Archimedes against the Roman fleet
A giant claw lifted Roman ships out of the sea
When Rome besieged Syracuse, the elderly Archimedes built defensive machines, among them the 'claw', a crane with a hook that lifted enemy ships and dropped them. The city held out for about two years; when it fell, a Roman soldier killed Archimedes without knowing who he was.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 3rd century BC
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Africa
- 196 BC The Memphis decree of the Rosetta Stone — 17 years later
Asia
- 221 BC Qin Shi Huang unifies China — 8 years earlier
- c. 214 BC Great Wall of China — 1 year earlier
- 210 BC Terracotta Army — 3 years later
- 209 BC Modu Chanyu builds the Xiongnu empire — 4 years later
- 202 BC Founding of the Han dynasty — 11 years later
Alive at the time
- Archimedes (aged 74)
- Qin Shi Huang (aged 46)
- Hannibal (aged 34)
- Eratosthenes (aged 63)
- Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu of Han) (aged 43)
- Scipio Africanus (aged 23)
- Empress Lü (Lü Zhi) (aged 28)
- Cato the Elder (aged 21)
- Modu Chanyu (aged 21)