View source for 212 BC

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{{BC year in topic|212}}
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Year '''212 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 Flaccus and Pulcher''' (or, less frequently, '''year 542 ''[[Ab urbe condita]]'''''). The denomination 212 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 ===

==== Illyria ====
* After being stopped twice by the [[Roman Republic|Romans]] in his attempts to invade [[Illyria]] by sea, and constrained by the Roman commander [[M. Valerius Laevinus|Marcus Valerius Laevinus]]' fleet in the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]], [[Philip V of Macedon]] keeps his activities in Illyria land based. Keeping clear of the coast, he takes [[Dassaretii|Dassaretis]], [[Atintanians|Atintani]] and [[Parthini]], and the town of [[Dimale]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Eckstein|first=Arthur M.|author-link=Arthur Eckstein|title=Rome Enters the Greek East From Anarchy to Hierarchy in the Hellenistic Mediterranean, 230–170 BC|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|year=2008|isbn=978-1-4051-6072-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Czk_jxbHEDQC|page=87}}</ref>

==== Thrace ====
* [[Tylis]] is destroyed by the [[Thracians]].

==== Carthage ====
* [[Syphax]], king of the western [[Numidia]]n tribe, the [[Masaesyli]], concludes an alliance with the Romans and they send military advisers to help Syphax train his soldiers. He then attacks the eastern Numidians (the [[Massylii]]) ruled by [[Gala (King of the Massylii)|Gala]], who is an ally of the Carthaginians. The [[Carthage|Carthaginian]] general [[Hasdrubal Barca|Hasdrubal]] travels to northern Africa from [[Spain]] to stamp out the uprising by the Numidians.

==== Spain ====
* The Roman generals [[Publius Cornelius Scipio (consul 218 BC)|Publius Cornelius Scipio]] and his elder brother, [[Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus]], capture [[Saguntum]] (modern [[Sagunto]]) from the Carthaginians.

==== Seleucid Empire ====
* [[Antiochus III]] leaves for a campaign in [[Asia]], where he will reach as far as [[India]] and mostly manage to recover the areas conquered earlier by [[Alexander the Great]].
* Having recovered the central part of [[Anatolia]] from the usurper [[Achaeus (general)|Achaeus]], [[Antiochus III the Great|Antiochus III]] turns his forces to recover the outlying provinces to the north and east of the [[Seleucid]] kingdom.
* Antiochus III gives his sister Antiochia in marriage to King [[Xerxes of Armenia]], who acknowledges Antiochus III's [[suzerainty]] and pays him [[tribute]].

==== Roman Republic ====
* [[Publius Licinius Crassus Dives (consul 205 BC)|Publius Licinius Crassus Dives]] is elected "[[pontifex maximus]]" over more distinguished candidates, despite never having held any major offices. He will hold this position until his death.
* The [[Roman Republic|Roman]] soldiers billeted in [[Taranto|Tarentum]] so alienate the citizens of the city that conspirators admit the Carthaginian general [[Hannibal]] to the city. The conspirators then defeat the Roman contingent in it. Hannibal keeps control of his troops so that looting is limited to Roman houses. The citadel in Tarentum remains under Roman control, which denies Hannibal the use of the harbour.
* The Roman [[consul]]s, [[Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul 212 BC)|Appius Claudius Pulcher]] and [[Quintus Fulvius Flaccus (consul 237 BC)|Quintus Fulvius Flaccus]], besiege [[Capua]] with eight [[Roman legion|legions]]. [[Hanno, son of Bomilcar|Hanno]] moves to [[Benevento|Beneventum]] to try to help the inhabitants of Capua, but he is defeated by the Romans.
* The Capuans then send an appeal for help to Hannibal. In response, Hannibal sends 2,000 [[Numidia]]n cavalry as reinforcements to Capua. The combined Carthaginian forces defeat the Roman force led by Flaccus and Pulcher, the latter of whom will soon die of wounds he has sustained.
* The [[Battle of the Silarus]] is fought between Hannibal's army and a Roman force led by [[praetor]] Marcus Centenius Penula. The Carthaginians are victorious, effectively destroying Centenius Penula's army.
* The [[Battle of Herdonia (212 BC)|Battle of Herdonia]] is fought between Hannibal's Carthaginian army and Roman forces who are laying siege to Herdonia led by praetor Gnaeus Fulvius Flaccus, brother of the consul, Quintus Fulvius Flaccus. The Roman army is destroyed, leaving [[Apulia]] free of Romans for the year.
* After a two year siege, Roman general, [[Marcus Claudius Marcellus]], gradually forces his way into [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] and takes it in the face of strong Carthaginian reinforcements and despite the use of engines of war designed by the Greek mathematician and scientist [[Archimedes]] (such as the [[Claw of Archimedes]]).
* Although Marcellus wishes to spare the lives of the Syracusans, he is unable to prevent the sack of the city by his soldiers, which includes the killing of [[Archimedes]]. Marcellus carries off the art treasures of Syracuse to Rome, the first recorded instance of a practice which is to become common.
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==== China ====
*Construction begins on the [[Epang Palace]].

== Deaths ==
* [[Archimedes]] of Syracuse, [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] mathematician and scientist, who has calculated formulae for the areas and volumes of spheres, cylinders, parabolas and other plane and solid figures. He has also founded the science of [[hydrostatics]], including the principle of the upthrust on a floating body which has led to his cry, "Eureka". Thirdly, he has invented siege-engines for use against the [[Roman Republic|Romans]] and the [[Archimedean screw]] to raise water (b. c. [[287 BC]])
* [[Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (consul 215 BC)|Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus]], Roman [[consul]] from 215 to 213 BC
* [[Xerxes of Armenia]] (assassinated by his wife Antiochia)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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