180s BC

This article concerns the period 189 BC – 180 BC.

Events

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189 BC

By place

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Roman Republic
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Greece
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  • The defeat of Antiochus III by the Romans in the Battle of Magnesia robs the Aetolian League of its principal foreign ally and makes it impossible for them to stand alone in continued opposition to Rome. The League is forced to sign a peace treaty with Rome that makes it a subject ally of the Republic. Although the League continues to exist in name, the power of the League is broken by the treaty and it never again constitutes a significant political or military force.
Asia Minor
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188 BC

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By place

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Greece
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Roman Republic
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Asia Minor
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China
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187 BC

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By place

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Seleucid Empire
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Roman Republic
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  • Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus is elected tribune of the plebs, in which capacity he is recorded as having saved Scipio Africanus from prosecution by interposing his veto. Tiberius is no friend nor political ally of Scipio's, but feels that the general's services to Rome merit his release from the threat of trial like any common criminal. Supposedly, in gratitude for this action, Scipio betrothes his youngest daughter, Cornelia, to him.
  • The construction of the Via Aemilia, a trunk road in the north Italian plains, running from Ariminum (Rimini), on the Adriatic coast, to Placentia (Piacenza) on the river Padus (Po), is completed.
Egypt
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186 BC

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By place

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Roman Republic
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  • The rapid spread of the Bacchanalia cult throughout the Roman Republic, which, it is claimed, indulges in all kinds of crimes and political conspiracies at its nocturnal meetings, leads to the Roman Senate issuing a decree, the Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus, by which the Bacchanalia are prohibited throughout all Italy except in certain special cases which must be approved specifically by the Senate.
Asia Minor
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China
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185 BC

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By place

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Roman Republic
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  • The Roman general Scipio Africanus and his brother Lucius are accused by Cato the Elder and his supporters of having received bribes from the late Seleucid king Antiochus III. Scipio defies his accusers, reminds the Romans of their debt to him, and retires to his country house at Liternum in Campania. However, Cato is successful in breaking the political influence of Lucius Scipio and Scipio Africanus.
Egypt
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  • The civil war between the northern and southern areas of Egypt ends with the arrest of Ankmachis by the Ptolemaic general Conanus.
India
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184 BC

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By place

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Roman Republic
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  • Cato the Elder, along with his colleague, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, are elected censors in Rome. Already the champion of the ancient, austere Roman way of life, Cato inaugurates a puritanical campaign. He aims at preserving the mos maiorum ("ancestral custom") and combating all Greek influences, which he believes are undermining the older Roman standards of morality. He passes measures taxing luxury and strictly revises the list of persons eligible for the Senate. Abuses by tax gatherers are brought under control, and public building is promoted as a worthy cause.
  • With concerns rising in Rome over whether Philip V of Macedon is preparing for a new war with the Romans, Appius Claudius Pulcher is sent at the head of an embassy into Macedonia and Greece to observe Philip's activities.
  • The town of Pisaurum is established by the Romans as a colony in the territory of the Piceni, a tribe living in the Marche on the Adriatic.
  • The oldest known basilica,[2] the Basilica Porcia, is completed in Rome by Cato the Elder during the time he is censor. The building is used by the Romans for transacting business and disposing of legal matters.
China
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  • Empress Lü has Emperor Qianshao of Han deposed and executed. Qianshao had vowed to kill his enemies after learning that his mother was a concubine and that she had been put to death by Empress Lü. Emperor Houshao of Han, a half-brother of Qianshao, ascends to the throne.
  • Around this time, Empress Lü outlaws the trade of iron and horses with the vassal state of Nanyue in present-day Vietnam and southern China, being concerned by its military strength. In response, Nanyue's king Zhao Tuo ends his vassal status, declares himself emperor and attacks the neighbouring vassal kingdom of Changsha, seizing a few border towns.

183 BC

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By place

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Roman Republic
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Greece
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  • The town of Messene rebels against the Achaean League. When the Achaean League's general, Philopoemen, intervenes to try to control the rebellion, he is captured during a skirmish and imprisoned. He is then given poison to take so that he can die honourably.

