103 BC

Year 103 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marius and Orestes (or, less frequently, year 651 Ab urbe condita) and the Second Year of Taichu. The denomination 103 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.

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	3rd century BC 2nd century BC 1st century BC
Decades:	120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC
Years:	106 BC 105 BC 104 BC 103 BC 102 BC 101 BC 100 BC

103 BC in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	103 BC CIII BC
Ab urbe condita	651
Ancient Egypt era	XXXIII dynasty, 221
- Pharaoh	Ptolemy X Alexander, 5
Ancient Greek era	169th Olympiad, year 2
Assyrian calendar	4648
Balinese saka calendar	N/A
Bengali calendar	−695
Berber calendar	848
Buddhist calendar	442
Burmese calendar	−740
Byzantine calendar	5406–5407
Chinese calendar	丁丑年 (Fire Ox) 2595 or 2388     — to — 戊寅年 (Earth Tiger) 2596 or 2389
Coptic calendar	−386 – −385
Discordian calendar	1064
Ethiopian calendar	−110 – −109
Hebrew calendar	3658–3659
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	−46 – −45
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	2998–2999
Holocene calendar	9898
Iranian calendar	724 BP – 723 BP
Islamic calendar	746 BH – 745 BH
Javanese calendar	N/A
Julian calendar	N/A
Korean calendar	2231
Minguo calendar	2014 before ROC 民前2014年
Nanakshahi calendar	−1570
Seleucid era	209/210 AG
Thai solar calendar	440–441
Tibetan calendar	阴火牛年 (female Fire-Ox) 24 or −357 or −1129     — to — 阳土虎年 (male Earth-Tiger) 25 or −356 or −1128

Events

By place

Roman Republic

• Gaius Marius prepares a campaign against the Ambrones and Teutones (under king Teutobod) who are settled in Gaul.
• Tryphon and Athenion lead the Second Servile War in Sicily.

Judea

• Alexander Jannaeus succeeds his brother Aristobulus I as king and high priest of Judea, until 76 BC.^[1]

Asia

• War of the Heavenly Horses

• After having fought their way west across arid regions, the Han expeditionary force under Li Guangli fails to capture the Dayuan city of Yucheng and returns east to the area of Dunhuang, having lost 90% of their men.
• Emperor Wu of Han reinforces Li Guangli's army with 60,000 men, numerous horses and beasts of burden, and more than fifty high-ranking officers. Li Guangli's army then returns west.^[2]

• Han-Xiongnu War

• Spring – After the Xiongnu Left Commander offers to kill Er Chanyu and surrender to the Han, Emperor Wu sends the Han general Zhao Ponu with an army of 20,000 to invade Xiongnu territory. When Zhao reaches the Altay Mountains, the commander's conspiracy is discovered, and after killing the commander, Er marches against Zhao but suffers an initial defeat.
• Summer – The Han army retreats south, but the Xiongnu surround them. After capturing Zhao Ponu during the night, the Xiongnu defeat and force the surrender of the Han soldiers.
• The Xiongnu invade parts of China and unsuccessfully attack Shouxiang.^[3]

Births

• Marcus Furius Bibaculus, Roman poet.^[4]

Deaths

• Aristobulus I, king of Judea.^[5]
• Gaius Lucilius, Roman satirist
• Khallata Naga of Anuradhapura, king of the Anuradhapura Kingdom

References

1. VanderKam, James C. (2004). From Joshua to Caiaphas: High Priests After the Exile. Fortress Press. p. 318. ISBN 9781451410662.
2. Hung, Hing Ming (2020). The Magnificent Emperor Wu: China's Han Dynasty. pp. 198–199. ISBN 978-1628944167.
3. Hung, Hing Ming (2020). The Magnificent Emperor Wu: China's Han Dynasty. pp. 198–199, 206–208. ISBN 978-1628944167.
4. "PerseusCatalog". catalog.perseus.org. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
5. Gelb, Norman (2010). Kings of the Jews: The Origins of the Jewish Nation. Jewish Publication Society. p. 175. ISBN 9780827609136.