296 BC

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	4th century BC 3rd century BC 2nd century BC
Decades:	310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC
Years:	299 BC 298 BC 297 BC 296 BC 295 BC 294 BC 293 BC

296 BC in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	296 BC CCXCVI BC
Ab urbe condita	458
Ancient Egypt era	XXXIII dynasty, 28
- Pharaoh	Ptolemy I Soter, 28
Ancient Greek era	121st Olympiad (victor)¹
Assyrian calendar	4455
Balinese saka calendar	N/A
Bengali calendar	−888
Berber calendar	655
Buddhist calendar	249
Burmese calendar	−933
Byzantine calendar	5213–5214
Chinese calendar	甲子年 (Wood Rat) 2402 or 2195     — to — 乙丑年 (Wood Ox) 2403 or 2196
Coptic calendar	−579 – −578
Discordian calendar	871
Ethiopian calendar	−303 – −302
Hebrew calendar	3465–3466
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	−239 – −238
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	2805–2806
Holocene calendar	9705
Iranian calendar	917 BP – 916 BP
Islamic calendar	945 BH – 944 BH
Javanese calendar	N/A
Julian calendar	N/A
Korean calendar	2038
Minguo calendar	2207 before ROC 民前2207年
Nanakshahi calendar	−1763
Seleucid era	16/17 AG
Thai solar calendar	247–248
Tibetan calendar	阳木鼠年 (male Wood-Rat) −169 or −550 or −1322     — to — 阴木牛年 (female Wood-Ox) −168 or −549 or −1321

Year 296 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Violens and Caecus (or, less frequently, year 458 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 296 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

Roman Republic

• Third Samnite War:

• The consul Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens and the proconsuls Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus and Publius Decius Mus devastate the lands of Samnium.
• The Samnite noble Gellius Egnatius leads an army into Umbria and makes an alliance with the majority of the Etruscan city-states and some of the Umbrian cities.
• Following the departure of Gellius, the Romans in Samnium attack walled positions. Volumnius captures three forts, Decius captures the town of Murgantia, and Fabius captures the city of Romulea and the town of Ferentinum.
• The Samnite-Etruscan coalition campaigns against the consul Appius Claudius Caecus in Etruria and inflicts several defeats on the Romans.
• Volumnius orders Fabius to march into Lucania, where he stamps out pro-Samnite disturbances against the ruling class.
• Volumnius joins Appius in Etruria and they defeat the Samnite-Etruscan coalition in a battle, killing 6900 and capturing 2120.
• Volumnius launches a surprise attack against a Samnite column that had been raiding Campania. He frees 7400 Campanian prisoners, kills 6000 Samnites, and captures 2500 Samnites, including the general Statius Minacius and four military tribunes.
• Gellius has a powerful warband of Semnones reinforce the anti-Roman coalition, which is also joined by yet more cities of the Umbrians.

• The temple to Bellona is erected at the south end of the prata Flaminia, later the Circus Flaminius, in Rome.

Greece

• Ptolemy makes peace with Demetrius Poliorcetes, to whom he betrothes his daughter Ptolemais.