Editing 408 BC

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{{BC year in topic|408}}
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Year '''408 BC''' was a year of the [[Roman calendar|pre-Julian Roman calendar]]. At the time, it was known as the '''Year of the Tribunate of Iullus, Ahala and Cossus''' (or, less frequently, '''year 346 ''[[Ab urbe condita]]'''''). The denomination 408 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 ====
* King [[Darius II]] of [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]] decides to continue the war against [[Athens]] and give support to the [[Sparta]]ns. His wife, [[Parysatis]], persuades him to appoint his younger son, [[Cyrus the Younger|Cyrus]], as [[satrap]] (governor) of [[Lydia]], [[Phrygia]], and [[Cappadocia]] and commander in chief of the [[Achaemenian]] forces in [[Asia Minor]] in place of [[Tissaphernes]].
* Tissaphernes' influence is limited to the satrapy of [[Caria]]. Darius II also gives Cyrus funds to re-create the Spartan fleet and sends him to [[Sardis]] with instructions to increase Persian support for Sparta. Cyrus begins to collect an army of mercenaries (including Greeks) for his own ends.

==== Greece ====
* [[Alcibiades]] enters [[Athens]] in triumph after an absence of 7 years. He leads the religious procession from Athens to [[Eleusis]], thus atoning for his alleged impiety in [[415 BC]] when he was held to have joined in [[Profanity|profaning]] the [[Sacred Mysteries]]. Alcibiades is appointed commander-in-chief with [[autocratic]] powers and leaves for [[Samos]] to rejoin his fleet.
* The Spartan admiral [[Lysander]] arrives at [[Ephesus]] in autumn and builds up a great fleet with help from the new Persian satrap, Cyrus.
* At the Panhellenic gathering at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]], the philosopher [[Gorgias]] speaks out against the Spartan alliance with Persia.
* In 408 BC, the three city-states of the island of [[Rhodes]] ([[Ialysos]], [[Kamiros]], [[Lindos]]) unite and create the homonymous city on the northernmost part of the island.

=== By topic ===

==== Literature ====
* [[Euripides]]' plays ''[[Orestes (play)|Orestes]]'' and ''[[The Phoenician Women]]'' are performed. Euripides then leaves [[Athens]] in dissatisfaction and travels to the court of [[Archelaus I of Macedon]] at the King's invitation.
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== Births ==
* [[Eudoxus of Cnidus]], Greek astronomer, mathematician, physician, scholar and adherent of [[Pythagoras]] (d. c. [[355 BC]])
* [[Dion (Tyrant of Syracuse)|Dion]], [[tyrant]] of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] (d. c. [[354 BC]])

== Deaths ==
*[[Hippodamus of Miletus]], Greek urban planner and polymath (b. [[498 BC]])<ref>{{cite book |last1=D'Eramo |first1=Marco |title=The World in a Selfie: An Inquiry into the Tourist Age |date=16 March 2021 |publisher=Verso Books |isbn=978-1-78873-109-6 |page=157 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KSIhEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT157 |language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
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