CHRONOLOGY OF THE GREAT EMPIRES

400 B.C. to 400 A.D.

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400 B.C. to 400 A.D.	Great Empires Unite the Civilized World
400 B.C. to A.D. 400 China	The Ch'in ruler Shih Huang Ti (ruled 221-210 B.C.), known as the First Emperor, centralized political authority in China, standardized the written language, laws, weights, measures, and coinage, and conducted a census, but tried to destroy most philosophical texts. The Han dynasty (202 B.C.-220 A.D.) instituted the Mandarin bureaucracy, which lasted for 2,000 years. Local officials were selected by examination in the Confucian classics and trained at the imperial university and at provincial schools. The invention of paper facilitated this bureaucratic system. Agriculture was promoted, but the peasants bore most of the tax burden. Irrigation was improved; water clocks and sundials were used; astronomy and mathematics thrived; and landscape painting was perfected. With the expansion S and W (to nearly the present borders of today's China), trade was opened with India, SE Asia, and the Middle East, over sea and caravan routes. Indian missionaries brought Mahayana Buddhism to China by the 1st century A.D. and spawned a variety of sects. Taoism was revived and merged with popular superstitions. Taoist and Buddhist monasteries and convents multiplied in the turbulent centuries after the collapse of the Han dynasty.
400 B.C. to A.D. 400 India	The Gupta monarchs reunited North India c 320 A.D.. Their peaceful and prosperous reign saw a revival of Hindu religious thought and Brahman power. The old Vedic traditions were combined with devotion to a plethora of indigenous deities (who were seen as manifestations of Vedic gods). Caste lines were reinforced, and Buddhism gradually disappeared. The art (often erotic), architecture, and literature of the period, patronized by the Gupta court, are considered among India's finest achievements (Kalidasa, poet and dramatist, fl. C 400 A.D.). Mathematical innovations included the use of the zero and decimal numbers. Invasions by White Huns from the NW destroyed the empire c 550. Rich cultures also developed in S India in this era. Emotional Tamil religious poetry aided the Hindu revival. The Pallava kingdom controlled much of S India c 350-880 and helped spread Indian civilization to SE Asia.
400 B.C. to A.D. 400 Persia and Alexander the Great. Cyrus	Ruler of a small kingdom in Persia from 559 B.C., united the Persians and Medes within 10 years and conquered Asia Minor and Babylonia in another 10. His son Cambyses followed by Darius (ruled 522-486 B.C.) added vast lands to the E and N as far as the Indus Valley and Central Asia, as well as Egypt and Thrace. The whole empire was ruled by an international bureaucracy and army, with Persians holding the chief positions. The resources and styles of all the subject civilizations were exploited to create a rich syncretic art. The kingdom of Macedon, which under Phillip II dominated the Greek world and Egypt, passed to his son Alexander in 336 B.C.. Within 13 years, Alexander conquered all the Persian dominions. Imbued by his tutor Aristotle with Greek ideals, Alexander encouraged Greek colonization, and Greek-style cities were founded. After his death in 323 B.C., wars of succession divided the empire into 3 parts-Macedon, Egypt (ruled by the Ptolemies), and the Seleucid Empire. In the ensuing 300 years (the Hellenistic Era), a cosmopolitan Greek-oriented culture permeated the ancient world from W Europe to the borders of India, absorbing native elites everywhere. Hellenistic philosophy stressed the private individual's search for happiness. The Cynics followed Diogenes (c 372-287 B.C.), who stressed self-sufficiency and restriction of desires and expressed contempt for luxury and social convention. Zeno (c 335-c 263 B.C.) and the Stoics exalted reason, identified it with virtue, and counseled an ascetic disregard for misfortune. The Epicureans tried to build lives of moderate pleasure without political or emotional involvement. Hellenistic arts imitated life realistically, especially in sculpture and literature (comedies of Menander, 342-292 B.C.). The sciences thrived, especially at Alexandria, where the Ptolemies financed a great library and museum. Fields of study included mathematics (Euclid's geometry, c 300 B.C.; Menelaus non-Euclidean geometry, c 100 A.D.); astronomy (heliocentric theory of Aristarchus, 310-230 B.C.; Julian calendar, 45 B.C.; Ptolemy's Almagest, c 150 A.D.); geography (world map of Eratosthenes, 276-194 B.C.); hydraulics (Archimedes, 287-212 B.C.); medicine (Galen, 130-200 A.D.); and chemistry. Inventors refined uses for siphons, valves, gears, springs, screws, levers, cams, and pulleys. A restored Persian empire under the Parthians (N Iranian tribesmen) controlled the eastern Hellenistic world from 250 B.C. to 229 A.D.. The Parthians and the succeeding Sassanian dynasty (c 224-651 A.D.) fought with Rome periodically. The Sassanians revived Zoroastrianism as a state religion and patronized a nationalistic artistic and scholarly renaissance.
400 B.C. to A.D. 400 Rome	The city of Rome was founded, according to legend, by Romulus in 753 B.C.. Through military expansion and colonization, and by granting citizenship to conquered tribes, the city annexed all of Italy south of the Po in the 100-year period before 268 B.C.. The Latin and other Italic tribes were annexed first, followed by the Etruscans (founders of a great civilization, N of Rome) and the Greek colonies in the S. With a large standing army and reserve forces of several hundred thousand, Rome was able to defeat Carthage in the 3 Punic Wars (264-241, 218-201, 149-146 B.C.), despite the invasion of Italy (218 B.C.) by Hannibal, thus gaining Sicily and territory in Spain and North Africa. New provinces were added in the E, as Rome exploited local disputes to conquer Greece and Asia Minor in the 2d century B.C., and Egypt in the 1st (after the defeat and suicide of Antony and Cleopatra, 30 B.C.). All the Mediterranean civilized world up to the disputed Parthian border was now Roman and remained so for 500 years. Less civilized regions were added to the Empire: Gaul (conquered by Julius Caesar, 58-51 B.C.), Britain (43 A.D.), and Dacia NE of the Danube (107 A.D.). The original aristocratic republican government, with democratic features added in the 5th and 4th centuries B.C., deteriorated under the pressures of empire and class conflict (Gracchus brothers, social reformers, murdered in 133 B.C. and 121 B.C.; slave revolts in 135 B.C. and 73 B.C.). After a series of civil wars (Marius vs. Sulla 88-82 B.C., Caesar vs. Pompey 49-45 B.C., triumvirate vs. Caesar's assassins 44-43 B.C., Antony vs. Octavian 32-30 B.C.), the empire came under the rule of a deified monarch (first emperor, Augustus, 27 B.C.-14 A.D.). Provincials (nearly all granted citizenship by Caracalla, 212 A.D.) came to dominate the army and civil service. Traditional Roman law, systematized and interpreted by independent jurists, and local self-rule in provincial cities were supplanted by a vast tax-collecting bureaucracy in the 3d and 4th centuries. The legal rights of women, children, and slaves were strengthened. Roman innovations in civil engineering included water mills, windmills, and rotary mills and the use of cement that hardened under water. Monumental architecture (baths, theaters, temples) relied on the arch and the dome. The network of roads (some still standing) stretched 53,000 mi, passing through mountain tunnels as long as 3.5 mi. Aqueducts brought water to cities; underground sewers removed waste. Unlike architecture, Roman art and literature were derivative of Greek models. Innovations were made in sculpture (naturalistic busts and equestrian statues), decorative wall painting (as at Pompeii), satire (Juvenal, 60-127 A.D.), history (Tacitus, 56-120 A.D.), prose romance (Petronius, d 66 A.D.). Gladiatorial contests dominated mass public amusements, which were supported by the state.
