Editing 640 BC

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{{BC year in topic|640}}

The year '''640 BC''' was a year of the [[Roman calendar|pre-Julian Roman calendar]]. In the [[Roman Empire]], it was known as '''year 114 ''[[Ab urbe condita]]'' '''. The denomination 640 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==

=== Europe ===
* [[Theagenes of Megara|Theagenes]] becomes tyrant at [[Megara]].<ref name=Bickerman-198>E.J. Bickerman, ''Chronology of the Ancient World'' (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1968), p.&nbsp;198</ref>
* [[Colaeus|Kolaios of Samos]] reaches the [[Strait of Gibraltar]].<ref name=Bickerman-198/>
* The interregnum in Rome ends. [[Ancus Marcius]] becomes the fourth king of [[Rome]]

=== Middle East ===
* King [[Ashurbanipal]] of [[Assyria]] achieves a great victory over [[Elam]]. He captures its last king, [[Humban-haltash III|Khumma-Khaldash III]], and lays waste to the country.
* King [[Teispes]] dies after a 35-year reign in which he has ruled the Elamite city of [[Anshan (Persia)|Anshan]] after being freed from [[Medes|Median]] supremacy.

==Births==
* [[Josiah]], the sixteenth king of Judah (d. 609 BCE)
* [[Pittacus of Mytilene]], one of the [[Seven Sages of Greece]] (approximate date) 
* [[Stesichorus]], Greek [[Lyric poetry|lyric poet]] (approximate date)

==Deaths==
* [[Argaeus I of Macedon|Argaeus I]], king of [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]] (approximate date)
* [[Teispes]], son of [[Achaemenes]] and ancestor of [[Cyrus the Great]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

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[[Category:640s BC| ]]
[[Category:Years of the 7th century BC]]


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