260 BC

Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC - 260s BC - 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC Years: 265 BC 264 BC 263 BC 262 BC 261 BC - 260 BC - 259 BC 258 BC 257 BC 256 BC 255 BC Events Battle of Changping: the army of the Qin state routs the army of Zhao, establishing its military superiority over all other Chinese states. First Punic War: Battle of the Lipara Islands: A Roman naval force unde ...

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Zhao (pinyin: zhao4, simplified Chinese: 赵, traditional Chinese: 趙) was a Chinese state during the Warring States Period. Its territory included areas in modern Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. The state of Zhao bordered the Xiongnu (Huns), the states of Qin, Wei and Yan. Its capital was Handan (邯郸), suburb of modern-day Handan City in Hebei. At the beginning of the Warring States Period, the state of Zhao was one of the weakest states. Zhao gained strength during the reign of King Wuling of Zhao. Th ...

Including:

• Zhao state - List of Zhao rulers

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The Beehive Cluster (also known as The Beehive, Praesepe, Open Cluster M44, Messier Object 44, Messier 44, M44, or NGC 2632) is an open cluster in the constellation Cancer. The cluster was known to Aratus by 260 BC. M44 is visible to the naked eye at a distance of about 577 light-years away from Earth. The cluster is best observed with binoculars or with a low power wide field magnification in a telescope. It is one of the closer open clusters, only the Ursa Major Moving Cluster, the Hyades and the Pleiades are clo ...

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The Aeolian Islands (Italian Isole Eolie) are a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily. They are a popular tourist destination in the summer, and attract up to 200,000 visitors annually. The largest island is Lipari, and tourism marketing often names the entire archipelago the Lipari Islands because of the ease of pronouncing Lipari compared to Aeolian. The other islands include Vulcano, Salina, Stromboli, Filicudi, Alicudi, and Panarea. The town of Lipari has about 11,0 ...

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Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC - 260s BC - 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC Years: 268 BC 267 BC 266 BC 265 BC 264 BC - 263 BC - 262 BC 261 BC 260 BC 259 BC 258 BC 263 BC - Events. First Punic War: The Roman consul Manius Valerius Messalla secures the alliance of Hiero II of Syracuse. Eumenes I succeeds his uncle Philetaerus as king of Pergamon. Including:

• 263 BC - Events
• 263 BC - Births
• 263 BC - Deaths

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Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) (November/December 260 BC-September 10, 210 BC), personal name Zheng, was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 247 BC to 221 BC, and then the first emperor of a unified China from 221 BC to 210 BC, ruling under the name First Emperor. Having unified China, he and his prime minister Li Si passed a series of major reforms aimed at cementing the unification, and they undertook some gargantuan construction projects, most notably the precursor version of the current Great Wall of China. For a ...

Including:

• Qin Shi Huang - Naming conventions
• Qin Shi Huang - Youth and King of Qin: the conqueror
• Qin Shi Huang - Unification of China
• Qin Shi Huang - Death and aftermath
• Qin Shi Huang - Qin Shi Huang in historiography
• Qin Shi Huang - Qin Shi Huang in fiction
• Qin Shi Huang - Miscellaneous

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Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC - 250s BC - 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC Years: 261 BC 260 BC 259 BC 258 BC 257 BC - 256 BC - 255 BC 254 BC 253 BC 252 BC 251 BC Events Luoyang falls without much resistance to the armies of the Qin, ending the reign of the emperor Zhou Nan Wang. Although a successor was appointed as Dong Zhou Hui Wang, traditionally in Chinese history this is considered the end ...

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Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC - 260s BC - 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC Years: 270 BC 269 BC 268 BC 267 BC 266 BC - 265 BC - 264 BC 263 BC 262 BC 261 BC 260 BC 265 BC - Events. Archimedes, Greek mathematician, develops screw, specific gravity Velzna, the last Etruscan city subdued by the Roman Republic Acrotatus succeeds his father Areus I as king of SpartaIncluding:

• 265 BC - Events
• 265 BC - Births
• 265 BC - Deaths

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Antigonus II Gonatas (c. 319 BC—239 BC) was a powerful ruler who definitely established the Antigonid dynasty in Macedonia and acquired fame for his victory over the Gauls who had invaded the Balkans. Antigonus II Gonatas - Birth and family. Antigonus Gonatas was born around 319 BC, probably in Gonnoi in Thessaly. He was related to the most powerful of the Diadochi (the generals of Alexander who divided the empire after his death in 323 BC). Antigonus's father was Demetrius Poliorcetes, who was the son of ...