1 Jan 400 B.C.	4th Century B.C. Begins
400 B.C.	London has its origins on a rise above marshy wastes at the point where the Walbrook joins the Thames River. The Celtic king Belin rebuilds an earth wall surrounding a few dozen huts and orders a small landing place to be cut into the south side of the wall, along the river front, where a wooden quay is built. The watergate cut in the wall to permit entry to the settlement from quayside will be called Belinsgate, a name that will be corrupted to "Billingsgate" (see A.D. 43).
399 B.C.	The Greek philosopher Socrates is condemned for flouting conventional ideas and for allegedly corrupting the youth with his impiety. Imprisoned at age 70, he obediently drinks a potion made from poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) while some disciples, Plato not among them, look on (see Plato, 347 B.C.).
396 B.C.	The Etruscan city of Veil in southern Etruria falls to Roman forces after a 10-year siege as the Romans begin to end the Etruscan civilization in Italy (see 900 B.C.; 509 B.C.).
396 B.C.	Smallpox strikes a Carthaginian army besieging Syracuse.
393 B.C.	Theater: The Ecclesiazusae is a bawdy new comedy by Aristophanes.
388 B.C.	Theater: Plutus is a new comedy by Aristophanes.
356 B.C.	The Temple of Artemis built at Ephesus beginning in 772 B.C. is burned down by a certain Herostratus, who destroys one of the seven wonders of the ancient world in a perverted bid for immortality.
354 B.C.	A tomb enclosed by Ionic columns that will be called one of the seven wonders of the world is built at Halicarnassus in Caria for King Mausolus from whose name the word "mausoleum" will derive.
350 B.C.	References to wheat first appear in Greek writings as wheat suitable for bread is introduced from Egypt
347 B.C.	Plato's Republic will quote Socrates as saying, "Until all philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, and those commoner natures who pursue either to the exclusion of the other are compelled to stand aside, cities [states] will never have rest from their evils-no, nor the human race."
347 B.C.	Plato (see 347 B.C.) will express certain medical beliefs along with his political philosophies. The heart is the fountainhead of the blood, says Plato, the liver mirrors the soul, the spleen cleanses the liver, and he introduces the word anaisthesia (see A.D. 1846).
347 B.C.	Plato urges temperance and bewails the changes in the Attic landscape since his youth. Green meadows, woods, and springs have given way to bare limestone partly because the planting of olive trees has led to the ruin of the land (see Solon, 594 B.C.).
347 B.C.	The academy founded by the Athenian philosopher Plato will continue for 876 years. Plato's friends have purchased a suburban grove for the school dedicated to the god Academus. Philanthropists bear all costs; students pay no fees.
344 B.C.	Aristotle travels from Athens to the Aegean island of Lesbos, where he will spend 2 years studying natural history, especially marine biology. Now 40, Aristotle is a follower of Plato, and his father a physician to the king of Macedon.
342 B.C.	Aristotle returns to Macedon at the invitation of her king Philip and begins 7 years of teaching. His pupils will include Philip's son Alexander, now 14.
340 B.C.	Philip of Macedon fails in a siege of Byzantium, whose sentries may have seen Philip's advance by the light of a crescent moon and thus have been able to save the city. The Byzantines will adopt the crescent symbol of their goddess Hecate as the symbol of Byzantium (see Viennese bakers, A.D. 1217).
338 B.C.	Philip of Macedon defeats the Athenians and Thebans in the last struggle for Greek independence August 2 at the Battle of Chaeronea in western Boeotia (see Thessalonica, 315 B.C.).
336 B.C.	Philip of Macedon is assassinated at Aeges during the wedding feast of his daughter. He is succeeded by his son Alexander, now 20, who will carry out Philip's planned expedition against the Persians.
335 B.C.	Aristotle (see 335 B.C.) attempts to develop a deductive system as comprehensive as is possible with the scientific materials available. He concerns himself chiefly with the anatomical structures of animals, their reproduction, and their evolution, and he founds the study of comparative anatomy in an effort to categorize animal life into biological groups.
335 B.C.	Aristotle (see 335 B.C.) advises abortion for parents with too many children, and he writes in Politics that "... neglect of an effective birth control policy is a never failing source of poverty which in turn is the parent of revolution and crime." But the Greeks (and later the Romans) will encourage large families lest they have a dearth of recruits for their armies.
335 B.C.	Aristotle describes various parts of the digestive canal in some detail, but his ideas of physiology are primitive in the absence of any chemical knowledge. Everything in life is subject to basic law, says Aristotle, but he believes that food is "cooked" in the intestinal tube and praises garlic for its medicinal qualities.
335 B.C.	Aristotle returns to Athens from Macedon and opens a lyceum in an elegant gymnasium dedicated to Apollo Lyceus, god of shepherds. The lyceum contains a museum of natural history, zoological gardens, and a library.
334 B.C.	Alexander of Macedon invades Asia with an army that includes 5,000 mercenaries. The opposing Persian army includes 10,000 Greek mercenaries.
333 B.C.	The Battle of Issus in October gives Alexander of Macedon a great victory over the Persians, but the emperor Darius III escapes.
332 B.C.	Alexander the Great of Macedon takes over Egypt and founds a city that will be called Alexandria (see lighthouse, 285 B.C.).
