- 239 BC
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Events
By place
Carthage
* Concerned that
Hamilcar Barca 's leniency in pardoning those who he has captured who have participated in theMercenary War will encourage others to defect,Mathos andSpendius order the mutilation and execution of "about seven hundred" Carthaginian prisoners, including Gesco. With the mercenaries jointly guilty of these atrocities, defectors dare not face Carthaginian justice under Hamilcar.
* Carthage is besieged by the mercenary armies, while the city ofUtica revolts and attempts to secede from Carthage. Carthage appeals toHiero II of Syracuse and to Rome for aid against the mercenaries. However, the mercenary leaders reject the efforts of Roman mediators.
*Sardinia revolts against Carthage and Rome takes the opportunity to annex the island.Greece
* Antigonus II, King of
Macedon ia, dies and is succeeded by his son, Demetrius II.
* WithAetolia now as its ally, theAchaean League under the command ofAratus of Sicyon repeatedly attackAthens andArgos .eleucid Empire
* Seleucus II's brother
Antiochus Hierax , who is governor of SeleucidAnatolia , sends an army intoSyria ostensibly to assist Seleucus but actually to seize the rest of the empire. After achieving peace with Egypt, Seleucus II promptly invades Anatolia and begins the "War of the Brothers".Persia
*
Diodotus of Bactria defeats an army ofParthia ns. He dies shortly thereafter and is succeeded by his sonDiodotus II .Korea
*
Haemosu , who is a descendant of the people of the empire of Gojoseon, establishes the ancientKorea n kingdom ofBukbuyeo in modern-dayManchuria .Births
* Quintus
Ennius , Latin poet and writer, considered the father of Roman poetry (d.169 BC )Deaths
*
Antigonus II Gonatas , King of Macedon from277 BC who has rebuilt his kingdom's power and established its hegemony over Greece (b. c.319 BC )
*Diodotus I , King of theGreco-Bactrian Kingdom (approximate date)
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