阳火狗年 (male Fire-
Dog) −87 or −468 or −1240 — to — 阴火猪年 (female Fire-
Pig) −86 or −467 or −1239
Year 214 BC was a year of the
pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Verrucosus and Marcellus (or, less frequently, year 540 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 214 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the
Anno Dominicalendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Events
By place
Carthage
Carthage persuades
Syracuse to revolt against
Rome and ally itself with Carthage instead.
The Roman general,
Marcus Claudius Marcellus, who is in
Sicily at the time of the revolt of
Syracuse, leads an army which storms
Leontini and besieges Syracuse. With the help of
Archimedes' ideas and inventions, the Syracusans repel his attacks by sea.
The
censorsPublius Furius Philus and
Marcus Atilius Regulus condemn and degrade (i.e. cause to lose rank in Roman society and politics) two groups of Romans of high rank, including
senators and
equestrians. The first group are those Roman officers captured by Hannibal's forces in the
Battle of Cannae who have come as Carthaginian hostages to Rome to plead for their ransom (and those of their fellow prisoners), and who then refuse to return to Carthaginian captivity when the Senate refuses to ransom any prisoners. The second group are those Romans who have advocated surrender to Carthage after the Battle of Cannae, or who have made plans to flee Rome and offer their services in
Greece,
Egypt, or
Asia Minor.
Upon receiving word from
Oricum of Philip V's actions in Illyria, Roman
propraetorMarcus Valerius Laevinus crosses the
Adriatic with his fleet and army. Landing at Oricum, Laevinus is able to retake the town with little fighting.
Laevinus sends 2,000 men under the command of Quintus Naevius Crista, to
Apollonia. Catching Philip's forces by surprise, Quintus Naevius Crista attacks and routs their camp. Philip V is able to escape back to Macedonia, after burning his fleet and leaving many thousands of his men dead or as prisoners of the Romans.
China
Panyu (present-day
Guangzhou, or Canton) is established as a city.
Qin Shi Huang orders general Ren Xiao (任囂), commanding 200,000 troops, to conquer the kingdoms in present-day northern
Vietnam.
The
Qin armies under
Meng Tian campaign against the
Xiongnu and other northern peoples and expand their territories along the north basin of the
Yellow River. They subjugate the Luliang region, drive back the Xiongnu tribes to the northwest of the
Ordos Plateau, and seize Gaoque, Mt. Tao and Beijia.[2]
^LeGlay, Marcel; Voisin, Jean-Louis; Le Bohec, Yann (2001). A History of Rome (Second ed.). Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell. p. 77.
ISBN0-631-21858-0.
^Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Section: The First Emperor, Section: Meng Tian.