331 B.C.	The Battle of Arbela (or Gaugamela) October 1 in northern Mesopotamia gives Alexander the Great another victory over Darius III, who loses 40,000 to 90,000 men against Macedonian losses of 100 to 500. Alexander becomes master of the Persian Empire, ending the Achaemenid dynasty founded in 550 B.C.
331 B.C.	Wheat is grown extensively in southeastern parts of the British Isles and is threshed under great barns, reports a traveler from the Greek colony at Marsilea that will later be called Marseilles (see Lacydon, 600 B.C.).
330 B.C.	The atomic theory developed by the Greek philosopher Democritus says that all matter is composed of tiny atomic particles, the word "atom" meaning unbreakable or indivisible (see Thomson, A.D. 1897). Nothing happens through chance or intention, says Democritus; everything happens through cause and of necessity. All change is merely an aggregation or separation of parts, nothing which exists can be reduced to nothing, and nothing can come out of nothing. Democritus distinguishes between vertebrate and invertebrate animals, both of which he dissects.
330 B.C.	The Persian king Darius III is murdered by his satrap Bessus after a 6-year reign. Alexander the Great sacks the Persian capital of Persepolis. It takes 20,000 mules and 5,000 camels to carry off the loot.
329 B.C.	Alexander the Great conquers Samarkand (Maracanda), capital of Sogdiana, in central Asia.
327 B.C.	Alexander appoints Nearchus as admiral and places under his command all in the ranks with any knowledge of seafaring. Nearchus has Indian shipwrights build 800 vessels, some as large as 300 tons, and uses Indian pilots to guide his fleet through Persian Gulf waters to Babylonia.
327 B.C.	Alexander the Great invades northern India after having gained ascendancy over all of Greece, occupied Egypt, and destroyed the power of Persia. But Alexander is persuaded to abandon his plans for invading the Ganges Valley by his army, which is tired of campaigning.
327 B.C.	Bananas (Musa sapientum) are found growing in the Indus Valley by Alexander the Great (see A.D. 1482).
325 B.C.	The Persae by Timotheus of Miletus will survive as the earliest papyrus written in Greek.
325 B.C.	The first known reference to sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum) appears in writings by Alexander's admiral Nearchus, who writes of Indian reeds "that produce honey, although there are no bees." The word "sugar" (adapted from the Arabic sukhar, which derives from the Sanskrit sarkara, meaning gravel or pebble) begins to appear frequently in Indian literature (see 300 B.C.).
325 B.C.	The poor of Athens exist mainly on beans, greens, beechnuts, turnips, wild pears, dried figs, barley paste, and occasional grasshoppers, with only sporadic welfare assistance.
324 B.C.	Theater: A New Comedy pioneered by the Athenian playwright Menander, 19, employs lighthearted humor rather than the virulent personal and political satire of the late Aristophanes and has realistic plots and characters based on the domestic life of ordinary citizens. Son of the rich Diopeithes of Cephisia, Menander will win his first dramatic prize in 316 B.C.
323 B.C.	Alexander the Great dies at Babylon at age 32, and a 42-year struggle begins that will be called the Wars of the Diadochi (successors). Alexander's generals, Antigonus, Antipater, Seleucus, Ptolemy, Eumenes, and Lysimachus, contest control of the Macedonian Empire.
323 B.C.	The Museum of Alexandria is founded by Ptolemy (see 323 B.C.), who takes over Egypt. Like Alexander, he has studied under Aristotle, and he will staff the museum with some 100 professors paid by the state.
322 B.C.	Politics IV by Aristotle says, "When there are too many farmers the excess will be of the better kind; when there are too many mechanics and laborers, of the worst."
321 B.C.	The Battle of the Caudine Forks (Caudium) brings defeat to a Roman army trapped by the Samnites in a pass near Beneventum. The Romans are forced to pass under the yoke (a horizontal spear placed atop two upright spears) as a symbol of submission.
319 B.C.	Alexander's general Antipater falls fatally ill and names as his successor the aged regent Polysperchon, whose authority is challenged by Antipater's son Cassander, 31.
317 B.C.	Armenia's Persian satrap Ardvates frees his country from Seleucid control (see 284 B.C.).
316 B.C.	Macedonia's regent Polysperchon is defeated and overthrown by Cassander, who seizes Olympias, mother of the late Alexander the Great, has her put to death, and marries Thessaloniki, half sister of Alexander, with whom he will rule until 297 B.C.
316 B.C.	Eumenes and Antigonus, rivals to Cassander for control of Macedonia, meet in battle in Media, with Eumenes commanding a force of 36,700 foot soldiers, 6,050 cavalrymen, and 114 elephants against 22,000 foot soldiers, 900 horsemen, and 65 elephants for Antigonus. But cavalrymen sent out by Antigonus take advantage of cover provided by dust raised by the elephants and seize the baggage camp of Eumenes, whose cavalrymen desert. Antigonus offers to return the baggage camp and the wives he has captured if the enemy will desert and hand over Eumenes, who is put to death by his guard after a week's captivity.
315 B.C.	The Macedonian port city of Thessalonica is founded by Cassander, whose wife Thessaloniki was named by her father Philip II of Macedon to commemorate his victory (Niki) over Thessaly in 338 B.C.
314 B.C.	Antigonus promises freedom to the Greek cities in a bid to gain support against Cassander. The Aetolians enter into an alliance with Antigonus; Cassander marches against them with his allies Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus.
312 B.C.	The Roman censor Appius Claudius Caecus begins construction of the Appian Way.
312 B.C.	The Battle of Gaza brings triumph to Ptolemy and Seleucus over the one-eyed Antigonus (called Antigonus Cyclops, or Monophthalmos), who is captured but is immediately released.
312 B.C.	Rome gets its first pure drinking water as engineers complete an aqueduct into the city.
310 B.C.	Cassander has imprisoned Roxana, widow of the late Alexander the Great, and has her put to death along with her young son Alexander IV.
308 B.C.	Egypt's Ptolemy is defeated in a naval battle off Cyprus by Demetrius Poliorcetes ("the besieger"), 29, son of Antigonus Cyclops, who was defeated with his father at Gaza in 312 B.C.
307 B.C.	Rhodes is besieged by Demetrius Poliorcetes, who employs 30,000 workmen to build siege towers and engines, including the tower Helepolis that requires 3,400 men to move and a 180-foot ram that is moved on wheels by 1,000 men. The siege will fail.
