During the 290s BC, Hellenistic civilization begins its emergence throughout the successor states of the former Argead Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great, resulting in the diffusion of Greek culture throughout the Levant and advances in science, mathematics, philosophy, etc. Meanwhile, the Roman Republic is embroiled in war against the Samnites, the Mauryan Empire continues to thrive in Ancient India, and the Kingdom of Qin in Ancient China, the one which in the future will conquer its adversaries and unite China, begins to emerge as a significant power during the Warring States period.

Millennium
1st millennium BC
Centuries
Decades
Years
Categories

Events

299 BC

This section is transcluded from 299 BC. (edit | history)

By place

Roman Republic
  • A coalition of raiders from Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul invade Etruria and are paid off by the Etruscans.
  • Rome accuses the Etruscans of seeking to ally with the Gauls against Rome. The consul Titus Manlius Torquatus marches an army into Etruria but dies three days after falling from his horse. The new consul Marcus Valerius Corvus ravages Etruria, destroying villages in an attempt to provoke the Etruscans into battle.
  • Rome allies with the Picentes.
  • The Samnites invade Lucania after the latter refuses to join them in alliance. The Lucanians suffer several defeats and lose multiple towns.[1][2][3][4]
China

298 BC

This section is transcluded from 298 BC. (edit | history)

By place

Roman Republic
  • The consuls Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus and Gnaeus Fulvius Maximus Centumalus campaign against the Etruscans. Scipio fights a costly indecisive battle near Volaterrae.
  • The Lucanians seek Roman aid against the invasion of the Samnites. In agreeing to take the Lucanians under their protection, the Romans commit to war against the Samnites.
  • Fulvius invades central Samnium and defeats a Samnite army near Bovianum. He then captures Aufidena and possibly also Bovianum.
  • Scipio captures Taurasia and Cisauna in eastern and south-eastern Samnium and subdues anti-Roman elements in Lucania. Fulvius possibly defeats a Lucanian force as well.[6][7][8][9]
Sicily
Egypt
India
China

297 BC

This section is transcluded from 297 BC. (edit | history)

By place

Roman Republic
Bithynia
Greece
India

296 BC

This section is transcluded from 296 BC. (edit | history)

By place

Roman Republic
  • The consul Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens and the proconsuls Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus and Publius Decius Mus devastate the lands of Samnium.
  • The Samnite noble Gellius Egnatius leads an army into Umbria and makes an alliance with the majority of the Etruscan city-states and some of the Umbrian cities.
  • Following the departure of Gellius, the Romans in Samnium attack walled positions. Volumnius captures three forts, Decius captures the town of Murgantia, and Fabius captures the city of Romulea and the town of Ferentinum.
  • The Samnite-Etruscan coalition campaigns against the consul Appius Claudius Caecus in Etruria and inflicts several defeats on the Romans.
  • Volumnius orders Fabius to march into Lucania, where he stamps out pro-Samnite disturbances against the ruling class.
  • Volumnius joins Appius in Etruria and they defeat the Samnite-Etruscan coalition in a battle, killing 6900 and capturing 2120.
  • Volumnius launches a surprise attack against a Samnite column that had been raiding Campania. He frees 7400 Campanian prisoners, kills 6000 Samnites, and captures 2500 Samnites, including the general Statius Minacius and four military tribunes.
  • Gellius has a powerful warband of Semnones reinforce the anti-Roman coalition, which is also joined by yet more cities of the Umbrians.[12]
Greece

295 BC

This section is transcluded from 295 BC. (edit | history)

By place

Roman Republic
Greece

294 BC

This section is transcluded from 294 BC. (edit | history)

