Editing 196 BC

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2011}}
{{Year nav|-196}}
{{BC year in topic|196}}
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Year '''196 BC''' was a year of the [[Roman calendar|pre-Julian Roman calendar]]. At the time it was known as the '''Year of the Consulship of Purpureo and Marcellus''' (or, less frequently, '''year 558 ''[[Ab urbe condita]]'''''). The denomination 196 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the [[Anno Domini]] [[calendar era]] became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

== Events ==
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=== By place ===
==== Roman Republic ====
* The [[Insubres]], [[Gauls]] of the [[Po Valley]], believed by the [[Roman Republic|Romans]] to have been incited to revolt by [[Carthage]], are finally defeated.
* A new category of Roman priests, the [[Epulones|tresviri epulones]], are elected to supervise the feasts of the gods; the first three men selected are Gaius Licinius Lucullus, Publius Manlius, and Publius Porcius Laeca.
* At the [[Isthmian Games]] at [[Corinth]], the Roman proconsul [[Titus Quinctius Flamininus]] proclaims that all Greeks are to be free and governed by their own laws. For this deed he is hailed in many Greek cities as a saviour and accorded homage alongside the gods.
* Flamininus accuses the [[Sparta]]n ruler, [[Nabis of Sparta|Nabis]], of [[tyranny]], takes [[Gythium]] in [[Laconia]] and forces Nabis to surrender [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]].
* The first triumphal arch built in Rome.<ref>{{cite book | page=29 | first=John E. | last=Stambaugh | place=Baltimore | year=1988 | publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press | title=The Ancient Roman City | isbn=0-8018-3574-7}}</ref>

==== Anatolia ====
* According to the Roman scholar and writer [[Marcus Terentius Varro]], the foundation of a library at [[Pergamum]] around this time by [[Eumenes II]] of Pergamum, combined with an [[embargo]] on [[papyrus]] by [[Ptolemy V Epiphanes|Ptolemy V]], leads to the invention of [[parchment]].

==== Egypt ====
* The [[Rosetta Stone]] is created. This stone is a [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemaic]] era [[stele]] written with the same text in two [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] language scripts ([[hieroglyphic]] and [[Demotic (Egyptian)|demotic]]) and in classical Greek. The translation of the Greek passage reveals that the inscription is a royal [[edict]] recording the benefits conferred on Egypt by the pharaoh Ptolemy V Epiphanes at the time of his [[coronation]]. This stone will provide the key to the hieroglyphic, or [[pictographic]] writing, of ancient Egypt and the decree on it reveals the increasing influence of Egyptian natives, remitted debts and taxes, released prisoners, pardoned rebels who have surrendered, and granted increased benefactions to the temples.

==== Seleucid Empire ====
* [[Antiochus III the Great|Antiochus III's]] army crosses the [[Hellespont]] into [[Thrace]], where he claims sovereignty over territory that has been won by [[Seleucus I]] in [[281 BC]]. A war of harassment and diplomacy with Rome ensues. The Romans send ambassadors demanding that Antiochus stay out of Greece and set free all the autonomous communities in [[Anatolia]]. To meet these demands would mean Antiochus III giving up the western part of his [[Seleucid Empire]]. Thus Antiochus refuses the Romans' demands.

==== China ====
* [[Empress Lü]] and Prime Minister [[Xiao He]] of the [[Han dynasty]] have the former General-in-Chief [[Han Xin]] executed, suspecting that he was planning a rebellion in cooperation with the rebel [[Chen Xi (rebel)|Chen Xi]].
* [[Emperor Gaozu of Han]] and his generals, including [[Cao Shen]] and [[Zhou Bo]], defeat the rebellion of [[Chen Xi (rebel)|Chen Xi]].
* A Han army defeats a raid on the northern frontier by the rogue [[Xin of Han]]. Xin is killed in battle.
* Gaozu deposes the king of [[Liang (Han dynasty kingdom)|Liang]], [[Peng Yue]], on suspicion of conspiracy. He is then executed on the orders of Empress Lü.
* The king of [[Huainan Kingdom|Huainan]], [[Ying Bu]], fearing execution, rebels against the Han dynasty. Gaozu and Cao Shen crush the rebellion but Gaozu is wounded by an arrow, and his health subsequently deteriorates.
* Increasingly paranoid, Gaozu briefly arrests Prime Minister Xiao He but is persuaded to release him.
* Gaozu sends [[Zhao Tuo]], the king of [[Nanyue]] in present-day Vietnam and southern China, a seal recognizing his rulership in return for his nominal submission to the Han. Zhao Tuo accepts his vassal status.<ref>{{cite book|first=Hing Ming|last= Hung|title=The Road to the Throne: How Liu Bang Founded China's Han Dynasty|year= 2011|isbn=978-0875868387|pages= 186–219}}</ref>
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== Deaths ==
* [[Han Xin]], Chinese general during the [[Chu–Han Contention]]
* [[Marcus Cornelius Cethegus]], [[Roman consul]] and [[Roman censor|censor]]
* [[Peng Yue]], Chinese general of the [[Han dynasty|Western Han dynasty]]
* [[Xin, King of Han|Xin]], Chinese king during the [[Warring States period]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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[[Category:196 BC| ]]