400s BC (decade)

This article concerns the period 409 BC – 400 BC.

Map of the world in 400 BC.

409 BC

This section is transcluded from 409 BC. (edit | history)

By place

Greece

• Alcibiades recaptures Byzantium, ending the city's rebellion from Athens. This action completes Athenian control of the Bosporus which secures the Athenian supply route for grain from the Bosporan Kingdom in the Black Sea region.
• The Athenian general, Thrasyllus, sails out from Athens with a sizable force to campaign in Ionia. There, he quickly captures Colophon and raids the Ionian countryside, but is defeated outside Ephesus by a combined Ephesian, Persian, and Syracusan force.
• Pausanias succeeds his father Pleistoanax as Agiad king of Sparta.
• The city of Rhodes is founded.

Sicily

• Taking advantage of the quarrels between the Greek cities in Sicily and of the mutual exhaustion of Athens and Syracuse, Carthage seeks to reimpose its influence over the island. Hannibal Mago, grandson of Hamilcar, invades Sicily with a strong force. He defeats the Sicilian Greeks and avenges his grandfather through the torture and killing of 3,000 Greek prisoners. In the Battle of Selinus and Battle of Himera he captures and destroys both cities before returning triumphantly to Carthage with the spoils of war.

By topic

Literature

• Sophocles' play Philoctetes is performed, with the theme of the Trojan War.

Births

Transcluding articles: 409 BC, 408 BC, 407 BC, 406 BC, 405 BC, 404 BC, 403 BC, 402 BC, 401 BC, and 400 BC

408 BC

• Eudoxus of Cnidus, Greek astronomer, mathematician, physician, scholar and adherent of Pythagoras (d. c. 355 BC)
• Dion, tyrant of Syracuse (d. c. 354 BC)

407 BC

• Speusippus, Greek philosopher (d. 339 BC)^[12]

402 BC

• Phocion, Athenian statesman and general (d. c. 318 BC)

400 BC

• Antipater, a Macedonian general (d. 319 BC).^[13]
• Parmenion, Macedonian general under Alexander the Great (d. 330 BC).^[14]

Deaths

Transcluding articles: 409 BC, 408 BC, 407 BC, 406 BC, 405 BC, 404 BC, 403 BC, 402 BC, 401 BC, and 400 BC

409 BC

• Pleistoanax, king of Sparta since 458 BC

408 BC

• Hippodamus of Miletus, Greek urban planner and polymath (b. 498 BC)^[15]

407 BC

• Hermocrates, leader of the moderate democrats of Syracuse

406 BC

• Euripides, Athenian playwright (b. c. 480 BC)^[16]
• Hannibal Mago, Carthaginian general
• Sophocles, Athenian dramatist and politician (b. c. 495 BC)

405 BC

• Philolaus, Greek mathematician and philosopher (approximate date) (b. c. 480 BC)

404 BC

• Alcibiades, Athenian statesman (b. c. 450 BC)
• Cleophon, Athenian politician and demagogue
• Darius II Ochus, King of the Persian Empire
• Theramenes, Athenian statesman

403 BC

• Critias, leading member of the Athenian Thirty Tyrants oligarchy (b. 460 BC)

402 BC

• Zhou wei lie wang, king of the Zhou dynasty of China

401 BC

• Agis II, Eurypontid king of Sparta
• Clearchus, Spartan general and mercenary
• Cyrus the Younger, younger son of Darius II, King of Persia

400 BC

• Aspasia of Miletus, widow of Pericles of Athens (approximate date) (b. c. 470 BC)
• Siddhārtha Gautama (also known as Buddha), founder of Buddhism (approximate date)
• Thucydides, Greek historian (approximate date) (b. c. 460 BC)

References

1. Platnauer, Maurice; Taplin, Oliver (January 19, 2024). "Aristophanes". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
2. Livius, Titus. The Early History of Rome. the Penguin Group. p. 367. ISBN 978-0-140-44809-2.
3. "Battle of Cunaxa | Persian-Greek, Cyrus the Younger, 401 BC | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
4. Siculus, Diodorus. "35". Library. Vol. XIV.
5. Diod. XIV 35.2
6. Diod. XIV 35.4–5
7. Siculus, Diodorus. "36". Library. Vol. XIV.
8. Diod. XIV 35.6 and 36.1–2
9. Diod. XIV 36.2
10. Dandamaev, Muhammed Abdulkadyrovič. A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire. Translated by Togelsang, Willem. Leiden: Brill. pp. 272–273. ISBN 978-9-00409-172-6.
11. Ching, Francis D. K. (2017). A Global History of Architecture. Newark: John Wiley & Sons. p. 152. ISBN 978-1-11898-133-7.
12. "Speusippus". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
13. Traver, Andrew G. (2002). From Polis to Empire--The Ancient World, C. 800 B.C. – A.D. 500: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-31301-656-1.
14. Skelton, Debra; Dell, Pamela (2009). Empire of Alexander the Great. New York: Chelsea House. p. 41. ISBN 978-1-60413-162-8.
15. D'Eramo, Marco (16 March 2021). The World in a Selfie: An Inquiry into the Tourist Age. Verso Books. p. 157. ISBN 978-1-78873-109-6.
16. "Euripides' Bacchae Study Guide". University College London Department of Greek & Latin. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2024.