persuades the patricians to assent to the demands of the plebs, and
builds the temple of Concord.
A celestial globe brought into Greece from Egypt.
367. The Licinian Rogations, Rome; three bills introduced by Licinius,
decreeing: 1. That interest on loans be deducted from the principal; 2.
Limiting the public land held by any individual to 500 jugera (320
acres); 3. Ordering that one of the two consuls should be a plebeian.
Institution of the praetorship.
364. Pelopidas attacks Alexander of Pherae; during the battle of
Cymoscephale his soldiers are alarmed at an eclipse of the sun, and he
is slain.
362. The Spartans and allies defeated at Mantinea by Epaminondas; he is
slain.
361 (359). Artaxerxes II of Persia succeeded by Artaxerxes III (Ochus).
359. Philip ascends the throne of Macedon; he concludes peace with the
Athenians.
358.[Est] Athens involves herself in the Social War with Cos, Rhodes,
Chios, and Byzantium.
Amphipolis captured by Philip of Macedon; he loses his right eye by an
arrow from Astor.
357. Outbreak of the Ten Years' Sacred War, caused by the Crissians
levying grievous taxes on those who went to consult the oracle of
Delphi.
356. Burning of the temple of Diana at Ephesus; this building was
accounted one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Birth of Alexander the Great.
Dion frees Syracuse from Dionysius the Younger; he is expelled from
Sicily.
355. The Social War ends in Greece. Athens recognizes the independence
of the confederated states.
353. Final conquest of Egypt by the Persians.
352. Philip of Macedon interferes in the Greek Sacred War; Demosthenes
delivers his First Philippic encouraging the Greeks to resist the
Macedonians; Philip's attempt to seize Thermopylae is defeated.
Two thousand colonists are sent from Athens to Samos.
347. Philip of Macedon captures and destroys Olynthus.
346. Phocis occupied by Philip of Macedon; this ends the Sacred War.
Dionysius the Younger again assumes power in Syracuse.
343 (340). Timoleon effects the deliverance of Syracuse from Dionysius
the Younger.
Rome engages in the First Samnite War.
341 (338). End of the First Samnite War.
Invasion of China by Meha the Hun. See "TARTAR INVASION OF CHINA BY
MEHA," ii, 126.[Est]
340. Adoption of the Publilian laws in Rome, which further restricted
the power of the patricians.
The Romans make war upon the Latins; the latter are subjugated. Manlius,
one of the Roman consuls, condemns his son to death for a breach of
discipline.
338. Athens and Thebes form an alliance to resist Philip of Macedon, who
had passed Thermopylae and seized Elatea. The allied forces are
overwhelmed at Chaeronea, and Philip establishes the Macedonian dominion
in Greece.
Artaxerxes III is succeeded by Arses in Persia.
337. Philip of Macedon declares himself commander of the Greeks against
the Persians; he repudiates his wife Olympias; their son Alexander
attends his mother into Epirus.
336. Assassination of Philip of Macedon, by Pausanias at Aegae, while
preparing to invade Persia; he is succeeded by his son, Alexander the
Great.
Arses is succeeded by Darius III (Codomannus) in Persia.
335. Thebes, revolting against the Macedonian authority, is subdued and
destroyed by Alexander, who, however, spares the house of Pindar the
poet.
Rome concludes a peace with Gaul.
334. Alexander enters upon the conquest of Persia; he is victorious over
Darius at the Granicus.
333. Lycia and Syria reduced by Alexander; Damascus captured by
Parmenio, Alexander's general, and the siege of Tyre begun.
Darius is defeated at Issus; his family are among Alexander's captives.
332. "ALEXANDER REDUCES TYRE: LATER FOUNDS ALEXANDRIA." See ii, 133. He
takes Gaza and occupies Egypt.
The Lucanians and Bruttians defeat and slay Alexander of Epirus, his
ambitious designs in Italy having been betrayed.
331. "THE BATTLE OF ARBELA," in which Alexander the Great conquers
Darius and overthrows the Persian empire. See ii, 141.
