4th Century BC

Information about 4th Century BC

The 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 301 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period.

Overview

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Map of the world in 323 BC (at the death of Alexander the Great)
This century marks the height of Classical Greek civilization in all of its aspects.By the year 400 Greek philosophy, art, literature and architechture have spread with the numerous independent Greek colonies that have sprung up throughout the lands of the eastern Mediterranean. Arguably the most important series of political events in this period are the conquests of Alexander, bringing about the collapse of the once formidable Persian Empire and spreading Greek culture far into the east. Alexander dreams of an east/west union, but when his short life ends, his vast empire is plunged into civil war as his generals each carve out their own separate kingdoms. Thus begins the Hellenistic age, a period characterized by a more absolute approach to rule, with Greek kings taking on royal trappings and setting up hereditary successions. While a degree of democracy still exists in some of the remaining independent Greek cities, many scholars see this age as marking the end of classical Greece.

Events

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Bust of Alexander the Great in the British Museum.

Significant People

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"The safest general characterisation of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato." (Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality, 1929).

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

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A Han Dynasty Chinese crossbow from the second century BC.
  • Oldest Brahmi script dates from this period (Brahmi is the ancestor of Indic scripts).
  • Romans build first aqueduct.
  • Chinese use the handheld trigger crossbow for the first time.
  • The first crossbow, the gastraphetes, is invented at Syracuse.
  • Burnt brick first used in Greece.
  • Donkey-powered mills first used in Greece.
  • Torque with lion's-head terminals, from Susa (modern Shush, Iran) was made. It is now in Musee du Louvre, Paris.
  • Daric, a coin first minted under Darius I of Persia was made. It is now in Heberden Coin room, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
  • Starting in the year 309 BC, the later Chinese historian Sima Qian (145 BC-90 BC) wrote that the Qin-employed engineer Bi Ling of the newly conquered State of Shu in Sichuan had the shoulder of a mountain cut through, making the 'Separated Hill' that abated the Mo River, and excavated two canals in the plain of Chengdu. The significance of this was phenomenal, as it allowed the new Guanxian irrigation system to populate an area of some 40 by 50 miles (60 × 80 km) with over five million people, still in use today (Needham, Science and Civilization in China, Volume 4, Part 3, 288).

Decades and Years

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4th century
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Millennium Century
Before Christ / Before Common Era (BC/BCE)
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Anno Domini / Common Era (AD/CE)
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4th century BC - 3rd century BC
430s BC  420s BC  410s BC - 400s BC - 390s BC  380s BC  370s BC 
403 BC 402 BC 401 BC - 400 BC - 399 BC 398 BC 397 BC

Politics
State leaders - Sovereign states

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4th century BC - 3rd century BC
330s BC  320s BC  310s BC - 300s BC - 290s BC  280s BC  270s BC 
304 BC 303 BC 302 BC - 301 BC - 300 BC 299 BC 298 BC

Politics
State leaders - Sovereign states

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Classical antiquity (also the classical era or classical period) is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.
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Era may refer to:
  • Era, a long period of history
  • ERA Real Estate, also known as Electronic Realty Associates Inc.
  • Era (musical project), founded by Eric Levi
  • Era (telecommunications), the brand name of Poland's mobile phone network operator, PTC

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Depending on context, epoch can refer to:

Period of time

  • a distinctive historical period or era
  • a unit of the geologic time scale, less than a period and greater than an age
  • a phase in the development of the universe with distinctive properties


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named time periods as defined in various fields of study. Major categorization systems include cosmological (concerning the various time periods in the origin and evolution of our universe), geological
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Classical Greece, the classical period of Ancient Greece, corresponds to most of the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. (i.e. from the fall of the Athenian tyranny in 510 BC to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC).
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Mediterranean is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia. It covers an approximate area of 2.
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Alexander III, the Great
Basileus of Macedon, Hegemon of the Hellenic League, Shah of Persia, Pharaoh of Egypt

