istoryworld
All Events
Hannibal destroys a Roman army at Cannae, in the most severe defeat ever suffered by Rome
The Qin emperor joins up earlier fortifications to create the Great Wall of China
In the Qin dictatorship, all Confucian books are burnt (except those of any practical use) and 460 Confucian scholars are executed
A delegate from imperial China establishes the kingdom of Nam-Viet with himself as king
The Qin emperor, Shi Huangdi, is buried at Xi'an with a vast army of terracotta soldiers
The Han, the first of the great Chinese dynasties, is established
Hannibal suffers his first decisive defeat by a Roman army, at an unidentified site in north Africa called Zama
Carthaginian Spain is handed over to Rome to become two new provinces, at the end of the Second Punic War
Cement is in use for construction in Asia Minor, possibly developed first in Pergamum
The earth drawings of the Nazca people, known now as the Nazca Lines, are some of the largest works of art ever created
Indian cavalrymen ride with their big toes in loops of leather or fabric - a first step towards the stirrup
Seafarers reach and colonize the Pacific island of Samoa
The oasis city of Palmyra acquires importance on the caravan route between Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean
The Mochica develop a civilization, in the north of modern Peru, known for its realistic pottery sculpture
The Romans, after defeating Macedon, announce at the Isthmian Games that all Greek states are now free under Roman protection
Priests issue a decree on the first anniversary of the accession of Ptolemy V – it is the first three-script inscription to have been discovered, known now as the Rosetta Stone
The text of the Rosetta stone is chiselled into a black basalt slab in the three scripts hieroglyphic Egyptian, demotic Egyptian, and Greek
Sparta's ancient political system comes to an end, but the ordeal by flogging lingers on as a tourist attraction in the temple of Artemis
Plautus and Terence, in the second and third century BC, create a Roman drama based on Greek originals
Hannibal, to avoid falling into Roman hands, commits suicide in the Bithynian town of Libyssa
The Yuezhi, defeated by the Xiongnu, move west - before eventually descending into Bactria and northwest India
Parchment is invented by Eumenes II, king of Pergamum, according to traditional accounts
Antiochus IV places a statue of Zeus above the altar of the Temple in Jerusalem, provoking violent reactions from the Jews
The Jewish leader Judas the Maccabee captures Jerusalem and cleanses the Temple
The Roman statesman Cato the Elder writes Origines ('Origins'), a history of Rome which survives only in fragments
