The 3rd century BCE

Africa

1. 🇬🇦GAB

   Gabon · Peoples & Migration · c. 1st millennium BCE

   Bantu farmers and ironworkers arrive

   Bantu-speaking peoples moved into the region from the north, bringing farming, pottery and iron-working; the Ogooué valley served as a corridor of the wider Bantu expansion across Central Africa.

   Forest peoples and the Bantu migrations

   Sources: History of Gabon (Encyclopædia Britannica) · History of Gabon (Wikipedia) · Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)

2. 🇬🇲GMB

   Gambia · Culture & Ideas · c. 3rd century BCE

   Megalith-building begins along the river

   Communities in the Senegambian region began raising circles of cut laterite pillars and burial mounds along the Gambia River; excavated burials yield dates spanning roughly the third century BCE to the sixteenth century CE.

   Stone circles and the peoples of the river

   Sources: Stone Circles of Senegambia (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Stone Circles of Senegambia (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Senegambian stone circles (Wikipedia)

3. 🇲🇦MAR

   Morocco · Formation · c. 3rd century BCE

   Kingdom of Mauretania and Volubilis

   The Amazigh kingdom of Mauretania emerges in the western Maghreb; Volubilis, founded around the third century BCE, becomes one of its leading cities.

   Amazigh Mauretania and Roman Volubilis

   Sources: Archaeological Site of Volubilis (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Exploring Roman Morocco (World History Encyclopedia)

Asia

1. 🇬🇪GEO

   Georgia · Formation · c. late 4th century BCE

   Kingdom of Iberia founded

   The eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia emerged in the lands of Kartli, centred on Mtskheta, forming a distinct monarchy that would become the core of the Georgian state.

   Colchis, Iberia and the Land of the Golden Fleece

   Sources: Iberia (ancient kingdom, Georgia) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Georgia (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

2. 🇴🇲OMN

   Oman · Economy & Trade · 4th century BCE onward

   Khor Rori and the incense ports

   The port of Khor Rori (Sumhuram) and later Al-Baleed served as gateways for the export of frankincense and goods across the Indian Ocean, anchoring the Land of Frankincense.

   Magan, Copper and the Land of Frankincense

   Sources: Land of Frankincense (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)

Europe

1. 🇲🇨MCO

   Monaco · Economy & Trade · c. 300 BCE

   The harbour at its height

   The port of Monoikos, associated with the cult of Hercules, flourished as part of Mediterranean trade, as shown by coins and goods recovered from the harbour.

   Monoikos: The Harbour of Hercules

   Sources: A port during Greek then Roman antiquity (Government of Monaco (gouv.mc))

Asia

1. 🇨🇾CYP

   Cyprus · Politics & Power · c. 294–58 BCE

   Ptolemaic rule

   Following Alexander the Great's conquests, Cyprus passed to the Hellenistic Ptolemies of Egypt, who abolished the independent city-kingdoms and governed the island as a province until Rome took it in 58 BCE.

   Neolithic Settlers, Greek City-Kingdoms and the Cult of Aphrodite

   Sources: Cyprus: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Europe

1. 🇮🇹ITA

   Italy · War & Rupture · 264–146 BCE

   The Punic Wars and Mediterranean supremacy

   In three wars against Carthage, Rome destroyed its great rival and became the dominant power of the western Mediterranean, beginning its rise to imperial dominion.

   The Roman Republic and Empire

   Sources: Ancient Rome (World History Encyclopedia) · Italy (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇮🇳IND

   India · Religion · c. 261 BCE

   Ashoka's conquest of Kalinga and conversion

   After the devastating Kalinga war, Emperor Ashoka embraces Buddhism, renounces conquest, and spreads an ethic of dharma through inscribed edicts across his vast empire.

   Classical Empires: Maurya and the Gupta Golden Age

   Sources: Mauryan Empire (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇻🇳VNM

   Vietnam · Formation · c. 3rd century BCE

   Kingdom of Au Lac and Co Loa

   An Duong Vuong overthrows the last Hung king and unites the land as Au Lac, building the fortified capital of Co Loa north of modern Hanoi.

   Legendary Origins and a Thousand Years of Chinese Rule

   Sources: Vietnam (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇦🇫AFG

   Afghanistan · Formation · c. 256 BCE

   The Greco-Bactrian kingdom

   Diodotus I breaks Bactria away from the Seleucid empire to found the independent Greco-Bactrian kingdom, a Hellenistic state that fused Greek and local traditions north of the Hindu Kush.

   Bactria, Gandhara and the Buddhist Age

   Sources: Bactria (World History Encyclopedia) · Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (EBSCO Research Starters)

Asia

1. 🇰🇼KWT

   Kuwait · Colonisation · 3rd century BCE

   A Seleucid Greek fortress rises on Ikaros

   Under the Seleucid successors of Alexander, a fortified Greek settlement with stone walls and two temples was built on Failaka, the only standing Hellenistic stronghold in the Gulf.

