4th century BC

1 Inventions, discoveries, introductions

The 4th century BC started the rst day of 400 BC and

ended the last day of 301 BC. It is considered part of the
Classical era, epoch, or historical period.

Map of the world in 323 BC (at the death of Alexander the Great)

This century marked the height of Classical Greek civilization in all of its aspects. By the year 400 Greek
philosophy, art, literature and architecture had spread far
and wide, with the numerous independent Greek colonies
that had sprung up throughout the lands of the eastern
Mediterranean.
Arguably the most important series of political events in
this period were the conquests of Alexander, bringing
about the collapse of the once formidable Persian Empire
and spreading Greek culture far into the east. Alexander
dreamed of an east/west union, but when his short life
ended, his vast empire was plunged into civil war as his
generals each carved out their own separate kingdoms. A Han Dynasty Chinese crossbow from the 2nd century BC.
Thus began the Hellenistic age, a period characterized by
a more absolute approach to rule, with Greek kings taking
on royal trappings and setting up hereditary successions.
Oldest Brhm script dates from this period. Brhm
While a degree of democracy still existed in some of the
is the ancestor of Brahmic scripts, used in much of
remaining independent Greek cities, many scholars see
India and Southeast Asia.
this age as marking the end of classical Greece.
Romans build their rst aqueduct.
In India, the Mauryan Empire was founded in 322
BCE by Chandragupta Maurya, who had overthrown the
Chinese use the handheld trigger crossbow for the
Nanda Dynasty and rapidly expanded his power westrst time.
wards across central and western India, taking advantage
The rst crossbow, the gastraphetes, is invented at
of the disruptions of local powers in the wake of the withSyracuse. (? pre-421 BC)
drawal westward by the Hellenic armies of Alexander.
Burnt brick rst used in Greece.

China in the 4th century BCE entered an era of constant warfare known as the Warring States period. The
period saw the rapid rise of large states (such as Chu)
over smaller ones thanks to technological advancement.
Though the period has usually been characterize by historians as being excessively violent compared to the Spring
and Autumn period it was also punctured by several cultural and social growth through the expansion of several
dierent sects of Confucianism and Taoism.

Donkey-powered mills rst used in Greece.

In Greece Aristotles proposes the division of the
known sciences.
Torque with lions-head terminals, from Susa (modern Shush, Iran) was made. It is now in Muse du
Louvre, Paris.
1

2 SIGNIFICANT PEOPLE
Daric, a coin rst minted under Darius I of Persia
is made. It is now kept in Heberden Coin room,
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Second half of the 4th century BC Tomb II,
so called Tomb of Philip II of Macedon, Vergina,
Macedonia is made.
Starting in the year 309 BC, the later Chinese historian Sima Qian (145 BC90 BC) wrote that the
Qin-employed engineer Bi Ling of the newly conquered State of Shu in Sichuan had the shoulder of
a mountain cut through, making the 'Separated Hill'
that abated the Mo River, and excavated two canals
in the plain of Chengdu. The signicance of this
was phenomenal, as it allowed the new Guanxian
irrigation system to populate an area of some 40 by
50 miles (60 80 km) with over ve million people,
still in use today (Needham, Science and Civilization
in China, Volume 4, Part 3, 288).
The Chinese astronomer Gan De divides the
celestial sphere into 365 degrees, and the tropical year into 365 days at a time when most astronomers used the Babylon division of the celestial
sphere as 360 degrees (Deng, Yinke. [2005] (2005).
Chinese Ancient Inventions. ISBN 7-5085-0837-8).

Signicant people

Demosthenes

Plato
Alexander the Great

Agnodice, female Athenian physician and midwife

Alexander the Great, king of Macedon

Antigonus I Monophthalmus, Macedonian diadoch

2.1

Visual arts

3
Atropates, Persian nobleman
Bessus, Persian satrap of Bactria
Cassander, King of Macedon
Craterus, Macedonian diadoch
Chandragupta Maurya, Founder of the "Mauryan
Dynasty"
Darius III, king of the Achaemenid Empire
Demetrius Poliocretes, King of Macedon
Demosthenes, Athenian statesman and orator
Manius Curius Dentatus, Roman statesman
Nakhthorheb, last native Pharaoh of Egypt
Epaminondas, Theban statesman
Hephaestion, Macedonian general
Parmenion, Macedonian general
Pelopidas, Theban statesman

Aristotle

Perdiccas, Macedonian diadoh

Ptolemy I Soter, Macedonian diadoh and king of
Egypt
Seleucus I Nicator, Macedonian diadoh and founder
of the Seleucid Empire
Lysimachus, Macedonian diadoh and king of
Thrace
Philip II, King of Macedon

2.1 Visual arts

Apelles, Greek painter
Cephisodotus the Elder, Greek sculptor
Leochares, Greek sculptor
Lysippos, Greek sculptor
Praxiteles, Greek sculptor
Scopas, Greek sculptor and architect

2.2 Literature
Menander, Greek playwright
Onesicritus, Greek historical writer
Epicurus

Simonides of Ceos, Greek lyric poet

Qu Yuan, Chinese poet

Antipater, Macedonian statesman

Xenophon, Greek historian and writer

4 DECADES AND YEARS

2.3

Science and philosophy

Anaximenes of Lampsacus, Greek rhetorician and

historian.
Antisthenes, Greek philosopher
Archytas, Greek philosopher
Aristippus, Greek philosopher
Aristotle, Greek philosopher
Callisthenes, Greek historian
Chanakya, Indian economist and political advisor
Crates of Thebes, Greek philosopher
Demetrius of Phalerum, Greek orator
Diogenes of Sinope, Greek philosopher
Epicurus, Greek philosopher
Mencius, Chinese philosopher
Plato, Greek philosopher
Pyrrho, Greek philosopher
Panini, Indian philosopher and writer
Speusippus, Greek philosopher
Theophrastus, Greek philosopher
Wu Qi, Chinese military strategist & philosopher
Xenocrates, Greek philosopher
Zeno of Citium, Greek philosopher
Zhuangzi, Chinese philosopher

Sovereign States

See: List of sovereign states in the 4th century BC.

Decades and years

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.1

Text

4th century BC Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th%20century%20BC?oldid=661558373 Contributors: AxelBoldt, MichaelTinkler,

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5.2

Images

File:AlexandreLouvre.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/AlexandreLouvre.jpg License: CC-BY-SA3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

File:Aristotle_Altemps_Inv8575.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Aristotle_Altemps_Inv8575.jpg
License: Public domain Contributors: Jastrow (2006) Original artist: Copy of Lysippus
File:ChineseCrossbow.JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/ChineseCrossbow.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: Transfered from en.wikipedia Original artist: Original uploader was PHG at en.wikipedia
File:Delphi_Platon_statue_1.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Delphi_Platon_statue_1.jpg License: ?
Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Demosthenes_orator_Louvre.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Demosthenes_orator_Louvre.
jpg License: CC BY-SA 2.5 Contributors: Eric Gaba (User:Sting), July 2005 Original artist: English: Copy of Polyeuktos
File:Epikouros_BM_1843.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Epikouros_BM_1843.jpg License: Public
domain Contributors: Marie-Lan Nguyen (2011) Original artist: Unknown
File:World_323_BCE.png Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/World_323_BCE.png License: CC BY 2.5
Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

5.3

Content license

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