Year 269 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar

Roman calendar

The 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 Gallus and Pictor (or, less frequently, year 485 Ab urbe condita

Ab urbe condita

Ab 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 269 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini

Anno Domini

and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....

 calendar era

Calendar era

A 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.

Sicily

• The Mamertines
  Mamertines
  The Mamertines were mercenaries of Italian origin who had been hired from their home in Campania by Agathocles, the king of Syracuse. After Syracuse lost the Third Sicilian War, the city of Messana was ceded to Carthage in 307 BC. When Agathocles died in 289 BC he left many of his mercenaries idle...
  
  , a body of Campania
  Campania
  Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
  
  n mercenaries who have been employed by Agathocles
  Agathocles
  Agathocles , , was tyrant of Syracuse and king of Sicily .-Biography:...
  
  , the former tyrant of Syracuse, capture the stronghold of Messana (Messina in north-eastern Sicily
  Sicily
  Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
  
  ), from which they harass the Syracusans. The Syracusan military leader, Hieron
  Hiero II of Syracuse
  Hieron II , king of Syracuse from 270 to 215 BC, was the illegitimate son of a Syracusan noble, Hierocles, who claimed descent from Gelon. He was a former general of Pyrrhus of Epirus and an important figure of the First Punic War....
  
  , defeats them in a pitched battle at the Longanus River
  Longanus River
  The Longanus was a river in north-eastern Sicily on the Mylaean plain and was, as recorded by Polybius, the location at which the Mamertines were drastically defeated by Hiero II of Syracuse in around 269 BC. The small settlement of Longane was positioned near it....
  
   near Mylae, but Carthaginian
  Carthage
  Carthage , 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...
  
   forces intervene to prevent him from capturing Messana. His grateful countrymen then choose Hieron as their king and tyrant, to be known as Hieron II.

Births

• Attalus I Soter, ruler of Pergamon, from 241
  241 BC
  Year 241 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Atticus and Cerco...
  
   to 197 BC
  197 BC
  Year 197 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cethegus and Rufus...
  
  . He will be the first of the Attalid dynasty to assume the title of king (d. 197 BC
  197 BC
  Year 197 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cethegus and Rufus...
  
  ).