istoryworld
Events relating to greece
Back in Persia, to emphasize that Greece and Persia are now one, Alexander marries eighty of his senior officers to Persian wives
Alexander, still only 33, dies in Babylon following a banquet
The spread of Greek rule by Alexander introduces the Hellenistic age, which will last for three centuries
Alexander's generals decide that the joint heirs to his throne shall be his half-brother (Philip III) and his posthumous son by Roxana (Alexander IV)
Philip III is killed on the orders of Olympias, the mother of Alexander
The first Roman road, the Via Appia, links Rome with Capua
Alexander IV and his mother Roxana are murdered by order of Cassander (by now the self-proclaimed king of Macedonia)
The Greek author Theophrastus writes On the History of Plants, the earliest surviving work on botany
The flexibility of the Roman legion transforms the Greek phalanx into an even more effective fighting machine
Vesta, goddess of the hearth, is served in Rome by virgin priestesses who tend the sacred flame in her shrine
Epicurus postulates a universe of indestructible atoms in which man himself is responsible for achieving a balanced life
In Greece the philosopher Epicurus believes that the animals known to us today are those whose ancestors were best fit for survival
The Roman siege technique is improved by the 'tortoise' which protects the attacking force
The Colossus, a giant statue of Helios the sun god, is erected beside the harbour of Rhodes
Pyrrhus lands in Italy, with 25,000 men and 20 elephants, to fight for the Greek colony of Tarentum against the Romans
On the small Greek island of Samos an astronomer, Aristarchus, comes to the startling conclusion that the earth is in orbit round the sun
A clash in Sicily, between Rome and Carthage, leads to the First Punic War
The first gladiatorial contests in Rome are part of the entertainment at a funeral, and soon become popular
A Carthaginian quinquereme, captured by the Romans, is used as the model for the first Roman fleet - constructed in two months
Archimedes (it is said) leaps out of his bath shouting eureka ('I have found it') when he perceives how to test for relative density
The Romans evolve a system of numerals which, until the end of the Middle Ages, is a handicap to western arithmetic
To help the king of Syracuse extract water from the hold of a ship (so the story goes), Archimedes invents the screw now known by his name
A Roman naval victory at Trapani, off the northwest tip of Sicily, completes the blockade of the Carthaginians and ends the First Punic War
At the end of the First Punic War, Sicily becomes Rome's first overseas province
Sardinia and Corsica are annexed by Rome, becoming the second Roman overseas province