305 B.C.	The Seleucid Empire that will rule Babylonia and Syria until 64 B.C. is established by Seleucus, now 53, who takes the title Nicator and continues conquests that will extend the empire to the Indus River.
305 B.C.	Egypt's governor Ptolemy makes himself king, beginning a reign as Ptolemy I Soter ("Savior") that will continue until 285 B.C.
301 B.C.	The Battle of Ipsus in Phrygia ends the ambitions of Antigonus, who assumed the title of king 5 years ago, has invaded Egypt, but is slain at age 81 by the forces of Lysimachus and Seleucus, who defeat his son Demetrius.
301 B.C.	Indigenous Chinese regard the dairy products of the nomadic tribes (see 301 B.C.) as unhygienic.
301 B.C.	The Athenian philosopher Epicurus extols luxury and indulgence in eating and drinking. Pleasure is the only good and the end of all morality, says Epicurus, but a genuine life of pleasure must be a life of prudence, honor, and justice.
301 B.C.	Nomadic tribes begin to occupy parts of northern China.
301 B.C.	On Stones by the Greek philosopher Theophrastus mentions fossil substances "that are called coals,. . . found in Liguria and in Elis, on the way of Olympias, over the mountains . . . which kindle and burn like woodcoals . . .; they are used by smiths" (see A.D. 852).
301 B.C.	History of Plants and Theoretical Botany by Theophrastus (see 301 B.C.) mention plant diseases such as rusts and mildews and describe "caprification" of figs.
1 Jan 300 B.C.	3rd Century B.C. Begins
300 B.C.	Carthaginians are the world's greatest shipbuilders, sailing the seas in quinquiremes-ships with five banks of oars manned by well-drilled government-owned galley slaves.
300 B.C.	Carthage in North Africa gains economic ascendancy in the Mediterranean by trading in slaves, Egyptian linen, products of the African interior that include ivory and animal skins (lion and leopard), Greek pottery and wine, iron from Elba, copper from Cyprus, silver from Spain, tin from the British Isles, incense from Arabia, and purple-black dyestuffs from Tyre.
300 B.C.	Carthaginian planters own fertile lands in Libya; some have as many as 20,000 slaves
300 B.C.	Sugar from India is introduced to the Middle East, where it is planted in areas wet enough to support its growth (see 325 B.C.; A.D. 1099).
297 B.C.	Macedonia's Cassander dies at age 53, and Demetrius Poliocetes returns to Greece with the aim of becoming master of Macedonia and Asia.
295 B.C.	Athens falls to Demetrius after a bitter siege, and its tyrant Lachares is destroyed.
295 B.C.	The Battle of Sentinum west of Anconum ends in defeat for Samnites and Gauls at the hands of Roman legions, who lose nearly 8,000 dead but kill some 25,000 of the enemy and force peace on the Etruscans.
289 B.C.	The Chinese philosopher Mencius (Meng Zu) dies at age 83 (?) after decades of trying to unify China's kingdoms (see 246 B.C.).
288 B.C.	Demetrius is driven out of Macedonia by Lysimachus and Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, after Seleucus, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus have formed a coalition to block plans by Demetrius to invade Asia.
285 B.C.	A 300-foot-tall lighthouse on the island of Pharos in Alexandria's harbor serves as a landmark for ships in the eastern Mediterranean. Light from its wood fire, reflected by convex mirrors at its top, can be seen for miles. Built by Sostratus of Cnidus, it is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and will remain an important navigational aid for 1600 years.
285 B.C.	Egypt's Ptolemy Soter abdicates at age 82 after a 38-year reign that has founded a dynasty which will rule until 30 B.C. He is succeeded by his son, 24, who will rule as Ptolemy II Philadelphus until 246 B.C., first with the daughter of Lysimachus as his wife and thereafter (from 276 B.C.) with his own sister as his wife.
285 B.C.	Demetrius Poliocetes is deserted by his troops and surrenders to Seleucus, who will keep him prisoner until his death in 283 B.C.
284 B.C.	Armenia's satrap Ardvates dies after a 33-year reign, having founded a dynasty that will rule until 211 B.C.
281 B.C.	Seleucus Nicator defeats (and kills) Lysimachus at the Battle of Corupedium and makes himself king of Syria
280 B.C.	Seleucus Nicator tries to seize Macedonia but falls into a trap set by Ptolemy III Ceraunus, who murders Seleucus and takes Macedonia for himself (see 307 B.C.; 279 B.C.). Seleucus Nicator is succeeded by Antiochus I Soter, who will defeat the Galatians (by terrifying them with elephants), reigning until 261 B.C. but losing Miletus, Phoenicia, and western Cilicia to Ptolemy III Ceranus in the Damascene War (280 B.C.-279 B.C.) and First Syrian War (276 B.C.-272 B.C.).
280 B.C.	King Pyrrhus of Epirus defeats a Roman army at Asculum and says, "Another such victory and we are ruined." A triumph that has cost the victor more than the vanquished will be called a pyrrhic victory.
280 B.C.	The Achaean League formed by 12 towns in the northern Peloponessus will grow to include non-Achaean cities (including Corinth, in 243 B.C.). It has two generals, a federal council with proportional representation of members, and an annual assembly of all free citizens (see 146 B.C.)
280 B.C.	The Colossus of Rhodes, completed by the sculptor Chares of Lindus after 12 years' work, is a bronze statue of the god Helios. Made from spoils left by Demetrius Poliocetes when he raised his siege in 305 B.C., it rises to a height of 120 feet above the harbor that has grown rich in the slave trade. Ships can pass between its legs, and it will stand as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world until an earthquake shatters it in 224 B.C.
279 B.C.	Celtic tribesmen invading Macedonia kill Ptolemy III Ceraunus, but fierce mountain tribesmen (Phocians, Aetolians) force them to move east.
275 B.C.	The Museum of Alexandria employs knowledge gained by the Egyptians in the practice of embalming to expand knowledge of anatomy and physiology. The museum's leading medical professor is the Greek Hippocratist Herophilus of Chalcedon, who scorns the traditional fear of dissecting human bodies and who conducts postmortem examinations that enable him to describe the alimentary canal (he gives the duodenum its name), the liver, the spleen, the circulatory system, the eye, the brain tissues, and the genital organs. Herophilus is the first to make a distinction between sensory nerves and motor nerves, and he founds the first school of anatomy.
275 B.C.	The Museum of Alexandria, founded by Ptolemy II, maintains and supports scholars from all countries and encourages them in their research into all branches of known science. The museum will be the leading Greek university.
