4th century BC

The 4th century BC started the first day of and ended the last day of. It is considered part of the, , or.

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

Arguably the most important series of political events in this period were the conquests of, bringing about the collapse of the once formidable 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, 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.

Events



 * Mid-4th century BC —, Western is rebuilt.
 * 4th century BC —, from the tomb of a at , , is made. It is now at ,.
 * Late 4th century BC —, reputed to have been found in a tomb near the . It is now at The ,.
 * or his followers makes Hermes and the infant Dionysos. A Hellenistic or Roman copy after a Late Classical original is at, . Discovered in the rubble or the ruined Temple of Hera at Olympia in.
 * is executed in on charges of impiety and corrupting Athenian youth.
 * at, 100 years after the.
 * The Greek city of sinks into the sea causing the death of its entire population
 * c Theater of Tholos, at Epidauros is built
 * , the in China
 * , the in China
 * conquers the, decline and depopulation of with large migrations towards the conquered lands.
 * The Chinese conquers the, located in modern-day , the ultimate success of the conquest due large in part to the strategy of.
 * establishes himself in, founding the.
 * Invasion of the s into.
 * and subsequent ish sack of.
 * The are beginning to be absorbed into the  people.
 * The conquer the  region, decline of the.

Significant People



 * , (c. –)
 * , philosopher (c. –)
 * , victim on the   in, possibly the earliest known evidence for worship of
 * , philosopher and scientist (–)
 * (born, reigned –)
 * (384–322 BC), a prominent  and, who became a fierce opponent of Philip II and Alexander of Macedon
 * , Chinese astronomer
 * , Chinese astronomer
 * , last King of the (born, reigned –)
 * ,  and sage (–)
 * (also ),  for egoism and intellectual rival of Mencius
 * , founder of the (c. –)
 * , Prime Minister of, his reform helped Qin to become the strongest country and later unified (term –)
 * , founder of the (c. –)
 * , King of, invades , and reaches  (born , reigned –)
 * , Gaulish chieftain
 * , Chinese philosopher
 * , Babylonian satrap
 * , Chinese general and military strategist (d. )

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

 * Oldest script dates from this period ( is the ancestor of  scripts).
 * build first.
 * use the handheld trigger for the first time.
 * The first crossbow, the, is invented at.
 * Burnt brick first used in.
 * Donkey-powered mills first used in.
 * Torque with lion's-head terminals, from (modern, ) was made. It is now in ,.
 * , a first minted under  of  was made. It is now in, ,.
 * Starting in the year, the later Chinese historian (-) wrote that the Qin-employed engineer Bi Ling of the newly conquered  in  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 . The significance of this was phenomenal, as it allowed the new Guanxian  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 astronomer  divides the  into 365¼ degrees, and the tropical year into 365¼ days at a time when most astronomers used the  division of the celestial sphere as 360 degrees (Deng, Yinke. [2005] (2005). Chinese Ancient Inventions. ISBN 7508508378).