181 BC

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	3rd century BC – 2nd century BC – 1st century BC
Decades:	210s BC  200s BC  190s BC  – 180s BC –  170s BC  160s BC  150s BC
Years:	184 BC 183 BC 182 BC – 181 BC – 180 BC 179 BC 178 BC

181 BC by topic

Politics

State leaders – Sovereign states

Birth and death categories

Births – Deaths

Establishments and disestablishments categories

Establishments – Disestablishments

181 BC in other calendars

Gregorian calendar	181 BC
Ab urbe condita	573
Armenian calendar	N/A
Assyrian calendar	4570
Bahá'í calendar	-2024–-2023
Bengali calendar	-773
Berber calendar	770
English Regnal year	N/A
Buddhist calendar	364
Burmese calendar	-818
Byzantine calendar	5328–5329
Chinese calendar	己未年 (2456/2516) — to — 庚申年 (2457/2517)
Coptic calendar	-464–-463
Ethiopian calendar	-188–-187
Hebrew calendar	3580–3581
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	-124–-123
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	2921–2922
Holocene calendar	9820
Igbo calendar
- Ǹrí Ìgbò	-1180–-1179
Iranian calendar	802 BP – 801 BP
Islamic calendar	827 BH – 826 BH
Japanese calendar
Juche calendar	N/A (before 1912)
Julian calendar
Korean calendar	2153
Minguo calendar	2092 before ROC 民前2092年
Thai solar calendar	363

Year 181 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cethegus and Tamphilus (or, less frequently, year 573 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 181 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

By place

Egypt

• Ptolemy V is poisoned after a reign of 24 years in which the Egyptian kingdom has declined in power and influence and has lost most of its empire outside Egypt other than Cyprus and Cyrenaica. The elder of his two sons, Ptolemy VI Philometor succeeds him, but since he is an infant, he rules under the regency of his mother Cleopatra the Syrian.

Roman Republic

• Rome founds a colony at Aquileia, on the narrow strip of land between the mountains and the lagoons, as a frontier fortress to check the advance of the Illyrians.

Asia Minor

• Pharnaces I of Pontus decides to attack both Eumenes II of Pergamum and Ariarathes IV of Cappadocia and therefore invades Galatia with a large force. Eumenes leads an army to oppose him, however, hostilities are soon suspended following the arrival of Roman deputies, who have been appointed by the Roman Senate to inquire into the matters in dispute. Negotiations take place at Pergamum but are inconclusive, with Pharnaces' demands being rejected by the Romans as unreasonable. As a consequence, the war between Pontus and Pergamum and Cappadocia is renewed.

Deaths

• Ptolemy V Epiphanes, Ptolemaic dynasty ruler of Egypt who has reigned from 204 BC