4th century BC

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	5th century BC 4th century BC 3rd century BC
Decades:	390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC
Categories:	Births – Deaths Establishments – Disestablishments

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.

Map of the world in 323 BC (at the death of Alexander the Great)

This century marked the height of Classical Greek civilization in all of its aspects. By the year 400 Greek philosophy, art, literature and architecture had spread far and wide, with the numerous independent Greek colonies that had sprung up throughout the lands of the eastern Mediterranean.

Arguably the most important series of political events in this period were the conquests of Alexander, bringing about the collapse of the once formidable Persian Empire and spreading Greek culture far into the east. Alexander dreamed of an east/west union, but when his short life ended, his vast empire was plunged into civil war as his generals each carved out their own separate kingdoms. Thus began 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 existed in some of the remaining independent Greek cities, many scholars see this age as marking the end of classical Greece.

In India, the Mauryan Empire was founded in 322 BC by Chandragupta Maurya, who had overthrown the Nanda Dynasty and rapidly expanded his power westwards across central and western India, taking advantage of the disruptions of local powers in the wake of the withdrawal westward by the armies of Alexander.

China in the 4th century BC entered an era of constant warfare known as the Warring States period. The period saw the rapid rise of large states (such as Chu) over smaller ones thanks to technological advancement. Though the period has usually been characterized by historians as being excessively violent compared to the Spring and Autumn period it was also punctured by several cultural and social growth through the expansion of several different sects of Confucianism and Taoism.

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

A Han Dynasty Chinese crossbow from the 2nd century BC.

Oldest Brāhmī script dates from this period. Brāhmī is the ancestor of Brahmic scripts, used in much of India and Southeast Asia.
Romans build their first aqueduct.
Chinese use the handheld trigger crossbow for the first time.
The first crossbow, the gastraphetes, is invented at Syracuse. (? pre-421 BC)
Burnt brick first used in Greece.
Donkey-powered mills first used in Greece.
In Greece, Aristotle proposes the division of the known sciences.
Torque with lion's-head terminals, from Susa (modern Shush, Iran) was made. It is now in Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Daric, a coin first minted under Darius I of Persia is made. It is now kept in Heberden Coin Room, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Second half of the 4th century BC – Tomb II, so called Tomb of Philip II of Macedon, Vergina, Macedonia is made.
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).
The Chinese astronomer Gan De divides the celestial sphere into 365¼ degrees, and the tropical year into 365¼ days at a time when most astronomers used the Babylon division of the celestial sphere as 360 degrees (Deng, Yinke. [2005] (2005). Chinese Ancient Inventions. ISBN 7-5085-0837-8).

Significant people

Agnodice, female Athenian physician and midwife
Alexander the Great, king of Macedon
Antigonus I Monophthalmus, Macedonian diadoch
Antipater, Macedonian statesman
Atropates, Persian nobleman
Bessus, Persian satrap of Bactria
Cassander, King of Macedon
Chandragupta Maurya, Founder of the "Mauryan Dynasty"
Craterus, Macedonian diadoch
Darius III, king of the Achaemenid Empire
Demetrius Poliocretes, King of Macedon
Demosthenes, Athenian statesman and orator
Dhana Nanda, last emperor of the Nanda dynasty
Duke Xiao of Qin, ruler of Qin
Epaminondas, Theban statesman
Hephaestion, Macedonian general
King Wuling of Zhao, ruler of Zhao
Lysimachus, Macedonian diadoh and king of Thrace
Mahapadma Nanda, founding emperor of the Nanda dynasty
Manius Curius Dentatus, Roman statesman
Nakhthorheb, last native Pharaoh of Egypt
Pang Juan, Chinese general
Parmenion, Macedonian general
Pelopidas, Theban statesman
Perdiccas, Macedonian diadoh
Philip II, King of Macedon
Ptolemy I Soter, Macedonian diadoh and king of Egypt
Seleucus I Nicator, Macedonian diadoh and founder of the Seleucid Empire
Shang Yang, Chinese statesman
Su Qin, Chinese politician and strategist
Tian Ji, Chinese general
Zhang Yi, Chinese strategist

