268 BC

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	4th century BC 3rd century BC 2nd century BC
Decades:	280s BC 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC
Years:	271 BC 270 BC 269 BC 268 BC 267 BC 266 BC 265 BC

268 BC in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	268 BC CCLXVIII BC
Ab urbe condita	486
Ancient Egypt era	XXXIII dynasty, 56
- Pharaoh	Ptolemy II Philadelphus, 16
Ancient Greek era	128th Olympiad (victor)¹
Assyrian calendar	4483
Balinese saka calendar	N/A
Bengali calendar	−860
Berber calendar	683
Buddhist calendar	277
Burmese calendar	−905
Byzantine calendar	5241–5242
Chinese calendar	壬辰年 (Water Dragon) 2430 or 2223     — to — 癸巳年 (Water Snake) 2431 or 2224
Coptic calendar	−551 – −550
Discordian calendar	899
Ethiopian calendar	−275 – −274
Hebrew calendar	3493–3494
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	−211 – −210
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	2833–2834
Holocene calendar	9733
Iranian calendar	889 BP – 888 BP
Islamic calendar	916 BH – 915 BH
Javanese calendar	N/A
Julian calendar	N/A
Korean calendar	2066
Minguo calendar	2179 before ROC 民前2179年
Nanakshahi calendar	−1735
Seleucid era	44/45 AG
Thai solar calendar	275–276
Tibetan calendar	阳水龙年 (male Water-Dragon) −141 or −522 or −1294     — to — 阴水蛇年 (female Water-Snake) −140 or −521 or −1293

Year 268 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sophus and Russus (or, less frequently, year 486 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 268 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

• The Roman denarius coin is minted for the first time.
• The Romans found a colony at Malventum which they, for superstitious reasons, call Beneventum (since male means bad and bene means good in Latin).
• The Romans found a colony at Ariminum.

Greece

• Chremonides, an Athenian statesman and general, issues the Decree of Chremonides, creating an alliance between Sparta, Athens, and Ptolemy II of Egypt. The origins of this alliance lay in the continuing desire of many Greek states, notably Athens and Sparta, for a restoration of their former independence, along with the desire of Ptolemy II to create troubles for his rival Antigonus II, King of Macedonia. Ptolemy II's ambitions in the Aegean Sea are threatened by Antigonus Gonatas' fleet, so he carefully builds up a coalition of the rest of the Greeks against Macedonians. He especially cultivates Athens by supplying the city with grain.

India

• May 16 – Ashoka becomes emperor of the Maurya Empire.

Births

• Fu Sheng (Master Fu), Chinese Confusian scholar (d. 178 BC)
• Li Yiji, Chinese politician and adviser (d. 204 BC)