350s BC

This article concerns the period 359 BC – 350 BC.

Events

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359 BC

By place

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Macedonia
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  • The Macedonian King Perdiccas III is killed while defending his country against an Illyrian attack led by King Bardylis. He is succeeded by his infant son, Amyntas IV. The child's uncle, Philip II, assumes the regency.[1]
  • The Illyrians prepare to close in, the Paeonians raid from the north and two claimants to the Macedonian throne are supported by foreign powers. Philip II buys off his dangerous neighbours and, with a treaty, cedes Amphipolis to Athens.

358 BC

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By place

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Persian Empire
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Greece
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Macedonia
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Roman Republic
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  • The Romans defeat the Volsci, annex most of their territory, and settle it with Roman colonists. The Romans also force the Latin League to renew its close alliance with Rome, an alliance which was weakened by Rome’s defeat at the hands of the Gauls in 390 BC.

357 BC

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By place

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Persian Empire
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See Purim

Thrace
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Macedonia
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Sicily
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356 BC

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By place

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Persian Empire
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  • Having blamed their defeats to Philip II in Thessaly and Chalcidice on his colleagues (Iphicrates and Timotheus), Chares is left in sole command of the Athenian fleet. Chares, in need of money for his war effort, frowns upon asking it from Athens, so, partly compelled by his mercenaries, he enters the service of the insurgent Achaemenid satrap of Phrygia Artabazus who rewards Chares very generously.[4]
  • Artabazus is also supported by the Thebans, who send him 5,000 men under one of their generals Pammenes. With the assistance of these and other allies, Artabazus defeats his Achaemenid enemies in two great battles.[citation needed]
  • The Achaemenid King Artaxerxes III orders all the satraps (governors) of his empire to dismiss their mercenaries. The Athenians, who have originally approved their mercenaries' collaboration with Artabazus of Phrygia, order them to leave due to their fear of Achaemenid support for the rebellion of Chios, Rhodes, and Cos. Thebes follows suit and withdraws its mercenaries.
  • With King Artaxerxes III succeeding in depriving Artabazus of his Athenian and Theban allies, Artabazus is defeated by the Persian King's general, Autophradates.[citation needed]
Greece
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  • Philip II of Macedon secretly offers the city of Amphipolis back to the Athenians in exchange for the valuable port of Pydna. Despite the Athenians being willing to comply, both Pydna and Potidaea are conquered by the Macedonians (along with other Athenian strongholds in Thessaly and Chalcidice) despite being defended by Athenian forces led by general and mercenary commander, Chares, as well as generals Iphicrates and Timotheus.[citation needed]
  • With Pydna and Potidaea occupied, Philip II decides to keep Amphipolis anyway. He also takes the city of Crenides from the Odrysae and renames it Philippi.[citation needed]
  • The Phocians capture and sack Delphi in whose territory the famous temple and oracle stand. A sacred war is declared against them by the other members of the Great Amphictyonic League. The Phocians, led by two capable generals, Philomelus and Onomarchus, use Delphi's riches to hire a mercenary army to carry the war into Boeotia and Thessaly.[citation needed]
  • The Social War begins between the Second Athenian League, led by Athens, and its revolting allies of Chios, Rhodes, and Kos as well as the independent state Byzantium. Mausolus, the tyrant of Caria, instigates the rebellion against the Athenian control of these states. The revolting allies ravage the islands of Lemnos and Imbros which are loyal to Athens.[4]
  • The Athenian generals Chares and Chabrias are given command of the Athenian fleet with the aim of defeating the rebellious cities. However, Chabrias' fleet is defeated and he is killed in its attack on the island of Chios, off the coast of Ionia.[citation needed]
  • Chares is given sole command of the Athenian fleet and withdraws to the Hellespont to move against Byzantium. The generals Timotheus, Iphicrates and his son Menestheus are sent with 60 ships to help him when the enemy fleet is sighted on the Hellespont. Timotheus and Iphicrates refuse to engage due to a severe gale, but Chares does engage and lose many of his ships. Timotheus and Iphicrates are accused by Chares and put on trial, however only Timotheus is condemned to pay a fine.[4]
Roman Republic
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China
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By topic

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Architecture
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355 BC

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By place

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Greece
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  • King Artaxerxes III of Persia forces Athens to conclude a peace which requires the city to leave Asia Minor and to acknowledge the independence of its rebellious allies.
  • King Archidamus III of Sparta supports Phocis against Thebes in the "Sacred War".
  • Chares' war party in Athens is replaced by one under Eubulus which favours peace. Eubulus restores the economic position of Athens without increasing the burden of taxation and improves the Athenian fleet while its docks and fortifications are repaired.