330. The Spartans, under Agis III, revolt against the Macedonians;
Antipater defeats the Spartans and their allies at Megalopolis; Agis is
slain.
Darius is seized and laden with chains by Bessus, a Bactrian satrap who
soon after slays him.
Alexander captures Bessus and delivers him to Oxathres, the brother of
Darius, by whom he is executed.
Alexander pursues his conquests in Parthia, Media, Bactria, and on the
shores of the Caspian.
329. The Oxus and Jaxartes are crossed by Alexander; he drives back the
Scythians; he founds new cities in the countries adjacent, and winters
in Bactria.
The consuls at Rome are granted a triumph and the surname of
"Privernas," for the conquest of Privernum.
328. Sogdiana, Central Asia, occupies Alexander during this, his seventh
campaign, and he winters there at Nautaca.
327. Marriage of Alexander to Roxana, daughter of Oxyartes, a Bactrian
ruler.
326. Alexander invades India and defeats Porus; his soldiers refuse to
proceed farther.
Rome begins the Second Samnite War.
325-4. Alexander marches from the Indus to Persepolis; his fleet is
sailed to the Euphrates by Nearchus.
Harpalus flees from Babylon with immense treasures, which he conveys to
Athens.
323. Death of Alexander the Great at Babylon. His principal generals
endeavored to obtain, each for himself, a portion of his empire. Ptolemy
first secures Egypt and establishes his dynasty firmly there. Philip
Aridaeus, half-brother of Alexander, succeeds him on the throne of
Macedon, with Perdiccas as regent. Demosthenes returns to Athens and
rouses the Greek states to recover their freedom; under Leosthenes they
overpower Antipater, who takes refuge in Lamia, whence this is called
the Lamian War.
The Samnites sue for peace, but reject the terms on which it is offered
by the Romans.
322. The body of Alexander is entombed at Alexandria.
The confederate Greeks are defeated by Antipater at Crannon; end of the
Lamian War.
Demosthenes, who was accused by the Macedonians of being privy to the
looting of the treasury by Harpalus, after the battle of Crannon fled to
Calauria; he was captured by the Macedonian troops and thereupon
poisoned himself.
321. Beginning of the wars between Alexander's successors; Perdiccas and
Eumenes oppose themselves to Antipater, Craterus, Antigonus, and
Ptolemy.
Perdiccas assails Ptolemy in Egypt; Perdiccas is slain in a mutiny. In
Asia Minor, Eumenes triumphs over Craterus, who is killed.
Victory of the Samnites over the Romans at the Caudine Forks. These were
two narrow gorges, united by a range of mountains on each side. The
Romans went through the first pass, but found the second blocked up; on
returning they found the first similarly obstructed. Being thus hemmed
in they passed under the yoke.
320. Eumenes, defeated by Antigonus, shuts himself up in the castle of
Nora, where he sustains a year's siege.
319. Polysperchon is appointed by Antipater to succeed him as regent for
Philip Arrhidaeus and Alexander Aegus, half-brother and son of Alexander
the Great, on his, Antipater's, death.
Polysperchon's elevation to power is followed by a league against him,
formed by Antipater's son Cassander, Antigonus, and Ptolemy. Eumenes
lends his support to Polysperchon, after escaping from Nora.
318. The Romans and Samnites make a truce.
Polysperchon prevailed over by Cassander in the struggle for power in
Greece and Macedonia. Athens he places under the rule of Phalereus.
317. Phocion, an Athenian general who wisely advised in vain for peace
with Antipater, became regarded as a traitor; he fled to Phocis, entered
into the intrigues of Cassander, who delivered him up to the Athenians,
who condemned him to drink hemlock. Olympias, mother of Alexander the
Great, aided by Polysperchon and the Epirotes, seizes Macedonia.
Olympias is put to death by Cassander. Eumenes, being betrayed to
Antigonus, is put to death; Antigonus holds the supreme power in Asia.
315. The rebuilding of Thebes undertaken by Cassander.
314. Commencement of the struggle against Antigonus waged by Cassander,
Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Lysimachus.