272 B.C.	Egypt's Ptolemy annexes Miletus, Phoenicia, and western Cilicia after defeating his rebellious half brother Magas and the Seleucid emperor Antiochus I Soter in the First Syrian War.
272 B.C.	Rome's war with Pyrrhus of Epirus ends after 10 years as Tarentum is surrendered to the Romans.
270 B.C.	Rome's subjugation of Italy is completed by the recapture of Rhegium from the Mamertines and the defeat of the Brutians, the Lucanians, the Calabrians, and the Samnites.
268 B.C.	The Roman denarius is minted for the first time. The silver coin will become familiar throughout the Western world (see A.D. 81).
267 B.C.	Macedonia's Antigonus II Gonatus quells a rebellion by an Athens-led Hellenic coalition of Spartans, Arcadians, and Achaeans that has tried to expel the Macedonian garrison (see 262 B.C.).
265 B.C.	The Archimedian screw for raising water is devised by the Greek mathematician Archimedes, 22, who is studying at Alexandria. A native of Syracuse, he says he could move the earth if he had a lever long enough and a fulcrum strong enough ("Give me where to stand and I will move the earth").
265 B.C.	Archimedes (see 265 B.C.) has discovered ("Eureka!") the law of specific gravity while sitting in his bathtub: a body dropped into a liquid will displace an amount of liquid equal to its own weight. He considers his ingenious mechanical contrivances beneath the dignity of pure science.
264 B.C.	Gladiatorial combat gains huge popularity as a spectacle in Rome.
264 B.C.	A Punic War embroils Rome in a conflict with Carthage that will continue for 23 years (see 260 B.C.).
262 B.C.	Athens surrenders after a long siege to the Macedonian forces of Antigonus Gonatas.
260 B.C.	Buddhism is adopted by the third emperor of India's Mauyra dynasty, which arose following the confusion of Alexander the Great's invasions in the last century. The emperor Asoka establishes India's first hospitals and herbal gardens and places them under Buddhist control in opposition to the Hindu Brahmins (see 528 B.C.; China, A.D. 517).
260 B.C.	The Battle of Mylae off the north coast of Sicily gives Rome her first naval victory over Carthage. The Roman admiral Gaius Duilius Nepos commands quinquiremes modeled after a Carthaginian ship found stranded on the Italian coast, and he uses grappling irons and boarding bridges to revolutionize naval warfare and to defeat a larger, more maneuverable Carthaginian flotilla.
249 B.C.	The Zhou (Chou) dynasty that has ruled much of China for nearly 9 centuries ends as the last Zhou emperor is deposed (see 246 B.C.).
246 B.C.	Modern China has her beginnings in the Qin (Chin) dynasty founded by Qin Shihuang, 28. The bastard son of a prostitute by a merchant, Shihuang will prove himself a brilliant general (see 221 B.C.).
246 B.C.	Egypt's Ptolemy II dies at age 63 and is succeeded after a peaceful reign of 39 years by his son, 36, who will reign less peacefully until 221 B.C. as Ptolemy III.
246 B.C.	Ptolemy III invades Syria, seeking vengeance for the death of his murdered sister Berenice. He throws his armies against Seleucus II.
245 B.C.	Babylon and Susa fall to the Egyptian armies of Ptolemy III.
243 B.C.	Ptolemy III is recalled from Syria by a revolt in Egypt; he ceases his martial interests and his support of the Egyptian army.
237 B.C.	A Carthaginian army under Hamilcar Barca, 33, invades the Iberian Peninsula.
228 B.C.	Carthage's Gen. Hamilcar Barca falls in battle. Command of his army in the Iberian Peninsula passes to his son-in-law Hasdrubal.
223 B.C.	Mesopotamia's Seleucid king Seleucus III Soter is murdered during a war with Pergamum and succeeded by his brother who will reign until 187 B.C. as Antiochus III.
222 B.C.	Mediolanum (Milan) falls to Roman legions in Lombardy. The town has been occupied successively by Ligurians, Etruscans, and Celts.
221 B.C.	The Carthaginian general Hasdrubal is assassinated. Command of the troops is assumed by Hannibal, 26, a son of the late Hamilcar Barca, and his brother Hasdrubal.
221 B.C.	Egypt's Ptolemy III dies at age 61 after a 25-year reign. He is succeeded by his son, 23, who will rule with his sister-wife Arsinoe III until 203 B.C. as Ptolemy IV; court favorites will dominate the reign.
221 B.C.	China's Qin emperor Shihuang unites the country after 25 years of fighting. He has conquered 6 warring states and his short-lived dynasty will extend the country's waterworks, build a network of roads, and raise a great defensive wall (see 214 B.C.).
221 B.C.	Egyptian medical studies at Alexandria are supported by Ptolemy IV (see 221 B.C.), who is weaker than his predecessors but devoted to the pursuit of science.
221 B.C.	Alexandrian medical science is headed by Herophilus and his rival Erasistratus, formerly court physician to the Seleucides of Syria. Erasistratus gives heart valves the names they will henceforth carry, he establishes the connection between arteries and veins, he investigates the lymphatic ducts, he expands knowledge of the nervous system (distinguishing between motor nerves and sensory nerves), and he describes in detail the convolutions of the brain.
220 B.C.	Transportation, The Flaminian Way is completed between Rome and Rimini.
219 B.C.	Antiochus III of Syria seizes the province of Coele-Syria from Egypt, initiating a Fourth Syrian War.
218 B.C.	A second Punic War begins as a Carthaginian army under Hannibal attacks Rome's Hispanic allies. He besieges the town of Sagunto, whose inhabitants eat their own dead rather than surrender but are eventually forced to yield. He crosses the Alps and defeats Roman forces at the Ticino River and again at the Trebbia River.
217 B.C.	The Battle of Lake Trasimene in Umbria June 24 ends in victory for Hannibal, who nearly destroys a large Roman army led by Gaius Flaminius. Carthaginians and Gauls kill some 16,000 Romans, including Flaminius, and turn the lake red with blood.
217 B.C.	Egyptian hoplites under Ptolemy IV Philopater crush the Seleucid army at Raphia
216 B.C.	The Battle of Cannae August 2 ends in victory for Hannibal, whose 40,000-man army defeats a heavily armored and unmaneuverable Roman force of 70,000. Some 50,000 Roman and allied troops are butchered, 10,000 are taken prisoner, but Hannibal lacks the catapults and battering rams needed to besiege Rome and contents himself with laying waste the fields of Italy, forcing Rome to import grain at war-inflated prices.