By place

Greece
Roman Republic
  • On a road connecting Roman and Samnite territory, the Samnites attack and nearly capture the camp of consul Marcus Atilius Regulus, who retreats to Sora and is joined by consul Lucius Postumius Megellus. The combining of consular armies prompts the Samnite army to withdraw to Samnium.
  • Postumius storms the Samnite city of Milionia, and several other towns, including Fertrum, are abandoned by their inhabitants and occupied by Postumius.
  • Without senatorial permission, Postumius marches to Etruria, wins an engagement against the Volsinii and storms the town of Rusellae. The cities of Volsinii, Perusia, and Arretium sue for peace with Rome and obtain truces for forty years.
  • Atilius marches to Apulia to relieve Luceria from a Samnite siege but is intercepted by the Samnites near the city, where he is defeated by a smaller army. He then wins an engagement against the Volcentes.
  • After an unsuccessful attempt to capture the Roman colony of Interamna, a Samnite army raids the surrounding countryside only to be attacked by Atilius, who recovers the booty.
  • Against precedent, Postumius has the Comitia Centuriata vote him a triumph despite senatorial opposition.[16][17][18][19]
Egypt
Seleucid Empire
China

293 BC

This section is transcluded from 293 BC. (edit | history)

By place

Roman Republic
  • Lucius Postumius Megellus, a consul of the previous year, avoids prosecution after he is appointed legate to consul Spurius Carvilius Maximus.
  • The consul Carvilius captures the city of Amiternum, and consul Lucius Papirius Cursor captures the city of Duronia.
  • On the same day that Carvilius storms the major Samnite city of Cominium, Papirius, aided by former consuls Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens and Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, defeats the 'Linen Legion' in the Battle of Aquilonia and captures the city of Aquilonia during the Samnite retreat. The Samnites suffer 20,340 killed and 3870 captured in the Battle of Aquilonia and 4880 killed and 11,400 captured in the Siege of Cominium.
  • Carvilius captures the towns of Velia, Palumbinum, and, after an initial defeat, Herculaneum, and after fighting the Samnites in the field, Papirius besieges and captures the city of Saepinum.
  • Due to renewed hostility among some of the Etruscans, who are joined by the Falisci, Carvilius marches to Etruria, storms the town of Troilum and captures five forts. The Falisci then sue for peace and receive a one-year truce.[21][22][23]
Persia
China

292 BC

This section is transcluded from 292 BC. (edit | history)

By place

Greece
Roman Republic
China

291 BC

This section is transcluded from 291 BC. (edit | history)

By place

Greece
Roman Republic
  • The proconsul Q. Fabius Maximus Gurges and legate Q. Fabius Maximus Rullianus besiege the Samnite town of Cominium Ocritum, but the consul Lucius Postumius Megellus orders Fabius Gurges to relinquish his command and evacuate Samnium, despite the fact that the Senate had appointed Fabius proconsul to campaign against the Samnites.
  • Fabius Gurges celebrates a triumph, at which the Samnite general Gavius Pontius is beheaded.
  • Postumius captures Cominium Ocritum, the major city of Venusia and other towns, killing 10,000 and capturing 6200. At the proposal of Postumius, the Senate sends 20,000 colonists to occupy Venusia, the largest Roman colony to date. However, angered by the various crimes of Postumius, the Senate does not choose him as one of the leaders of the colony and denies him a triumph.
  • Postumius celebrates a triumph on his own authority and dismisses his army before the consuls for the following year can take over.[31][32][33]
China

290 BC

This section is transcluded from 290 BC. (edit | history)

By place

Roman Republic
  • Lucius Postumius Megellus, a consul from the previous year, is publicly tried for having used his office to have 2000 of his soldiers work on his farm. He is condemned by all the tribes and fined 50,000 denarii.
  • The consuls Manius Curius Dentatus and Publius Cornelius Rufinus invade Samnium and defeat the Samnites in several engagements. The Samnites sue for peace, thus ending the Third Samnite War. The Samnites are recognised by the Romans as autonomous allies but are subordinate to Rome and must give up land as compensation.
  • Curius subjugates the Sabines, possibly for their actions or inaction during the Third Samnite War. Their territory is annexed, securing direct Roman access to the Adriatic. The Sabines are granted civitas sine suffragio ("citizenship without the right to vote").
  • Rome founds the colonies of Castrum, Sena and Adria.[35][36][37][38][39][40][41]
Egypt
China

