2nd century BC
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The 2nd century BC started the first day of 200 BC and ended the last day of 101 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, although depending on the region being studied, other terms may be more suitable. It is also considered to be the end of the Axial Age.[1] In the context of the Eastern Mediterranean, it is the mid-point of the Hellenistic period.
Fresh from its victories in the
Marian Reforms
).
In the Near East, the other major Hellenistic kingdom, the
Judaea
.
In
extended its boundaries from Korea in the east to Vietnam in the South to the borders of modern-day Kazakhstan in the west. The nomadic Xiongnu were at the height of their power at the beginning of the century, collecting tribute from the Han. Their victories over the Yuezhi set off a chain of westward migrations in Central Asia. Han efforts to find allies against the Xiongnu by exploring the lands to their west would ultimately lead to the opening of the Silk Road.[2]
In
Sakas
, themselves under pressure from the Yuezhi.
Events
190s BC
-
- (November 12): Antiochus issues a decree requiring registration of all Egyptians taken slave during the war (somata Aigyptia) for census purposes.[6]
- 196 BC:
- (March 27) Upon reaching the age of 14, King of Egypt at Memphis. The decree made in conjunction with the coronation, dated the first day of the Egyptian month of Pharmouthi, is written in the Egyptian language in both hieroglyphics and in demotic script, as well as in Greek on the Rosetta Stone, providing the key to deciphering the hieroglyphics almost 20 centuries later.[9]
- rebellion.
- (March 27) Upon reaching the age of 14,
- 195 BC:
- (June 1) In China, Empress Lü Zhi, who serves as the Regent as widow of Gaozu.
- The War against Nabis marks the end of Spartan power in Greece.[11]
- (June 1) In China,
- 194 BC:
- (April 4) — The first Games of Megalesia and a festival are held in Rome after games were promised in honor of Cybele following Rome's triumph over Carthage in the Punic Wars. The festival and games last seven full days, closing on April 10.[12]
- Wiman of Gojoseon establishes Wiman Joseon in Korea.[13]
- 192 BC:
- The Yue Kingdom of Eastern Ou established in Zhejiang with Chinese support.[citation needed]
- (February)— Antiochus, the son of Antiochus III and co-regent for the Seleucid throne since 209 BC, dies; according to cuneiform tablets, news reaches Babylon sometime during the month of Addara after April 8.[14]
- (November) — Antiochus III leads an army into Greece to challenge Roman control, at the invitation of the
- 191 BC: (April 24) Battle of Thermopylae: Manius Acilius Glabrio drives Antiochus III out of Greece.[17]
- Asia Minor.[18]
180s BC
- 189 BC: Galatian War: Gnaeus Manlius Vulso and Pergamon defeat the Galatians.[19]
- 188 BC: (September 26) Prince Liu Gong, the 5-year old younger brother of Emperor Hui becomes the third Han dynasty Emperor of China upon his brother's death, taking the regnal name of Emperor Qianshao. Because of his minority, his grandmother, Empress Lü continues as the actual ruler and serves as the regent.
- 187 BC: (July 3) Seleucid king Antiochus III dies at the age of 53 and is succeeded by his son Seleucus IV Philopator.[20]
- 186 BC: Ptolemy V defeats Ankhwennefer and regains control of Upper Egypt.[21]
- Shunga dynasty.[22]
- 184 BC: (June 15) Emperor Qianshao of Han, the 11-year old nominal ruler of China, is removed, imprisoned and then put to death on order of his grandmother, Empress Lü. Prince Liu Hong, the brother of Qianshao, is installed by the regent as the new Emperor, under the name of Emperor Houshao.
- 183 BC: Zhao Tuo of Nanyue declares himself Emperor and attacks China.[23]
- Empress Lü of China, the nominal Houshao is killed along with the rest of the Lü Clan. Another son of Gaozu, the first Han emperor, Prince Liu Heng, becomes the fifth Han emperor and takes the name of Emperor Wen.
170s BC
- 179 BC:
- 178 BC: Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus ends the First Celtiberian War.[25]
- Ili valley.[26]
- 175 BC: (September 3) Upon the assassination of Seleucus IV Philopator, his brother Antiochus IV Epiphanes takes possession of the Seleucid throne.[27]
- 171 BC: At the prompting of the Attalid king Eumenes II, the Romans declare war on Perseus, beginning the Third Macedonian War.[28]
160s BC
- 168 BC:
- Third Macedonian War: Roman victory in the Battle of Pydna leads to the dissolution of the Antigonid Kingdom of Macedon.
- Antiochus IV of the Seleucid empire invades Ptolemaic Egypt, but is forced to turn back by Gaius Popillius Laenasat the Day of Eleusis.
- Aria from the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom.
- 164 BC
- 25 ).
- Ptolemy VI out of Alexandria. He flees to Rome.
- Antiochus V.
- 163 BC:
- (May 20) Chinese mathematicians observe and record the passage of the Halley's Comet.