Visual arts

Apelles, Greek painter
Cephisodotus the Elder, Greek sculptor
Leochares, Greek sculptor
Lysippos, Greek sculptor
Praxiteles, Greek sculptor
Scopas, Greek sculptor and architect

Literature

Menander, Greek playwright
Onesicritus, Greek historical writer
Qu Yuan, Chinese poet
Simonides of Ceos, Greek lyric poet
Xenophon, Greek historian and writer

Science and philosophy

Anaximenes of Lampsacus, Greek rhetorician and historian.
Antisthenes, Greek philosopher
Archytas, Greek philosopher
Aristippus, Greek philosopher
Aristotle, Greek philosopher
Callisthenes, Greek historian
Chanakya, Indian economist and political advisor
Crates of Thebes, Greek philosopher
Demetrius of Phalerum, Greek orator
Diogenes of Sinope, Greek philosopher
Epicurus, Greek philosopher
Mencius, Chinese philosopher
Panini, Indian philosopher and writer
Plato, Greek philosopher
Pyrrho, Greek philosopher
Speusippus, Greek philosopher
Sun Bin, Chinese author & military strategist
Theophrastus, Greek philosopher
Wu Qi, Chinese military strategist & philosopher
Xenocrates, Greek philosopher
Zeno of Citium, Greek philosopher
Zhuangzi, Chinese philosopher

Sovereign States

See: List of sovereign states in the 4th century BC.

External links

Media related to 4th century BC at Wikimedia Commons

Decades and years

4th century BC
6th century BC←5th century BC← ↔ →3rd century BC→2nd century BC

400s BC	409 BC	408 BC	407 BC	406 BC	405 BC	404 BC	403 BC	402 BC	401 BC	400 BC
390s BC	399 BC	398 BC	397 BC	396 BC	395 BC	394 BC	393 BC	392 BC	391 BC	390 BC
380s BC	389 BC	388 BC	387 BC	386 BC	385 BC	384 BC	383 BC	382 BC	381 BC	380 BC
370s BC	379 BC	378 BC	377 BC	376 BC	375 BC	374 BC	373 BC	372 BC	371 BC	370 BC
360s BC	369 BC	368 BC	367 BC	366 BC	365 BC	364 BC	363 BC	362 BC	361 BC	360 BC
350s BC	359 BC	358 BC	357 BC	356 BC	355 BC	354 BC	353 BC	352 BC	351 BC	350 BC
340s BC	349 BC	348 BC	347 BC	346 BC	345 BC	344 BC	343 BC	342 BC	341 BC	340 BC
330s BC	339 BC	338 BC	337 BC	336 BC	335 BC	334 BC	333 BC	332 BC	331 BC	330 BC
320s BC	329 BC	328 BC	327 BC	326 BC	325 BC	324 BC	323 BC	322 BC	321 BC	320 BC
310s BC	319 BC	318 BC	317 BC	316 BC	315 BC	314 BC	313 BC	312 BC	311 BC	310 BC
300s BC	309 BC	308 BC	307 BC	306 BC	305 BC	304 BC	303 BC	302 BC	301 BC	300 BC
290s BC	299 BC	298 BC	297 BC	296 BC	295 BC	294 BC	293 BC	292 BC	291 BC	290 BC

Centuries and millennia

Millennium	Century
BC (BCE)
4th	40th	39th	38th	37th	36th	35th	34th	33rd	32nd	31st
3rd	30th	29th	28th	27th	26th	25th	24th	23rd	22nd	21st
2nd	20th	19th	18th	17th	16th	15th	14th	13th	12th	11th
1st	10th	9th	8th	7th	6th	5th	4th	3rd	2nd	1st
AD (CE)
1st	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
2nd	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th
3rd	21st	22nd	23rd	24th	25th	26th	27th	28th	29th	30th

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