Including:

• Antigonus II Gonatas - Birth and family
• Antigonus II Gonatas - Demetrius's general
• Antigonus II Gonatas - In the wilderness
• Antigonus II Gonatas - King of Macedonia
• Antigonus II Gonatas - Antigonus against Pyrrhus
• Antigonus II Gonatas - The Chremonidean war
• Antigonus II Gonatas - Antigonus against Aratus
• Antigonus II Gonatas - Death and Appraisal

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Alexander II, king of Epirus, succeeded his father Pyrrhus in 272 BC. He attacked Antigonus Gonatas and conquered the greater part of Macedonia, but was in turn driven out of both Epirus and Macedonia by Demetrius, the son of Antigonus. He subsequently recovered his kingdom by the aid of the Acarnanians and Aetolians. He died about 260 BC. See Thirlwall, History of Greece, vol. viii.; Droysen, Hellenismus; B. Niese, Geschichte der griechischen und makedoni ...

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Qin Shi Huang was born in the Chinese month zheng (正), the first month of the year in the Chinese calendar (in the 3rd century BC the Chinese year started before the Winter solstice, and not after as it does today), and so he received the name Zheng (政), both characters were being used interchangeably in ancient China. In Chinese antiquity, people never joined family name and given name together as is customary today, so it is anachronistic to refer to Qin Shi Huang as "Ying Zheng". The given name was never used except by close re ...

See also:

Qin Shi Huang, Qin Shi Huang - Naming conventions, Qin Shi Huang - Youth and King of Qin: the conqueror, Qin Shi Huang - First Emperor: the unifier, Qin Shi Huang - Death and aftermath, Qin Shi Huang - Qin Shi Huang in historiography, Qin Shi Huang - Qin Shi Huang in fiction, Qin Shi Huang - Miscellaneous

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Antigonus II Gonatas - Antigonus against Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, Macedonia's Western neighbour, was a general of mercurial ability, widely renowned for his bravery, but he did not apply his talents sensibly and often snatched after vain hopes, so that Antigonus used to compare him to a dice player, who had excellent throws, but did not know how to use them. When the Gauls defeated Ptolemy Ceraunus and the Macedonian throne became vacant, Pyrrhus was occupied in his campaigns overseas. Hoping to conquer ...

See also:

Antigonus II Gonatas, Antigonus II Gonatas - Birth and family, Antigonus II Gonatas - Demetrius's general, Antigonus II Gonatas - In the wilderness, Antigonus II Gonatas - King of Macedonia, Antigonus II Gonatas - Antigonus against Pyrrhus, Antigonus II Gonatas - The Chremonidean war, Antigonus II Gonatas - Antigonus against Aratus, Antigonus II Gonatas - Death and Appraisal

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The unfinished hexastyle doric temple of Segesta, (late 5th century BC) is built on a hilltop just outside the ancient city of Segesta with a commanding view of the surrounding area. It is one of the best-preserved Greek temples, partly because of its isolation— there was never any temptation to dilapidate it for local building materials— and never desecrated because it had never been completed. It would be a peripteral temple if it had ever had an enclosed cella within it. But it was never roofed over, and its columns stand in the rough, waiting to be fluted. It was built by the Elymian people, probably around 4 ...

See also:

Segesta, Segesta - The Temple, Segesta - The Theater

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Roman Navy - Early history. The Romans were originally a land power based in the Italian mainland, and were wary of the sea. In the First Punic War (264 BC - 241 BC), the Carthaginians, a power rooted in sea trade, were able to exploit their strength at sea in their struggles with the Roman Republic. Since most of the conflict in the war was overseas (especially in Sicily), Rome saw that it needed to build a fleet in order to develop an effective military response. The result was the rapid construct ...

See also:

Roman Navy, Roman Navy - History, Roman Navy - Early history, Roman Navy - Late Republic, Roman Navy - Major events, Roman Navy - Admirals, Roman Navy - Roman Navy composition, Roman Navy - Fleets, Roman Navy - Ports

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Rome won the First Punic War after 23 years of conflict and in the end replaced Carthage as the dominant naval power of the Mediterranean. In the aftermath of the war, both states were financially and demographically exhausted. To determine the final borders of their territories, they drew what they considered a straight line across the Mediterranean. Hispania, Corsica, Sardinia and Africa remained Carthaginian. All that was north of that line was signed over to Rome. Rome's victory was greatly influenced by its persistent refusal to admit d ...

See also:

First Punic War, First Punic War - Background, First Punic War - Land warfare, First Punic War - Naval warfare, First Punic War - Aftermath, First Punic War - Casualties, First Punic War - Peace terms, First Punic War - Political results, First Punic War - Notable leaders, First Punic War - Chronology

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Hipparchus astronomer - Motion of the Moon. Hipparchus also studied the motion of the Moon and confirmed the accurate values for some periods of its motion that Chaldean astronomers had obtained before him. The traditional value (from Babylonian System B) for the mean synodic month is 29 days;31,50,8,20 (sexagesimal) = 29.5305941... d. Expressed as 29 days + 12 hours + 793/1080 hours this value has been used later in the Hebrew calendar (possibly from Babylonian sources). The Chaldeans also kn ...

