2nd century BC

Last updated
Map of the Eastern Hemisphere in 200 BC, the beginning of the second century BC. East-Hem 200bc.jpg
Map of the Eastern Hemisphere in 200 BC, the beginning of the second century BC.
Map of the world in 100 BC, the end of the second century BC. World in 100 BCE.PNG
Map of the world in 100 BC, the end of the second century BC.

The 2nd century BC started the first day of 200 BC and ended the last day of 101 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, although depending on the region being studied, other terms may be more suitable. It is also considered to be the end of the Axial Age. [1] In the context of the Eastern Mediterranean, it is the mid-point of the Hellenistic period.

Contents

Fresh from its victories in the Second Punic War, the Roman Republic continued its expansion in the western Mediterranean, campaigning in the Iberian peninsula throughout the century and annexing the North African coast after the destruction of the city of Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War. They became the dominant force in the Aegean by destroying Antigonid Macedonia in the Macedonian Wars and Corinth in the Achaean War. The Hellenistic kingdoms of Ptolemaic Egypt and Attalid Pergamon entered into subordinate relationships with the Romans – Pergamon was eventually annexed. The end of the century witnessed the evolution of the Roman army from a citizen army into a voluntary professional force, which later scholars would misattribute to putative reforms by noted general and statesman Gaius Marius (the so-called Marian Reforms).

In the Near East, the other major Hellenistic kingdom, the Seleucid Empire collapsed into civil war in the middle of the century, following the loss of Asia Minor to the Romans and the conquest of the Iranian plateau and Mesopotamia by the Parthian empire. Outlying regions became independent kingdoms, notably the Hasmonean kingdom in Judaea.

In East Asia, China reached a high point under the Han dynasty. The Han Empire extended its boundaries from Korea in the east to Vietnam in the South to the borders of modern-day Kazakhstan in the west. The nomadic Xiongnu were at the height of their power at the beginning of the century, collecting tribute from the Han. Their victories over the Yuezhi set off a chain of westward migrations in Central Asia. Han efforts to find allies against the Xiongnu by exploring the lands to their west would ultimately lead to the opening of the Silk Road. [2]

In South Asia, the Mauryan Empire in India collapsed when Brihadnatha, the last emperor, was killed by Pushyamitra Shunga, a Mauryan general who founded of the Shunga Empire. The Greco-Bactrians crossed the Hindu Kush and established the Indo-Greek Kingdom, but lost their homeland in Bactria to the Sakas, themselves under pressure from the Yuezhi.

Events

The Rosetta Stone, a trilingual decree recording the coronation of Ptolemy V at Memphis in Egypt. Rosetta Stone.JPG
The Rosetta Stone, a trilingual decree recording the coronation of Ptolemy V at Memphis in Egypt.

190s BC

180s BC

Tomb of Empress Lu in Changling, Xianyang, Shaanxi Changling 2.jpg
Tomb of Empress Lü in Changling, Xianyang, Shaanxi
A silver coin of 1 karshapana of King Pushyamitra Shunga (185-149 BC), founder of the Shunga dynasty. I17 1karshapana Sunga MACW4325 1ar (8485402873).jpg
A silver coin of 1 karshapana of King Pushyamitra Shunga (185-149 BC), founder of the Shunga dynasty.

170s BC

Bust of Antiochus IV at the Altes Museum in Berlin. Antiokhos IV.jpg
Bust of Antiochus IV at the Altes Museum in Berlin.

160s BC

Cleopatra II ruled Egypt in co-operation and competition with her brothers Ptolemy VI and VIII for most of the century. Lagid queen Isis Ma3546.jpg
Cleopatra II ruled Egypt in co-operation and competition with her brothers Ptolemy VI and VIII for most of the century.

150s BC

Mural from the tomb of Liu Wu whose principality was at the heart of the Rebellion of the Seven States Mural painting of four animals in clouds.jpg
Mural from the tomb of Liu Wu whose principality was at the heart of the Rebellion of the Seven States

140s BC

130s BC

Emperor Wu of Han was probably the most powerful man in the world at the end of the century Han Wu Di .jpg
Emperor Wu of Han was probably the most powerful man in the world at the end of the century

120s BC

Drachm of Mithridates II of Parthia, wearing a bejeweled tiara. Coin of Mithridates II of Parthia, Ray mint.jpg
Drachm of Mithridates II of Parthia, wearing a bejeweled tiara.

