Culture & Society in the 4th century BC

51 sourced entries, 396 BCE to 300 BCE, oldest first. Also see Culture & Society across every century or everything else in the 4th century BC.

• 396 BCEPlato publishes his Apologia, which is a defence of his mentor Socrates. (Approximate date.)source
• 396 BCEKyniska becomes the first woman to win an event at the Olympic Games when the horse-drawn chariot she sponsors crosses the finish line first, even though the prohibition on women competing forces her to hire a man to drive it.source
• 393 BCEAristophanes' play, a new comedy called The Ecclesiazusae, is performed.source
• 392 BCEIsocrates sets up a school of rhetoric in Chios.source
• 390 BCEThe Temple of Asclepius is built at Epidaurus.source
• 388 BCEPlato, having left Athens on Socrates' death to visit Megara and possibly Egypt, travels to Syracuse at the invitation of Dionysius I's brother-in-law Dion.source
• 388 BCEAristophanes' play Plutus is performed.source
• 387 BCEPlato founds the Platonic Academy in Athens, where he teaches Aristotle until 347 BC.source
• 387 BCEMarcus Furius Camillus introduces the Capitoline Games (Ludi Capitolini) in honour of Jupiter Capitolinus, and in commemoration of Rome's Capitol not being captured by the Gauls.source
• 385 BCEDionysius I of Syracuse attempts to restore Alcetas I of Epirus to the throne.source
• 385 BCEPlato forms his Academy, teaching mathematics, astronomy and other sciences as well as philosophy. It is dedicated to the Attic hero Academus. Philanthropists bear all costs; students pay no fees.source
• 380 BCEWhat some historians call the Rich style in Greece comes to an end.source
• 372 BCETroilus of Elis wins two equestrian events at the Olympic Games, which leads to referees being banned from competing in the Games.source
• 370 BCEThe sculptor Praxiteles begins his active career in Athens (approximate date).source
• 368 BCEPlato's Republic is completed. It lays down the rules for an ideal, righteous society and suggests that kings ought to be philosophers (or at least taught by philosophers).source
• 367 BCEThe Greek philosopher and scientist, Aristotle, goes to Athens as a pupil at Plato's Academy.source
• 366 BCEThe Abduction of Persephone, detail of a wall painting in Tomb I (Small Tomb) in Vergina, Macedonia, is made (approximate date).source
• 365 BCEEtruscan actors stage the first theatrical performances in Rome.source
• 360 BCEPlato writes the dialogues Timaeus and Critias, first mentioning Atlantis.source
• 357 BCEPhilip II of Macedon marries Olympias, the Molossian princess of Epirus thus helping to stabilize Macedonia's western frontier.source
• 356 BCEJuly 21 (traditional date) – The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus is burned down by a madman named Herostratus, destroying one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The great temple was built by Croesus, king of Lydia, in about 550 BC and was famous not only for its great size (110 metres by 55 metres), but also for the magnificent works of art that adorned it.source
• 354 BCEThe Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in Caria, the tomb of King Mausolus and one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is built.source
• 350 BCEThe Corinthian capital is made in the tholos at Epidaurus. It is now preserved at the Archaeological Museum in Epidaurus, Greece (approximate date).source
• 350 BCEThe building of the Mausoleum in Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum in Turkey) is completed (approximate date). It is the grave of the Persian satrap and Carian ruler Mausolos and is built under the direction of his wife Artemisia. The mausoleum, which is considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is today partly preserved at the British Museum in London.source
• 350 BCEPraxiteles makes the Aphrodite of Knidos (approximate date). A composite of two similar Roman copies after the original marble is now kept at Musei Vaticani, Museo Pio Clementino, Gabinetto delle Maschere in Rome.source
