__NOTOC__ The year 295 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. It was known in the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

as the Year of the Consulship of Rullianus and Mus (or, less frequently, year 459 ''

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 ...

''). The designation "295 BC" 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 dominant system for naming years in Europe.

Events

By place

Roman Republic

Third Samnite War The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanians, Lucania ...

: :* The

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic peoples, Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan language, Oscan-speaking Osci, people, who originated as an offsh ...

defeat the propraetor

Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus (c. 337 BC270 BC) was one of the two elected Roman consuls in 298 BC. He led the Roman army to victory against the Etruscans near Volterra. A member of the noble Roman family of Scipiones, he was the father of ...

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

in the Battle of Camerinum. :* The proconsul

Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens was a consul of the Roman Republic twice, in 307 BC and 296 BC, a '' novus homo'' ("new man"), the first of his plebeian ''gens'' to attain the consulship. Volumnius served in both his consulships with the patric ...

defeats a Samnite army at Mt Tifernus and invades

Samnium Samnium () is a Latin exonym for a region of Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the Samnites. Their own endonyms were ''Safinim'' for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and ''Safineis'' for the The language of t ...

. :* The consuls

Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus (or Rullus) was a Patrician (ancient Rome), patrician, politician and soldier of the Roman Republic during the fourth and early third century BC. He was the son of Marcus Fabius Ambustus (consul 360 BC), Marcus F ...

and Publius Decius Mus march to Sentinum in Umbria. Facing a coalition army of Samnites, Semnones, Etruscans and Umbrians, they order the propraetors Gnaeus Fulvius Maximus Centumalus and Lucius Postumius Megellus, who were initially tasked with defending Rome, to raid Etruria as far as

Clusium Clusium (, ''Klýsion'', or , ''Kloúsion''; Umbrian language, Umbrian:''Camars'') was an ancient city in Italy, one of several found at the same site overlapping the current municipality of Chiusi (Tuscany). The Roman city remodeled an earlier E ...

. This provokes the Etruscans to march to their homeland's defence, taking the Umbrians with them. In the subsequent

Battle of Sentinum The Battle of Sentinum was the decisive battle of the Third Samnite War, fought in 295 BC near Sentinum (next to the modern town of Sassoferrato, in the Marches region of Italy), in which the Romans overcame a formidable coalition of Samni ...

against the Samnites and Semnones, Decius is killed in an act of

Devotio In ancient Roman religion, the ''devotio'' was an extreme form of '' votum'' in which a Roman general vowed to sacrifice his own life in battle along with the enemy to chthonic gods in exchange for a victory. The most extended description of t ...

, and Fabius wins the battle.

Gellius Egnatius Gellius Egnatius (died 295 BC) was the leader of the Varriani, a leading clan of the Samnites during the Third Samnite War, which broke out in 298 BC. By the end of the second campaign the Samnites appeared completely defeated, however in the foll ...

, the mastermind behind the coalition, is cut down in the fighting, along with 25,000 Samnites and Semnones killed and 8000 captured. :* A force of Samnite fugitives are defeated by the

Paeligni The Paeligni or Peligni were an Italic tribe who lived in the Valle Peligna, in what is now Abruzzo, central Italy. History The Paeligni are first mentioned as a member of a confederacy that included the Marsi, Marrucini, and Vestini, with wh ...

. :* Fulvius defeats a united force of Etruscans from Clusium and

Perusia The ancient Perusia, now Perugia, first appears in history as one of the 12 confederate cities of Etruria. It is first mentioned in the account of the war of 310 or 309 BC between the Etruscans and the Romans. It took, however, an important pa ...

, and Fabius marches into Etruria and inflicts a further defeat on the Perusians. :* Volumnius and the praetor

Appius Claudius Caecus Appius Claudius Caecus ( 312–279 BC) was a statesman and writer from the Roman Republic. He is best known for two major building projects: the Appian Way (Latin: Via Appia), the first major Roman road, and the first Roman aqueduct, aqueduc ...

(who is given command over Decius' army) defeat a Samnite army in the Stellate Plains, killing 16,300 and capturing 2700. *

August 19 Events Pre-1600 * 295 BC – The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during the Third Samnite War. *43 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, later kno ...

– The first

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

, the

Roman goddess Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to the ...

of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges.

Greece

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

falls to

Demetrius Poliorcetes Demetrius I Poliorcetes (; , , ; ) was a Macedonian Greek nobleman and military leader who became king of Asia between 306 and 301 BC, and king of Macedon between 294 and 288 BC. A member of the Antigonid dynasty, he was the son of its founder, ...

after a bitter siege, and its tyrant Lachares is killed. * The king of

Macedon Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...

, Antipater II, murders his mother Thessalonike, accusing her of being too fond of his brother and co-ruler

Alexander V Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are ...

Births

Apollonius of Rhodes Apollonius of Rhodes ( ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; ; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek author, best known for the ''Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Go ...

, Greek poet and

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

(approximate date) *

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

, son of

Pyrrhus of Epirus Pyrrhus ( ; ; 319/318–272 BC) was a Greeks, Greek king and wikt:statesman, statesman of the Hellenistic period.Plutarch. ''Parallel Lives'',Pyrrhus... He was king of the Molossians, of the royal Aeacidae, Aeacid house, and later he became ki ...

(d. 272 BC)

Deaths

, Roman military leader of the

* Publius Decius Mus, Roman consul (killed in the

) *

Thessalonike of Macedon Thessalonike (; 353/2 or 346/5 BC – 295 BC) was a Macedonian Greek princess, the daughter of King Philip II of Macedon by his Thessalian wife or concubine, Nicesipolis. History links her to three of the most powerful men in Macedon—d ...

, daughter of king

Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon (; 382 BC – October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...

and wife of

Cassander Cassander (; ; 355 BC – 297 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC, and '' de facto'' ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death. A son of Antipater and a contemporary of Alexander the ...

(b. 352 BC) * Wuling of Zhao, Chinese king of Zhao (b.

340 BC __NOTOC__ Year 340 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Torquatus and Mus (or, less frequently, year 414 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 340 BC for this year has been us ...

) *

Zhuang Zhou Zhuang Zhou (), commonly known as Zhuangzi (; ; literally "Master Zhuang"; also rendered in the Wade–Giles romanization as Chuang Tzu), was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States p ...

, Chinese

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

(approximate date)

References

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