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220s BC

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This article concerns the period 229 BC – 220 BC.

Events

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229 BC

By place

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Anatolia
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Illyria
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  • The First Illyrian War started when the Roman Senate dispatched an army under the command of the consuls Lucius Postumius Albinus and Gnaeus Fulvius Centumalus to Illyria. Rome forced the withdrawal of Illyrian garrisons in the Greek cities of Epidamnus, Apollonia, Corcyra and Pharos and establishes a protectorate over these Greek towns.[1]
  • The Illyrian tribe of the Ardiaei is subdued by the Romans.
  • The King of Macedonia, Demetrius II, dies. His nephew, Antigonus III comes to the Macedonian throne as regent for his half-cousin and the future king Philip V, who is only ten years old.
  • Concerned at Rome's expansion, Antigonus III pursues a policy of befriending the Illyrians, even though the Greeks in the region support Rome in quelling the Illyrian pirates.
  • The involvement of Rome in Illyria led to the establishment of friendly relations between Rome and the enemies of Macedonia: the Aetolian League and Achaean League, which approve the suppression of Illyrian piracy.
  • Aratus of Sicyon brings Argos into the Achaean League and then helps liberate Athens. This brings Aratus into conflict with Sparta.
China
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  • The Qin general Wang Jian launches a three-pronged invasion of the state of Zhao but is hindered by the Zhao general Li Mu.
  • The Zhao Prime Minister Guo Kai, influenced by the machinations of Qin, executes Li Mu.

228 BC

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By place

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Carthage
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  • The Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca is killed in a battle in Hispania, ending his lengthy campaign to conquer the Iberian Peninsula for Carthage. In eight years, by force of arms and diplomacy, he has secured an extensive territory in the Iberian Peninsula, but his death in battle prevents him from completing the conquest. Command of his army in the Iberian Peninsula passes to his son-in-law Hasdrubal.
  • Hasdrubal makes immediate policy changes, emphasizing the use of diplomatic rather than military methods for expanding Carthaginian Hispania and dealing with Rome. He founds Carthago Nova or New Carthage (modern Cartagena) as his capital city.
Asia Minor
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Greece
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  • The Illyrian queen Teuta's governor, Demetrius of Pharos has little alternative but to surrender to the overwhelming Roman force. In return, the Romans award him a considerable part of Teuta's holdings to counter-balance the power of Teuta. Meanwhile, the Roman army lands farther north at Apollonia. The combined Roman army and fleet proceed northward together, subduing one town after another and besieging Shkodra, the Illyrian capital.
  • Archidamus V, brother of the murdered Spartan King Agis IV, is called back to Sparta by the Agiad King Cleomenes III, who has no counterpart on the throne by then. However, Archidamus V is assassinated shortly after returning.
China
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227 BC

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By place

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Illyria
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  • Queen Teuta of Illyria finally surrenders to Roman forces and is forced by the Romans to accept an ignominious peace. The Romans allow her to continue her reign but restrict her to a narrow region around the Illyrian capital, Shkodra, deprive her of all her other territory, and forbid her to sail an armed ship below Lissus just south of the capital. They also require her to pay an annual tribute and to acknowledge the final authority of Rome.
Greece
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  • The Macedonian regent, Antigonus III, marries the former king Demetrius II's widow, Phthia, and assumes the crown thus deposing the young Philip V.
  • The Spartan King Cleomenes III imposes reforms on his kingdom which include the cancelling of debts, providing land for 4,000 citizens, and restoring the training of youth in the martial arts. The Ephorate, five elected magistrates who, with the King, form the main executive body of the state, is abolished (four of the five ephors being executed); the powers of the Gerousia, the oligarchic council of elders, is curtailed; and the patronomoi (the board of six elders) is introduced. Cleomenes' changes are designed to make the monarchy supreme and re-create a society of aristocrats, while neglecting Sparta's helots (serfs) and perioikoi (free but non-citizen inhabitants). Eighty opponents of the reforms are exiled, while his brother Eucleidas is installed as co-ruler in the place of the murdered Archidamus V.
  • Cleomenes III defeats the Achaeans under Aratus of Sicyon at Mount Lycaeum and at Ladoceia near Megalopolis.
Roman Republic
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Seleucid Empire
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China
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226 BC

