Editing 3rd century BC (section)

{{Short description|One hundred years, from 300 BC to 201 BC}}
{{redirect|200s BC|the decade|200s BC (decade)}}
{{Centurybox|-3}}
[[File:Hannibal traverse le Rhône Henri Motte 1878.jpg|thumb|right|320px|[[Hannibal]] [[Hannibal's crossing of the Alps|crosses the Alps]] during the [[Second Punic War]]]]

The '''3rd century BC''' started the first day of [[300 BC]] and ended the last day of [[201 BC]]. It is considered part of the [[Classical antiquity|Classical Era]], [[Epoch (reference date)|epoch]], or [[historical period]].

In the [[Mediterranean Basin]], the first few decades of this century were characterized by a balance of power between the [[Greeks|Greek]] [[Hellenistic]] kingdoms in the east, and the great mercantile power of [[Carthage]] in the west. This balance was shattered when conflict arose between [[ancient Carthage]] and the [[Roman Republic]]. In the following decades, the [[Carthaginian Republic]] was first humbled and then destroyed by the Romans in the [[First Punic War|First]] and Second [[Punic Wars]]. Following the [[Second Punic War]], Rome became the most important power in the western Mediterranean.

In the [[eastern Mediterranean]], the [[Seleucid Empire]] and [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]], [[Diadochi|successor states]] to the empire of [[Alexander the Great]], fought a series of [[Syrian Wars]] for control over the [[Levant]]. In [[mainland Greece]], the short-lived [[Antipatrid dynasty]] of [[Macedon]] was overthrown and replaced by the [[Antigonid dynasty]] in 294 BC, a royal house that would dominate the affairs of [[Hellenistic Greece]] for roughly a century until the stalemate of the [[First Macedonian War]] against [[Ancient Rome|Rome]]. Macedon would also lose the [[Cretan War (205–200 BC)|Cretan War]] against the Greek city-state of [[Rhodes]] and its allies.

In [[India]], [[Ashoka]] ruled the [[Maurya Empire]]. The [[Early Pandyan Kingdom|Pandya]], [[early Cholas|Chola]] and [[Chera dynasty|Chera]] dynasties of the classical age flourished in the [[ancient Tamil country]].

The [[Warring States]] period in [[Imperial China|China]] drew to a close, with [[Qin Shi Huang]] conquering the six other nation-states and establishing the short-lived [[Qin dynasty]], the first empire of China, which was followed in the same century by the long-lasting [[Han dynasty]]. However, a brief interregnum and civil war existed between the Qin and Han periods known as the [[Chu-Han contention]], lasting until 202 BC with the ultimate victory of [[Liu Bang]] over [[Xiang Yu]].

The [[Proto–Three Kingdoms Period|Protohistoric Period]] began in [[Korean Peninsula|Korea]]. In the following century the Chinese Han dynasty would conquer the [[Gojoseon]] kingdom of northern Korea. The [[Xiongnu]] were at the height of their power in [[Mongolia]]. They defeated the Han Chinese at the [[Battle of Baideng]] in 200 BC, marking the beginning of the forced ''[[Heqin]]'' tributary agreement and marriage alliance that would last several decades.