Religion & Belief in the 3rd century BC

33 sourced entries, 297 BCE to 201 BCE, oldest first. Also see Religion & Belief across every century or everything else in the 3rd century BC.

• 297 BCEZipoetes I assumes the title of basileus (king) in Bithynia.source
• 296 BCEThe temple to Bellona is erected at the south end of the prata Flaminia, later the Circus Flaminius, in Rome.source
• 295 BCEAugust 19 – The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges.source
• 292 BCEAntiochus I Soter anointed as king of the Seleucid Syriasource
• 288 BCEThe Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Sacred Fig tree is planted at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. This is the earliest known planting date for any planted tree still surviving.source
• 287 BCEPyrrhus is proclaimed King of Macedonia.source
• 284 BCEThe Ptolemaic court appoints Zenodotus of Ephesus as first Director of the Library of Alexandria.source
• 283 BCEFollowing Demetrius Poliorcetes' death in captivity as a prisoner of Seleucus, his son Antigonus assumes the title of King of Macedonia, though in name only, as King Lysimachus of Thrace is in control of Macedonia. Demetrius' remains are given to Antigonus and he is honoured with a grand funeral in Corinth. After this, Demetrius is interred in the town of Demetrias which he had founded.source
• 283 BCEPtolemy II enlarges the library at Alexandria and appoints the grammarian Zenodotus to collect and edit all the Greek poets.source
• 266 BCEJanuary 23 – Marcus Atilius Regulus and Lucius Julius Libo celebrate triumphs over the Salentini.source
• 266 BCEThe Mauryan emperor Ashoka converts to Buddhism.source
• 264 BCEThe temple to Vertumnus is built on the Aventine Hill in Rome.source
• 263 BCECleanthes succeeds Zeno of Citium in his Stoic School in Athens.source
• 263 BCEEumenes I succeeds his uncle Philetaerus on the throne of Pergamum. As Philetaerus is a eunuch, he adopts his nephew Eumenes (the son of Philetaerus' brother also named Eumenes) as his successor.source
• 260 BCECallimachus of Cyrene, learned poet and grammarian, becomes chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria.source
• 258 BCEGaius Duilius Nepos, the Roman commander who has won a major naval victory over the Carthaginians is made censor with Lucius Cornelius Scipio. The election of a novus homo (i.e. the first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate or be elected as consul) to the censorship is a very rare honor.source
• 253 BCETiberius Coruncanius is the first plebeian to be elected pontifex maximus of Rome.source
• 250 BCEAccording to the Letter of Aristeas, Ptolemy II invited the Jewish residents of Alexandria to have their torah translated into Greek. Because around seventy translators are used to achieve this, the translation is known as the Septuagint.source
• 250 BCEAccording to the Theravāda commentaries and chronicles, the Third Buddhist Council is convened by the Mauryan king Ashoka at Pataliputra (modern Patna), under the leadership of the monk Moggaliputta Tissa. Its objective is to purify the Buddhist movement, particularly from opportunistic factions which are being attracted by the royal patronage.source
• 248 BCEThe Mauryan king Ashoka is dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism and begins establishing monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha.source
• 238 BCEThe Decree of Canopus, also called "Table of Tanis", is a memorial stone promulgated by an assemblage of priests in honour of Ptolemy III Euergetes and his consort Berenice. The decree, written in Greek, demotic, and hieroglyphs is an ancient bilingual Egyptian decree that provides a key for deciphering hieroglyphic and the simpler demotic scripts.source
• 236 BCEBuddhism is introduced to Sri Lanka by Mahinda, a monk acting on behalf of the late Ashoka.source
• 230 BCEThe Temple of Horus is built by King Ptolemy III.source
• 227 BCESardinia and Corsica are made a combined province. Rome appoints, and in the future annually elects, two praetors (with autocratic consular powers) for this province and for Sicily.source
• 223 BCESeleucus III is succeeded by his younger brother, Antiochus III.source
• 221 BCEAt Sosibius' direction, Ptolemy IV puts to death in succession his uncle, Lysimachus, his brother Magas, and his mother Berenice II.source
• 220 BCEAround this time, Prime Minister Li Si publishes Cangjiepian, a primer on the new orthographic standard for all of China, the Small Seal Script.source
• 217 BCEGaius Flaminius' supporters in the Senate begin to lose power to the more aristocratic factions as the Romans fear Hannibal is about to besiege their city. The Senate appoint Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus as dictator.source
• 215 BCEThe Roman law, Lex Oppia, is instituted by Gaius Oppius, a tribune of the plebs during the consulship of Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus and Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus. The Lex Oppia is the first of a series of sumptuary laws introduced in Rome. It not only restricts women's wealth, but also their displaying it.source
• 212 BCEPublius Licinius Crassus Dives is elected "pontifex maximus" over more distinguished candidates, despite never having held any major offices. He will hold this position until his death.source
• 205 BCEHannibal erects a bilingual Punic/Greek inscription describing his accomplishments in the temple of Juno Lacinia near Crotone.source
• 202 BCEThe Egyptian regent and chief minister, Sosibius, retires and Agathocles, another member of the ruling clique, becomes Ptolemy V's guardian.source
• 201 BCEFollowing the conclusion of the peace with Rome, Hannibal is elected as suffet, or chief magistrate, of Carthage. The office has over the years become insignificant in Carthaginian politics, but Hannibal restores its power and authority. He sets out to reform the administration and finances of Carthage and reduce the power of the oligarchy which has ruled Carthage before and during the Second Punic War.source