This YEAR IN HISTORY.

iomoon · **Posted:** Wed Jan 12, 2011 09:38:27 am

259 BCE

The Carthaginians under Hamilcar take advantage of their victory at Thermae in Sicily by counterattacking the Romans and seizing Enna. Hamilcar continues south to Camarina, in Syracusan territory, to try and convince the Syracusans to rejoin the Carthaginian side.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Wed Jan 12, 2011 11:11:46 am

260 BCE

Callimachus of Cyrene, learned poet and grammarian, becomes chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria.

iomoon · **Posted:** Thu Jan 13, 2011 09:05:09 am

261 BCE

The new Seleucid king Antiochus II reaches an agreement with the king of Macedonia, Antigonus II Gonatas, to work together in trying to push Ptolemy II's fleet and armies out of the Aegean Sea. With Macedonia's support, Antiochus II launches an attack on Ptolemaic outposts in Asia Minor.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:59:41 am

262 BCE

Apollonius of Perga (Pergaeus), Greek astronomer and mathematician specialising in geometry and noted for his writings on conic sections was born.

iomoon · **Posted:** Fri Jan 14, 2011 03:29:55 am

263 BCE

Eumenes I succeeds his uncle Philetaerus to the throne of Pergamum. As Philetaerus was a eunuch, he adopted his nephew Eumenes (the son of Philetaerus' brother also named Eumenes) as his successor.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Fri Jan 14, 2011 07:01:14 am

264 BCE

The Chinese Confucian philosopher Xunzi visits the State of Qin. He writes of his and others' admiration for the government officials of Qin, whom he says are serious and sincere, free from the tendency to form cliques. The Qin officials are disciplined by a meritocracy of rather harsh methods imposed by the Legalist philosophy.

iomoon · **Posted:** Fri Jan 14, 2011 08:54:00 am

265 BCE

The Archimedes screw for raising water is devised by the Greek mathematician Archimedes, who is studying at Alexandria.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Fri Jan 14, 2011 15:22:52 pm

266 BCE

In 1944, W. G. Waddell discovered the remains of an Egyptian papyrus scroll (Papyrus Fuad 266) dating to the first or second century B.C. which included part of the Septuagint.

iomoon · **Posted:** Sun Jan 16, 2011 06:22:30 am

267 BCE

Macedonia's King Antigonus II Gonatas has to deal with a rebellion by an Athenian-led coalition of Spartans (led by King Areus I of Sparta), Athenians (led by Chremonides), Arcadians and Achaeans that tries to expel the Macedonian forces located in Greece. The rebellion has the support of Ptolemy II of Egypt.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Sun Jan 16, 2011 06:36:56 am

268 BCE

"In 268 BCE, Li Bing is said to have personally led tens of thousands of workers in the initial stage of construction on the Min River banks." (CHN, Strategic Origins) These people were mostly exiles from lands conquered by the Qin, as well as Qin pioneers, and the local population.

nigelc · **Posted:** Sun Jan 16, 2011 08:35:30 am

Diver Pete wrote:

266 BCE

In 1944, W. G. Waddell discovered the remains of an Egyptian papyrus scroll (Papyrus Fuad 266) dating to the first or second century B.C. which included part of the Septuagint.

Interesting but nothing to do with 266 BC! :wink:

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Sun Jan 16, 2011 08:51:30 am

I realised that after I posted it, but I also thought it was interesting... :oops:

iomoon · **Posted:** Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:31:20 am

269 BCE

Birth of Attalus I Soter, ruler of Pergamon, from 241 to 197 BC. He will be the first of the Attalid dynasty to assume the title of king (d. 197 BC).

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:54:53 am

270 BCE

Hamilcar Barca (d. 228 BC), founder of Barcid Spain and leading Carthaginian general who will fight against Rome in Sicily and Italy, against the Libyans and the mercenary revolt in Africa, and against the Iberians and Celti-Iberians in Spain was born.

iomoon · **Posted:** Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:08:33 am

271 BCE

The Mauryan army is driven out of Kadamba by a coalition of Tamil kings under Emperor Cenni Cholan.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Fri Jan 21, 2011 05:53:59 am

So before they were driven out.....

272 BCE

The Mauryan emperor, Bindusara, sends the Mauryan army to conquer the southern kingdoms. Kadamba is conquered.

iomoon · **Posted:** Fri Jan 21, 2011 10:42:16 am

273 BCE

Ashoka the Great becomes ruler of the Maurya Empire.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Fri Jan 21, 2011 15:29:48 pm

274 BCE

Pyrrhus returns from Italy and Sicily and invades Macedonia driving Antigonus II Gonatas out of Upper Macedonia and Thessaly while Antigonus holds onto the coastal Macedonian towns. Antigonus' troops desert him and Pyrrhus is declared King of Macedonia.

iomoon · **Posted:** Tue Jan 25, 2011 10:33:31 am

275 BCE

Antiochus's alliance with Antigonus II, now fully in possession of Macedonia, is cemented by Antigonus' marriage to Phila, Antiochus' half sister.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:03:44 pm