313. Tyre surrenders to Antigonus. Ptolemy engages with him and conquers
Cyprus.
The Romans take Fregellae and other towns from the Samnites.
312. Seleucus Nicator establishes the realm of the Seleucidae, the army
of Antigonus, under his son Demetrius Poliorcetes, being defeated by
Ptolemy and Seleucus. Babylon is made the capital.
Ptolemy conquers Judea; he transplants many Jews to Alexandria and
Cyrene, where their industry is encouraged and their religion protected.
At Rome Appius Claudius, the blind, constructs the Via Appia, the first
aqueduct, and a canal through the Pontine marshes.
Zeno institutes the sect of Stoics at Athens.
311. A temporary peace among the competitors for power in Asia. Greece
is declared to be free, and Ptolemy resigns Phoenicia to Antigonus.
Roxana, the widow of Alexander the Great, and her young son Alexander
Aegas, are put to death by Cassander.
The Roman consul Bubulcus penetrates into Samnium, where he is
surrounded, and cuts his way through with great courage.
310. Agathocles, the Syracusan ruler, defeated by the Carthaginians at
Himera, passes over to Africa and carries the war into their own
country.
The Etruscans take up arms in favor of the Samnites.
Civil war in the little kingdom of Bosporus; Satyrus II, king for a few
months, falls in battle.
An eclipse of the sun, August 15th.
309. Hercules, a natural son of Alexander, proclaimed king of Macedon;
he is murdered by Cassander.
The Romans are victorious over the Samnites and the Etruscans.
308. The Romans, under Fabius, compel the Etruscans to make peace;
Fabius then turns against the Samnites, whom he defeats.
307. Demetrius Poliorcetes, son of Antigonus, arrives with a fleet at
Athens, expels Demetrius Phalereus, and restores the democracy, the
Athenians throw down Phalereus' statues and condemn him to death.
306. Ptolemy's fleet is destroyed by Demetrius Poliorcetes at Salamis;
but Antigonus fails in his attempt on Egypt. Antigonus assumes the title
of king of Asia; Ptolemy Lagi, Lysimachus, and Seleucus, the rulers of
Egypt, Thrace, and that part of Alexander's empire east of the
Euphrates, likewise assume the royal title. Cassander of Macedon is
hailed king by his subjects.
305. War between Seleucus and India, under Sandrocottus, ends in a
treaty of amity.
Flavius reconciles all orders of the Roman state and erects a temple of
Concord.
Demetrius Poliorcetes besieges Rome.
304. The Romans triumphantly end the Second Samnite War.
302. The priesthood at Rome is opened to the plebs.
300.[90] Battle of Ipsus. Seleucus and Lysimachus overwhelm the army of
Antigonus and his son, Demetrius Poliorcetes; Antigonus is slain. His
dominions are divided among the victors. Lysimachus takes a large
portion of Asia Minor; Seleucus appropriates Upper Syria, Capuadocia,
and other territory.
[Footnote 90: The date is usually given as 301.]
Seleucus Nicator builds Antioch, which he makes the capital of his
kingdom of Syria.
299. Rome engages in the Third Samnite War, which becomes one of
extermination, but the Samnites bravely resist in their mountain holds.
295. Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, espouses Antigone of the house of Ptolemy;
he returns to his dominions, out of which he had been driven by the
Molossi.
The Samnites, Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls unite against Rome. Q.
Fabius Rullianus and P. Decimo Mus defeat the Samnites and Gauls at
Sentinum.
Demetrius Poliorcetes retakes Athens; Lysimachus and Ptolemy deprive him
of all he possesses.
294. The Macedonian throne is seized by Demetrius Poliorcetes; by
violence or treachery the sons of Cassander are slain.
293. Many towns of the Samnites are so utterly destroyed by the Romans
that their sites are unknown; a portion of the spoil is cast into a
brazen colossus, and placed in front of the Roman Capitol.
The Roman census is 272,308 citizens.
The first sun-dial at Rome is placed on the temple of Quirinus.
290. The end of the Third Samnite War, which results in the submission
of the Samnites to Rome.