110s BC

100s BC

Significant people

Scipio Aemilianus Bronze statue of a Hellenistic prince, 1st half of 2nd century BC, found on the Quirinal in Rome, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome (31479801364).jpg
Scipio Aemilianus
Antiochus the Great Antiochos III.jpg
Antiochus the Great
A bust purported to be of Gaius Marius Marius Glyptothek Munich 319.jpg
A bust purported to be of Gaius Marius
Polybius Stele des Polybios.jpg
Polybius
Terence Portrait of Terence from Vaticana, Vat. lat.jpg
Terence
Coin of Menander I, the Greek king who ruled most of Northern India (c. 150-130) and converted to Buddhism. MenandrosCoin.jpg
Coin of Menander I, the Greek king who ruled most of Northern India (c. 150-130) and converted to Buddhism.
Posidonius was acclaimed as the greatest polymath of his age. Posidonio, replica augustea (23 ac.-14 dc ca) da originale del 100-50 ac. ca. 6142.JPG
Posidonius was acclaimed as the greatest polymath of his age.

Politics

Military

Literature

Science and philosophy

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

Hipparchus' equatorial ring. Equatorial ring.png
Hipparchus' equatorial ring.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seleucid Empire</span> Hellenistic-era Greek state in Western Asia (312–63 BC)

The Seleucid Empire was a Greek power in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great, and ruled by the Seleucid dynasty until its annexation by the Roman Republic under Pompey in 63 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd century BC</span> One hundred years, from 300 BC to 201 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.

80s BC is the time period from 89 BC – 80 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">200s BC (decade)</span> Decade

This article concerns the 200 BC decade, that lasted from 209 BC to 200 BC.

This article concerns the period 119 BC – 110 BC.

This article concerns the period 129 BC – 120 BC.

This article concerns the period 139 BC – 130 BC.

This article concerns the period 149 BC – 140 BC.

This article concerns the period 159 BC – 150 BC.

This article concerns the period 259 BC – 250 BC.

This article concerns the period 219 BC – 210 BC.

This article concerns the period 169 BC – 160 BC.

This article concerns the period 179 BC – 170 BC.

This article concerns the period 189 BC – 180 BC.

This article concerns the period 199 BC – 190 BC.

Year 205 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scipio and Dives. The denomination 205 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hellenistic period</span> Period of Greek history from 323 to 30 BC

In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII, followed by the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt the following year. The Ancient Greek word Hellas was gradually recognized as the name for Greece, from which the word Hellenistic was derived. "Hellenistic" is distinguished from "Hellenic" in that the latter refers to Greece itself, while the former encompasses all ancient territories under Greek influence, in particular the East after the conquests of Alexander the Great.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hellenistic Greece</span> Historical period of Greece following Classical Greece

Hellenistic Greece is the historical period of the country following Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the annexation of the classical Greek Achaean League heartlands by the Roman Republic. This culminated at the Battle of Corinth in 146 BC, a crushing Roman victory in the Peloponnese that led to the destruction of Corinth and ushered in the period of Roman Greece. Hellenistic Greece's definitive end was with the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, when the future emperor Augustus defeated Greek Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony, the next year taking over Alexandria, the last great center of Hellenistic Greece.

This article concerns the period 99 BC – 90 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greco-Bactrian Kingdom</span> Hellenistic-era Greek kingdom (256–100 BCE)

The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom or simply Greco-Bactria was a Hellenistic-era Greek state, and along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom, the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. It was founded in 256 BC by the Seleucid satrap Diodotus I Soter and lasted until its fall c. 120 BC with some cities still controlled by Greek kings such as Hermaeus Soter in what is today Kabul. It was ruled by the Diodotid dynasty and the rival Euthydemid dynasty.

