340s BC

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Millennium: 1st millennium BC
Centuries: 5th century BC – 4th century BC – 3rd century BC
Decades: 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC – 340s BC – 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC
Years: 349 BC 348 BC 347 BC 346 BC 345 BC 344 BC 343 BC 342 BC 341 BC 340 BC
Categories: Births – Deaths – Architecture
Establishments – Disestablishments

340s BC: events by year

Contents: 349 BC 348 BC 347 BC 346 BC 345 BC 344 BC 343 BC 342 BC 341 BC 340 BC

349 BC


By place

Persian Empire

Macedonia

348 BC


By place

Persian Empire

  • After being besieged by the Persian forces of King Artaxerxes III, Sidon is taken and its population is punished with great cruelty.

Greece

Roman Republic

  • Rome and Carthage make a trade agreement under which Carthage will not attack those Latin states which are faithful to Rome. This agreement demonstrates that Rome is now the dominant power in the Latin League.

347 BC

By place

Greece

  • In the wake of the Macedonian victory at Olynthus, Athens seeks to make peace with Macedonia. Because his financial policy is based on the assumption that Athens should not be involved in major wars, the Athenian leader, Eubulus, works for peace with Philip II of Macedon. Demosthenes is among those who support a compromise.
  • An Athenian delegation, comprising Demosthenes, Aeschines and Philocrates, is officially sent to Pella to negotiate a peace treaty with Philip II. During the negotiations, Aeschines seeks to reconcile the Athenians to Macedonia's expansion into Greece.

Roman Republic

  • Coinage is introduced into Rome for the first time.

By topic

Philosophy

346 BC


By place

Greece

  • The Peace of Philocrates is signed between Macedonia and Athens. The document agrees to a return to the status quo, but Philip II of Macedon keeps the right to punish the Phocians for starting the Sacred War.
  • The Athenian politicians, Demosthenes and Timarchus, prepare to prosecute Aeschines for treason after he has sought to reconcile the Athenians to Macedonia's expansion into Greece. Eubulus loses his influence on Athenian affairs.
  • Demosthenes, though condemning the terms of the Peace of Philocrates, argues that it has to be honoured.
  • Following the conclusion of the Peace of Philocrates, Philip II's army moves through the pass of Thermopylae and subdues Phocis. Athens makes no move to support the Phocians.

Sicily

345 BC


By place

Greece

344 BC


By place

Persian Empire

Greece

  • The Athenian statesman, Demosthenes, travels to Peloponnesus, in order to detach as many cities as possible from Macedon's influence, but his efforts are generally unsuccessful. Most of the Peloponnesians see Philip II as the guarantor of their freedom, so they send a joint embassy to Athens to express their grievances against Demosthenes' activities. In response to these complaints, Demosthenes delivers the Second Philippic, which is a vehement attack against Philip II.

Sicily

  • The aristocracy of Syracuse appeal to their mother city of Corinth against their tyrant Dionysius II. The Corinthian general Timoleon is chosen to lead a liberation force to Sicily. Landing at Tauromenium (Taormina) in the summer, Timoleon faces two armies, one under Dionysius and the other under Hicetas (tyrant of nearby Leontini), who has also called in Carthaginian forces. By shrewd tactics Timoleon defeats his enemies and occupies Syracuse.
  • Dionysius II goes into exile once more after the successful invasion by Timoleon of Corinth.

By topic

Science

  • The Greek philosopher and scientist, Aristotle, travels from Assus to Lesbos to study natural history, especially marine biology.

343 BC

By place

Persian Empire

  • The King of Persia, Artaxerxes III, personally leads the Persian forces invading Egypt. The Persians are keen to access Egypt's gold and corn supplies. The town of Pelusium in the Nile Delta puts up resistance, but Pharaoh Nectanebo II is forced to retreat to Memphis.[1] As the situation deteriorates, Nectanebo II leaves for exile in Nubia. His departure marks the end of the 30th Dynasty, the last native house to rule Egypt.
  • With Nectanebo II's flight, all organised resistance to the Persians collapses, and Egypt once again is reduced to a satrapy of the Persian Empire. A Persian satrap is put in place in Egypt. The walls of the country's cities are destroyed and its temples are plundered. Artaxerxes and his commander-in-chief, General Bagoas, leave Egypt loaded with treasure.

