Editing 218 BC

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Year nav|-218}}
{{BC year in topic|218}}
[[File:Roman conquest of Italy.PNG|thumb|[[Roman expansion in Italy]] from 500 BC to 218 BC through the [[Latin War]] (light red), [[Samnite Wars]] (pink/orange), [[Pyrrhic War]] (beige), and [[First Punic War|First]] and [[Second Punic War|Second]] [[Punic Wars|Punic War]] (yellow and green).]]
__NOTOC__
Year '''218 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 Scipio and Longus''' (or, less frequently, '''year 536 ''[[Ab urbe condita]]'''''). The denomination 218 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 ==
<onlyinclude>

=== By place ===

==== Hispania ====
*[[Second Punic War]]
:* Fall of [[Saguntum]] to [[Hannibal]] of [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]] (or 219)<ref name=leglay>{{cite book | title=A History of Rome | edition=Second | first1=Marcel | last1=LeGlay | first2=Jean-Louis | last2=Voisin | first3=Yann | last3=Le Bohec | page=77 | publisher=Blackwell | place=Malden, Massachusetts | year=2001 | isbn=0-631-21858-0}}</ref>
:* Hannibal crosses the Pyrenees and southern Gaul<ref name=leglay/>
:* Hannibal sets out with around 40,000 men and 50 elephants from [[Cartagena, Spain|New Carthage]] ([[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]]) to northern Spain and then into the Pyrenees where his army meets with stiff resistance from the Pyrenean tribes. This opposition and the desertion of some of his Spanish troops greatly diminishes his numbers, but he reaches the river [[Rhône]] facing little resistance from the tribes of southern [[Gaul]].
:* A Roman army under the consul [[Publius Cornelius Scipio (consul 218 BC)|Publius Cornelius Scipio]] is transported by sea to [[Marseille|Massilia]] (modern [[Marseille]]) to prevent Hannibal from advancing on Italy, Scipio himself returns to Italy to take command of the defences in northern Italy on learning Hannibal has already [[Battle of Rhone Crossing|crossed the river]].
:* [[Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus]], Publius' brother, takes over the command of the army at Massilia and invades Spain.

==== Roman Republic ====
*Second Punic War
:* In response to the threat of Hannibal the Romans assemble three armies:
::* The [[consul]] prior, [[Publius Cornelius Scipio (consul 218 BC)|Publius Cornelius Scipio]], raises two [[Roman legions]] and two Latin [[Ala (Roman allied military unit)|alae]] for a total of 22,000 infantry and 2,200 cavalry. He is also assigned 60 warships and hundreds of transports. Scipio receives the [[Iberian Peninsula]] as his area of operations (his imperium).<ref name=Goldsworthy>{{cite book | title=The Fall of Carthage | first1=Adrian | last1=Goldsworthy | page=151 | publisher=Orion Books Ltd | place=London | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-3043-6642-2}}</ref>
::* The consul posterior, [[Tiberius Sempronius Longus (consul 218 BC)|Tiberius Sempronius Longus]], also raises two Roman legions and two Latin alae for a total of 24,000 infantry and 2,400 cavalry. He gathers a fleet of 180 warships and hundreds of transports. Longus receives [[Sicily]] and [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa]] as his area of operation (his imperium) and was to invade Africa and attack [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]] directly.<ref name=Goldsworthy/>
::* [[Praetor]] Lucius Manlius Vulso also receives two legions and raises 10,000 allied infantry and 1,000 allied cavalry (for a total of 18,000 infantry and 1,600 cavalry) and is sent into [[Cisalpine Gaul]] to keep an eye on the [[Celtic people|Celtic tribes]].<ref name=Goldsworthy/>
:* The Roman army, under consul, [[Tiberius Sempronius Longus (consul 218 BC)|Tiberius Sempronius Longus]], assembles in [[Sicily]] to embark for Northern Africa. Longus managed to [[Capture of Malta (218 BC)|capture Malta]] from the Carthaginians.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Castillo |first1=Dennis Angelo |title=The Maltese Cross: A Strategic History of Malta |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=9780313323294 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i5ns5LNtoiUC |pages=20–26}}</ref>
:* [[Hannibal's crossing of the Alps]]: Hannibal took 38 North African war elephants across the Alps from [[Gaul]] into [[Cisalpine Gaul]] to invade Rome. Almost none of the elephants survived the harsh conditions of the Alps. This led to the Romans cancelling their invasion of Africa.
:* [[Battle of Ticinus]]: Hannibal defeats Scipio.
* The [[Roman Senate]] orders Sempronius Longus to travel from Sicily to reinforce Scipio's troops.
* [[December 18]]: [[Battle of the Trebia]]: Hannibal defeats the combined Roman armies under Sempronius and Scipio.

==== Seleucid Empire ====
* [[Fourth Syrian War]]
:* Negotiations between the new Egyptian King [[Ptolemy IV Philopator|Ptolemy IV]] and the Seleucid King [[Antiochus III the Great|Antiochus III]] collapse, and Antiochus III renews his advance, overrunning Ptolemy's forward defences, and gaining territory in [[Lebanon]], [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] and [[Phoenicia]].
</onlyinclude>

== Births ==
*

== Deaths ==
*

== References ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:218 Bc}}
[[Category:218 BC| ]]