287. Birth of Archimedes, celebrated mathematician.[Est]
Lysimachus and Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, wrest Macedonia from Demetrius
Poliorcetes; immediately after, Lysimachus expels Pyrrhus.
286. The Hortensian law, passed by Q. Hortensino, affirmed the
legislative power granted the plebeians B.C. 446 and 336.
285. Completion of the Septuagint, a Greek version of the Scriptures,
called "the Alexandrian."
The length of the solar year first accurately determined by Dionysius,
in the astronomical canon.
283. Death of Ptolemy Lagi (Ptolemy Soter); Ptolemy Philadelphus
(jointly on the throne with his father since 295) succeeds him as King
of Egypt. He further encourages the immigration of the Jews, who
flourish exceedingly.
282. The Tarentines attack a Roman fleet and insult the ambassadors, who
demand satisfaction. Rome prepares for war; the Tarentines engage
Pyrrhus to assist them.
281. Lysimachus, at war with Seleucus Nicator, is defeated and slain in
Phrygia.
The Roman consul Aemilius invades the territory of Tarentum.
280. Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, invades Italy; he makes the cause of
Tarentum his own and wars on Rome. Laevinus, the Roman consul, is
defeated. See "FIRST BATTLE BETWEEN GREEKS AND ROMANS," ii, 166.
Revival of the Achaean League. The Achaei originally inhabited the
neighborhood of Argos; when driven thence by the Heraclidae, they
retired among the Ionians, expelled the natives, and seized their
thirteen cities, forming the Achaean League.
279. Pyrrhus, who had tried to mediate between Tarentum and Rome,
meeting with non-success, advances on Rome. He fails to make any
impression and returns to Tarentum; the Romans follow him, and he gains
an unimportant victory over them at Asculum. See "FIRST BATTLE BETWEEN
GREEKS AND ROMANS," ii, 166.
Irruption of Gauls into Macedonia; King Ptolemy Ceraunus offers battle
to them, in which he is killed.[91]
[Footnote 91: The date usually given is B.C. 280.]
278. The Gauls under Brennus invade Greece; they are cut to pieces near
Delphi.
Alliance formed between Rome and Carthage.
Pyrrhus wars against Carthage in Sicily.
277. A body of Gauls enter Northern Phrygia, of which they take
possession.
Pyrrhus expels the Carthaginians from most of their possessions in
Sicily.
276. Other Grecian cities join the Achaean League.
275. Pyrrhus, on the arrival of Carthaginian reenforcements, returns to
Italy; he is totally defeated by M. Curius Dentatus (at Beneventum), who
exhibits in his triumphs the first elephants ever seen in Rome.
273. Ptolemy Philadelphus, of Egypt, sends an embassy to congratulate
the Romans on their victory and to ask an alliance with them.
272. Pyrrhus attempts the siege of Sparta; he is repulsed. In an attack
on Argos, Pyrrhus is slain.
Tarentum surrenders to the Romans.
Lucania and Brittium also submit to Rome.
269. The first silver coinage at Rome.
266. The Romans capture and destroy Volsinii; Rome controls all Italy.
264. War between Rome and Carthage. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii, 179.
Gladiators first introduced into Rome.
263. Antigonus Gonatus, King of Macedon, captures Athens.
The Romans compel Hiero, King of Syracuse, to withdraw from the support
of Carthage. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii, 179.
Philetaerus at his death appoints his nephew, Eumenes, King of Pergamus;
the competition for books between him and Ptolemy Philadelphus causes
the latter to prohibit the export of papyrus from Egypt; this leads to
the invention of parchment at Pergamus, whence it takes its name.
Hiero makes peace with the Romans; he becomes their most trusted ally.
260. Ships-of-war first built by the Romans; the naval power of Rome
inaugurated by the decisive victory of Duilius over the Carthaginians at
Mylae. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii, 179.
259. The Romans invade Corsica; they carry off much rich spoil from
thence and Sardinia, but make no permanent conquests. The island of
Melita (Malta) is captured by the Romans.
