4th century BC
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What happened around the world
Europe
- 399 BC Trial of Socrates — Athens condemns its philosopher; Plato makes him immortal
Middle East
- 331 BC Battle of Gaugamela — Darius III flees and the Persian Achaemenid empire collapses
- 323 BC Death of Alexander the Great — The conqueror leaves no heir; his generals carve up his world
Africa
- 331 BC Founding of Alexandria — Alexander plants the future capital of Hellenistic science
Asia
- c. 322 BC Founding of the Maurya Empire — Chandragupta unites most of India for the first time
Americas
- c. 300 BC Maya script — The only fully developed writing system of pre-Columbian America
Who ruled
- China: dynasties
- Zhou 1046 BC – 256 BC
- India: empires
- Maurya Empire 322 BC – 185 BC
- Rome and Byzantium
- Roman Republic 509 BC – 27 BC
Largest states
- Achaemenid Empire
- Macedonian Empire
- Ptolemaic Kingdom
- Macedonian Empire
- Maurya Empire
- Seleucid Empire
- Roman Republic
- Scythia
- Warring States China
- Nanda Empire
- Qin
- Han
- Yuezhi
- Later Zhou
- Mahajanapadas
- Magadha - Shaishunaga dynasty
- Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt
- Chu
- Kingdom of Kush
- Kingdom of Armenia
- Kingdom of Lysimachus
- Minyue
- Carthage