius Aemilius Paulus is ordered by the Roman Senate to inflict a brutal revenge on Epirus for being an ally of Macedonia. Seventy towns in Epirus are destroyed, and at least 100,000 citizens are sold into slavery. These actions take place despite the fact that Epirus has not aided Perseus in his war with Rome.

source_section: Events › By place › Greece


text: The Parthians capture the key central Asian city of Herat. This victory effectively chokes off the movement of trade along the Silk Road to China and means that the Hellenic kingdom of Bactria is doomed.

source_section: Events › By place › Parthia


text: Private documents collected by the Romans when they capture Perseus of Macedon incriminate political leaders of the Achaean League. Many influential Greeks are deported to Rome.


text: Gaius Claudius Pulcher, Roman consul in 177 BC


text: 1661 BC: Iptar-Sin became the King of Assyria.

source_section: Significant people


text: 1664 BC: Death of Arpachshad, son of Shem, son of Noah, according to the Hebrew calendar.


year_label: 168 BCE

date: June 22

text: June 22 – The Battle of Pydna (in southern Macedonia) gives Roman forces under Lucius Aemilius Paulus a crushing victory over Perseus and his Macedonian forces, thus ending the Third Macedonian War. Perseus is captured by the Romans and will spend the rest of his life in captivity at Alba Fucens, near Rome.

source_section: Events › By place › Albania


text: The Roman general, Lucius Aemilius Paulus, is elected consul and arrives in Thessaly to lead the Roman army which has been trapped by Perseus' forces.


text: The king of Illyria, Gentius, is defeated at Scodra by a Roman force under Lucius Anicius Gallus and then brought to Rome as a captive to be interned in Iguvium. This loss removes Illyria as an important ally for Macedonia and effectively weakens Perseus of Macedon in his battle with Rome.


text: The Macedonian kingdom is broken up by the Romans into four smaller states, and all the Greek cities which have offered aid to Macedonia, even just in words, are punished. The Romans take hundreds of prisoners from the leading families of Macedonia, including the historian Polybius.


text: The fleet of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV wins a victory off Cyprus, whose governor then surrenders the island to him.

source_section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire


text: The joint rulers of Egypt, Ptolemy VI, Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II and their sister Cleopatra II send a renewed request to Rome for aid.

source_section: Events › By place › Egypt


text: Jason removes Menelaus as High Priest in Jerusalem, which Antiochus IV regards as an affront to his majesty.


text: Tiberius Gracchus, Roman politician who would create turmoil in the Republic through his attempts to legislate agrarian reforms in the Roman Republic (d. 133 BC)


text: Jia Yi, Chinese statesman and poet (b. 200 BC)


text: Caecilius Statius, Roman comic poet, admirer and imitator of the Greek playwright Menander (b. c. 219 BC)


text: Xin Zhui, wife of Li Cang (利蒼), the Marquis of Dai and Chancellor of Changsha Kingdom, during the Western Han dynasty of ancient China. (b. c. 217 BC)


text: 1675 BC—Death of Niqmi-Epuh, Great King of Yamhad, according to the Middle chronology


text: 1677 BC—Death of Terah, father of Abraham, according to the Hebrew Calendar


year_label: 169 BCE

text: Macedonian forces led by Perseus of Macedon trap a Roman army led by Consul Quintus Marcius Phillipus near Tempe, but the Macedonians fail to take advantage of their resulting superior tactical position.


text: King Perseus asks the Seleucid King Antiochus IV to join forces with him against the danger that Rome presents to all of the Hellenic monarchs. Antiochus IV does not respond.


text: Lex Voconia (The Voconian Law) is introduced in Rome by the tribune, Quintus Voconius Saxa, with the support of Cato the Elder. This law prohibits those who own property valued at 100,000 sesterces from making a woman their heir.


text: Liu Fei, Chinese prince of the Han dynasty. He is also the son of Emperor Jing and a half-brother of Emperor Wu (d. 128 BC)


text: Quintus Ennius, Roman epic poet, dramatist, and satirist, the most influential of the early Latin poets – and often called the founder of Roman literature or the father of Roman poetry. His epic Annales, a poem telling the story of Rome from the wanderings of Aeneas to Ennius' own time, remains the national epic until it is later eclipsed by Virgil's Aeneid.


text: 1684 BC—Death of Érimón, Irish legend


text: 1686 BC—Death of Hammurabi (short chronology)


year_label: 170 BCE

text: In Thessaly, King Perseus of Macedon repulses a Roman army which is commanded by Aulus Hostilius Mancinus. Meanwhile, the Thracian city of Abdera is sacked by Roman and Pergamese troops.


text: Antiochus IV decides to let Ptolemy VI continue as king of Egypt, but as his puppet. He does this to minimise any reaction from Rome towards his invasion. Antiochus IV then departs Egypt to deal with disturbances in Palestine, but he safeguards his access to Egypt with a strong garrison in Pelusium.


text: Around this time, Eucratides, who is either a rebellious Bactrian official or a cousin of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, captures the throne of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom by toppling the Euthydemid dynasty's king Antimachus I.

source_section: Events › By place › Bactria


text: With the guardians of the young king Ptolemy VI Philometor demanding the return of Coele-Syria to Egyptian control, the Seleucid king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, decides on a preemptive strike against Egypt and invades the country, conquering all but the city of Alexandria. He is also able to capture Ptolemy VI.


text: With Antiochus IV now absent from the country, the citizens of Alexandria choose Ptolemy VI's brother Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II as their king. The two Ptolemy brothers agree to rule Egypt jointly with their sister Cleopatra II and Coele Syria is invaded by the Egyptian forces.


text: The usurped high priest of Judea, Jason, does not abandon his claims to being the high priest which he has lost to Menelaus two years earlier. While Antiochus IV is waging war against Egypt, he succeeds in making himself master of Jerusalem once more and forces Menelaus to seek refuge in the citadel.


text: Lucius Accius (or Lucius Attius), Roman tragic poet and literary scholar (d. c. 86 BC)


text: Dionysios Thrax, a Hellenic grammarian who will live and work in Alexandria and later on Rhodes (d. 90 BC)


text: Apollonia Senmothis, Greek-Egyptian businesswoman.


text: 1691 BC—Death of Merneferre Ay, Pharaoh of Egypt


text: 1695 BC—Death of Sarah, wife of Abraham, according to the Hebrew Calendar


text: c. 1700 BC: Lila-Ir-Tash started to rule the Elamite Empire.


text: c. 1700 BC: Minoan Old Palace period ends and Minoan Second Palace period starts in Crete.


text: c. 1700 BC: Bronze Age starts in China.


text: c. 1700 BC: beginning of the Late Minoan period on Crete.


text: 1700 BC: Belu-bani became the King of Assyria.


text: c. 1700 BC: 1450 BC: Young girl gathering saffron crocus flowers, detail of wall painting, Room 3 of House Xeste 3, Akrotiri (prehistoric city), Thera, is made. Second Palace period. It is now kept in Thera Foundation, Petros M. Nomikos, Greece.


text: c. 1700 BC: Aegean metalworkers are producing decorative objects rivaling those of Ancient Near East jewelers, whose techniques they seem to borrow.


text: c. 1700 BC: Indus Valley Civilisation comes to an end but is continued by the Cemetery H culture.


year_label: 18 BCE

text: Onjo becomes the first ruler of the Korean kingdom of Baekje (traditional date).

source_title: 18 BC

source_section: Events › By place › Asia


text: Caesar Augustus introduces the Lex Julia (Julian Laws):

source_section: Events › By place › Roman empire