182 BC

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By place

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Asia Minor
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  • The king of Bithynia, Prusias I Chlorus dies and is succeeded by his son, who rules as Prusias II.

181 BC

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By place

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Egypt
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Roman Republic
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  • Rome founds a colony at Aquileia, on the narrow strip of land between the mountains and the lagoons, as a frontier fortress to check the advance of the Illyrians.
Asia Minor
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  • Pharnaces I of Pontus decides to attack both Eumenes II of Pergamum and Ariarathes IV of Cappadocia and therefore invades Galatia with a large force. Eumenes leads an army to oppose him, however, hostilities are soon suspended following the arrival of Roman deputies, who have been appointed by the Roman Senate to inquire into the matters in dispute. Negotiations take place at Pergamum but are inconclusive, with Pharnaces' demands being rejected by the Romans as unreasonable. As a consequence, the war between Pontus and Pergamum and Cappadocia is renewed.
China
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  • Empress Lü of the Han dynasty sends an army under Zhou Zao to attack the formerly vassal state of Nanyue in present-day Vietnam and southern China, but the heat and dampness causes many of Zhou's men to fall ill, and he fails to make it across the mountains into enemy territory.
  • Nanyue's emperor Zhao Tuo attacks the other vassal kingdoms of Minyue, Western Ou and Luo and secures their submission. He also attacks the state of Changsha.

180 BC

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By place

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Greece
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  • After three years of intriguing against his younger brother Demetrius, including accusing him of coveting the succession to the Macedonian throne and being allied to Rome, Perseus persuades his father King Philip V of Macedon to have Demetrius executed.
Roman Republic
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  • Rome completes its subjugation of all of Italy with the defeat of the Ligurians in a battle near modern Genoa. Rome deports 40,000 Ligurians to other areas of the Republic.
  • Lucca becomes a Roman colony.
Egypt
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Bactria
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China
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  • September 26Lü Clan Disturbance. Following the death of Empress Lü, who had been the de facto ruler of the Han dynasty, the Lü Clan is overthrown and massacred by the imperial princes Liu Zhang and Liu Xiang, General-in-Chief Zhou Bo and Prime Minister Chen Ping.
  • Fearing reprisals should the young Emperor Houshao and his brothers reach adulthood, the conspirators deny that Emperor Hui was the father of Houshao and his brothers. They overthrow the emperor, and despite the imperial pedigree of Liu Xiang as the son of the eldest son of Gaozu of Han, they eventually agree to elevate Gaozu's oldest surviving son, Emperor Wen, to the throne. After being evicted from the palace, Houshao is executed later in the year.
  • Emperor Wen honours the relatives and ancestors of Zhao Tuo, the Chinese-born ruler of Nanyue (in present-day Vietnam and southern China). As a result, Nanyue returns to the Han dynasty as a vassal, although Zhao Tuo continues to call himself an emperor within his own kingdom.

Births

188 BC

187 BC

186 BC

185 BC

184 BC

183 BC

182 BC

180 BC

Deaths

189 BC

188 BC

187 BC

186 BC

  • Li Cang, Marquis of Dai, buried in one of the Mawangdui

185 BC

184 BC

183 BC

182 BC

180 BC

  1. ^ a b Volkmann, Hans (February 13, 2024). "Antiochus III the Great". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  2. ^ Stambaugh, John E. (1988). The Ancient Roman City. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 29. ISBN 0-8018-3574-7.
  3. ^ GOLDIN, PAUL R. (2012). "Han Law and the Regulation of Interpersonal Relations: "The Confucianization of the Law" Revisited". Asia Major. 25 (1): 1–31. ISSN 0004-4482.
  4. ^ "List of Rulers of China". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Demetrius I Soter". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  6. ^ "Plautus | Roman dramatist | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  7. ^ "Ptolemy V Epiphanes | Macedonian king of Egypt". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 30 March 2020.