216 B.C.	Rome has been deserted by her allies and starves out Capua and loots Syracuse as an object lesson to other allies.
215 B.C.	Theater: The Menaechmi by Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus, 39 (dates of all Plautus' plays are conjectural).
214 B.C.	Theater: The Merchant (Mercator) by Titus Maccius Plautus.
214 B.C.	Construction begins on a great Chinese defensive wall to keep out the Mongol tribesmen who menace the territories of Qin (Chin) emperor Shihuang. Extending 2,500 miles from Mongolia to the sea, the Great Wall is made initially of earthwork but will later be of brick.
213 B.C.	Theater: The Comedy of Asses (Asinaria) by Titus Maccius Plautus: "Such things are easier said than done" (I, iii); "Man is a wolf to man" (Homo homini lupus, II, iv).
212 B.C.	The Qin emperor Shihuang burns writings by dissidents and has some scholars buried alive. Shihuang, who has 3,000 concubines, saves only works on medicine, agriculture, and astrology (but other books, hidden by priests and scholars, will survive).
211 B.C.	The Seleucid emperor Antiochus III removes Armenia's king Xerxes by treachery and divides the country into 2 satrapies (see 190 B.C.).
210 B.C.	China's Qin emperor Shihuang dies at age 49 after a 36-year reign that has united the many petty states of the old Zhou dynasty, created 36 provinces with a uniform system of laws, weights, and measures, greatly expanded the empire, and kept 700,000 conscripts employed building the Great Wall and the new capital of Xian, but he has had most of the country's books collected and burned. Buried in his tomb are 8,000 life-size terra cotta figures of soldiers (each with a unique face) and horses.
207 B.C.	The Battle of Metaurus in Umbria ends Hannibal's hopes of success in Italy. A Carthaginian army under Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal is defeated by the Romans under the consuls Claudius Nero and Livius Salinator. Hasdrubal is killed in the battle.
204 B.C.	Roman forces under P. Cornelius Scipio (Scipio Africanus) besiege Carthage. Carthaginians immolate 100 boys of noble birth in an effort to propitiate the god Moloch to raise the Roman siege.
202 B.C.	Theater: The Casket (Cistellaria) by Titus Maccius Plautus.
202 B.C.	The Han dynasty that will rule China for more than 4 centuries is inaugurated as the last Qin emperor dies and one of his minor officials assumes power.
202 B.C.	The Battle of Sama October 19 ends the Second Punic War and largely destroys the power of Carthage. Scipio Africanus defeats a combined army of Carthaginians and Numidians under the command of Hannibal and forces Carthage to capitulate.
201 B.C.	Carthage surrenders all her Mediterranean possessions to Rome, her Iberian territories included. The Carthaginians agree to pay Rome 200 talents per year for 50 years, make no war without Rome's permission, and destroy all but 10 Carthaginian warships (see 150 B.C.).
201 B.C.	The Battle of Chios ends in the defeat of Philip V of Macedon by Rhodes and Attalus of Pergamum.
1 Jan 200 B.C.	2nd Century B.C. Begins
200 B.C.	Theater: Stichus by Titus Maccius Plautus: "An unwilling woman given to a man in marriage is not his wife but an enemy."
200 B.C.	The Battle of Panium gives the Seleucid forces of Antiochus III a decisive victory over Egypt's young Ptolemy V Epiphanes in the Fifth Syrian War.
190 B.C.	The Battle of Magnesia near Smyrna gives the Romans another victory over Antiochus III. L. Cornelius Scipio (soon to be called Scipio Asiaticus) and his brother Scipio Africanus have crossed the Hellespont to pursue Antiochus. They force the Syrian to surrender all his European and Asiatic possessions as far as the Taurus Mountains, to pay 15,000 talents over a period of 12 years, and to surrender Hannibal (who will escape).
190 B.C.	The two Armenian satraps of Antiochus make themselves independent; their descendants will reign Armenia Major and Minor separately until 94 B.C.
189 B.C.	Theater: The Two Bacchaides by Plautus: "He whom the gods love dies young, while he is in health, has his senses and his judgment sound" (IV, vii).
188 B.C.	Theater: The Captives (Captivi) by Titus Maccius Plautus: "It is the nature of the poor to hate and envy men of property" (III); "All men love themselves" (III).
187 B.C.	Theater: Three-Penny Day (Trinummus) by Titus Maccius Plautus: "Keep what you have; the known evil is best" (I, iii); "What you lend is lost; when you ask for it back, you may find a friend made an enemy by your kindness" (IV, iii).
186 B.C.	Theater: Amphitryon (Amphitruo) by Titus Maccius Plautus: "If anything is spoken in jest, it is not fair to turn it to earnest" (III), Truculentus by Plautus.
185 B.C.	Theater: Casina by Titus Maccius Plautus, who will die in 184 B.C. at age 70.
185 B.C.	Troops returning from the war with Syria's Antiochus III introduce eastern indulgence to Rome.
183 B.C.	Hannibal poisons himself at the court of Bithynia's Prusia I, who was about to betray him to the Romans.
183 B.C.	Pisa and Parma become Roman colonies.
179 B.C.	Rome's Pons Aemilius, completed across the Tiber, is the world's first stone bridge
172 B.C.	A Roman army is defeated by the Macedonian king Perseus, who succeeds his father Philip V and is attacked by the Romans, beginning a war that will continue until 168 B.C.
170 B.C.	The world's first paved streets are laid out in Rome. The new streets are passable in all weather and easier to keep clean, but they add to the din of traffic.
170 B.C.	Rome's first professional cooks appear in the form of commercial bakers, but most Roman households continue to grind their own flour and bake their own bread.
168 B.C.	The Battle of Pydna gives Roman forces a victory over the Macedonian king Perseus. The Roman general Lucius Aemilius Paulus, 51, returns with Perseus in his triumphal procession.
168 B.C.	Macedonians captured at Pydna (see 168 B.C.) are sold into slavery at Rome. Females fetch as much as 50 times the price of a male.
168 B.C.	Syria's Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes outlaws Judaism, lays waste the Great Temple at Jerusalem, and tries to hellenize the Jews by erecting idols to be worshipped by the people of Judea.
168 B.C.	Huge amounts of booty brought home by Paulus after the Battle of Pydna (see 168 B.C.) enrich the Roman treasury. Rome relieves her citizens of direct taxation (the tributum).
