阳水猴年 (male Water-
Monkey) −161 or −542 or −1314 — to — 阴水鸡年 (female Water-
Rooster) −160 or −541 or −1313
Year 288 BC was a year of the
pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tremulus and Arvina (or, less frequently, year 466 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 288 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the
Anno Dominicalendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Athens revolts and Demetrius besieges the city. Pyrrhus takes
Thessaly and the western half of Macedonia and, with the assistance of Ptolemy's fleet, relieves Athens from Demetrius' siege.
After the
Egyptian fleet participates decisively in the liberation of Athens from Macedonian occupation, Ptolemy obtains the protectorate over the League of Islanders, which includes most of the Greek islands in the
Aegean Sea. Egypt's maritime supremacy in the
Mediterranean in the ensuing decades is based on this alliance.
Sicily
Following the death of
Agathocles, some of his disbanded mercenaries seize
Messana in northeast
Sicily and set up a society, calling themselves
Mamertines (Sons of Mars). The city becomes a base from which they will ravage the Sicilian countryside.
King Zhao of Qin and
King Min of Qi take the title "Di", (帝 literally emperor), of the west and east respectively. They swear a covenant and begin planning an attack on the
State of Zhao.