Alexander fighting Persian king Darius III. From Alexander Mosaic, from Pompeii, Naples, Museo Archeologico Nazionale.
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BCE Zayandeh River Civilization Sialk civilization 7500–1000 Jiroft civilization (Aratta) Proto-Elamite civilization Bactria-Margiana Complex Elamite dynasties 2800–550 Kingdom of Mannai Median Empire 728–550 Achaemenid Empire Seleucid Empire Greco-Bactrian
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The term Hellenistic (derived from Ἕλλην Héllēn, the Greeks' traditional self-described ethnic name) was established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen to refer to the spreading of
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Priene (Πριήνη)
Ancient City of Greece
(Turunçlar)
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Motto
Yurtta Sulh, Cihanda Sulh
Peace at Home, Peace in the World
Anthem
İstiklâl Marşı
The Anthem of Independence
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Pectoral, from the Latin pectoralis (plural pectorales), "pertaining to the breast/chest", can refer to:
  • Pectorale, a cross worn on the chest
  • a decorative, usually jeweled version of a gorget
  • Pectoralis major muscle
  • Pectoralis minor muscle

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Scythians (/'sɪθɪən/, also /'sɪğɪən/) or Scyths (/'sɪθs/
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Ordzhonikidze may refer to:
  • Sergo Ordzhonikidze
  • Various towns in the Soviet Union which were renamed after him, the most important being Vladikavkaz
  • Ordzhonikidze, Ukraine
  • Ordzhonikidze Ural Heavy Machine Tool Works (UZTM) in Yekaterinburg, Russia

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Anthem
Hymn of the Russian Federation


Capital
(and largest city) Moscow

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KIEV was a Los Angeles radio station that first took to the air February, 1933 at 870 kHz.

The station had various formats, including top 40, big bands/standards, and talk. In 1996, KIEV became a talk station permanently, and was eventually sold to Salem Communications.
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Diadem has a number of different meanings, including the following:
  • A diadem is a type of crown.
  • Diadem is the brightest star in the constellation Coma Berenices.
  • A diadem may be one of several tropical butterflies in the genus Hypolimnas.

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Helespont/Dardanelles, a long narrow strait dividing the Balkans (Europe) along the Gallipoli peninsula from Asia Anatolia (Asia Minor).]] Hellespont (Greek Ἑλλήσποντοs; i.e.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Established 1872
Location 5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York
Visitor figures 4 million/year
Director Philippe de Montebello
Website www.metmuseum.
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State of New York

Flag of New York Seal
Nickname(s): The Empire State
Motto(s): Excelsior!

Official language(s) None

Capital Albany
Largest city New York City

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4th century BC - 3rd century BC
420s BC  410s BC  400s BC - 390s BC - 380s BC  370s BC  360s BC 
402 BC 401 BC 400 BC - 399 BC - 398 BC 397 BC 396 BC

Politics
State leaders - Sovereign states

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SOCRATES is the European Community action programme in the field of education. The second phase of the programme covers the period January 1 2000 to December 31 2006. It draws on the experiences of the first phase (1995-1999) building on the successful aspects of the programme,
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Location

Coordinates Coordinates:
Time zone: EET/EEST (UTC+2/3)
Elevation (min-max): 70 - 338 m (0 - 0 ft)
Government
Country:
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4th century BC - 3rd century BC
410s BC  400s BC  390s BC - 380s BC - 370s BC  360s BC  350s BC 
386 BC 385 BC 384 BC - 383 BC - 382 BC 381 BC 380 BC

Politics
State leaders - Sovereign states

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The Second Buddhist council took place in Vesali, about one hundred years after the Buddha's Parinibbāna, in order to settle a serious dispute on Vinaya. The orthodox monks were able to convince the monks whose behaviour was under question.
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Vaishali can refer to:
  • Vaishali District, in Bihar state, India.
  • Vaishali, an ancient city of India, currently located in Vaishali District, Bihar, India.
  • Vaishaali, a malayalam movie directed by Bharathan.

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In Buddhism, parinirvana (Sanskrit: परिनिर्वाण
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4th century BC - 3rd century BC
400s BC  390s BC  380s BC - 370s BC - 360s BC  350s BC  340s BC 
376 BC 375 BC 374 BC - 373 BC - 372 BC 371 BC 370 BC

Politics
State leaders - Sovereign states

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