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By place

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Greece
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Roman Republic
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  • A formidable host of Gauls, some of them from across the Alps, threaten Rome.
  • The Greek merchants of Massilia, frightened by Carthaginian successes in Spain (including their exploitation of the Spanish silver mines), appeal to Rome. Rome makes an alliance with the independent Spanish port city of Saguntum south of the Ebro River.
  • The Romans send an embassy to Hasdrubal and conclude the Ebro Treaty which prohibits him from waging war north of the river Ebro, but allowing him a free hand to the south even at the expense of the interests of the town of Massilia.
Seleucid Empire
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  • Antiochus Hierax, brother of the Seleucid King Seleucus II manages to escape from captivity in Thrace and flees to the mountains to raise an army, but he is killed by a band of Galatians.
  • Seleucus II dies after a fall from his horse and is succeeded by his eldest son Seleucus III Soter. At the time of Seleucus II's death, the empire of the Seleucids, with its capital at Antioch on the Orontes, stretches from the Aegean Sea to the borders of India and includes southern Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Persia, and northern Syria. Dynastic power is upheld by a mercenary army and by the loyalty of many Greek cities founded by Alexander the Great and his successors. The strength of the empire is already being sapped by repeated revolts in its eastern provinces and dissention amongst the members of the Seleucid dynasty.
China
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  • The Qin generals Wang Jian, Li Xin and Wang Ben conquer western Yan and its capital Ji. To secure peace, king Xi of Yan executes his son Crown Prince Dan, who is wanted for the attempted assassination of the king of Qin, Ying Zheng.
  • Lord Changping defects from the State of Qin and returns to his motherland in Chu.
  • That same year, ex-Han nobility launched a failed rebellion against the Qin Forces. But in the end they were crushed.

225 BC

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By place

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Roman Republic
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Seleucid Empire
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China
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224 BC

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By place

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Greece
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Roman Republic
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China
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  • Qin begins the invasion of Chu. Initially, the Qin generals Li Xin and Meng Tian capture several cities and defeat the Chu army.
  • The Qin Prime Minister Lord Changping, who was born in Chu, incites a Chu rebellion against the Qin invaders. He and the Chu general Xiang Yan then surprise and defeat the Qin army led by Li Xin and Meng Tian in the Battle of Chengfu.
  • Taking command of the Qin war effort, Wang Jian twice defeats Xiang Yan and captures Fuchu, the king of Chu, as well as the Chu capital Chen and the city of Pingyu.
  • Xiang Yan retreats his forces south of the Huai River and makes Lord Changping the new king of Chu.[4]

223 BC

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By place

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Seleucid Empire
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Roman Republic
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Greece
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Bactria
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China
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222 BC

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By place

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Roman Republic
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Greece
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Seleucid Empire
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China
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221 BC

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By place

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Iberian Peninsula
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  • The Carthaginian general Hasdrubal is murdered by a Celtic assassin while campaigning to increase the Carthaginian hold on Spain. Following the assassination of Hasdrubal, Hannibal, the son of the Carthaginian general, Hamilcar Barca, is proclaimed commander-in-chief by the army and his appointment is confirmed by the Carthaginian government.
  • Hannibal immediately moves to consolidate Carthage's control of Spain. He marries a Spanish princess, Imilce, then begins to conquer various Spanish tribes. He fights against the Olcades and captures their capital, Althaea; quells the Vaccaei in the northwest; and, making the seaport of Cartagena (Carthago Nova, the capital of Carthaginian Spain) his base, wins a resounding victory over the Carpetani in the region of the Tagus River.
Egypt
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Seleucid Empire
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  • The satrap of Media, Molon, and his brother, Alexander, revolt against Antiochus III, primarily due to their hatred towards Hermeias, Antiochus' chief minister. Molon is able to become master of the Seleucid domains to the east of the Tigris. He is stopped by Antiochus III's forces in his attempts to pass that river. Xenoetas, one of Antiochus' generals, is sent against Molon with a large force, but is surprised by Molon's forces and his whole army is cut to pieces and Xenoetas is killed. The rebel satrap now crosses the Tigris, and makes himself master of the city of Seleucia on the Tigris, together with the whole of Babylonia and Mesopotamia.
Greece
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Roman Republic
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China
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  • The state of Qi – by now the only other independent state in China –, is invaded by the Qin generals Wang Ben, Li Xin and Meng Tian and surrenders after offering minimal resistance. Ying Zheng, the king of Qin unifies China and proclaims himself the First Emperor, as he is the first Chinese sovereign able to rule the whole country, thus ending the Warring States period. He is known by historians as Qin Shi Huang.[11]
  • The Chinese Bronze Age ends (approximate date).

