View source for 163 BC

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Year '''163 BC''' was a year of the [[Roman calendar|pre-Julian Roman calendar]]. At the time it was known as the '''Year of the Consulship of Gracchus and Thalna''' (or, less frequently, '''year 591 ''[[Ab urbe condita]]''''') and the '''First Year of Houyuan''' (後元). The denomination 163 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.

== Events ==
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=== By place ===

==== Egypt ====
* The [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemaic]] king [[Ptolemy VI Philometor]] is restored to his throne through the intervention of the citizens of [[Alexandria]]. However, the Romans intervene and partition the kingdom, giving [[Ptolemy VIII Euergetes]] [[Cyrenaica]] and Ptolemy VI [[Cyprus]] and Egypt. The two brothers accept the Roman partition.

==== Seleucid Empire ====
* In the turmoil following the death of Antiochus IV, the governor of [[Medes|Media]], [[Timarchus]] becomes the independent ruler of Media, opposing Lysias who is acting as regent for young king Antiochus V Eupator.
* [[Maccabean Revolt]]: 
** Regent [[Lysias (Syrian chancellor)|Lysias]] tries to make peace with the Jews in [[Judea]]. He offers them full religious freedom if they will lay down their arms.  Moderates including the [[Hasideans]] consent, but [[Judas Maccabeus]] argues for full political as well as religious freedom.
** [[Maccabee campaigns of 163 BC]]: The Maccabees attack nearby regions to Judea, fighting in a civil conflict between Gentiles and Jews.

==== Roman Republic ====
* The [[Roman Republic|Roman]] playwright [[Terence]]'s play ''Heauton Timorumenos'' ("The Self-Tormentor") is first performed.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Companion to Latin Literature |last= Harrison|year=2005 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |page=137 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Terence | first=W. Geoffrey | last=Arnott | url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Terence | access-date=February 24, 2024 | series=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref>
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== Births ==
* [[Marcus Aemilius Scaurus (consul 115 BC)|Marcus Aemilius Scaurus]], Roman politician and ambassador (d. [[89 BC]])
* [[Tiberius Gracchus|Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus]], [[Roman Republic|Roman]] politician, who, as a [[pleb]]eian [[tribune]], will cause political turmoil in the Republic through his attempts to legislate [[agrarian reforms]]; his political ideals will eventually lead to his death at the hands of supporters of the conservative faction ([[Optimates]]) of the [[Roman Senate]] (d. [[132 BC]])

== Deaths ==
* [[Xin Zhui]], Chinese noblewoman
* [[Empress Zhang Yan|Zhang Yan]], known formally as Empress Xiaohui, empress of the Chinese [[Han dynasty]] (b. [[202 BC]])
* [[Manius Juventius Thalna]], Roman consul (b. before [[206 BC]])<ref>{{cite book|title=The Magistrates of the Roman Republic|volume=1|author=T.R.S. Broughton|year=1950}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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[[Category:163 BC| ]]