2nd century BC facts for kids

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	3rd century BC · 2nd century BC · 1st century BC
Decades:	190s BC 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC 130s BC 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC
Categories:	Births – Deaths Establishments – Disestablishments

The eastern hemisphere at the end of the 2nd century BC.

The 2nd century BC was a century that started the first day of 200 BC and ended the last day of 101 BC. It is considered part of the Classical period of history.

After having won the Second Punic War, the Roman Republic continued expanding by conquering neighbouring territories. It eventually made Greece part of its empire. It also took the coast of North Africa after destroying the city of Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War. In the east, the Seleucid Empire was forced to make concessions to Rome in order to avoid war. Rome came to dominate the Mediterranean Sea during this period. By the end of the century, its army changed from conscription to a voluntary professional force. These changes were known as the Marian Reforms.

In East Asia, China became very successful under the Han Dynasty. Its empire extended from Korea in the east to Vietnam in the South to the borders of what is today Kazakhstan in the west. The Han also try to get help in fighting the Xiongnu from the Yuezhi people in the west. It is also during this century that the first paper is made in China.

Centuries and Millennia

Millennium	Century
Before Christ / Before Common Era (BC/BCE)
4th:	40th	39th	38th	37th	36th	35th	34th	33rd	32nd	31st
3rd:	30th	29th	28th	27th	26th	25th	24th	23rd	22nd	21st
2nd:	20th	19th	18th	17th	16th	15th	14th	13th	12th	11th
1st:	10th	9th	8th	7th	6th	5th	4th	3rd	2nd	1st
Anno Domini / Common Era (AD/CE)
1st:	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
2nd:	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th
3rd:	21st	22nd	23rd	24th	25th	26th	27th	28th	29th	30th
4th:	31st

Images for kids

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  Bust of Antiochus IV at the Altes Museum in Berlin.

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  Coin of Menander I, the Greek king who ruled most of Northern India (c.150-130) and converted to Buddhism.

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  Emperor Wu of Han was probably the most powerful man in the world at the end of the century

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  Gracchus brothers

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  Gaius Marius

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  Terence

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  Eastern hemisphere at the beginning of the 2nd century BC.

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  Hipparchus' equatorial ring.