Significant people

Births

Transcluding articles: 299 BC, 298 BC, 297 BC, 296 BC, 295 BC, 294 BC, 293 BC, 292 BC, 291 BC, and 290 BC

295 BC

291 BC

290 BC

Deaths

Transcluding articles: 299 BC, 298 BC, 297 BC, 296 BC, 295 BC, 294 BC, 293 BC, 292 BC, 291 BC, and 290 BC

299 BC

297 BC

295 BC

291 BC

290 BC

References

  1. ^ of Megalopolis, Polybius. Histories 2.19.1-4.
  2. ^ Livius, Titus. Ab Urbe Condita 10.9-11.
  3. ^ of Halicarnassus, Dionysius. Roman Antiquities 16.11.
  4. ^ Oakley, S. P. Commentary on Livy, Books VI-X, 4 : Book X.
  5. ^ Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Section: Basic Annals of Qin.
  6. ^ Livius, Titus. Ab Urbe Condita 10.11-12.
  7. ^ of Halicarnassus, Dionysius. Roman Antiquities 16.11-14.
  8. ^ Frontinus, Sextus Julius. Stratagemata 1.6.1-2, 1.11.2.
  9. ^ Oakley, S. P. Commentary on Livy, Books VI-X, 4 : Book X.
  10. ^ Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Section: Basic Annals of Qin.
  11. ^ Livius, Titus. Ab Urbe Condita 10.14-15.
  12. ^ Livius, Titus. Ab Urbe Condita 10.16-21.
  13. ^ Platner and Ashby, A Topographical Dictionary of Rome. Oxford University Press, 1926. p. 82.
  14. ^ of Megalopolis, Polybius. Histories 2.19.5-6.
  15. ^ Livius, Titus. Ab Urbe Condita 10.25-31.
  16. ^ Livius, Titus. Ab Urbe Condita 10.32-37, 47.
  17. ^ Triumphales, Fasti. 294 BC.
  18. ^ Zonaras, John. Epitome of Histories 7.26.
  19. ^ Oakley, S. P. Commentary on Livy, Books VI-X, 4 : Book X.
  20. ^ Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Section: Basic Annals of Qin, Section: Bai Qi.
  21. ^ Livius, Titus. Ab Urbe Condita 10.38-47.
  22. ^ Dio, Cassius. Roman History 8.29.
  23. ^ Zonaras, John. Epitome of Histories 7.26.
  24. ^ Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Section: Basic Annals of Qin, Section: Bai Qi.
  25. ^ "Antiochus I Soter". Encyclopædia Britannica. February 13, 2024. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  26. ^ Dio, Cassius. Roman History 8.30.
  27. ^ Eutropius, Flavius. Breviarium 2.9.
  28. ^ Orosius, Paulus. History against the Pagans 3.22.
  29. ^ Zonaras, John. Epitome of Histories 7.26.
  30. ^ Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Section: Basic Annals of Qin, Section: Bai Qi.
  31. ^ Livius, Titus. Ab Urbe Condita, Epitome of Book 11.
  32. ^ of Halicarnassus, Dionysius. Roman Antiquities 16.15-18.
  33. ^ Dio, Cassius. Roman History 8.32.
  34. ^ Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Section: Basic Annals of Qin, Section: Bai Qi.
  35. ^ Livius, Titus. Ab Urbe Condita, Epitome of Book 11.
  36. ^ of Halicarnassus, Dionysius. Roman Antiquities 16.15-18.
  37. ^ Dio, Cassius. Roman History 8.37.
  38. ^ Victor, Aurelius. De Viris Illustribus, on Curius Dentatus.
  39. ^ Eutropius, Flavius. Breviarium 2.9.
  40. ^ Orosius, Paulus. History against the Pagans 3.22.11.
  41. ^ Oakley, S. P. Commentary on Livy, Books VI-X, 4 : Book X.
  42. ^ Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Section: Basic Annals of Qin.
  43. ^ "Maurya". Livius. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012.
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