3rd century BC

The 3rd century BC started the first day of

In the

Events

290s BC

• 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.
• 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.
• Mauryan Empire
  .
• The Epi-Olmec culture forms as a successor civilization to the Olmecs in Mesoamerica.

280s BC

• Pharos of Alexandria
  is completed.
• 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

• Taurunum, today's Belgrade and Zemun, are founded by Scordisci
  Celts.
• After failing to decisively defeat the Romans, Pyrrhus of Epirus withdraws from Italy.
• 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
  .
• 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.
• Ashoka the Great ruled the Maurya Empire
  .

260s BC

• kingdom of Kalinga
  .
• 264 BC: First Punic War breaks out between the Carthaginian Empire and the Roman Republic.
• 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

• Viet Nam
  .
• Thục dynasty
  takes over Vietnam.

240s BC

• Antigonus II
• 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.

230s BC

• Han
  .
• Satavahana Empire
  .

220s BC

• 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.
• Yan
  failed.
• 225 BC: A large Gallic army is defeated by the Romans at the Battle of Telamon.
• Wei
  .
• Chu
  .
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Liu Bang
  .
• 200 BC: The Second Macedonian War between Rome and Macedon begins.
• Arabia
  .
• Sogdiana, in modern-day Uzbekistan
  .

• Eratosthenes accurately calculates Earth's circumference and introduces the sieve of Eratosthenes, an algorithm for identifying prime numbers.
• Weiqi, known as Go in English, well-established in China, and may date back to the 2nd millennium BC
  .
• Crucible steel was first produced in Southern India.
• Canopus stele of
  Ptolemy III implements the leap year
  in Egypt. Leap year not formally recognized until Caesar in 55 BC.
• First Roman sundial (293 BC).^[1]
• Toe stirrup finds its earliest manifestation in India
  .
• Water screw invented by Archimedes.
• The Euclidean algorithm, the oldest algorithm still in use today, introduced by Euclid.
• Invention of the
  hydraulis (the precursor to the Pipe organ) by Ctesibius, a Greek engineer working in Alexandria
  .
• Zinc mining was first smelted from zinc ore in India
• Emperor Gaozu of Han China discovers an elaborate mechanical puppet theater in the treasury of the previous ruler Qin Shi Huang.
• The enormous
  Du Jiang Yan Irrigation System of China is engineered and constructed by Li Bing (李冰) in 256 BC
  .
• Great Stupa,
  Maurya period, is founded by King Chandragupta Maurya
  .
• Silk is exported to Europe from China.
• Armillary spheres, models of objects in the sky developed by the Greeks, are in use as teaching tools.
• Rotary mill invented by the ancient Greeks.^[2]

Significant people

Politics

• Appius Claudius Caecus, Roman statesman
• Aratus of Sicyon, Greek statesman
• Arsinoe II, co-ruler of Egypt
• Mauryan ruler of India
• Mauryan Empire
• Diodotus I, first ruler of Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
• Emperor Gaozu of Han (高皇帝), founder of the Han dynasty in China
• Hamilcar Barca, Carthaginian general and politician
• Hannibal, Carthaginian general and politician
• Hanno the Great, Carthaginian politician
• Ilamchetchenni , king of the Chola dynasty in South India
• Nedunjeliyan I, ruler of the Pandya dynasty in South India
• King Zhaoxiang of Qin, Chinese king of the Qin state
• Li Bing (李冰), Chinese administrator and engineer
• Chancellor of the Qin dynasty
• Lü Buwei, Chinese merchant and Chancellor of Qin
• Lin Xiangru, Chinese politician
• Marcus Porcius Cato, Roman statesman and writer
• Masinissa, king of Numidia
• Modu Chanyu, Xiongnu chieftain
• Philip V of Macedon, King of Macedonia
• Ptolemy I, pharaoh
  of Egypt
• Ptolemy II
  , pharaoh of Egypt
• Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus
  , Roman general and politician
• Pyrrhus of Epirus, King of Epirus
• Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇), Chinese Emperor
• Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, Roman general and politician
• Chancellor of the Han dynasty
• Zhang Liang, Chinese strategist and statesman

Military

• Bai Qi (白起), Chinese general
• Gaius Lutatius Catulus
  , Roman general
• Han Xin, Chinese general
• Hasdrubal Barca, Carthaginian general
• Lian Po, Chinese general
• Li Mu, Chinese general
• Mago Barca, Carthaginian general
• Manius Curius Dentatus, Roman general
• Marcus Atilius Regulus
  , Roman general
• Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Roman general
• Meng Tian, Chinese general
• Xanthippus of Carthage
  , Greek general
• Wang Jian, Chinese general
• Xiang Yu (項羽), Chinese rebel general against the Qin dynasty
• Au Lac

Literature

• Apollonius of Rhodes, Greek poet
• Aratus, Greek poet
• Callimachus, Greek poet and scholar
• Gnaeus Naevius, Roman poet
• Herodas, Greek satirist
• Menander, Greek playwright
• Menippus, Greek satirist
• Plautus, Old Latin playwright
• Song Yu (宋玉), Chinese poet
• Theocritus, Greek poet
• Timaeus, Greek Historian
• Qu Yuan (屈原), Chinese poet and scholar
• Sangam literature (300BC-100AD), of the Tamil language

Science and philosophy

• Apollonius of Perga, Greek mathematician
• Arcesilaus, Greek philosopher
• Archimedes, Greek mathematician, physicist, and engineer
• Aristarchus of Samos, Greek astronomer and mathematician
• Aristillus
  , the Greek astronomer
• Berossus Hellenistic Babylonian historian and astronomer
• Conon of Samos, the Greek astronomer
• Demetrius of Phalerum, Greek philosopher and orator
• Dicaearchus, Greek philosopher and scientist
• Epicurus, Greek philosopher
• Eratosthenes, Greek mathematician, geographer, and astronomer
• Euclid, the Greek geometer
• Han Fei (韓非), Chinese philosopher
• Manetho, Hellenistic Egyptian historian
• Mencius, Chinese philosopher
• Philo of Byzantium, Greek mechanic
• Pyrrho, Greek philosopher
• Theophrastus, Greek philosopher
• Timon of Phlius, Greek philosopher
• Xun Kuang
  (荀況, Xun Li), Chinese philosopher
• Zeno of Citium, Greek philosopher
• Zenodotus, Greek grammarian

Sovereign states

See:

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 3rd century BC.