__NOTOC__ Year 103 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marius and Orestes (or, less frequently, year 651 ''

Ab urbe condita ''Ab urbe condita'' (; 'from the founding of Rome, founding of the City'), or (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is ...

'') and the Second Year of Taichu. The denomination 103 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the

Anno Domini The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used when designating years in the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian and Julian calendar, Julian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means "in the year of the Lord" but is often presented using "o ...

calendar era A calendar era is the period of time elapsed since one '' epoch'' of a calendar and, if it exists, before the next one. For example, the current year is numbered in the Gregorian calendar, which numbers its years in the Western Christian era ...

became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events

By place

Roman Republic

Gaius Marius Gaius Marius (; – 13 January 86 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. Victor of the Cimbrian War, Cimbric and Jugurthine War, Jugurthine wars, he held the office of Roman consul, consul an unprecedented seven times. Rising from a fami ...

prepares a campaign against the

Ambrones The Ambrones () were an ancient tribe mentioned by Roman authors. They are believed by some to have been a Germanic tribe from Jutland; the Romans were not clear about their exact origin. In the late 2nd century BC, along with the fellow Cimbri ...

and

Teutones The Teutons (, ; ) were an ancient northern European tribe mentioned by Roman authors. The Teutons are best known for their participation, together with the Cimbri and other groups, in the Cimbrian War with the Roman Republic in the late secon ...

(under king

Teutobod Teutobod was a king of the Teutons, who, together with the allied Cimbri, invaded the Roman Republic in the Cimbrian War and won a spectacular victory at the Battle of Arausio in 105 BC. He was later captured at the Battle of Aquae Sextiae in 10 ...

) who are settled in

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

. * Tryphon and Athenion lead the

Second Servile War The Second Servile War was an unsuccessful slave uprising against the Roman Republic on the island of Sicily. The war lasted from 104 BC until 100 BC. It was one of three Servile Wars, spaced approximately 30 years apart. Background The consu ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

Judea

Alexander Jannaeus Alexander Jannaeus ( , English: "Alexander Jannaios", usually Latinised to "Alexander Jannaeus"; ''Yannaʾy''; born Jonathan ) was the second king of the Hasmonean dynasty, who ruled over an expanding kingdom of Judaea from 103 to 76 BCE. ...

succeeds his brother

Aristobulus I Judah Aristobulus I, or Aristobulus I (; ), was the High Priest of Israel and the first Hasmonean king of Judaea, reigning from 104 BCE until his death the following year. He was the eldest of the five sons of John Hyrcanus, the previous leader. ...

as king and high priest of

Judea Judea or Judaea (; ; , ; ) is a mountainous region of the Levant. Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, it is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name's usage is historic, having been used in antiquity and still into the pres ...

, until

76 BC __NOTOC__ Year 76 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Octavius and Curio (or, less frequently, year 678 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 76 BC for this year has been us ...

Asia

War of the Heavenly Horses The War of the Heavenly Horses () or the Han–Dayuan War () was a military conflict fought in 104 BC and 102 BC between the Chinese Han dynasty and the Saka-ruled (Scythian) Greco-Bactrian kingdom known to the Chinese as Dayuan, in the F ...

:*After having fought their way west across arid regions, the Han expeditionary force under

Li Guangli Li Guangli (died 89 BC) was a Chinese military general of the Western Han dynasty and a member of the Li family favoured by Emperor Wu of Han. His brother Li Yannian was also close to Emperor Wu. With the suicide of Emperor Wu's crown prince Li ...

fails to capture the

Dayuan Dayuan (or Tayuan; ; Middle Chinese ''dâiC-jwɐn'' <

LHC

: ''dɑh-ʔyɑn'') is the Chinese

Emperor Wu of Han Emperor Wu of Han (156 – 29 March 87BC), born Liu Che and courtesy name Tong, was the seventh Emperor of China, emperor of the Han dynasty from 141 to 87 BC. His reign lasted 54 years – a record not broken until the reign of the Kangxi ...

reinforces Li Guangli's army with 60,000 men, numerous horses and beasts of burden, and more than fifty high-ranking officers. Li Guangli's army then returns west. * Han-Xiongnu War :* Spring – After the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of Nomad, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, t ...

Left Commander offers to kill

Er Chanyu Er Chanyu (; r. 105–102 BC), born Wushilu (), was a ''chanyu'' of the Xiongnu Empire The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from ...

and surrender to the Han, Emperor Wu sends the Han general Zhao Ponu with an army of 20,000 to invade Xiongnu territory. When Zhao reaches the

Altay Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their headwaters. The massif merges with th ...

, the commander's conspiracy is discovered, and after killing the commander, Er marches against Zhao but suffers an initial defeat. :* Summer – The Han army retreats south, but the Xiongnu surround them. After capturing Zhao Ponu during the night, the Xiongnu defeat and force the surrender of the Han soldiers. :* The Xiongnu invade parts of China and unsuccessfully attack Shouxiang.

Births

Marcus Furius Bibaculus Marcus Furius Bibaculus (1st century BC) was a Roman neoteric poet who flourished during the last century of the Republic. Life According to Jerome, he was born at Cremona, in 103 BC; however, scholars believe that this date is much too early and ...

, Roman poet.

Deaths

, king of

. *

Gaius Lucilius Gaius Lucilius (180, 168 or 148 BC – 103 BC) was the earliest Roman satirist, of whose writings only fragments remain. A Roman citizen of the equestrian class, he was born at Suessa Aurunca in Campania, and was a member of the Scip ...

, Roman satirist *

Khallata Naga of Anuradhapura Khallata Naga, also known as Kalunna, was an early monarch of Sri Lanka of the Anuradhapura Kingdom from 109 BC to 103 BC. Reign Khallata Naga was the third son of Saddha Tissa, and younger brother of Thulatthana and Lanja Tissa. In the perio ...

, king of the Anuradhapura Kingdom

References

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