258. Atilius, the Roman consul, surrounded by the Carthaginians in
Sicily, escapes with difficulty.
257. A drawn battle between the fleets of Rome and Carthage off Tyndaris
causes the Romans to prepare larger ships, in order to strike a decisive
blow.
256. Total defeat of the Carthaginian fleet near Ecnomus; the victorious
Roman consuls land in Africa. The Carthaginians hire troops from Greece
and give the command to Xanthippus. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii, 179.
255. Regelus and his Roman legions are vanquished by Xanthippus; Regelus
is taken captive. The Romans fit out a large fleet, which gains another
victory and brings off the remains of the army from Africa. Many of the
ships are wrecked.
254. Another fleet consisting of 220 ships is equipped in three months
by the Romans; Panormus (Palermo) is captured. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii,
179.
253. The Romans again land in Africa and ravage many Carthaginian coast
cities; on their return most of their ships are wrecked; the Romans
resolve to abstain from naval warfare.
252. Birth of Philopoemen, called the "Last of the Greeks."
251. Aratus restores the freedom of Sicyon; joins the Achaean League,
which becomes a powerful body.
250. Arsaceo founds the kingdom of Parthia.
The Romans begin the siege of Lilybaeum; the Carthaginians successfully
defend it till the close of the war. Metellus, the Roman proconsul,
commanding in Sicily, gains a great victory over Hasdrubal near
Panoramus; over one hundred elephants form part of his triumphal
procession.
249. Naval victory of the Carthaginians over the Romans at Drepanum.
Regelus is sent to Rome to propose an exchange of prisoners; on his
return the Carthaginians put him to death with the utmost cruelty.
The war between Syria and Egypt, which had been ruinous to the former,
is ended by a treaty between Antiochus II and Ptolemy Philadelphus. One
of the conditions was that Antiochus repudiate Laodice and marry
Berenice, Ptolemy's daughter.
248. Parthia becomes an independent kingdom.
247. Birth of Hannibal, the famous Carthaginian general.
Ptolemy Euergetes succeeds his father Ptolemy Philadelphus on the throne
of Egypt.
243. Corinth, delivered by Aratus from the yoke of Macedon, joins the
Achaean League; other states follow the example.
241. Agis IV, of Sparta, assists the Achaeans in their war against the
Aetolians.
Rome, having again assembled a great fleet, under Lutatius Catalus,
vanquishes the Carthaginians in a naval encounter off the Aegates. End
of the First Punic War; Sicily is relinquished by Carthage to Rome.
240. The Carthaginian mercenaries in Africa revolt; Hamilcar Barca
crushes it out.
237. Carthage is compelled to cede Sardinia to Rome.
236-221. Celomenes III of Sparta institutes great political reforms and
engages in a struggle with the Achaean League.
236-220. Hamilcar Barca and Hasdrubal, his son-in-law, conquer a great
part of Spain.
235. Rome, at peace with all the world, closes the temple of Janus, for
the first time since Numa, according to legend, the second king of Rome.
234. Birth of Cato the Elder.
Scipio Africanus born.
230. Ambassadors sent by Rome to protest against the piracies of the
Illyrians are murdered by the order of Queen Teuta.
229. A successful war is waged by the Romans against the Greek kingdom
of Illyria; the Roman power is extended across the Adriatic.
On the death of Hamilcar, his son-in-law, Hasdrubal, takes his place in
Spain; he founds Carthago Nova (Carthagena).
227. Sparta makes war with the Achaean League.
225-222. Cisalpine Gaul is conquered by the Romans.
221. Cleomenes III is crushed by Antigonus Doson, ruler of Macedon, at
Sellasia; the Spartan power is utterly destroyed.
220. Social war; the war made by the Aetolian League on the Achaean
League.
219. Hannibal lays siege to Saguntum, which he destroys; this is the
real commencement of the Second Punic War. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii,
179.
Philip V, of Macedon, is victorious in his campaigns against the
Aetolian League.
218. Hannibal crosses the Alps into Italy; he defeats the Romans on the
Ticinus and Trebia. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii, 179.
