# 262 BC

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Calendar year

Years Millennium 1st millennium BC Centuries 4th century BC 3rd century BC 2nd century BC Decades 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC Years 265 BC 264 BC 263 BC 262 BC 261 BC 260 BC 259 BC v t e

262 BC by topic Politics State leaders Political entities Categories Deaths v t e

262 BC in various calendars Gregorian calendar 262 BC CCLXII BC Ab urbe condita 492 Ancient Egypt era XXXIII dynasty, 62 - Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus, 22 Ancient Greek Olympiad (summer) 129th Olympiad, year 3 Assyrian calendar 4489 Balinese saka calendar N/A Bengali calendar −855 – −854 Berber calendar 689 Buddhist calendar 283 Burmese calendar −899 Byzantine calendar 5247–5248 Chinese calendar 戊戌年 (Earth Dog) 2436 or 2229 — to — 己亥年 (Earth Pig) 2437 or 2230 Coptic calendar −545 – −544 Discordian calendar 905 Ethiopian calendar −269 – −268 Hebrew calendar 3499–3500 Hindu calendars - Vikram Samvat −205 – −204 - Shaka Samvat N/A - Kali Yuga 2839–2840 Holocene calendar 9739 Iranian calendar 883 BP – 882 BP Islamic calendar 910 BH – 909 BH Javanese calendar N/A Julian calendar N/A Korean calendar 2072 Minguo calendar 2173 before ROC 民前2173年 Nanakshahi calendar −1729 Seleucid era 50/51 AG Thai solar calendar 281–282 Tibetan calendar ས་ཕོ་ཁྱི་ལོ་ (male Earth-Dog) −135 or −516 or −1288 — to — ས་མོ་ཕག་ལོ་ (female Earth-Boar) −134 or −515 or −1287

Year **262 BC** was a year of the [pre-Julian Roman calendar](/source/Roman_calendar). At the time it was known as the **Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Otacilius** (or, less frequently, **year 492 *[Ab urbe condita](/source/Ab_urbe_condita)***). The denomination 262 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the [Anno Domini](/source/Anno_Domini) [calendar era](/source/Calendar_era) became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

## Events

### By place

#### Greece

- After [Athens](/source/Ancient_Athens) surrenders in the [Chremonidean War](/source/Chremonidean_War) following a long siege by [Macedonian](/source/Macedon) forces, [Antigonus II Gonatas](/source/Antigonus_II_Gonatas) re-garrisons Athens and forbids the city from making war. Otherwise, he leaves Athens alone as the seat of philosophy and learning in Greece. [1]

#### Roman Republic

- [Rome](/source/Roman_Republic) besieges the city of [Agrigentum](/source/Agrigentum) which is held by [Carthage](/source/Carthage) under the command of [Hannibal Gisco](/source/Hannibal_Gisco). Rome's siege involves both consular armies – a total of four Roman legions – and takes several months to resolve. The garrison of Agrigentum manages to call for reinforcements and a Carthaginian relief force commanded by [Hanno](/source/Hanno_the_Great) comes to the rescue and destroys the Roman supply base at Erbessus. Nevertheless, after a few skirmishes, the [battle of Agrigentum](/source/Battle_of_Agrigentum) is fought and won by Rome, and the city falls. Gisco manages to escape to Carthage in the late stages of the battle.

- After the loss of Agrigentum, the Carthaginians retire to organise their fleet. In the meantime, the Romans sack Agrigentum and enslave its Greek inhabitants. The Romans are now determined to drive the Carthaginians out of Sicily.

#### Seleucid Empire

- [Seleucid](/source/Seleucid) king [Antiochus I's](/source/Antiochus_I_Soter) eldest son Seleucus, who has ruled in the east of the kingdom as viceroy for a number of years, is put to death by his father on the charge of rebellion.

- Antiochus I tries to break the growing power of [Pergamum](/source/Pergamum) by force of arms. [Eumenes I](/source/Eumenes_I), the new ruler of Pergamum, liberates his city from the overlordship of the Seleucids by defeating the army of Antiochus I near [Sardis](/source/Sardis) (the capital of [Lydia](/source/Lydia)), and thereby establishing an independent city-state.

- Antiochus I dies and is succeeded by his second son [Antiochus II Theos](/source/Antiochus_II_Theos).

#### China

- Following the surrender of the [Shangdang Commandery](/source/Shangdang_Commandery), formerly of [Han](/source/State_of_Han), to the [State of Zhao](/source/State_of_Zhao), fighting between Zhao and the [State of Qin](/source/State_of_Qin) begins in the area of [Changping](/source/Battle_of_Changping).[2]

## Births

- [Apollonius of Perga](/source/Apollonius_of_Perga) (Pergaeus), Greek astronomer and mathematician specialising in geometry and noted for his writings on conic sections (d. c. [190 BC](/source/190_BC))

## Deaths

- [Antiochus I Soter](/source/Antiochus_I_Soter), king of the [Seleucid](/source/Seleucid) Kingdom from [281 BC](/source/281_BC) (b. c. [323 BC](/source/323_BC))

- [Acrotatus II](/source/Acrotatus_II), Agiad king of [Sparta](/source/Sparta)

- [Philemon](/source/Philemon_(poet)), [Athenian](/source/Ancient_Athens) poet and playwright of the [New Comedy](/source/New_Comedy) (b. c. [362 BC](/source/362_BC))

- [Zeno of Citium](/source/Zeno_of_Citium), Hellenistic [Stoic](/source/Stoicism) philosopher from [Citium](/source/Citium), [Cyprus](/source/Cyprus) (b. [333 BC](/source/333_BC))

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** The Freedom of the Greeks in the Early Hellenistic Period (337-262 BC). A Study in Ruler-City Relations, Shane Wallace

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Qian, Sima. *Records of the Grand Historian, Section: Basic Annals of Qin, Section: Bai Qi*.

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