3rd century BC


In the Mediterranean Basin, the first few decades of this century were characterized by a balance of power between the Greek Hellenistic kingdoms in the east, and the great mercantile power of Carthage in the west. This balance was shattered when conflict arose between ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic. In the following decades, the Carthaginian Republic was first humbled and then destroyed by the Romans in the First and Second Punic Wars. Following the Second Punic War, Rome became the most important power in the western Mediterranean.

"200s BC" redirects here. For the decade, see 200s BC (decade).
Millennium: 1st millennium BC
Centuries:
Timelines:
State leaders:
  • 4th century BC
  • 3rd century BC
  • 2nd century BC
Decades:
Categories: Births – Deaths
Establishments – Disestablishments
Hannibal crosses the Alps during the Second Punic War

In the eastern Mediterranean, the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Kingdom, successor states to the empire of Alexander the Great, fought a series of Syrian Wars for control over the Levant. In mainland Greece, the short-lived Antipatrid dynasty of Macedon was overthrown and replaced by the Antigonid dynasty in 294 BC, a royal house that would dominate the affairs of Hellenistic Greece for roughly a century until the stalemate of the First Macedonian War against Rome. Macedon would also lose the Cretan War against the Greek city-state of Rhodes and its allies.

In India, Ashoka ruled the Maurya Empire. The Pandya, Chola and Chera dynasties of the classical age flourished in the ancient Tamil country.

The Warring States period in China drew to a close, with Qin Shi Huang conquering the six other nation-states and establishing the short-lived Qin dynasty, the first empire of China, which was followed in the same century by the long-lasting Han dynasty. However, a brief interregnum and civil war existed between the Qin and Han periods known as the Chu-Han contention, lasting until 202 BC with the ultimate victory of Liu Bang over Xiang Yu.

The Protohistoric Period began in Korea. In the following century the Chinese Han dynasty would conquer the Gojoseon kingdom of northern Korea. The Xiongnu were at the height of their power in Mongolia. They defeated the Han Chinese at the Battle of Baideng in 200 BC, marking the beginning of the forced Heqin tributary agreement and marriage alliance that would last several decades.

The world in the 3rd century BC
Map of the world in 300 BC, the beginning of the third century BC.
Map of the Hellenistic world and Maurya Empire in 281 BC.
Map of the world in 200 BC, the end of the third century BC.

Events

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

270s BC
The Lion Capital of Ashoka 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

260s BC

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.
The Chinese Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang's tomb at Xian, Shaanxi, China

230s BC

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

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

Significant people
Seleucus I
Ptolemy Soter
Demetrius Poliorcetes
Pyrrhus of Epirus
Hannibal
Scipio Africanus
Menander
Zeno of Citium

Politics

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
  • Zhao Tuo, Chinese military commander who conquered the Vietnamese Kingdom of 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: List of sovereign states in the 3rd century BC.

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 3rd century BC.
  1. Pliny Natural History 7.213
  2. Yannopoulos, Stavros; Lyberatos, Gerasimos; Theodossiou, Nicolaos; Li, Wang; Valipour, Mohammad; Tamburrino, Aldo; Angelakis, Andreas (2015). "Evolution of Water Lifting Devices (Pumps) over the Centuries Worldwide". Water. 7 (9): 5031–5060. doi:10.3390/w7095031.
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