281 BC

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	4th century BC 3rd century BC 2nd century BC
Decades:	300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC
Years:	284 BC 283 BC 282 BC 281 BC 280 BC 279 BC 278 BC

281 BC in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	281 BC CCLXXXI BC
Ab urbe condita	473
Ancient Egypt era	XXXIII dynasty, 43
- Pharaoh	Ptolemy II Philadelphus, 3
Ancient Greek era	124th Olympiad, year 4
Assyrian calendar	4470
Balinese saka calendar	N/A
Bengali calendar	−873
Berber calendar	670
Buddhist calendar	264
Burmese calendar	−918
Byzantine calendar	5228–5229
Chinese calendar	己卯年 (Earth Rabbit) 2417 or 2210     — to — 庚辰年 (Metal Dragon) 2418 or 2211
Coptic calendar	−564 – −563
Discordian calendar	886
Ethiopian calendar	−288 – −287
Hebrew calendar	3480–3481
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	−224 – −223
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	2820–2821
Holocene calendar	9720
Iranian calendar	902 BP – 901 BP
Islamic calendar	930 BH – 929 BH
Javanese calendar	N/A
Julian calendar	N/A
Korean calendar	2053
Minguo calendar	2192 before ROC 民前2192年
Nanakshahi calendar	−1748
Seleucid era	31/32 AG
Thai solar calendar	262–263
Tibetan calendar	阴土兔年 (female Earth-Rabbit) −154 or −535 or −1307     — to — 阳金龙年 (male Iron-Dragon) −153 or −534 or −1306

Year 281 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Barbula and Philippus (or, less frequently, year 473 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 281 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

Asia Minor

• The Battle of Corupedium in Lydia is the last battle of the Diadochi, the rival successors to Alexander the Great. It is fought between the armies of Lysimachus, King of Thrace, Macedonia, Western Anatolia and Seleucus, ruler of Eastern Anatolia, Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, Babylonia and Iran. Seleucus kills Lysimachus during the battle.
• Following the Battle of Corupedium, Lysimachus' widow, Arsinoe, flees to Cassandrea, a city in northern Greece, where she marries her half-brother Ptolemy Keraunos. This proves to be a serious misjudgement, as Ptolemy Keraunus promptly kills two of her sons, though the third is able to escape. Arsinoe flees again, this time to Alexandria in Egypt.

Greece

• Seleucus takes over Thrace and then tries to seize Macedonia. However, he falls into a trap near Lysimachia, Thrace, set by Ptolemy Keraunos, one of the sons of Ptolemy I and Arsinoe II's half brother, who murders Seleucus and takes Macedonia for himself.
• Cineas, a Thessalian serving as chief adviser to King Pyrrhus of Epirus, after visiting Rome attempts, without success, to dissuade Pyrrhus from invading southern Italy.

Seleucid Empire

• Seleucus is succeeded as ruler of the Seleucid empire by Antiochus. He is immediately beset by revolts in Syria (probably instigated by Ptolemy II of Egypt) and by independence movements in northern Anatolia.
• Although he has only a few bases in Greece, Antigonus II Gonatas lays claim to Macedonia. His claim is disputed by Antiochus I.

Births

• Zhuangxiang of Qin, Chinese king of the Qin State (d. 247 BC)

Deaths

• Lysimachus, king of Thrace and Macedonia (b. c. 360 BC)
• Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Seleucid Empire (b. c. 354 BC)