276 BCE

Heralded the birth of Eratosthenes, Greek mathematician, geographer and astronomer (d. 194 BC)

Eratosthenes' greatest achievement was his measurement of the earth. Being informed that at Syene (Assuan), on the day of the summer solstice at noon, a well was lit up through all its depth, so that Syene lay on the tropic, he measured, at the same hour, the zenith distance of the sun at Alexandria. He thus found the distance between Syene and Alexandria (known to be 5000 stadia) to correspond to one-fiftieth of a great circle, and so arrived at 250,000 stadia (which he seems subsequently to have corrected to 252,000) as the circumference of the earth. He is credited by Ptolemy and his commentator Theon with having found the distance between the tropics to be 11/83 rds. of the meridian circle, which gives 23 degrees, 5', 20'' for the obliquity of the ecliptic.

iomoon · **Posted:** Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:16:23 am

277 BCE

Antigonus crosses the Hellespont and defeats the Celts under the command of Cerethrius near Lysimachia at the neck of the Thracian Chersonese. After this success, he is acknowledged by the Macedonians as their king.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:30:41 am

278 BC

At the age of 61, Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Miluo River. He clasped a heavy stone to his chest and leaped into the water. Knowing that Qu Yuan was a righteous man, the people of Chu rushed to the river to try to save him. The people desperately searched the waters in their boats looking for Qu Yuan but were unsuccessful in their attempt to rescue him. Every year the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated to commemorate this attempt at rescuing Qu Yuan.

iomoon · **Posted:** Sat Jan 29, 2011 10:35:31 am

279 BCE

Scordisci Celts found a city called Singidon (Roman Singidunum) which is today the Serbian city of Belgrade.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Sat Jan 29, 2011 11:33:51 am

280 BCE

Aristarchus of Samos uses the size of the Earth's shadow on the Moon to estimate that the Moon's radius is one-third that of the Earth. He proposes for the first time a heliocentric view of the Solar System, but is ignored due to the lack of evidence of the Earth's motion.

iomoon · **Posted:** Tue Feb 01, 2011 09:54:59 am

281 BCE

The Battle of Corupedium in Lydia is the last battle of the Diadochi, the rival successors to Alexander the Great. It is fought between the armies of Lysimachus, King of Thrace and Macedonia, and Seleucus, ruler of Eastern Anatolia, Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, Babylonia and Iran. Seleucus kills Lysimachus during the battle.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Tue Feb 01, 2011 12:49:09 pm

282 BCE

Arsinoe, daughter of Lysimachus, king of Thrace, marries Ptolemy II of Egypt as part of the alliance between Thrace and Egypt against Seleucus.

iomoon · **Posted:** Fri Feb 04, 2011 10:12:29 am

283 BCE

Following Demetrius Poliorcetes' death in captivity as a prisoner of Seleucus, his son Antigonus assumes the title of King of Macedonia, though in name only, as King Lysimachus of Thrace is in control of Macedonia. Demetrius' remains are given to Antigonus and he is honoured with a grand funeral in Corinth. After this, Demetrius is interred in the town of Demetrias which he had founded.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Fri Feb 04, 2011 12:05:17 pm

284 BCE

Pyrrhus of Epirus is driven out of Macedonia and back into Epirus by Lysimachus.

fromdownunder · **Posted:** Sat Feb 05, 2011 08:46:48 am

285 B.C.E.

Ctesibius or Ktesibios or Tesibius (Greek ÎšÏ„Î·ÏƒÎ¯Î²Î¹Î¿Ï‚), probably the first head of the Museum at Alexandria, invented the first artificial automatic regulatory system - a water clock. In his water clock, water flowed from a source such as a holding tank into a reservoir, then from the reservoir to the mechanisms of the clock.

Norm

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:27:36 am

fromdownunder wrote:

285 B.C.E.

Ctesibius or Ktesibios or Tesibius (Greek ÎšÏ„Î·ÏƒÎ¯Î²Î¹Î¿Ï‚), probably the first head of the Museum at Alexandria, invented the first artificial automatic regulatory system - a water clock. In his water clock, water flowed from a source such as a holding tank into a reservoir, then from the reservoir to the mechanisms of the clock.

Norm

That is quite interesting!

Here is my local water clock known as "Man, Time & the Environment"

It is a really divisive piece.

FWIW, I am a supporter!

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:30:22 am

286 BCE

The new law, Lex Aquilia, is enacted. This is a Roman law which provides compensation to the owners of property injured as a result of someone's fault.

iomoon · **Posted:** Sun Feb 06, 2011 06:15:42 am

287 BCE

Demetrius decides to leave Antigonus in charge of the war in Greece, assembles all his ships and embarks with his troops to attack Caria and Lydia, provinces in Asia Minor controlled by Lysimachus.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Sun Feb 06, 2011 07:44:09 am

288 BCE

The Sri Maha Bodhi Sacred Fig tree is planted at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. This is the earliest known planting date for any planted tree still surviving.

iomoon · **Posted:** Mon Feb 07, 2011 15:04:05 pm

289 BCE

The tyrant of Syracuse, Agathocles, dies after restoring the Syracusan democracy on his death bed, by stating that he does not want his sons to succeed him as king. However, the resulting dissension among his family about the succession leads to a renewal of Carthaginian power in Sicily.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Mon Feb 07, 2011 15:29:02 pm

