The consul Marcus Fulvius Paetinus sacks the
Umbrian city of Nequinum, which Rome had been besieging since the previous year, and he possibly also fights with success against the
Sabines.
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.
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
The
State of Qin annexes eight cities of the state of
Chu. Chu then sends an envoy to ask the King of Huai to go to Qin to negotiate peace.
Qu Yuan risks his life to go up to the court to persuade the King of Huai not to go to the negotiation.
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
Agathocles, king of
Syracuse, assists the Italian Greeks against the
Bruttians and supports the Greeks against the Romans.
Egypt
Ptolemy gives his stepdaughter Theoxena in marriage to Agathocles, the tyrant of Syracuse (in south-eastern
Sicily).
Ptolemy finally brings the rebellious region of Cyrene under his control. He places the region under the rule of his stepson Magas.
Following
Cassander's death from illness,
Philip IV, Cassander's eldest son, succeeds his father as King of
Macedon, but soon after coming to the throne suffers from a wasting disease and dies.
Antipater, the next son, rules jointly with his brother
Alexander V.
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]
The temple to
Bellona is erected at the south end of the prata Flaminia, later the Circus Flaminius, in
Rome.[13]
The consuls
Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus and
Publius Decius Mus march to Sentinum in Umbria. Facing a coalition army of Samnites, Semnones, Etruscans and Umbrians, they order the propraetors
Gnaeus Fulvius Maximus Centumalus and
Lucius Postumius Megellus, who were initially tasked with defending Rome, to raid Etruria as far as
Clusium. This provokes the Etruscans to march to their homeland's defence, taking the Umbrians with them. In the subsequent
Battle of Sentinum against the Samnites and Semnones, Decius is killed in an act of
Devotio, and Fabius wins the battle.
Gellius Egnatius, the mastermind behind the coalition, is cut down in the fighting, along with 25,000 Samnites and Semnones killed and 8000 captured.
A force of Samnite fugitives are defeated by the
Paeligni.
Fulvius defeats a united force of Etruscans from Clusium and
Perusia, and Fabius marches into Etruria and inflicts a further defeat on the Perusians.
Volumnius and the praetor
Appius Claudius Caecus (who is given command over Decius' army) defeat a Samnite army in the Stellate Plains, killing 16,300 and capturing 2700.[14][15]
Alexander V of Macedon is ousted by his brother,
Antipater II. Therefore Alexander V turns to Demetrius Poliorcetes for help in recovering his throne. However, Demetrius Poliorcetes establishes himself on the throne of Macedonia and then murders Alexander V. Antipater II loses the throne of Macedonia but is able to survive.
Pyrrhus of Epirus exploits the dynastic quarrel in Macedonia involving Alexander V of Macedon, his brother, Antipater II and Demetrius Poliorcetes to take over the frontier areas of
Parauaea and
Tymphaea, along with
Acarnania, Ampholochia, and
Ambracia.
Lysimachus concludes a peace with Demetrius Poliorcetes whereby Demetrius Poliorcetes is recognized as ruler of Macedonia.
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.
Stratonice, daughter of Demetrius Poliorcetes and wife of
Seleucus marries her stepson
Antiochus. Seleucus has reportedly instigated the marriage after discovering that his son by his late wife
Apama was in danger of dying of lovesickness as he has fallen in love with his beautiful stepmother.
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]
The worship of
Aesculapius is introduced from
Epidaurus to Rome in the hope of ending a plague.
When an invasion of nomads threatens the eastern possessions of his realm (i.e. between the
Caspian Sea and the
Aral Sea and the
Indian Ocean),
Seleucus hands over the government of these lands west of the
Euphrates to his son
Antiochus. Antiochus is appointed co-regent and commander-in-chief of these territories.
China
The
State of Qin, led by commander
Bai Qi, wins a decisive victory over the
States of Wei and
Han in the
Battle of Yique. He then captures territories in Han before invading and capturing further territories in Wei.[24]
Lysimachus tries to extend his influence beyond the
Danube River, but he is defeated and taken prisoner by the
Getae (Dacian) king
Dromichaetes (Dromihete). Eventually, Lysimachus is set free and a peace is agreed between the Getae and Lysimachus. This peace agreement is strengthened further by the marriage of Dromichaetes with Lysimachus' daughter.
While
Demetrius Poliorcetes is campaigning in
Boeotia, he receives news that Lysimachus, the ruler of
Thrace, has been taken prisoner by Dromichaetes. Hoping to seize Lysimachus's territories in Thrace, Demetrius, delegates command of his forces in Boeotia to his son,
Antigonus and immediately marches north. However, while he is away, the Boeotians rise in rebellion, but are defeated by Antigonus, who bottles them up in the city of
Thebes and puts them
under siege.
The
Falisci renew their efforts against Rome. However, the consul Decimus Junius Brutus Scaeva, assisted by former consul
Spurius Carvilius Maximus, defeats them in an engagement and ravages their territory and those of the Etruscans. The Falisci and Etruscans again sue for peace, and this ends the Etruscan theatre of the Third Samnite War.[26][27][28][29]
China
General
Bai Qi of the
State of Qin defeats the
State of Wei in a major battle and captures cities in Wei. Wei cedes control of 61 towns and cities.[30]
Demetrius Poliorcetes joins his son,
Antigonus, in the
siege of Thebes. As the Thebans defend their city stubbornly, Demetrius forces his men to attack the city at great cost. Demetrius finally takes the city after using
siege engines to demolish its walls.
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
Generals Sima Cuo and
Bai Qi of the
State of Qin attack the
State of Wei and capture the city of Yuan. Next, Sima Cuo captures the cities of Zhi and Deng.
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").
Berenice, wife of
Ptolemy, is proclaimed queen of
Egypt. Ptolemy has the city of
Berenice built on the
Red Sea in her honour. It becomes a great
emporium for Egyptian trade with the East.
China
The city of Yuan is returned by the
State of Qin to the
State of Wei in exchange for the cities of Puban and Pishi.[42]