220 BC

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By place

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Greece
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Seleucid Empire
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  • Antiochus III the Great defeats Molon at the Tigris River, defeating and killing. Antiochus goes on to conquer Atropatene.[5]
  • Meanwhile, the birth of a son to Antiochus III and Laodice (daughter of Mithridates II, king of Pontus) leads Hermeias to consider getting rid of the king so that he can rule under the name of the infant son. Antiochus discovers the scheme and arranges the assassination of Hermeias.
Anatolia
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  • Antiochus III's commander in Anatolia, Achaeus, having recovered all the districts which Attalus of Pergamum has gained, is accused by Hermeias, the chief minister of Antiochus, of intending to revolt. In self-defence, Achaeus assumes the title of king and rules over the Anatolian parts of the Seleucid kingdom.
Egypt
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Roman Republic
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Iberian Peninsula
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  • Hannibal campaigns against the Vaccaei, he storms the Vaccaen strongholds of Helmantice and Arbucala.
  • On his return home, laden with many spoils, a coalition of Hispanic tribes, led by the Carpetani, attack his army at the river Tagus, here Hannibal wins his first independent victory.
China
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By topic

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Art
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  • A bronze statue called Gallic Chieftain killing his wife and himself is made (approximate date). A Roman copy after the original statue is today preserved at Museo Nazionale Romano in Rome.
  • A bronze statue called Dying Gallic trumpeter is made (possibly by Epigonus) (230-220 BC). A marble Roman copy after the original statue is today preserved at Museo Capitolino in Rome.

Births

229 BC

227 BC

221 BC

220 BC

Deaths

229 BC

228 BC

227 BC

226 BC

225 BC

224 BC

223 BC

222 BC

221 BC

220 BC

References

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  1. ^ "Appian, Illyrian Wars, CHAPTER II, section 7". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  2. ^ Polybius, The Histories, 2:26–27.
  3. ^ Polybius, The Histories, 2:27–30.
  4. ^ Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Section: The First Emperor, Section: Wang Jian, Section: Meng Tian.
  5. ^ a b Volkmann, Hans (February 13, 2024). "Antiochus III the Great". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  6. ^ Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Section: The First Emperor, Section: Wang Jian, Section: Meng Tian.
  7. ^ Polybius, The Histories, 2.19-20
  8. ^ Polybius, The Histories, 2.19; Plutarch, Marcellus, 6-7.
  9. ^ Polybius, The Histories, II 17,4-5 and 20.
  10. ^ Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Section: The First Emperor, Section: Wang Jian.
  11. ^ Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Section: The First Emperor, Section: Wang Jian, Section: Meng Tian.
  12. ^ Dodson, Aidan (2004). The complete royal families of Ancient Egypt. Dyan Hilton. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05128-3. OCLC 59265536.
  13. ^ Stambaugh, John E. (1988). The Ancient Roman City. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 25. ISBN 0-8018-3574-7.
  14. ^ Dumitru, Adrian George (2015-11-30), "Some thoughts about Seleucid Thrace in the 3rd century BC", The Danubian Lands between the Black, Aegean and Adriatic Seas, Archaeopress Publishing Ltd, pp. 293–298, doi:10.2307/j.ctvr43k44.46, ISBN 978-1-78491-193-5, retrieved 2021-05-27
  15. ^ "Attalus II Philadelphus". Encyclopædia Britannica. February 13, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.