2nd century BC

(2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium)

Events

• 175 BC - Antiochus IV Epiphanes, took possession of the Syrian throne, at the murder of his brother Seleucus IV Philopator, which rightly belonged to his nephew Demetrius I Soter.
• 168 BC - Battle of Pydna - The Macedonian phalanx defeated by Romans
• 164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, restores the Temple in Jerusalem. Events commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah.
• 147 BC - Hasmonean victories restore autonomy to Judea.
• 148 BC - Rome conquers Macedonia
  • Rome destroys Carthage in the Third Punic War
  • Rome conquers Corinth
• 129 BC - collapse of the Seleucid Empire
• 113–101 BC - migration of the Cimbri and the Teutons, defeated at the battles of Aquae Sextiae and Vercellae
• Theravada Buddhism is officially introduced to Sri Lanka by the Venerable Mahinda

Significant persons

• Andriscus, last independant ruler of Macedon.
• Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the last effective ruler of the Seleucid Empire.
• Antiochus VII Sidetes, last King of a United Seleucid Empire.
• Boiorix, King of the Cimbri.
• Flaccus, musical collaborator of Terence.
• Hipparchus, considered the greatest astronomical observer.
• Jonathan Maccabaeus, leader of the Hasmonean rebellion and first autonomous ruler of Judea.
• Judas Maccabeus, leader of the Hasmonean rebellion and its first succesful general.
• Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, Roman general and politician.
• Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Roman general and politician.
• Lucius Mummius Achaicus, conqueror of Corinth.
• Marius, Roman general and politician.
• Perseus of Macedon, last King of the Antigonid dynasty.
• Plautus, Latin playwright.
• Quintus Lutatius Catulus, Roman general.
• Scipio Aemilianus Africanus, conqueror of Carthage.
• Terence, Latin playwright.
• Teutobod, King of the Teutons.
• Emperor Wu of Han, considered one of the greatest emperors throughout the History of China.
• Zhang Qian, Chinese diplomat and explorer.

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

• Silk Road between Europe and Asia
• Hipparchus discovers precession of Earth's equinoxes and compiles first trigonometric tables

Decades and years