401 BC

Centuries:	6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC
Decades:	430s BC 420s BC 410s BC - 400s BC - 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC
Years:	404 BC 403 BC 402 BC - 401 BC - 400 BC 399 BC 398 BC

401 BC by topic
Politics
State leaders - Sovereign states
Birth and death categories
Births - Deaths
Establishments and disestablishments categories
Establishments - Disestablishments v • d • e

**401 BC in other calendars**
Gregorian calendar	401 BC
Ab urbe condita	353
Armenian calendar	N/A
Bahá'í calendar	-2244 – -2243
Berber calendar	550
Buddhist calendar	144
Burmese calendar	-1038
Chinese calendar	2236/2296 ([[Sexagenary cycle\|]]年) — to — 2237/2297 ([[Sexagenary cycle\|]]年)
Coptic calendar	-684 – -683
Ethiopian calendar	-408 – -407
Hebrew calendar	3360 – 3361
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	-345 – -344
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	2701 – 2702
Holocene calendar	9600
Iranian calendar	1022 BP – 1021 BP
Islamic calendar	1053 BH – 1052 BH
Japanese calendar
Korean calendar	1933
Thai solar calendar	143
v • d • e

[edit] Events

Cyrus the Younger uses a quarrel with Tissaphernes over the Ionian cities as a pretext for gathering a large army and also pretends to prepare an expedition to Pisidia, in the Taurus Mountains. Cyrus starts out with about 20,000 men, of whom around 10,000 are Greek mercenaries. When he reaches the Euphrates River at Thapsacus, he announces that he is marching against Artaxerxes II. He advances unopposed into Babylonia; but Artaxerxes, warned at the last moment by Tissaphernes, hastily gathers an army. The two forces meet in the Battle of Cunaxa, north of Babylon, where Cyrus is slain.

The Greek mercenaries fighting for Cyrus are left stranded after Cyrus' defeat. They fight their way north through hostile Persians, Armenians, and Kurds to Trapezus on the coast of the Black Sea under Xenophon, who becomes their leader when the Persian satrap, Tissaphernes has Clearchus of Sparta and the other senior Greek captains captured and executed by Artaxerxes.
Agesilaus II becomes king of Sparta on the death of his step-brother Agis II.

Sophocles' greatest tragic play Oedipus at Colonus is performed posthumously. It is produced by his grandson (also called Sophocles) at the Festival of Dionysus in Athens.