167 B.C.	The Jewish priest Mattathias of Modin defies Syria's Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who has outlawed Judaism. Mattathias escapes into the mountains outside Lydda with his five sons and begins a revolt. He will die in 166 B.C., but his sons will continue the revolt, and his third son Judah will receive the surname Maccabaeus-the Hammerer.
166 B.C.	Theater: The Women of Andros (Andria) by Roman playwright Terence (Publius Terentius Afer), 24, with flute music by his fellow-slave Flaccus at the Megaleusian games in April. "Obsequiousness makes friends; truth breeds hate" (I, i).
165 B.C.	Theater: The Mother-in-Law (Hecyra) by Terence, who has adopted a play by Apollodorus.
165 B.C.	The Maccabees (see 165 B.C.) cleanse the Great Temple, destroy the idols erected by Antiochus IV, and restore the monotheistic religion of Judaism. It will later be said that the Maccabees found only enough oil in the temple to keep a light burning for one day, but that somehow the oil lasted for 8 days, and Jews will commemorate the event in the annual Feast of Dedication called Hanukkah.
165 B.C.	Judah Maccabee (Maccabaeus) and his brothers retake Jerusalem from the Syrians.
163 B.C.	Theater: The Self-Avenger (Heautontimorumenos) by Terence: "I am a man; nothing human is foreign to me" (Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto, I, i).
163 B.C.	Antiochus IV of Syria dies after a 12-year reign and is succeeded by his son, 10, who will reign briefly as Antiochus V under the regency of Lysias, who will make peace with the Jews.
163 B.C.	Antiochus IV of Syria dies after a 12-year reign and is succeeded by his son, 10, who will reign briefly as Antiochus V under the regency of Lysias, who will make peace with the Jews.
162 B.C.	Syria's Antiochus V is overthrown and killed by his cousin Demetrius I Soter, who will reign until 150 B.C.
161 B.C.	Theater: The Eunuch (Eunuchus) by Terence: "I know the nature of women;/ When you want to, they don't want to;/ And when you don't want to, they desire exceedingly" (IV, vii), Phormio by Terence: "A word to the wise is sufficient" (Dictum sapienti sat est, III, iii).
160 B.C.	Theater: Brothers (Adelphoe) by Terence: "It is better to bind your children to you by a feeling of respect, and by gentleness, than by fear" (I, i). A Carthaginian who was brought to Rome as a slave for a senator, Terence will die next year.
160 B.C.	The newly appointed governor of Judea is killed in battle by the Maccabees, whose leader Judah Maccabee is killed soon after at the Battle of Elasa. Judah is survived by his older brother Simon and his youngest, Jonathan, who succeeds as leader and will make Judea a nearly independent principality by the time of his death in 143 B.C.
153 B.C.	January 1 becomes the first day of the civil year in Rome. An uprising in Rome's Spanish provinces obliges Roman consuls to take office earlier than the traditional date of March 15.
150 B.C.	"Carthage must be destroyed" (Delenda est Carthago), says the Roman censor Marcus Porcius Cato, 84, who has been urging destruction of the prosperous Punic city since 157 B.C., when he helped arbitrate a truce between Carthage and her former ally Masinna, 88, king of Numidia. Masinna is now Rome's ally, Carthage has attacked Numidia, and Cato demands that a Roman army be sent against Carthage.
150 B.C.	The Syrian usurper Alexander Balas, who claims to be a son of the late Antiochus IV Epiphanes, defeats Demetrius I Soter in battle and kills him. The Romans support him, and he will rule Syria until 145 B.C.
149 B.C.	Cato the Elder dies at age 85, leaving as his legacy some commentaries on agriculture. De Agriculture (or De Re Rustica) urges farmers to plant grapes and olives that draw moisture and nutrients from the subsoil rather than grain, which is more subject to drought.
146 B.C.	Carthage falls to Roman legions led by Scipio Aemilianus in 6 days and nights of house-to-house fighting after a long blockade. Some 900 Roman deserters torch the Temple of Aesculapius and choose death by fire rather than execution. Hasdrubal surrenders his garrison, and his wife contemptuously throws herself and her children into the flames of the temple. The city's ashes are plowed under, its environs become the Roman province of Africa, and the Third Punic War is ended.
146 B.C.	Corinth is sacked by legions under the Roman general Mommius on orders by the Senate to replace all democracies with oligarchies, to smash the 134-year-old Achaean League, and to place Greece under the supervision of the governor of Macedon, which becomes a Roman province.
146 B.C.	Parthia's Mithridates I defeats Seleucid forces to conquer Babylonia and Media. He makes Ctesiphon-Seleucia his capital.
146 B.C.	Scythian warriors (the Tochari) invade the Seleucid satrapy of Bactria.
145 B.C.	Syria's Alexander Balas falls in battle near Antioch, his forces flee from Demetrius II and Ptolemy VI Philometor, and his son by Cleopatra Thea succeeds to the throne. The boy will rule under a regent as Antiochus VI until 142 B.C.
143 B.C.	The Syrian usurper Tryphon traps Judea's Jonathan Maccabee and kills him at Bethshean. Jonathan's older brother Simon succeeds him and will drive all the Syrians out of the citadel at Jerusalem.
142 B.C.	Syria's boy-king Antiochus VI dies and is succeeded by the son of Demetrius I Soter, who will reign as Demetrius II Nicator.
142 B.C.	Judea gains independence from Syria under the leadership of Simon Maccabee. He sends an embassy to Rome and begins coinage of money.
141 B.C.	Jewish forces under Simon Maccabee liberate Jerusalem while the Seleucid emperor Demetrius II Nicator is preoccupied with conquering Babylonia. Judean independence will last until 63 B.C.
141 B.C.	The Maccabee brothers and their followers will improve agriculture in the Jerusalem region.
140 B.C.	China's Han dynasty emperor Wu Di begins a 53-year reign in which he will extend the empire to the south, annex parts of Korea and Tonkin, and send his emissary Jang Qian halfway round the world to Bactria and Sogdiana to seek an east-west alliance against the Huns, or Hsiung Nu.
140 B.C.	News of Jang Qian (see 140 B.C.) and of Serica, "land of silk," will reach Rome, and caravans will begin to carry the first apricots and peaches (the "Chinese fruit") to Europe while Jang Qian introduces grapes, pomegranates, and walnuts to China.
