{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2011}} {{refimprove|date=February 2024}} {{Year nav|-163}} {{BC year in topic|163}} __NOTOC__ Year '''163 BC''' was a year of the [[Roman calendar|pre-Julian Roman calendar]]. At the time it was known as the '''Year of the Consulship of Gracchus and Thalna''' (or, less frequently, '''year 591 ''[[Ab urbe condita]]''''') and the '''First Year of Houyuan''' (後元). The denomination 163 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the [[Anno Domini]] [[calendar era]] became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
== Events == <onlyinclude>
=== By place ===
==== Egypt ==== * The [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemaic]] king [[Ptolemy VI Philometor]] is restored to his throne through the intervention of the citizens of [[Alexandria]]. However, the Romans intervene and partition the kingdom, giving [[Ptolemy VIII Euergetes]] [[Cyrenaica]] and Ptolemy VI [[Cyprus]] and Egypt. The two brothers accept the Roman partition.
==== Seleucid Empire ==== * In the turmoil following the death of Antiochus IV, the governor of [[Medes|Media]], [[Timarchus]] becomes the independent ruler of Media, opposing Lysias who is acting as regent for young king Antiochus V Eupator. * [[Maccabean Revolt]]: ** Regent [[Lysias (Syrian chancellor)|Lysias]] tries to make peace with the Jews in [[Judea]]. He offers them full religious freedom if they will lay down their arms. Moderates including the [[Hasideans]] consent, but [[Judas Maccabeus]] argues for full political as well as religious freedom. ** [[Maccabee campaigns of 163 BC]]: The Maccabees attack nearby regions to Judea, fighting in a civil conflict between Gentiles and Jews.
==== Roman Republic ==== * The [[Roman Republic|Roman]] playwright [[Terence]]'s play ''Heauton Timorumenos'' ("The Self-Tormentor") is first performed.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Companion to Latin Literature |last= Harrison|year=2005 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |page=137 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Terence | first=W. Geoffrey | last=Arnott | url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Terence | access-date=February 24, 2024 | series=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> </onlyinclude>
== Births == * [[Marcus Aemilius Scaurus (consul 115 BC)|Marcus Aemilius Scaurus]], Roman politician and ambassador (d. [[89 BC]]) * [[Tiberius Gracchus|Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus]], [[Roman Republic|Roman]] politician, who, as a [[pleb]]eian [[tribune]], will cause political turmoil in the Republic through his attempts to legislate [[agrarian reforms]]; his political ideals will eventually lead to his death at the hands of supporters of the conservative faction ([[Optimates]]) of the [[Roman Senate]] (d. [[132 BC]])
== Deaths == * [[Xin Zhui]], Chinese noblewoman * [[Empress Zhang Yan|Zhang Yan]], known formally as Empress Xiaohui, empress of the Chinese [[Han dynasty]] (b. [[202 BC]]) * [[Manius Juventius Thalna]], Roman consul (b. before [[206 BC]])<ref>{{cite book|title=The Magistrates of the Roman Republic|volume=1|author=T.R.S. Broughton|year=1950}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:163 Bc}} [[Category:163 BC| ]]