Arguably the most important series of political events in this period were the conquests ofAlexander, bringing about the collapse of the once formidablePersian Empire and spreading Greek culture far into the east. Alexander dreamt of an east/west union, but when his short life ended in 323 BC, his vast empire was plunged intocivil war as his generals each carved out their own separate kingdoms. Thus began theHellenistic 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.
InIndia, theMaurya Empire was founded in 322 BC byChandragupta Maurya who rapidly expanded his power westwards across central and westernIndia, taking advantage of the disruptions oflocal 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 theWarring States period. The period saw the rapid rise of large states (such asChu) over smaller ones thanks to technological advancement. Though the period has usually been characterized by historians as being excessively violent compared to theSpring and Autumn period, it was also punctuated by several cultural and social growths through the expansion of several different sects ofConfucianism andTaoism, and the formulation ofLegalist thought.
Map of the world in 400 BC, the beginning of the fourth century BC.Map of the world in 323 BC.Map of the world in 300 BC, the end of the fourth century BC.
392 BC: A peace conference between theGreek city-states is held inSparta.Andocides, Athenian orator and politician, goes with three colleagues to negotiate peace with Sparta. The conference is unsuccessful and Athens rejects the terms and exiles the ambassadors.
389 BC:Wu Qi, theprime minister of theState of Chu, enacts his first series of political, municipal and martial reforms. Wu Qi gains the ire and distrust of Chu officials and aristocratic elite who are against his crusades to sweep up corruption in the state and limit their power.
387 BC: Under the threat of Spartan intervention,Thebes disbands its league, andArgos andCorinth end their shared government. Corinth, deprived of its strong ally, is incorporated back into Sparta'sPeloponnesian League. After eight years of fighting, theCorinthian War is at an end.
387 BC: Romans are defeated by theGauls underBrennus in theBattle of the Allia who then go on to occupy the city ofRome. After theGauls leave again the Romans begin the rebuilding of their city.
384 BC: The Greeks found the colony of Pharos at the site of today'sStari Grad on the island ofHvar, defeatingIadasinoi warriors brought in for its defense.
381 BC:Sparta increases its hold on centralGreece by re-establishing the city ofPlataea, which Sparta formerly destroyed in427 BC.
381 BC:Wu Qi is assassinated at the funeral of King Diao of Chu, although his assassins are executed shortly after by the newly enthroned King Su of Chu.
376 BC: The states ofHan,Wei andZhao deposedDuke Jing of Jin and divided the last remainingJin territory between themselves, which marked the final end of the Jin state.
343 BC: State ofQi wins theBattle of Maling overWei that takes place in Maling, currently Dazhangjia Town,Shen County,Henan Province, during theWarring States period. After the death of Pang Juan, Prince Shen was captured by Qi. The power of the state of Wei decreased considerably after this battle.
331 BC:Alexander the Great wins the Battle of Gaugamela, effectively ending Persian hegemony. He would spend much of the 330s conquering the remnants of theAchaemenid Empire.
331 BC:Chu rises to its peak in 334 BC, when it conquersYue to its east on the Pacific coast.
323 BC: ThePartition of Babylon sets out the division of the territories conquered by Alexander the Great between his generals. The partition is a result of a compromise, essentially brokered byEumenes, following a conflict of opinion between the party ofMeleager, who wishes to give full power toPhilip III, and the party ofPerdiccas, who wishes to wait for the birth of the heir of Alexander and his wife,Roxana to give him the throne under the control of a regent.
Chandragupta Maurya captures Magadha: Chandragupta, with the help ofChanakya (Kautilya), who is also known as the Indian Machiavelli, destroys the Nanda rulers ofMagadha and establishes theMaurya Empire.
314 BC: Upon the ascension ofKing Nan,East Zhou becomes an independent state. The king comes to reside in what becomes known as WestZhou.[1]
311 BC:King Hui of Qin dies, follows by prime ministerZhang Yi one year later. The new monarch,King Wu, reigns only four years before dying without legitimate heirs.
309 BC: Soon after theState of Qin has conquered theState of Shu (in modern-daySichuan province), they employ the Shu engineer Bi Ling to create the Guanxianirrigation system, which will eventually provide for over five million people in an area of 40 to 50 square miles (130 km2), still in use today.
Starting in the year309 BC, the later Chinese historianSima Qian (145 BC–90 BC) wrote that the Qin-employed engineer Bi Ling of the newly conqueredState of Shu inSichuan had the shoulder of a mountain cut through, making the'Separated Hill' that abated the Mo River, and excavated two canals in the plain ofChengdu. The significance of this was phenomenal, as it allowed the new Guardianirrigation 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 astronomerGan De divides thecelestial sphere into 365¼ degrees, and the tropical year into 365¼ days at a time when most astronomers used theBabylon division of the celestial sphere as 360 degrees (Deng, Yinke. [2005] (2005).Chinese Ancient Inventions.ISBN7-5085-0837-8).