   Failaka: Dilmun and the Greek Island of Ikaros

   Sources: Failaka Island: A Palimpsest of Human Civilizations (Tentative List) (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Ikaros of the Gulf: Failaka Island (Archaeology Magazine (Archaeological Institute of America))

2. 🇱🇰LKA

   Sri Lanka · Religion · c. 3rd century BCE

   Buddhism introduced under Devanampiya Tissa

   The missionary Mahinda, sent during the reign of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, converts King Devanampiya Tissa near Mihintale, establishing Theravada Buddhism as the island's defining faith.

   Anuradhapura and the Coming of Buddhism

   Sources: Sri Lanka: Conversion to Buddhism (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Buddhism Established in Sri Lanka (EBSCO Research Starters)

Asia

1. 🇳🇵NPL

   Nepal · Religion · c. 249 BCE

   Ashoka's pillar at Lumbini

   The Mauryan emperor Ashoka visits Lumbini and erects an inscribed sandstone pillar, the earliest material evidence identifying the Buddha's birthplace.

   Lumbini and the Birth of the Buddha

   Sources: Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)

Asia

1. 🇮🇷IRN

   Iran · Formation

   The Parthian (Arsacid) Empire

   Arsaces I founds the Parthian Empire in north-eastern Iran, reviving Persian traditions and becoming Rome's chief rival in the East for nearly five centuries.

   Hellenistic, Parthian and Sasanian Persia

   Sources: Ancient Iran — The Hellenistic and Parthian periods (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Sasanian Empire (World History Encyclopedia)

2. 🇹🇲TKM

   Turkmenistan · Formation · c. 247 BCE

   Rise of the Parthian Empire

   The nomadic Parni founded the Parthian state, which grew into an empire ruling Iran and Central Asia for nearly five centuries and rivalling Rome, with Nisa among its early royal centres.

   Ancient Oases: Margiana and Parthian Nisa

   Sources: Parthia (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Parthian Empire (World History Encyclopedia)

Asia

1. 🇨🇳CHN

   China · Formation

   Qin unifies China; the First Emperor is proclaimed

   Qin completes its conquest of the Warring States and its king takes the title Shi Huangdi, founding the first unified Chinese empire and the centralized bureaucratic system that defines imperial China.

   Imperial Unification: Qin and Han

   Sources: Qin Shi Huang (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · China (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Africa

1. 🇹🇳TUN

   Tunisia · War & Rupture

   Hannibal's war on Rome

   In the Second Punic War Hannibal invades Italy with elephants and wins at Cannae, before defeat at Zama in 202 BCE.

   Carthage & the Punic Wars

   Sources: Punic Wars (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Punic Wars (World History Encyclopedia)

Europe

1. 🇲🇹MLT

   Malta · War & Rupture

   Malta becomes Roman

   During the Second Punic War Malta passed under Roman control and was attached to the praetorship of Sicily, beginning some seven centuries of Roman and then Byzantine rule.

   Phoenicians, Carthage, Rome and the Coming of Christianity

   Sources: Malta: History, Language, Map, People (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

2. 🇪🇸ESP

   Spain · War & Rupture

   Rome enters Hispania

   During the Second Punic War, Roman forces landed in Iberia; over roughly two centuries Rome conquered the entire peninsula and organised it as the provinces of Hispania.

   Iberia: Celts, Phoenicians, Rome and the Visigoths

   Sources: Spain (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇨🇳CHN

   China · War & Rupture · c. 214 BCE

   Frontier walls joined into the Great Wall

   Under the First Emperor, earlier northern fortifications are connected into a unified defense against steppe invasions, the origin of the Great Wall that later dynasties would expand.

   Imperial Unification: Qin and Han

   Sources: The Great Wall (World Heritage List) (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Qin Shi Huang (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇨🇳CHN

   China · Culture & Ideas

   Death of the First Emperor and the terracotta army

   Qin Shi Huang dies and is entombed near Xi'an in a colossal mausoleum guarded by roughly 8,000 terracotta warriors, rediscovered in 1974 and now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

   Imperial Unification: Qin and Han

   Sources: Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (World Heritage List) (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Qin Shi Huang (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇲🇳MNG

   Mongolia · Formation · c. 209 BCE

   The Xiongnu confederation reaches its height

   At the close of the third century BCE the Xiongnu unite the eastern steppe under a supreme chanyu, forming a nomadic empire that rivals the Qin and Han dynasties of China for centuries.

   Lords of the Steppe: The Xiongnu and Early Nomads

   Sources: Xiongnu (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Mongolia (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇨🇳CHN

   China · Politics & Power

   Han dynasty consolidates the empire

   After the Qin collapse, the Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) institutionalizes Confucian-trained bureaucracy and the civil service, giving China its enduring model of imperial government and the name of its majority people.

   Imperial Unification: Qin and Han

   Sources: Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE), Teaching China with the Smithsonian (Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art) · Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) · China (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Africa

1. 🇩🇿DZA

   Algeria · Formation · c. 202 BCE

   Massinissa unites Numidia

   Allied with Rome in the Second Punic War, the Massylian king Massinissa defeats Syphax and unifies the Amazigh kingdom of Numidia, ruling until 148 BCE.

   Numidia, Carthage and Roman Africa

   Sources: Masinissa (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Berber Kingdoms of Numidia and Mauretania (EBSCO Research Starters)