• 347 BCEAristotle leaves Athens due to the anti-Macedonian feeling that arises in Athens after Philip II of Macedon has sacked the Greek city-state of Olynthus in 348 BC. With him goes another Academy member of note, Xenocrates of Chalcedon. They establish a new academy on the Asia Minor side of the Aegean Sea at the newly built town of Assus.source
• 341 BCEPhilip II of Macedon completes his annexation of Thrace. This is regarded by Athens as a further threat to the city's safety.source
• 335 BCEAristotle returns to Athens from Macedon and opens a peripatetic school in an old gymnasium called the Lyceum. It contains a museum of natural history, zoological gardens and a library.source
• 335 BCEThe sculptor Praxiteles ends his active career in Athens (approximate date).source
• 332 BCENovember 14 – Alexander is crowned as pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt – god and king all at once – son of Ra and Osiris, Horus the "Golden One" and beloved of Amun.source
• 332 BCEAt the acropolis in Susa, an unidentified woman is buried in a bronze sarcophagus, wearing "a mass of finely-wrought and artistic gems and jewels" and two coins, one dating from 350 BC and the other from 332 BC. The tomb will remain unopened for more than 22 centuries, until French archaeologist Jacques de Morgan unearths it on February 10, 1901.source
• 330 BCELysippos makes a bronze statue called The scraper (Apoxyomenos) (approximate date). A Roman copy after the original statue is today kept at Musei Vaticani in Rome.source
• 325 BCEAristotle writes Ta Ethika on virtue and moral character (approximate date).source
• 325 BCEThe fourth-century (Late Classical) period of sculpture ends in Ancient Greece and is succeeded by the Hellenistic period (approximate date).source
• 324 BCEWhile at Susa, Alexander holds a feast to celebrate his capture of the Persian Empire.source
• 323 BCETheophrastus, who has been studying in Athens under Aristotle, becomes the head of the Lyceum, the academy in Athens founded by Aristotle, when Aristotle is forced to leave Athens.source
• 322 BCEBy custom, kings in Macedonia assert their right to the throne by burying their predecessor. To pre-empt Perdiccas, the imperial regent, Ptolemy has Alexander the Great's body brought to Memphis, Egypt and buried there in a gold sarcophagus. Ptolemy then marries Alexander's mistress, Thaïs and commences to reign as king of Egypt and the adjacent Libyan and Arabian regions.source
• 321 BCEPtolemy further strengthens his position amongst the diadochi by marrying Eurydice, the third daughter of Antipater.source
• 319 BCEAlexander the Great's widow, Roxana, joins Alexander's mother, Olympias, in Epirus.source
• 318 BCEAristoxenus, a Greek peripatetic philosopher, and writer on music and rhythm, and a pupil of Aristotle, writes a treatise on music called the "Elements of Harmony".source
• 317 BCEMenander wins the first prize at the Lenaian festival with his play Dyskolos (The Grouch).source
• 317 BCEPtolemy marries Berenice, lady-in-waiting to his first wife Eurydice.source
• 317 BCEPrivate funeral monuments are banned in Athenian cemeteries.source
• 316 BCECassander marries Thessaloniki, half-sister of Alexander the Great. He has Alexander's widow, Roxana and son, Alexander IV of Macedon, imprisoned at Amphipolis in Thrace. They are never to be seen alive again.source
• 314 BCEThe city of Guilin is founded by the Qin dynasty.source
• 312 BCEThe people of Epirus elevate Aeacides' brother, Alcetas, to the kingship.source
• 312 BCEDemetrius rallies the remnants of his army at Tripolis and summons reinforcements from the garrisons of upper Syria and Cilicia; he also writes his father, Antigonus, and urges him to send help. Meanwhile Ptolemy captures Acre, Joppa, Samaria and Sidon, and starts to besiege Tyre.source
• 307 BCEEpicureanism, a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of Epicurus, is founded (approximate date).source
• 306 BCEA four-drachma coin, picturing Alexander the Great, is issued by Lysimachos from this time until 281 BC. At least one of them is now preserved at the British Museum in London.source
• 300 BCEIn Pella, the capital of Macedonia, the artist Gnosis creates his Stag Hunt mosaic floor decoration.source
• 300 BCEAfter the death of his wife Apama, Seleucus marries Stratonice, daughter of Demetrius Poliorcetes.source