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Year 209 BC was a year of the
pre-Julian Roman calendarThe Roman calendar changed its form several times in the time between the founding of Rome and the fall of the Roman Empire. This article generally discusses the early Roman or pre-Julian calendars...
. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Verrucosus and Flaccus (or, less frequently, year 545
Ab urbe conditaAb urbe condita is Latin for "from the founding of the City ", traditionally set in 753 BC. AUC is a year-numbering system used by some ancient Roman historians to identify particular Roman years...
). The denomination 209 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the
Anno Domini and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
calendar eraA calendar era is the year numbering system used by a calendar. For example, the Gregorian calendar numbers its years in the Western Christian era . The instant, date, or year from which time is marked is called the epoch of the era...
became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Roman Republic
- The Romans
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
under Fabius Maximus Cunctator capture TarentumTaranto is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base....
(modern TarantoTaranto is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base....
), which the CarthaginianCarthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
general Hannibal has held for three years.
- The Battle of Asculum is fought between Hannibal's Carthaginian army and a Roman force led by Marcus Claudius Marcellus
Marcus Claudius Marcellus , five times elected as consul of the Roman Republic, was an important Roman military leader during the Gallic War of 225 BC and the Second Punic War...
. The battle is indecisive.
- From his headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
at TarracoTarraco is the ancient name of the current city of Tarragona . During the Roman Empire was one of the major cities of the Iberian Peninsula and capital of the Roman province called Hispania Citerior or Hispania Tarraconensis. The full name of the city at the time of the Roman Republic was Colonia...
(TarragonaTarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...
), Publius Cornelius ScipioPublius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...
, the Roman commander in SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, launches a combined military and naval assault on the Carthaginian headquarters at Carthago Nova (modern-day CartagenaCartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...
). He successfully besieges and captures the city. In capturing this city, Scipio gains access to copious stores and supplies, Spanish hostages, the local silver mines, a splendid harbour and a base for an advance farther south.
Seleucid Empire
- The King of the Parthia
Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....
ns, Arsaces II, is attacked by the Seleucid king Antiochus IIIAntiochus III the Great Seleucid Greek king who became the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire as a youth of about eighteen in 223 BC. Antiochus was an ambitious ruler who ruled over Greater Syria and western Asia towards the end of the 3rd century BC...
, who takes HecatompylosHecatompylos was an ancient city in west Khurasan, Iran, which was the capital of the Parthian Arsacid dynasty by 200 BCE. The Greek name Hekatompylos means "one hundred gates", but this title was commonly used for cities which had more than the traditional four gates...
(southeast of the Caspian SeaThe Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
), the Arsacid capital and Syrinx in HyrcaniaHyrcania was the name of a satrapy located in the territories of present day Gilan, Golestan, Mazandaran and part of Turkmenistan, lands south of the Caspian Sea. To the Greeks, the Caspian Sea was the "Hyrcanian Sea".-Etymology:...
. Antiochus III defeats Arsaces II in a battle at Mount Labus and then forces Arsaces II to enter into an alliance with the Seleucids.
Greece
- As strategos
Strategos, plural strategoi, is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
of the AchaeaAchaea is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Greece. It is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The capital is Patras. The population exceeds 300,000 since 2001.-Geography:...
ns, the Greek general PhilopoemenPhilopoemen , was a skilled Greek general and statesman, who was Achaean strategos on eight occasions....
is responsible for turning the Achaean LeagueThe Achaean League was a Hellenistic era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese, which existed between 280 BC and 146 BC...
into an aggressive military power. He builds up the League's military capability. The Achaean League's army and cavalry under Philopoemen then defeat the Aetolians on the Elean frontier.
Mongolia
- Modun Shanyu inherits Teoman's
Touman – was the earliest known Xiongnu chanyu , reigning from c. 220 to 209 BCE. The name Touman is likely related to Middle Chinese *muan, West Tokharian tmāne, Old Turkic/Mongolian tümen, Modern Persian tumân, all meaning '10,000', a myriad).By the time the Qin Dynasty conquered the other six...
Hun confederations and founds the Xiongnu Empire. Modun's forces push into Northern China, threatening the Qin EmpireThe Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...
and forcing them to further fortify the Great WallThe Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
.