What happened in the 3rd century BC

World10

• 300 BCThe end of the 4th century BC and the start of the 3rd century BC.
• 264 BCFirst Punic War breaks out between the Carthaginian Empire and the Roman Republic.
• 257 BCThục dynasty takes over Vietnam.
• Water screw invented by Archimedes.
• The Euclidean algorithm, the oldest algorithm still in use today, introduced by Euclid.
• Eratosthenes accurately calculates Earth's circumference and introduces the sieve of Eratosthenes, an algorithm for identifying prime numbers.
• Indian traders regularly visit Arabia.
• 241 BCFirst Punic War ends in Carthaginian defeat. Rome demands large reparations, and annexes Sicily and Corsica.
• 207 BCTriệu dynasty of Viet Nam is inaugurated.
• 202 BCRomans 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.

Europe26

• 299 BCThe 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 BCThe Samnites defeat the Romans under Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus in the Battle of Camerinum, the first battle of the Third Samnite War.
• 294 BCAntipater 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.
• 281 BCAchaean League founded in Greece.
• 280 BCConstruction of the Colossus of Rhodes is completed.
• 280 BCKing Pyrrhus of Epirus invades Italy in an attempt to subjugate the Romans and bring Italy under a new empire ruled by himself.
• 279 BCSingidunum and Taurunum, today's Belgrade and Zemun, are founded by Scordisci Celts.
• 243 BCSurprise attack on the Macedonian garrison at Corinth. Expansion of the Achaean League.
• 229 BCThe First Illyrian War ends with a Roman victory.
• 225 BCA large Gallic army is defeated by the Romans at the Battle of Telamon.
• 220 BCthe 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.
• 218 BCSecond Punic War begins. Hannibal makes his famous Alpine crossing to invade Italy, the Roman heartland.
• 216 BCHannibal famously crushed the Roman legions at the Battle of Cannae.
• 214 BCIn 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.
• 205 BCthe 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.

11 more in the app

Asia31

• Emperor Gaozu of Han China discovers an elaborate mechanical puppet theater in the treasury of the previous ruler Qin Shi Huang.
• 240 BCOn May 15, Chinese mathematicians observed and recorded the passage of the Halley's Comet.
• 230 BCThe Chinese Qin State conquers Han.
• 230 BCSimuka declares independence from Mauryan rule and establishes the Satavahana Empire.
• 227 BCThe attempted assassination of Ying Zheng (嬴政), king of Qin State, by Jing Ke (荊軻) from Yan failed.
• 225 BCThe Chinese Qin State conquers Wei.
• 223 BCThe Chinese Qin State conquers Chu.
• 222 BCThe Chinese Qin State conquers Yan and Zhao.
• 221 BCWith 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.
• 217 BCAntiochus III invades the Levant in the Third Syrian War, but is defeated by Ptolemy IV at the Battle of Raphia.
• 214 BCQin Shi Huang (秦始皇) of the Chinese Qin dynasty ordered construction of the Great Wall of China.
• 210 BCQin 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.
• 208 BCZhao Tuo (Triệu Đà) defeats the Vietnamese king An Dương Vương.
• 206 BCQin dynasty falls after men from all over China revolts, attacking officials, raising armies, and declaring themselves kings of seized territories.
• 202 BCIn 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.

16 more in the app

Middle East4

• 285 BCThe Pharos of Alexandria is completed.
• 274 BCthe 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.
• Canopus stele of Ptolemy III implements the leap year in Egypt. Leap year not formally recognized until Caesar in 55 BC.
• 246 BCThe 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

Latin America1

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