Greece

  • The Athenian statesman Demosthenes has Aeschines indicted for treason. However, Aeschines drags up the inappropriate past of one of Demosthenes' associates, Timarchus and is acquitted by a narrow margin.
  • King Philip II of Macedon again marches against Cersobleptes, King of Thrace, and defeats him in several battles, and reduces him to the condition of being a tributary.
  • Phalaikos unsuccessfully lays siege to Kydonia on the island of Crete.[2]

Italy

  • The native Italian tribes, the Lucanians and Bruttians, press down upon the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia, including Tarentum. Responding to calls for help from these former Greek colonies, King Archidamus III of Sparta sets sail with a band of mercenaries for Italy.
  • After his surrender to the Corinthian general Timoleon, who takes over as ruler of Syracuse, the former tyrant, Dionysius II, is allowed to retire to Corinth to live in exile, although he dies within the year. The Syracusan constitution is changed by Timoleon with the new constitution designed to have safeguards against tyranny. Timoleon invites new settlers from Greece to come to Sicily.

Roman Republic

  • The most powerful group of the native tribes in highland Italy, the confederated Samnites, swarm down into Campania. The citizens of the city of Capua appeal to Rome for help in settling their internal quarrels and to save their city from destruction from the Samnites. The Romans respond, which begins the First Samnite War.

342 BC


By place

Macedonia

  • The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, is invited by Philip II to his capital at Pella to tutor his son, Alexander. As the leading intellectual figure in Greece, Aristotle is commissioned to prepare Alexander for his future role as a military leader.
  • Philip begins a series of campaigns in Thrace with the aim of annexing it to be a province of Macedonia. When the Macedonian army approaches Thracian Chersonese (the Gallipoli Peninsula), an Athenian general named Diopeithes ravages this district of Thrace, thus inciting Philip's rage for operating too near one of his towns in the Chersonese. Philip demands his recall. In response, the Athenian Assembly is convened. Demosthenes convinces the Athenians not to recall Diopeithes.

Sicily

Roman Republic

China

341 BC

By place

Macedonia

Greece

  • Demosthenes delivers his Third Philippic. In it, he demands resolute action against Philip II. Demosthenes now dominates Athenian politics and is able to considerably weaken the pro-Macedonian faction led by Aeschines. As a result, Demosthenes becomes controller of the Athenian navy.
  • A grand alliance is organised by Demosthenes against Philip II, which includes Byzantium and former enemies of Athens, such as Thebes. These developments worry Philip and increase his anger towards Demosthenes. The Athenian Assembly, however, lays aside Philip's grievances against Demosthenes' conduct and denounce the Peace of Philocrates which has been signed by both sides in 346 BC, an action equivalent to an official declaration of war by Athens against Macedonia.

Roman Republic

  • The First Samnite War ends with Rome triumphant and the Samnites willing to make peace. The war is ended with a hasty peace agreement, owing to a revolt by Rome's Latin allies, who resent their dependence on the dominant city. Despite its brevity, the First Samnite War results in the major acquisition by Rome of the rich land of Campania with its capital of Capua.

340 BC

By place

Persian Empire

Greece

Sicily

  • Hicetas, the tyrant of Leontini, again persuades Carthage to send a large army to Sicily, which lands at Lilybaeum. Timoleon of Syracuse meets this large Carthaginian army in the Battle of the Crimissus in the west of Sicily and achieves a brilliant victory against superior odds. Despite this victory, the Carthaginians continue to occupy the western half of Sicily, with a treaty being concluded that confines the Carthaginians to the area west of the Halycus (Platani) River.

Roman Republic

  • An embassy is sent by the Latin peoples to the Roman Senate asking for the formation of a single republic between Rome and Latium, in which both parties would be considered to be equal. As Rome considers that it is the leader of the Latin League, it refuses to treat the Latin people as being equal politically or have Latin people in the Roman Senate. With Rome's refusal of the proposal, the Latin War begins. The Latins fight with the Campanians, while Rome joins the Samnites to attack the Latins. Only the Laurentes in Latium and the equites of Campania remain with the Romans, who, for their part, find support among the Paeligni.
  • The Roman-Samnite army under consuls Decius Mus and Titus Manlius Torquatus attack and defeat the Latins and Campanians near Mount Vesuvius in the Battle of Vesuvius.
  • The Romans succeed in detaching the Campanians from their alliance with the Latins (through their fear of the Samnites) and induce them to make a separate peace. Three Campanian cities, including Capua and Cumae, are granted Roman citizenship and thus become part of the Roman state. The Roman state now extends to the Bay of Naples.

Births

    Deaths

    References

    1. ↑ George Rawlinson, The History of Herodotus, J.G. Wilkinson, J. Murray, 1880
    2. ↑ C. Michael Hogan, Cydonia, Modern Antiquarian, January 23, 2008
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