135 B.C.	Rome's first Servile War begins as slaves on the large Sicilian estates revolt under the Syrian Eunus, who calls himself King Antiochus and holds Henna and Tauromenium against Roman armies sent to subdue the insurrection.
134 B.C.	Judea's Simon Maccabee is treacherously murdered along with 300 of his followers by his son-in-law, governor of Jericho. Simon's sons Mattathias and Judah are also killed, but he is succeeded by his surviving son John Hyrcanus, who will rule Judea until 104 B.C., extending the kingdom to include Samaria, Idumaea, and lands east of the Jordan.
133 B.C.	Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, 30, is elected Roman tribune on a platform of social reform. He proposes an agrarian law that would limit holdings of public land to 312 acres per person, with an additional 250 acres for each of two sons, but large landholders in Etruria and Campania block efforts to recover lands held in violation of the new law, and Gracchus is murdered. The great estates (latifundia) are not distributed among new settlers but grow at the expense of the small peasants and to some extent of Rome's urban proletariat.
132 B.C.	Rome's Servile War is ended as Roman forces capture the Syrian Eunus and savagely execute him and his supporters. More than 70,000 slaves are believed to have taken part in the uprising; 20,000 are crucified.
129 B.C.	Pergamum becomes the Roman province of Asia.
129 B.C.	Rome's Scipio Aemilianus is found dead after favoring concessions to the Italian peasants who have grown increasingly bitter at their treatment by Roman landowners. Murder is suspected.
123 B.C.	Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, 30, is elected Roman tribune on a platform similar to that of his late brother Tiberius. A more forceful man, Gaius puts through a far more extreme program, which includes a law obliging the government to provide grain to Rome's citizens at a price below the market average. The law protects the poor against famine and against speculators and establishes a precedent. State control of the grain supply will permit demagogues to gain popular support by distributing free grain.
110 B.C.	Romans cultivate oysters in the first Western efforts to domesticate marine wildlife. Cultured oyster beds are operated in the vicinity of Baia near the town that will become Naples, where local oysterman Sergius Orata makes a fortune selling his bivalves to the luxury trade (see 850 B.C.; A.D. 407).
105 B.C.	Two Roman armies are defeated at Arausio, on the Rhône, by the Cimbri, a Celtic or Germanic people from east of the Rhine who have moved into the Alpine regions and across the Rhône.
104 B.C.	Judea's John Hyrcanus dies after a 30-year reign and is succeeded by his son, 37, who will rule briefly as Aristobulus I. He will complete the conquest of Galilee and will force the people of Hurae to embrace Judaism.
103 B.C.	Judea's Aristobulus I dies at age 38 and is succeeded by his brother Alexander Jannaeus, who will extend the boundaries of the kingdom in a selfish and savage reign that will continue until 76 B.C.
103 B.C.	A second Servile War erupts in Sicily as slaves rebel under the leadership of Tryphon and Athenion. Slaves from lands conquered by Rome's legions provide much of the power for Roman agriculture, being able to follow verbal orders even though they are less powerful and less docile than horses, whose efficiency is limited also by lack of metal horseshoes and lack of proper harnesses.
102 B.C.	The Battle of Aix-en-Provence gives the Roman consul Gaius Marius, 53, a victory over the Teutons and Sciri. Marius has been reelected consul repeatedly since 107 B.C. in violation of the law of 151 B.C. The people of Provence hail his triumph, and Provençal families will name one of their sons Marius by tradition for more than 2,000 years.
101 B.C.	Chinese ships reach the east coast of India for the first time with help from the navigational compass pioneered by the Chinese. They have discovered the orientating effect of magnetite, or lodestone (see A.D. 1086).
101 B.C.	The Battle of Campi Raudii near Vercellae gives the Roman consuls Gaius Marius and Quintus Lutatius Catulus, 51, a victory over the Cimbri. Marius becomes a national hero.
101 B.C.	The Romans apply waterpower to milling flour and are the first people to do so.
1 Jan 100 B.C.	1st Century B.C. Begins
100 B.C.	Sulla, Lepidus, Crassus, Pompey, Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, and Octavian (Augustus) will rule Rome in this century.
100 B.C.	Rome's plebeian tribunes Saturnius and Glaucia propose cheaper corn for the very poor plus other new social laws. Nobles in the Senate outlaw the popular leaders, and both are murdered with the complicity of Gaius Marius, the general.
99 B.C.	Rome's second Servile War ends after 4 years as the consul M. Aquillius subdues an army of slaves that has put up a stubborn resistance.
96 B.C.	The Seleucid king Antiochus VIII is murdered by his court favorite Heracleon after a 29-year reign in which he has been forced to divide the realm with his half brother Antiochus IX, who will reign alone until 95 B.C.
95 B.C.	The Seleucid king Antiochus IX is defeated in battle and killed by the son of his late half brother who will reign briefly as Seleucus VI.
94 B.C.	Armenia Minor's King Artanes is deposed by a descendant of the first king of Armenia Major, who has been held hostage for several years by Parthians but is ransomed for "70 valleys." He unites the two countries and at 45 begins a 38-year reign as Tigranes I that will make Armenia the most powerful nation in western Asia.
93 B.C.	Armenia's Tigranes II seals an alliance with the Parthian king Mithridates by marrying his daughter Cleopatra. Tigranes has murdered a neighboring Armenian prince and taken over his territory. He invades the kingdom of Cappadocia in the name of his new father-in-law, but the Roman general L. Cornelius Sulla comes to the aid of Cappadocia and forces Tigranes to retire.
92 B.C.	Parthia's Mithridates II makes an alliance with Rome and prepares to invade Mesopotamia.
91 B.C.	The Republic of Italia is set up by Italian insurrectionists, who establish a capital at Corfinium and begin a 3-year war against Rome.
88 B.C.	Parthia's Mithridates the Great dies after a 36-year reign in the closing years of which he has conquered Mesopotamia. His son-in-law Tigranes II of Armenia invades Parthia and begins a war in which he will recover the 70 valleys paid for his ransom in 95 B.C. and overrun four Parthian vassal states, reducing the size of Parthia and extending the borders of Armenia.
88 B.C.	The king of Pontus Mithradates VI Enpator begins the first of three wars that he will wage against Rome. Now 44, Mithradates has made himself master of Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, Bithynia, and all of the Black Sea's southern and eastern coasts.
88 B.C.	Civil war breaks out in Rome as the legions suppress the insurrection of 3 years ago and as fresh legions are raised to fight the king of Pontus.