161 BC

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	3rd century BC – 2nd century BC – 1st century BC
Decades:	190s BC 180s BC 170s BC – 160s BC – 150s BC 140s BC 130s BC
Years:	164 BC 163 BC 162 BC – 161 BC – 160 BC 159 BC 158 BC

161 BC by topic
Politics
State leaders – Sovereign states
Birth and death categories
Births – Deaths
Establishments and disestablishments categories
Establishments – Disestablishments

**161 BC in other calendars**
Gregorian calendar	161 BC
Ab urbe condita	593
Armenian calendar	N/A
Bahá'í calendar	-2004 – -2003
Bengali calendar	-753
Berber calendar	790
Buddhist calendar	384
Burmese calendar	-798
Byzantine calendar	5348 – 5349
Chinese calendar	[[Sexagenary cycle\|]]年 (2476/2536) — to — [[Sexagenary cycle\|]]年 (2477/2537)
Coptic calendar	-444 – -443
Ethiopian calendar	-168 – -167
Hebrew calendar	3600 – 3601
Hindu calendars
- Bikram Samwat	-104 – -103
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	2941 – 2942
Holocene calendar	9840
Iranian calendar	782 BP – 781 BP
Islamic calendar	806 BH – 805 BH
Japanese calendar
Korean calendar	2173
Thai solar calendar	383

Events

The rebel Seleucid general and ruler of Media, Timarchus, who has distinguished himself by defending Media against the emergent Parthians, treats Demetrius I's violent accession to the Seleucid throne as the excuse to declare himself an independent king and extend his realm from Media into Babylonia.
With the restoration of peace in Judea, an internal struggle breaks out between the supporters of Judas Maccabeus and the Hellenist party. The influence of the Hellenic Party all but collapses in the wake of the Seleucid defeat.
The Jewish High Priest Menelaus, who is supported by the Hellenist party, is removed from office and is executed. His successor is a moderate member of the Hellenist party, Alcimus. However, when Alcimus executes sixty Jews who are opposed to him, he finds himself in open conflict with the Maccabees. Alcimus flees from Jerusalem and goes to Damascus to ask the Seleucid king, Demetrius I, for help.
The Maccabees, led by Judas Maccabeus, and a Seleucid army, led by the Seleucid general Nicanor, fight the Battle of Adasa, near Beth-horon. Maccabeus wins the battle and Nicanor is killed.

Ptolemy VIII Euergetes, now king of Cyrenaica, convinces the Roman Senate to back his claim for control of Cyprus, but the Egyptian king Ptolemy VI Philometor ignores this threat, and after Ptolemy VIII Euergetes' attempt to conquer the island fails, the Roman Senate disengages from the dispute.

The Roman playwright Terence's plays Eunuchus (The Eunuch) and Phormio are first performed.
Envoys of Judas Maccabeus conclude a treaty of friendship with the Roman Senate.