290 BCE

Berenice, wife of Ptolemy, is proclaimed queen of Egypt. Ptolemy has the city of Berenice built on the Red Sea in her honour. It becomes a great emporium for Egyptian trade with the East.

iomoon · **Posted:** Tue Feb 08, 2011 10:29:57 am

291 BCE

The Romans storm and take the Samnite city of Venusia.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Fri Mar 25, 2011 11:17:01 am

Sorry IO, I thought it was your turn... :oops:

292 BCE

Lysimachus tries to extend his influence beyond the Danube River, but he is defeated and taken prisoner by the Getae (Dacian) king Dromichaetes (Dromihete). Eventually, Lysimachus is set free and a peace is agreed between the Getae and Lysimachus. This peace agreement is strengthened further by the marriage of Dromichaetes with Lysimachus' daughter.

While Demetrius Poliorcetes is campaigning in Boeotia, he receives news that Lysimachus, the ruler of Thrace, has been taken prisoner by Dromichaetes. Hoping to seize Lysimachus's territories in Thrace, Demetrius, delegates command of his forces in Boeotia to his son, Antigonus and immediately marches north. However, while he is away, the Boeotians rise in rebellion, but are defeated by Antigonus, who bottles them up in the city of Thebes.

iomoon · **Posted:** Sun Apr 03, 2011 02:09:46 am

293 BCE

Rome suffers from the plague. The worship of Aesculapius is introduced from Epidaurus to Rome in the hope of averting the plague.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Sun Apr 03, 2011 09:21:23 am

294 BCE

Stratonice, daughter of Demetrius Poliorcetes and wife of Seleucus marries her stepson Antiochus. Seleucus has reportedly instigated the marriage after discovering that his son by his late wife Apama was in danger of dying of lovesickness as he has fallen in love with his beautiful stepmother.

'Antiochus I and Stratonice', a painting by Jacques-Louis David (1774).

iomoon · **Posted:** Tue Apr 05, 2011 10:49:40 am

295 BCE

Athens falls to Demetrius Poliorcetes after a bitter siege, and its tyrant Lachares is killed.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Tue Apr 05, 2011 13:34:38 pm

296 BCE

The temple to Bellona is erected at the south end of the prata Flaminia, later the Circus Flaminius, in Rome.

iomoon · **Posted:** Thu Apr 07, 2011 09:13:29 am

297 BCE

Ptolemy decides to support Pyrrhus of Epirus and restores him to his kingdom. At first Pyrrhus reigns with a kinsman, Neoptolemus II of Epirus (who is a son of Cleopatra of Macedonia and a nephew of Alexander the Great), but soon he has him assassinated.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:37:59 am

298 BCE

Bindusara succeeds his father Chandragupta Maurya as emperor of the Mauryan Empire.

iomoon · **Posted:** Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:36:46 am

299 BCE

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, Sabine, and Etruscan allies to help them.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:52:39 pm

300 BCE

Alexandrian mathematician Euclid sets out the laws of geometry in his Stoicheion/Elements; it remains a standard text for 2,000 years. He also sets out the laws of reflection in Catoptrics.

iomoon · **Posted:** Wed Apr 13, 2011 09:30:21 am

301 BCE

Antigonus' defeat and death secures Cassander control of Macedonia. Through this victory, Lysimachus is able to add the greater part of Asia Minor to his European possessions while Seleucus now controls most of Syria. However, Demetrius is able to keep a foothold in Greece.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Wed Apr 13, 2011 13:30:13 pm

302 BCE

The Macedonian general, Philetaerus, moves his allegiance from Antigonus to Antigonus' rival, Lysimachus. In return, Lysimachus makes Philetaerus guardian of the fortress of Pergamum with its treasure of some 9,000 talents.

muruk · **Posted:** Wed Apr 13, 2011 14:20:35 pm

303 BCE

Demetrius Poliorcetes occupies Corinth:

The photo was, of course, taken much later.

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Wed Apr 13, 2011 14:25:01 pm

304 BCE

The Mauryan emperor Chandragupta defeats Seleucos I as he tries to invade India.

iomoon · **Posted:** Sat Apr 16, 2011 07:44:05 am

305 BCE

Antigonus I Monophthalmus sends his son Demetrius to conquer Rhodes, which has refused him armed support against Ptolemy. He shows ingenuity in devising new siege engines in his unsuccessful attempt to reduce the city. Among his creations are a battering ram 60 metres long and requiring 1,000 men to operate it and a wheeled siege tower named "Helepolis" (or "Taker of Cities") which stands 40 metres tall and 20 metres wide and weighs 180 tons. This siege of Rhodes earns Demetrius the title Poliorcetes ("the City Besieger").


*Click For Our Newest Issues*	*Click for our Current Auction*	Internet Auctions-Buy & Sell Stamps	Melbourne 2013 - May 10-15

Postage Stamp Chat Board & Stamp Bulletin Board Forum

This YEAR IN HISTORY.

Who is online