- Ptolemy VI regains Alexandria. Ptolemy VIII takes Cyrenaica.
- Timarchus rebels against the Seleucid empire and seizes control of Media and Babylonia.
- 161 BC:
- Tamil King Ellalan.
- Seleucidthrone, beginning a succession war that would consume the Seleucid realm for almost a century.
- Ili valley.
150s BC
- 158 BC: The Xiongnu attack northern China.
- 157 BC: (July 6) Emperor Wen of Han dies and is succeeded by his son Prince Liu Qi who takes the regnal name of the Emperor Jing.
- 155 BC: The Lusitanians begin the Lusitanian War against Rome.
- 154 BC
- The Celtiberians of Numantia begin the Numantine War against Rome.
- and is defeated.
- Jonathan Maccabaeus
140s BC
- 148 BC:
- Seleucids.
- Macedonia (Fourth Macedonian War).
- Hasmonean victories restore autonomy to Judea.
- 146 BC: Rome destroys and razes the city of Carthage (Third Punic War) and destroys the Achaean League and razes Corinth (Achaean War).
- 145 BC:
- Egyptloses his life.
- Ptolemy VIII takes control of Alexandria.
- Ai-Khanoum is sacked (possibly by the Yuezhi).
- 141 BC (March 9): Emperor Jing of Han dies and is succeeded by his son Prince Liu Che, who is enthroned as the Emperor Wu and begins a 54-year reign. The new emperor's attempts at reform are immediately stymied by his grandmother.
130s BC
- 139 BC:
- The assassination of Viriathus marks the end of the Lusitanian War.
- Seleucid king Demetrius II Nicator and captures Babylonia.
- 138 BC: Minyue's invasion of Eastern Ou sparks off the Han campaigns against Minyue
- 135 BC
- 133 BC:
- Attalus III of Pergamon dies, bequeathing his kingdom to the Roman Republic.
- Emperor Wu sets an ambush for the Xiongnu, beginning the Han–Xiongnu War
- Assassination of Tiberius Gracchus.
- Scipio Aemilianus wins the Siege of Numantia and conquers the Celtiberians.
- Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra II.
- 130 BC: Greek astronomer Hipparchus continues lifelong studies, becoming the first to calculate the precession of moon and sun and to create a sizable catalog of stars.
120s BC
- Seleucid empire attempt to reclaim the Iranian Plateau from Parthiaends in failure.
- 127 BC: Hyspaosines of Characene takes control of Babylonia.
- Ptolemy VIII regains control of Alexandria.
- 125 BC: Zhang Qian returns to China after a protracted journey through the west.
- 124 BC: Artabanus II of Parthia is killed in battle with the Yuezhi and succeeded by his son Mithridates II
- 121 BC: Assassination of Gaius Gracchus
110s BC
- 116 BC: (June 28) Ptolemy VIII of Egypt dies and is succeeded by his wife Cleopatra III and son Ptolemy IX Soter.[9]
- Teutones arrive on the banks of the Danube in Noricum, clashing with Roman allies, beginning the Cimbrian War.
- 112 BC: Jugurtha of Numidia's elimination of his co-regents sparks the Jugurthine War with Rome.
- First Chinese domination of Vietnam.
100s BC
- 109 BC
- conquers Dian.
- King Ugeo of Gojoseon kills a Chinese envoy, sparking the Gojoseon–Han War.
- Wanggeom seong, capital of Wiman Joseon, establishing the Four Commanderies of Han to govern the northern part of Korea.
- 107 BC: Gaius Marius attains his first consulship.
- 106 BC: Gaius Marius and Sulla bring an end to the Jugurthine War.
- Teutonesannihilate a Roman army.
- 104 – 101 BC: War of the Heavenly Horses, China defeats Dayuan at great cost.
- 104 BC: A mass-manumission leads to the Second Servile War in Sicily
- Teutones at the Battle of Aquae Sextiae
- 101 BC: Gaius Marius defeats the Cimbri at the Battle of Vercellae, ending the Cimbrian War.
