3rd century BC


The 3rd century BC started the first day of 300 BC and ended the last day of 201 BC. It is considered part of the Classical Era, epoch, or historical period.
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.
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

Events

290s BC

File:Terrakottaarmén.jpg|thumb|right|The Chinese 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, king of Qin State, by Jing Ke 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 unifies the whole of China into one empire that also included northern Vietnam, forming the Qin dynasty.
  • 220 BC: the Social War 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 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 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 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 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

  • 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.
  • 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 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 in 256 BC.
  • Great Stupa, Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India, 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.