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Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	3rd century BC 2nd century BC 1st century BC
Decades:	180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC
Years:	169 BC 168 BC 167 BC 166 BC 165 BC 164 BC 163 BC

Politics
166 BC by topic
State leaders Political entities
Categories
v t e

166 BC in various calendars
Gregorian calendar	166 BC CLXVI BC
Ab urbe condita	588
Ancient Egypt era	XXXIII dynasty, 158
- Pharaoh	Ptolemy VI Philometor, 15
Ancient Greek era	153rd Olympiad, year 3
Assyrian calendar	4585
Balinese saka calendar	N/A
Bengali calendar	−758
Berber calendar	785
Buddhist calendar	379
Burmese calendar	−803
Byzantine calendar	5343–5344
Chinese calendar	甲戌年 (Wood Dog) 2532 or 2325 — to — 乙亥年 (Wood Pig) 2533 or 2326
Coptic calendar	−449 – −448
Discordian calendar	1001
Ethiopian calendar	−173 – −172
Hebrew calendar	3595–3596
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	−109 – −108
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	2935–2936
Holocene calendar	9835
Iranian calendar	787 BP – 786 BP
Islamic calendar	811 BH – 810 BH
Javanese calendar	N/A
Julian calendar	N/A
Korean calendar	2168
Minguo calendar	2077 before ROC 民前2077年
Nanakshahi calendar	−1633
Seleucid era	146/147 AG
Thai solar calendar	377–378
Tibetan calendar	阳木狗年 (male Wood-Dog) −39 or −420 or −1192 — to — 阴木猪年 (female Wood-Pig) −38 or −419 or −1191

Year 166 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marcellus and Galus (or, less frequently, year 588 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 166 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.

Events

By place

Seleucid Empire

The Seleucid king Antiochus IV mounts a campaign against the Parthians who are threatening his empire in the east. He leaves his chancellor, Lysias, with responsibility for the government of southern Syria and the guardianship of his son.
The leader of the Jewish revolt against Syria rule, Mattathias, dies and his third son, Judas, assumes leadership of the revolt in accordance with the deathbed deposition of his father.
The Battle of Beth Horon is fought between Jewish forces led by Judas Maccabeus and a Seleucid army. Maccabeus gains the element of surprise and successfully routs the much larger Syrian army.
The Battle of Emmaus takes place between the Jewish rebels led by Judas Maccabeus and Seleucid forces sent by Antiochus IV and led by Lysias and his general, Gorgias. In the ensuing battle, Judas Maccabeus and his men succeed in repelling Gorgias and forcing his army out of Judea and down to the coastal plain in what is an important victory in the war for Judea's independence.

Roman Republic

The Roman playwright Terence's Andria (The Girl from Andros) is first performed.^[1]

China

Laoshang leads 140,000 Xiongnu cavalry in a raid in Anding, and they reach as far as the royal retreat at Yong.

Deaths

Mattathias, father of Judas Maccabaeus, Jewish priest from Modi'in, near Jerusalem, who has started and briefly led a rebellion by the Jews in Judea against the Seleucid kingdom of Syria
Perseus, the last Macedonian king of the Antigonid dynasty (b. c. 212 BC)