Editing 338 BC

{{refimprove|date=June 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2011}}
{{Year nav|-338}}
{{BC year in topic|338}}
[[File:Philip II of Macedon's 339 BC Campaign.png|thumb|Philip II's campaign in 339&ndash;338 BC.]]
[[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). [[Roman Republic]] in 338 BC is marked with dark and light red.]]
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Year '''338 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 Camillus and Maenius''' (or, less frequently, '''year 416 ''[[Ab urbe condita]]'''''). The denomination 338 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 ==
=== By place ===
==== Persian Empire ====
* The [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] general and [[vizier]], the [[Eunuch (court official)|eunuch]] [[Bagoas]], falls out of favour with King [[Artaxerxes III]]. [[Bagoas]] seeks to remain in office by replacing Artaxerxes with his youngest son [[Arses of Persia|Arses]], whom he thinks will be easier to control. So Bagoas murders Artaxerxes III and all his sons, other than Arses, who is then placed on the throne by Bagoas. Artaxerxes IV Arses is little more than a puppet-king while Bagoas acts as the power behind the throne.

==== Macedonia ====
* After his significant victory over the [[Locrians]], [[Philip II of Macedon]] swiftly enters [[Phocis]]. He then turns southeast down the [[Cephissus (Boeotia)|Cephissus]] valley, seizes [[Elateia]] and restores the fortifications of the city.
* [[Athens]] arranges an alliance with [[Euboea]], [[Megara]], [[Achaea]], [[Corinth]], [[Acarnania]] and some other states in the [[Peloponnesus]]. However, the most desirable ally for Athens is [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]]. Therefore, the Athenian leader, [[Demosthenes]], goes to the [[Boeotia]]n city and secures an alliance with Thebes despite the efforts of a Macedonian deputation to persuade Thebes to join with [[Macedon]]ia. In return, Athens agrees to Thebes controlling Boeotia, Thebes being in command solely on land and jointly at sea, and Athens paying two thirds of the campaign's cost.
* [[August 2]] &ndash; [[Philip II of Macedon]] defeats the Athenians and Thebans in the [[Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC)|Battle of Chaeronea]] in western Boeotia. His son, [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]], commands the left wing of the Macedonian army during the battle. In victory, Philip II is harsh on Thebes, but merciful on Athens,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gagarin |first1=Michael |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome |date=31 December 2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-517072-6 |page=81 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lNV6-HsUppsC&pg=RA1-PA81 |language=en}}</ref> thanks to the efforts of the Athenian orator and diplomat, [[Demades]], who helps negotiate a peace agreement between Macedonia and Athens.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Worthington |first1=Ian |title=The Context of [Demades] On the Twelve Years |journal=The Classical Quarterly |date=1991 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=90–95 |doi=10.1017/S0009838800003566 |jstor=639026 |s2cid=155848927 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/639026.pdf |access-date=12 June 2022 |issn=0009-8388}}</ref>
* Philip II advances into Peloponnesus. He defeats [[Thessaly]], subdues [[Sparta]] and summons a Pan-Hellenic Congress at [[Corinth]]. This results in the establishment of Macedonian hegemony over central Greece (including Athens).
* Philip II invaded and devastated much of Laconia, turning the Spartans out, though he did not seize Sparta itself.
* Athenian statesman and orator, [[Lycurgus of Athens|Lycurgus]], is given control of the state's finances and goes about doubling the annual public revenues.
* King [[Archidamus III]] of [[Sparta]], after five years of campaigning in southern [[Italy]], fails to achieve any decisive results and while leading a mercenary army to help [[Taranto|Tarentum]] against the Lucanians, is killed with most of his troops at [[Manduria]] in [[Calabria]].
* King [[Archidamus III]] is succeeded as the [[Eurypontid]] King of [[Sparta]] by his son, [[Agis III]].

==== Sicily ====
* [[Carthage]] makes another effort to conquer all of [[Sicily]]. The Carthaginians dispatch some mercenaries to extend the conflict between [[Timoleon]] and the Sicilian [[tyrant]]s. But this effort ends in the defeat of Hicetas, the tyrant of [[Leontini]], who is taken prisoner and put to death. By a treaty between [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] and Carthage, the dominion of Carthage in Sicily is confined to the lands west of the Halycus (Platani) River.
* With peace finally achieved with Carthage, Timoleon of Syracuse is able to depose two more tyrants in Sicily and then retires into private life.

==== Roman Republic ====
* The [[Latin War]] ends with the [[Latin League]] being dissolved and the individual [[Latins (Italic tribe)|Latin]] cities having to accept [[Roman Republic|Rome's]] terms. Many of the cities are incorporated into the Roman state. In making peace with the cities of the defeated Latin League, Rome offers liberal terms. The men of many of these cities are granted citizenship and, as a result, Rome gains friends rather than enemies.
* With the fall of their chief city, [[Antium]], to the Romans, the [[Volsci]] finally abandon their resistance against the Romans and accept an alliance with Rome.

== Births ==
* [[Queen Dowager Xuan|Xuan]], Chinese queen dowager of [[Chu (state)|Chu]] (d. [[265 BC]])

== Deaths ==
* [[Artaxerxes III]], king of [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]] (murdered) (b. c. [[425 BC]])
* [[Archidamus III]], king of [[Sparta]] (killed in battle)<ref>{{cite web |title=Archidamus III {{!}} king of Sparta {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Archidamus-III |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=12 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Isocrates]], Athenian orator and rhetorician (b. [[436 BC]])
* [[Shang Yang]], Chinese statesman of [[Qin (state)|Qin]] (b. [[390 BC]])
* [[Duke Xiao of Qin|Xiao of Qin]], Chinese duke of Qin (b. [[381 BC]])

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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[[Category:338 BC| ]]