References

  1. ↑ Meister, Chad (2009). Introducing Philosophy of Religion. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 10. ISBN   978-0-203-88002-9.
  2. ↑ "Silk Road, North China". The Megalithic Portal.
  3. ↑ Walbank, F. W. (1992). The Hellenistic world ([Rev.] ed.). London: Fontana. p. 101. ISBN   0-00-686104-0.
  4. ↑ "Barangay States". History Learning.
  5. ↑ Green, Peter (1990). Alexander to Actium : the historical evolution of the Hellenistic age. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 304. ISBN   978-0-520-08349-3.
  6. ↑ Willy Clarysse, Dorothy J. Thompson, Ulrich Luft, Counting the People in Hellenistic Egypt, Volume 2, Historical Studies (Cambridge University Press, 2006) p263
  7. ↑ Bernard Mineo, A Companion to Livy (Wiley, 2014) p412 (drawn by author from Polybius and Livy
  8. ↑ Walbank, F. W. (1992). The Hellenistic world ([Rev.] ed.). London: Fontana. p. 98. ISBN   0-00-686104-0.
  9. 1 2 Alan K. Bowman, Egypt After the Pharaohs, 332 BC-AD 642: From Alexander to the Arab Conquest (University of California Press, 1989), p30
  10. ↑ Errington, R. M. (1989). "Rome against Philip and Antiochus". In Astin, A. E.; Walbank, F. W.; Frederiksen, M. W.; Ogilvie, R. M. (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History 8: Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 BC (Second ed.). Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press. p. 271. ISBN   978-0-521-23448-1.
  11. ↑ Cartledge, Paul; Spawforth, A. (2002). Hellenistic and Roman Sparta : a tale of two cities (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. pp. 74–79. ISBN   0-415-26277-1.
  12. ↑ Eckart Kèohne, Gladiators and Caesars: The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome (University of California Press, 2000) p10
  13. ↑ Kim, Jinwung (2012). A history of Korea : from "Land of the Morning Calm" to states in conflict. Bloomington, Indiana. p. 16. ISBN   978-0-253-00024-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  14. ↑ T. Boiy, Late Achaemenid and Hellenistic Babylon (Peeters Publishers, 2004) p157
  15. ↑ Bringmann, Klaus (2007). A history of the Roman republic. Cambridge, UK: Polity. p. 91. ISBN   978-0-7456-3371-8.
  16. ↑ Walbank, F. W. (1992). The Hellenistic world ([Rev.] ed.). London: Fontana. p. 237. ISBN   0-00-686104-0.
  17. ↑ Grainger, John D. (2002). The Roman war of Antiochos the Great. Leiden: Brill. pp. 240–246. ISBN   978-90-04-12840-8.
  18. ↑ Grainger, John D. (2002). The Roman war of Antiochos the Great. Leiden: Brill. pp. 320–329. ISBN   978-90-04-12840-8.
  19. ↑ Grainger, John D. (2002). The Roman war of Antiochos the Great. Leiden: Brill. pp. 341–344. ISBN   978-90-04-12840-8.
  20. ↑ Wilson. Nigel Guy (2006). Encyclopedia of ancient Greece. Routledge. p.  58. ISBN   978-0-415-97334-2.
  21. ↑ Hölbl, Günther (2013). A History of the Ptolemaic Empire. p. 156. ISBN   978-1-135-11983-6.
  22. ↑ Thapar, Romila (2013). The past before us : historical traditions of early north India (First Harvard University Press ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts. p. 296. ISBN   978-0-674-72651-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  23. ↑ Loewe, Michael (1986). "The Former Han Dynasty". In Twitchett, Dennis; Loewe, Michael (eds.). The Cambridge History of China, Volume 1: The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC–AD 220. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 136. ISBN   978-0-521-24327-8.
  24. ↑ Bringmann, Klaus (2007) [2002]. A History of the Roman Republic. Translated by Smyth, W. J. Cambridge & Malden: Polity Press. p. 97. ISBN   978-0-7456-3371-8.
  25. ↑ Harris, W. V. (1989). "Roman Expansion in the West". In Astin, A. E.; Walbank, F. W.; Frederiksen, M. W.; Ogilvie, R. M. (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History 8: Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 BC (Second ed.). Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press. p. 125. ISBN   978-0-521-23448-1.
  26. ↑ Beckwith, Christopher I. (2009). Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton University Press. pp. 380–383. ISBN   978-1-4008-2994-1.
  27. ↑ M. Zambelli, "L'ascesa al trono di Antioco IV Epifane di Siria," Rivista di Filologia e di Istruzione Classica 38 (1960) 363–389
  28. ↑ Bringmann, Klaus (2007) [2002]. A History of the Roman Republic. Translated by Smyth, W. J. Cambridge & Malden: Polity Press. pp. 98–99. ISBN   978-0-7456-3371-8.
  29. ↑ O'Connor, J.J.; Robertson, E F (April 1999). "Hipparchus". Maths History. St Andrews University. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  30. ↑ "15 Significant Science and Tech Discoveries Ancient India Gave the World – Arise Arjuna Foundation" . Retrieved 2021-06-12.
  31. ↑ "Polybius • Histories — Book 10". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  32. ↑ Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering (Cambridge University Press, 1985) p118
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.