258 BC
Encyclopedia
Year 258 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar
. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Calatinus and Peterculus (or, less frequently, year 496 Ab urbe condita
). The denomination 258 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.
Roman calendar
The Roman calendar changed its form several times in the time between the founding of Rome and the fall of the Roman Empire. This article generally discusses the early Roman or pre-Julian calendars...
. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Calatinus and Peterculus (or, less frequently, year 496 Ab urbe condita
Ab urbe condita
Ab urbe condita is Latin for "from the founding of the City ", traditionally set in 753 BC. AUC is a year-numbering system used by some ancient Roman historians to identify particular Roman years...
). The denomination 258 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
calendar era
Calendar era
A calendar era is the year numbering system used by a calendar. For example, the Gregorian calendar numbers its years in the Western Christian era . The instant, date, or year from which time is marked is called the epoch of the era...
became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Roman Republic
- The RomansRoman RepublicThe Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
are able to regain the initiative in SicilySicilySicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
against CarthageCarthageCarthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
by retaking EnnaEnnaEnna is a city and comune located roughly at the center of Sicily, southern Italy, in the province of Enna, towering above the surrounding countryside...
and CamarinaCamarinathumb|240px|Remains of the Temple of Athena.Kamarina is an ancient city of Sicily, southern Italy, situated on the south coast, about 27 kilometers South East of Gela . It was founded by Syracuse in 599 BC, but destroyed by the mother city in 552 BC. Its remains are today in the municipality of...
. In central Sicily, they take the town of MytistratonMytistratonMytistraton or Mytistratus or Myttistraton , was an ancient town in the interior of Sicily, the site of which is located at modern the località of Monte Castellazzo di Marianopoli, in the comune of Marianopoli, in the Province of Caltanissetta.It was probably but a small town, though strongly...
, which they have attacked twice previously. The Romans also move in the north by marching across the northern coast toward Panormus, but are not able to take the city. - Gaius DuiliusGaius DuiliusGaius Duilius was a Roman politician and admiral involved in the First Punic War.Not much is known about his family background or early career, since he was a novus homo, meaning not belonging to a traditional family of Roman aristocrats. He managed, nevertheless, to be elected consul for the year...
Nepos, the Roman commander who has won a major naval victory over the Carthaginians is made censor with Lucius Cornelius ScipioLucius Cornelius Scipio (consul 259 BC)Lucius Cornelius Scipio , consul in 259 BC during the First Punic War was a consul and censor of ancient Rome. He was the son of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, himself consul and censor, and brother to Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina, himself twice consul...
. The election of a novus homoNovus homoHomo novus was the term in ancient Rome for a man who was the first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate or, more specifically, to be elected as consul...
(i.e. the first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate or be elected as consulConsulConsul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
) to the censorship is a very rare honor.
Egypt
- Ptolemy IIPtolemy II PhiladelphusPtolemy II Philadelphus was the king of Ptolemaic Egypt from 283 BCE to 246 BCE. He was the son of the founder of the Ptolemaic kingdom Ptolemy I Soter and Berenice, and was educated by Philitas of Cos...
loses control of the territory of CyrenaicaCyrenaicaCyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...
. - ErasistratusErasistratusErasistratus was a Greek anatomist and royal physician under Seleucus I Nicator of Syria. Along with fellow physician Herophilus, he founded a school of anatomy in Alexandria, where they carried out anatomical research...
of CeosKea (island)Kea , also known as Gia or Tzia , Zea, and, in Antiquity, Keos , is an island of the Cyclades archipelago, in the Aegean Sea, in Greece. Kea is part of the Kea-Kythnos peripheral unit. Its capital, Ioulis, is inland at a high altitude and is considered quite picturesque...
founds a medical school at AlexandriaAlexandriaAlexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
.
Greece
- The forces of the MacedonMacedonMacedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
ian King Antigonus IIAntigonus II GonatasAntigonus II Gonatas was a powerful ruler who firmly established the Antigonid dynasty in Macedonia and acquired fame for his victory over the Gauls who had invaded the Balkans.-Birth and family:...
and the Seleucid King Antiochus IIAntiochus II TheosAntiochus II Theos was a king of the Hellenistic Seleucid Kingdom who reigned 261 BC – 246 BC). He succeeded his father Antiochus I Soter in the winter of 262–61 BC...
win a naval victory at CosBattle of CosThe Battle of Cos was fought ca 258 BC between an Antigonid fleet and a Ptolemaic fleet. Antigonus II Gonatas led his forces to victory over Patroclus, admiral of Ptolemy II. It has been widely assumed that the battle severely damaged Ptolemaic control of the Aegean...
against their common enemy, Ptolemy IIPtolemy II PhiladelphusPtolemy II Philadelphus was the king of Ptolemaic Egypt from 283 BCE to 246 BCE. He was the son of the founder of the Ptolemaic kingdom Ptolemy I Soter and Berenice, and was educated by Philitas of Cos...
. This victory secures Antigonus control over the Aegean SeaAegean SeaThe Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
and the League of the Islanders. It also diminishes Ptolemaic naval power.