290s BC •
299 BC: The
Samnites, seizing their chance when Rome is engaged on the
Lombard plain, start the
Third Samnite War with a collection of mercenaries from
Gaul and
Sabine and
Etruscan allies to help them. •
298 BC: The Samnites defeat the
Romans under
Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus in the
Battle of Camerinum, the first battle of the Third Samnite War. •
294 BC:
Antipater II of Macedon is killed by
Lysimachus, allowing
Demetrius I to become
king of
Macedonia, thus ending the
Antipatrid dynasty's control over
Hellenistic Greece and ushering in a period of rule by the
Antigonid dynasty. •
293 BC: The Chinese
State of Qin reduced the threat of the
State of Wei and the
State of Han with the Qin victory in the
Battle of Yique. • Roman armies penetrate into the heart of the Samnite territory and then capture the Samnite cities of Taurasia, Bovianum Vetus and
Aufidena. •
Agathocles, king of
Syracuse, Sicily, assists the Italian Greeks against the
Bruttians. •
Bindusara succeeds his father
Chandragupta Maurya as emperor of the
Mauryan Empire. • The
Epi-Olmec culture forms as a successor civilization to the
Olmecs in
Mesoamerica.
280s BC •
285 BC: The
Pharos of Alexandria is completed. •
281 BC:
Antiochus I Soter, on the assassination of his father
Seleucus becomes emperor of the
Seleucid Empire. •
281 BC:
Achaean League founded in Greece. •
280 BC: King
Pyrrhus of Epirus invades Italy in an attempt to subjugate the
Romans and bring
Italy under a new empire ruled by himself. • 280 BC: Construction of the
Colossus of Rhodes is completed.
270s BC of
Sarnath,
Uttar Pradesh, India, now the
National Emblem of India, 3rd century BC, dated to the reign of
Ashoka the Great during the
Maurya Empire •
279 BC:
Singidunum and
Taurunum, today's
Belgrade and
Zemun, are founded by
Scordisci Celts. • After failing to decisively defeat the Romans,
Pyrrhus of Epirus withdraws from
Italy. •
Gallic migration to
Macedon,
Thrace and
Galatia. During the
Gallic invasion of Greece, the Macedonian king
Ptolemy Keraunos is killed in battle by the forces of the Celtic ruler
Bolgios. However, both he and
Brennus are driven out of Macedonian territory by
Sosthenes of Macedon. •
277 BC: in the
Battle of Lysimachia, the invasion by Gauls is finally defeated by
Antigonus II of Macedon. •
274 BC: the
First Syrian War erupts between
Antiochus I Soter of the
Seleucid dynasty and
Ptolemy II Philadelphus of the
Ptolemaic dynasty over control of
Syria and southern
Anatolia. •
273 BC –
232 BC:
Ashoka the Great ruled the
Maurya Empire.
260s BC •
265 BC:
Kalinga War takes place between
Ashoka the Great and the
kingdom of Kalinga. •
264 BC:
First Punic War breaks out between the Carthaginian Empire and the
Roman Republic. •
261 BC:
Antiochus II Theos, 2nd son, at the death of his father becomes emperor of the
Seleucid Empire. •
260 BC:
Battle of Changping between the
State of Qin and the
State of Zhao in China; a decisive Qin victory. •
260 BC:
Ashoka inscribes the
Edicts of Ashoka.
250s BC •
258 BC:
An Dương Vương overthrows the
Hồng Bàng dynasty in
Viet Nam. •
257 BC:
Thục dynasty takes over Vietnam.
240s BC •
246 BC: The death of
Antiochus II sparks the
Third Syrian War;
Ptolemy III conquers Syria and Babylon from the Seleucids, but loses the
Nesiotic League to
Antigonus II •
243 BC: Surprise attack on the
Macedonian garrison at
Corinth. Expansion of the Achaean League. •
241 BC:
First Punic War ends in Carthaginian defeat. Rome demands large reparations, and annexes
Sicily and
Corsica. •
240 BC: On May 15, Chinese mathematicians observed and recorded the passage of the
Halley's Comet.
Terracotta Army of
Qin Shi Huang's tomb at
Xi'an,
Shaanxi, China
230s BC •
230 BC: The Chinese
Qin State conquers
Han. •
230 BC:
Simuka declares independence from Mauryan rule and establishes the
Satavahana Empire.
220s BC •
229 BC: The
First Illyrian War ends with a Roman victory. • 229 BC: Last tyrants on the
Peloponnese abdicate,
Argos joins the Achaean League,
Athens liberated from Macedonian garrison. •
227 BC: The attempted assassination of
Ying Zheng (嬴政), king of
Qin State, by
Jing Ke (荊軻) from
Yan failed. •
225 BC: A large Gallic army is defeated by the Romans at the
Battle of Telamon. •
225 BC: The Chinese
Qin State conquers
Wei. •
223 BC: The Chinese
Qin State conquers
Chu. •
222 BC: The Chinese
Qin State conquers
Yan and
Zhao. • 222 BC: Spartan defeat in the
Battle of Sellasia ends the
Cleomenean War. •
221 BC: With the conquest of the
State of Qi,
Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇)
unifies the whole of China into one empire that also included northern Vietnam, forming the
Qin dynasty. •
220 BC: the
Social War (220–217 BC) of Greece begins, pitting
Macedonia and the
Achaean League against
Sparta and the
Aetolian League, ultimately resulting in a Macedonian-Achaean victory with territorial gains for each.
210s BC •
218 BC:
Second Punic War begins.
Hannibal makes his famous
Alpine crossing to invade
Italy, the Roman heartland. •
217 BC:
Antiochus III invades the Levant in the
Third Syrian War, but is defeated by
Ptolemy IV at the
Battle of Raphia. •
216 BC:
Hannibal famously crushed the Roman legions at the
Battle of Cannae. •
214 BC:
Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) of the Chinese
Qin dynasty ordered construction of the
Great Wall of China. •
214 BC: In the Mediterranean, the
First Macedonian War between Rome and Macedon begins, with Rome encouraging its Greek allies, such as
Attalus I of
Pergamon, to attack the forces of
Philip V of Macedon. •
210 BC:
Qin Shi Huang dies while on a trip to the far eastern reaches of his empire in an attempt to procure an
elixir of immortality from
Taoist magicians.
200s BC •
208 BC:
Zhao Tuo (Triệu Đà) defeats the
Vietnamese king
An Dương Vương. •
207 BC:
Triệu dynasty of Viet Nam is inaugurated. •
206 BC:
Qin dynasty falls after men from all over China revolts, attacking officials, raising armies, and declaring themselves kings of seized territories. •
206 BC –
202 BC: Civil war of the
Chu-Han contention in China. •
205 BC: the
Cretan War (205–200 BC) begins between
Macedonia and its allies against the Greek
polis of
Rhodes and its allies, resulting in a Rhodian victory. •
202 BC: Romans defeat Carthage, ending the
Second Punic War. Carthage's territories are reduced to some of its North African holdings, and crippling reparations are demanded by Rome. •
202 BC: In East Asia, the Chu-Han contention comes to a close,
Xiang Yu commits suicide, and the
Han dynasty of China is founded (202 BC–220 AD) by
Liu Bang. •
200 BC: The
Second Macedonian War between Rome and Macedon begins. •
Indian traders regularly visit
Arabia. •
Scythians occupy
Sogdiana, in modern-day
Uzbekistan. ==Inventions, discoveries, introductions==