See also:

Hipparchus astronomer, Hipparchus astronomer - Life and work, Hipparchus astronomer - Babylonian sources, Hipparchus astronomer - Geometry and trigonometry, Hipparchus astronomer - Lunar and solar theory, Hipparchus astronomer - Motion of the Moon, Hipparchus astronomer - Orbit of the Moon, Hipparchus astronomer - Apparent motion of the Sun, Hipparchus astronomer - Orbit of the Sun, Hipparchus astronomer - Calendar, Hipparchus astronomer - Distance parallax size of the Moon and Sun, Hipparchus astronomer - Eclipses, Hipparchus astronomer - Astronomical instruments and astrometry, Hipparchus astronomer - Geography, Hipparchus astronomer - Star catalogue, Hipparchus astronomer - Celestial bodies, Hipparchus astronomer - Celestial coordinate systems, Hipparchus astronomer - Brightness of stars, Hipparchus astronomer - Precession of the equinoxes 146 BC-130 BC, Hipparchus astronomer - Hipparchus and astrology, Hipparchus astronomer - Named after Hipparchus, Hipparchus astronomer - Literature

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Qin Shi Huangdi was born in the Chinese month zheng (正), the first month of the year in the Chinese calendar (in the 3rd century BC the Chinese year started before the Winter solstice, and not after as it does today), and so he received the name Zheng (政), both characters were being used interchangeably in ancient China. In Chinese antiquity, people never joined family name and given name together as is customary today, so it is anachronistic to refer to Qin Shi Huangdi as "Ying Zheng". The given name was never used except by clos ...

See also:

Qin Shi Huang, Qin Shi Huang - Naming conventions, Qin Shi Huang - Youth and King of Qin: the conqueror, Qin Shi Huang - Unification of China, Qin Shi Huang - Death and aftermath, Qin Shi Huang - Qin Shi Huang in historiography, Qin Shi Huang - Qin Shi Huang in fiction, Qin Shi Huang - Miscellaneous

Read more here: » Qin Shi Huang: Encyclopedia II - Qin Shi Huang - Naming conventions

In the middle of the 3rd century BC, the power of Rome was growing. Following centuries of internal rebellions and disturbances, the whole of the Italian peninsula was tightly secured under Roman hands. All enemies — such as the Latin league or the Samnites — had been overcome, and the invasion of Pyrrhus of Epirus was repelled. Romans had an enormous confidence in their political system and military. Across the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Strait of Sicily, Carthage was already an established naval and commercial power, controlling most of th ...

See also:

First Punic War, First Punic War - Background, First Punic War - Land warfare, First Punic War - Naval warfare, First Punic War - Aftermath, First Punic War - Casualties, First Punic War - Peace terms, First Punic War - Political results, First Punic War - Notable leaders, First Punic War - Chronology

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As Sicily was a hilly island, with geographical obstacles and a terrain where lines of communication are difficult to maintain, land warfare played a secondary role in the First Punic War. Land operations were mostly confined to small scale raids and skirmishes between the armies, with hardly any pitched battle. Sieges and land blockades were the most common operations for the regular army. The main targets of blockading were the important naval ports, since neither of the belligerent parties were based in Sicily and both needed a continuous supply of rei ...

See also:

First Punic War, First Punic War - Background, First Punic War - Land warfare, First Punic War - Naval warfare, First Punic War - Aftermath, First Punic War - Casualties, First Punic War - Peace terms, First Punic War - Political results, First Punic War - Notable leaders, First Punic War - Chronology

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Due to the difficulty of operating in Sicily, most warfare of the First Punic War was fought at sea, including the most decisive battles. Moreover, naval warfare permitted an efficient blockade of enemy ports, and consequently of reinforcement and supply for the inland troops. Both sides of the conflict had publicly funded fleets. This fact compromised Carthage and Rome's finances and eventually decided the course of the war. At the beginning of the First Punic War, Rome had virtually no experience in naval warfare, whereas Carthage h ...

See also:

First Punic War, First Punic War - Background, First Punic War - Land warfare, First Punic War - Naval warfare, First Punic War - Aftermath, First Punic War - Casualties, First Punic War - Peace terms, First Punic War - Political results, First Punic War - Notable leaders, First Punic War - Chronology

Read more here: » First Punic War: Encyclopedia II - First Punic War - Naval warfare