Editing 261 BC (section)

== Events ==
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=== By place ===
==== Roman Republic ====
* The [[Roman Republic|Romans]], determined to win control of [[Sicily]] from [[Carthage]], build a fleet based on the model of a captured Carthaginian [[quinquereme]].

==== Seleucid Empire ====
* The new [[Seleucid]] king [[Antiochus II Theos|Antiochus II]] reaches an agreement with the king of [[Macedon]]ia, [[Antigonus II Gonatas]], to work together in trying to push [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus|Ptolemy II's]] fleet and armies out of the [[Aegean Sea]]. With Macedonia's support, Antiochus II launches an attack on Ptolemaic outposts in [[Asia Minor]].

====India====
* Mauryan Emperor [[Ashoka]] wages a [[Kalinga War|war]] against the independent kingdom of [[Kalinga (region)|Kalinga]], culminating in the Battle of the [[Dhauli|Dhauli Hills]]. In the aftermath, Kalinga is annexed into the [[Mauryan Empire]], but the brutality of the war is believed to have led to Ashoka's conversion to [[Buddhism]], as described in his many [[Edicts of Ashoka]].
====China====
* The armies of the [[State of Qin]] and [[State of Zhao]] contest control of the area around [[Battle of Changping|Changping]]. After suffering defeats to general Wang He of Qin and the superior Qin army, general [[Lian Po]] of Zhao refuses to give battle, resulting in a stalemate.<ref>{{cite book|first=Sima|last= Qian|title=Records of the Grand Historian, Section: Lian Po}}</ref>
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