217. Philip V continues his victorious way against the Aetolian League.
Hannibal defeats the Romans at the Trasimene Lake.
Antiochus the Great cedes Coele-Syria and Palestine to Egypt.
216. Crushing defeat of the Romans by Hannibal at Cannae. See "THE PUNIC
WARS," ii, 179.
214. Rome has her first encounter with Macedon; Philip V allies himself
with Hannibal and begins the war.
Marcellus is sent into Sicily and besieges Syracuse, which had declared
against Rome.
213. Aratus, strategus of the Achaean League, is poisoned by Philip V of
Macedon; this alienates from him many Greek states.
Hwangti crushes out literature in China.
212. After a two-years' siege the Romans under Marcellus take Syracuse.
The two Scipios defeated and killed in Spain. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii,
179.
211. Hannibal before the gates of Rome. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii, 179.
The Aetolian League with its allies assists Rome against Macedon.
210. Aegina taken by the Romans; the inhabitants reduced to slavery.
Agrigentum, being conquered by Caevinus, places all Sicily again under
Roman subjection.
Scipio, victorious in Spain, takes Carthago Nova. See "THE PUNIC WARS,"
ii, 179.
208. Suspension of his operations against Scipio--the future Scipio
Africanus--in Spain by Hasdrubal, son of Hamilcar, who sets out to
relieve his brother Hannibal in Italy.
207. Hasdrubal is defeated and slain on the Metaurus. See "BATTLE OF THE
METAURUS," ii, 195.
A signal victory is achieved by Philopoemen, general of the Achaean
League, with Macedon, over the Spartans at Matinea.
206. Birth of Polybius, Greek historian.
The Carthaginian power in Spain completely destroyed by Scipio.
205. End of the first Romo-Macedonian war.
204. Scipio carries the war into Africa; he defeats the Carthaginians
and the Numidians.
203. Hannibal, recalled from Italy, arrives at Carthage.
202. The Carthaginian power is completely broken, ending the Second
Punic War. See "SCIPIO AFRICANUS CRUSHES HANNIBAL AT ZAMA AND SUBJUGATES
CARTHAGE," ii, 224.
201. A war is begun by Rome for the resubjugation of the Boii and
Insubres of Cisalpine Gaul, who had attained freedom owing to the
Carthaginian invasion.
The Jews become subject to the Seleucid monarchy.
200. Declaration of war by Rome against Macedon; the second Macedonian
war.
198. Antiochus the Great, of Syria, conquers Palestine and Coele-Syria
from Egypt, defeating Scopas and the Aetolian allies.
197. Decisive Roman victory over the Macedonians at Cynoscephale; Philip
V of Macedon makes a humiliating peace.
196. The Roman general Flaminius proclaims the freedom of the Greeks.
195.[Est] Birth of Terrence, Roman comic poet.
Ptolemy V, Epiphanes, King of Egypt. See i, 1, "The Rosetta Stone."
192. In concert with the Aetolians, Antiochus the Great takes up arms
against Rome.
191. Antiochus is defeated by the Romans under Acilius Glabrio, at
Thermopylae, in Greece. The resubjugation of Cisalpine Gaul is completed
by Rome.
All the Peloponnesus is included in the Achaean League, which attains
its apogee.
190. Scipio Asiaticus takes command of the Romans in Greece, with his
brother Africanus as lieutenant; Antiochus is vanquished at Magnesia and
he is compelled to release his hold on the greater part of Asia Minor.
Most of the conquered territory is annexed to Pergamus. Scipio Asiaticus
takes his surname for the courage and ability he showed.
189. Fall of the Aetolian League.
185. Birth of Scipio Africanus the Younger.
179. Death of Philip V of Macedon. His son Perseus negotiates secretly
with other states against Rome. The Celtiberians and Lusitanians lay
down their arms.
177. Rome suppresses a revolt in Sardinia. A colony settled at Lucca.
The Achaeans contract an alliance with Rome.
Thessaly relapses under the Macedonian influence.