By place Egypt • The
Egyptian King
Ptolemy II's first wife,
Arsinoe I (daughter of the late King
Lysimachus of
Thrace) is accused, probably at instigation of Ptolemy II's sister (who also has the name
Arsinoe), of plotting his murder and is exiled by the King. Arsinoe then marries her own brother, a customary practice in Egypt, but scandalous to the Greeks. The suffix "Philadelphoi" ("Brother-Loving") consequently is added to the names of King Ptolemy II and Queen Arsinoe II. The former queen, Arsinoe I, is banished to
Coptos, a city of
Upper Egypt near the
Wadi Hammamat, while her rival adopts her children. • The first of the
Syrian Wars starts between Egypt's Ptolemy II and Seleucid emperor
Antiochus I Soter. The Egyptians invade northern
Syria, but Antiochus defeats and repels his opponent's army.
Greece •
Antigonus II Gonatas consolidated his control over
Macedon and
Thessaly.
Sicily •
Pyrrhus negotiates with the
Carthaginians to end the fighting between them in
Sicily. The Carthaginians are inclined to come to terms with Pyrrhus, but he demands that Carthage abandon all of Sicily and make the Libyan Sea the boundary between Carthage and the Greeks. Meanwhile, he begins to display despotic behaviour towards the Sicilian Greeks and soon Sicilian opinion moves against him. Therefore, fearing that his successes in Sicily may lead him to become the despot of their country, the
Syracusans ask Pyrrhus to leave Sicily. He does so, and returns to the Italian mainland, noting that he expects Sicily to be a "fair wrestling ring" for Carthage and
Rome.
China • General
Bai Qi of the
State of Qin attacks the
State of Wei and captures two cities. • General
Lian Po of the
State of Zhou captures the Wei city of Qi. == Births ==