Significant people
Politics
- Andriscus, last independent ruler of Macedon
- Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the last effective ruler of the Seleucid Empire
- Antiochus VII Sidetes, last King of a United Seleucid Empire
- Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul 143 BC), Roman consul and censor
- Boiorix, king of the Cimbri
- Cato the Elder, Roman politician, writer and historian
- Gaius Gracchus, Roman politician
- Gaius Marius, Roman general and politician
- Hasmonean rebellion and first autonomous ruler of Judea
- Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, Roman general and politician
- Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Roman general and politician
- Lucius Mummius Achaicus, conqueror of Corinth
- Marcus Claudius Marcellus (consul 166 BC), Roman politician
- Perseus of Macedon, last King of the Antigonid dynasty
- Publius Mucius Scaevola (triumphator), Roman politician
- Publius Mucius Scaevola (pontifex maximus), Roman politician
- Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus, Roman general and politician
- Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus, Roman general and politician
- Teutobod, King of the Teutons
- Tiberius Gracchus Roman politician and statesman
- Han Dynastyemperor, who consolidated and expanded imperial power in China
- Zhang Qian (張騫), Chinese diplomat and explorer
- Trieu dynasty
Military
- Huo Qubing, Chinese general
- Hasmoneanrebellion and its first successful general
- Li Guang, Chinese general
- Lucius Caecilius Metellus Calvus, Roman general
- Lucius Caecilius Metellus Dalmaticus, Roman general
- Quintus Lutatius Catulus, Roman general
- Scipio Aemilianus Africanus, Roman general that conquered Carthage
- Wei Qing, Chinese general
Literature
- Apollodorus of Athens, Greek writer, grammarian, and historian
- Bion of Smyrna, Greek poet
- Gaius Lucilius, Roman satirist
- Lutatius Catulus, Roman poet, orator and historian
- Lucius Accius, Roman poet
- Moschus, Greek poet
- Pacuvius, Roman poet
- Quintus Ennius, Roman poet
- Sima Xiangru (司馬相如), Chinese musician, poet and writer
- Titus Maccius Plautus, Roman playwright
- Terence, Roman playwright
- Sangam literature, corpus of ancient Tamil literature
- Kaniyan Pungundranar, one of the poets of the Tamil Sangam work Purananuru
Science and philosophy
- geometer
- Carneades, Greek philosopher
- Crates of Mallus, Greek grammarian and philosopher
- Diogenes of Babylon, Greek philosopher
- Eight Immortals of Huainan(淮南八仙), Chinese philosophers
- Hipparchus, Greek astronomer
- Hypsicles, Greek mathematician and astronomer
- Liu An (劉安), Chinese geographer
- Panaetius, Greek philosopher
- Polybius, Greek historian
- Posidonius, Greek philosopher, geographer, astronomer and historian
- Seleucus of Seleucia, Hellenistic astronomer
- Sima Qian (司馬遷), Chinese historian
- Zenodorus, Greek mathematician
Inventions, discoveries, introductions
- The Chinese first produce paper.
- Silk Road between Europe and Asia.
- Hipparchus discovers precession of Earth's equinoxes and compiles first trigonometric tables.[29]
- According to legend, Liu An invents tofu.
- The
- Pingala was the first who accidentally discovered binary numbers in which he used laghu(light) and guru(heavy) rather than 0 and 1.
- Tube drawn technology: Indians used tube drawn technology for glass bead manufacturing which was first developed in the 2nd century BCE
- The Roman concrete (pozzolana) first used.
- A system for sending signs to communicate quickly over a long distance is described by Polybios.[31]
- The earliest known Chinese tomb model.[32]
See also
- List of sovereign states in the 2nd century BC.
References
- ISBN 978-0-203-88002-9.
- ^ "Silk Road, North China". The Megalithic Portal.
- ISBN 0-00-686104-0.
- ^ "Barangay States". History Learning.
- ISBN 978-0-520-08349-3.
- ^ Willy Clarysse, Dorothy J. Thompson, Ulrich Luft, Counting the People in Hellenistic Egypt, Volume 2, Historical Studies (Cambridge University Press, 2006) p263
- ^ Bernard Mineo, A Companion to Livy (Wiley, 2014) p412 (drawn by author from Polybius and Livy
- ISBN 0-00-686104-0.
- ^ a b Alan K. Bowman, Egypt After the Pharaohs, 332 BC-AD 642: From Alexander to the Arab Conquest (University of California Press, 1989), p30
- ISBN 978-0-521-23448-1.
- ISBN 0-415-26277-1.
- ^ Eckart Kèohne, Gladiators and Caesars: The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome (University of California Press, 2000) p10
- ISBN 978-0-253-00024-8.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ T. Boiy, Late Achaemenid and Hellenistic Babylon (Peeters Publishers, 2004) p157
- ISBN 978-0-7456-3371-8.
- ISBN 0-00-686104-0.
- ISBN 978-90-04-12840-8.
- ISBN 978-90-04-12840-8.
- ISBN 978-90-04-12840-8.
- ISBN 978-0-415-97334-2.
- ISBN 978-1-135-11983-6.
- ISBN 978-0-674-72651-2.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ISBN 978-0-521-24327-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7456-3371-8.
- ISBN 978-0-521-23448-1.
- ISBN 978-1-4008-2994-1.
- ^ M. Zambelli, "L'ascesa al trono di Antioco IV Epifane di Siria," Rivista di Filologia e di Istruzione Classica 38 (1960) 363–389
- ISBN 978-0-7456-3371-8.
- ^ O'Connor, J.J.; Robertson, E F (April 1999). "Hipparchus". Maths History. St Andrews University. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
- ^ "15 Significant Science and Tech Discoveries Ancient India Gave the World – Arise Arjuna Foundation". Retrieved 2021-06-12.
- ^ "Polybius • Histories — Book 10". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
- ^ Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering (Cambridge University Press, 1985) p118