View source for 219 BC

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{{BC year in topic|219}}
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Year '''219 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 Paullus and Salinator''' (or, less frequently, '''year 535 ''[[Ab urbe condita]]'''''). The denomination 219 BC for this year has been used since the [[Early Middle Ages]], when the [[Anno Domini]] [[calendar era]] became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

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

==== Egypt ====
* Following the defection of one of [[Ptolemy IV Philopator|Ptolemy IV's]] leading commanders, [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt's]] [[Syria]]n territories are seriously threatened by [[Antiochus III the Great|Antiochus III]], thus initiating the [[Fourth Syrian War]]. When the [[Seleucid]] ruler captures the important [[eastern Mediterranean]] [[sea port]]s of [[Seleucia Pieria|Seleucia-in-Pieria]], [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], and [[Acre, Israel|Ptolemais]], Ptolemy IV's advisor, [[Sosibius]], and the Ptolemaic court enter into delaying negotiations with the enemy, while the Ptolemaic army is reorganized and intensively drilled.
* The former King of [[Sparta]], [[Cleomenes III]], escapes from his Egyptian prison and, after failing to raise a revolt in [[Alexandria]], takes his own life.

==== Roman Republic ====
* The [[Roman Republic|Romans]] extend their area of domination around the head of the [[Adriatic Sea]] as far as the peninsula of [[Istria|Histria]] by the conquest of peoples who dwell to the east of the [[Adriatic Veneti|Veneti]]. Thus, with the exception of [[Liguria]] and the upper valley of the [[Po River]], all [[Italy]] south of the [[Alps]] is brought within the Roman sphere.

==== Iberian Peninsula ====
* [[Hannibal]] lays [[siege of Saguntum|siege to Saguntum]]<ref>Gavin De Beer, ''Hannibal: Challenging Rome's Supremacy'', 1969, Viking Press, 319 pages</ref> thus initiating the [[Second Punic War]] between [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]] and Rome. Saguntum is an independent [[Iberian Peninsula]] city south of the [[Ebro River]]. In the treaty between Rome and Carthage concluded in [[226 BC]], the Ebro had been set as the northern limit of Carthaginian influence in the Iberian Peninsula. Saguntum is south of the Ebro, but the Romans have "friendship" with the city and regard the Carthaginian attack on it as an act of war. The siege of Saguntum lasts eight months, and in it Hannibal is severely wounded. The Romans, who send envoys to Carthage in protest, demand the surrender of Hannibal.

==== Greece ====
* The Roman Senate sends the [[Roman consul|consul]] [[Lucius Aemilius Paullus (consul 219 BC)|Lucius Aemilius Paullus]] to [[Illyria]] with an army. On discovering Rome's intent, the Illyrian leader [[Demetrius of Pharos]] puts to death those Illyrians who oppose his rule, fortifies [[Dimale]] and goes to [[Hvar|Pharos]]. After a seven-day siege by the Roman fleet under Lucius Aemilius Paulus, Dimale is taken by direct assault. From Dimale, the Roman navy heads to Pharos, where the Roman forces rout the Illyrians. Demetrius flees to [[Macedon]]ia, where he becomes a trusted councilor at the court of King [[Philip V of Macedon|Philip V]].
* The Cretan city of [[Kydonia]] joins the [[Aetolia]]n alliance.<ref>[http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10881/cydonia.html#fieldnotes C. Michael Hogan, ''Cydonia'', The Modern Antiquarian, January 23, 2008]</ref>

==== China ====
* [[Qin Shi Huang]] orders his generals to capture present-day [[Guangdong]] and [[Guangxi]].
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== Births ==
*

== Deaths ==
* [[Cleomenes III]], [[Sparta]]n king from [[235 BC]] to [[222 BC]], who reorganized Sparta's political structure and struggled unsuccessfully to destroy the [[Achaean League]].

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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[[Category:219 BC| ]]