354 BC

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By place

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Greece
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Roman Republic
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  • Rome allies itself with the Samnites and they agree on a mutual defence pact.[6]
China
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By topic

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Architecture
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353 BC

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By place

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Persian Empire
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Greece
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  • The Phocians threaten Thessaly to their north. Philip II of Macedon saw his opportunity to penetrate south.[8]
  • Clearchus, the tyrant of Heraclea, a Greek city on the Black Sea, is murdered by some of the city's citizens led by Chion after a reign of twelve years. Most of the conspirators are killed by the tyrant's body-guards upon the spot, while others are captured and put to death. Within a short time, the city falls under the rule of the new tyrant Satyrus, Clearchus' brother.

352 BC

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By place

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Greece
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  • After two initial efforts, Philip II of Macedon drives the Phocians south after a major victory over them in the Battle of Crocus Field. Athens and Sparta come to the assistance of the Phocians and Philip is checked at Thermopylae. Philip does not attempt to advance into central Greece with the Athenians occupying this pass. With this victory, Philip accrues great glory as the righteous avenger of Apollo, since the Phocian general Onomarchos has plundered the sacred treasury of Delphi to pay his mercenaries. Onomarchos' body is crucified, and the prisoners are drowned as ritual demanded for temple-robbers.
  • Philip then moves against Thrace. He makes a successful expedition into Thrace, gaining a firm ascendancy in the country, and brings away a son of Cersobleptes, the King of Thrace, as a hostage. Philip II's Thessalian victory earns him election as president (archon) of the Thessalian League.
Rome
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351 BC

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By place

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Persian Empire
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Greece
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  • Demosthenes tries to get the Athenians to cease depending on paid mercenaries and return to the old concept of a citizen army. He also delivers his First Philippic, warning Athenians of the folly of believing that Philip's ill health will save Athens from the Macedonians. In response, Athens' citizens vote for increased armaments.
Roman Republic
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350 BC

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By place

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Persian Empire
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Greece
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Roman Republic
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  • The Gauls, once more threatening Rome, are decisively beaten by an army comprising Rome and its allies.

By topic

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Science
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Art
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Births

359 BC

358 BC

356 BC

King Alexander the Great

355 BC

354 BC

350 BC

Deaths

359 BC

358 BC

356 BC

355 BC

354 BC

353 BC

350 BC

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  2. ^ "Philip II | Facts, Definition, & King of Macedonia". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  3. ^ "Charidemus". Encyclopædia Britannica. February 21, 2024. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Siculus, Diodorus. "21". Library. Vol. XVI.
  5. ^ Matz, David (2000). Famous Firsts in the Ancient Greek and Roman World. Jefferson: McFarland. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-78640-599-2.
  6. ^ Salmon, E.T. (1967). Samnium and the Samnites. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 191–193. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  7. ^ Diodorus Sicilus. Biblioteca historica. 16.36.2
  8. ^ Hammond, N.G.L. (1994). Philip of Macedon. Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 46-48
  9. ^ Livy (2018-08-14), "Ab Urbe Condita", Liviana: Studies on Livy, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-882468-8, retrieved 2024-10-01
  10. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, p. 657.
  11. ^ Roberts, John. The Oxford dictionary of the classical world. Oxford University Press. p. 689. ISBN 9780192801463.
  12. ^ Ogden, Daniel, ed. (2024). The Cambridge Companion to Alexander the Great. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-10884-099-6.
  13. ^ Wasson, Donald L. "Hephaestion". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  14. ^ "Chabrias". Encyclopædia Britannica. February 21, 2024. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  15. ^ David Sedley, "An Iconography of Xenocrates' Platonism", Michael Erler, Jan Erik Heßler, Federico M. Petrucci, Authority and Authoritative Texts in the Platonist Tradition, Cambridge University Press, 2021, 9781108844000, 50
  16. ^ David Deming, Science and Technology in World History, Volume 1: The Ancient World and Classical Civilization, McFarland, 2014, 9780786456574, 75
  17. ^ "Artemisia II | queen of Caria | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 4 May 2022.