Explore by year

216 BCE

This year falls in the Classical antiquity (c. 500 BCE–500 CE). Large empires rule much of Eurasia, among them Persia, the Maurya and Gupta states of India, Han China and Rome. Classical Greece, the spread of Buddhism and the rise of Christianity belong to this era, which ends as the western Roman Empire falls in the fifth century CE.

Within fifteen years

Civilization · Classical antiquity · Qin dynastyQin dynasty221–206 BCEThe Qin dynasty was the first to unite China, ending centuries of warring states. Qin Shi Huang standardized writing, money, and roads, built the Great Wall's first version, and was buried with the terracotta army. It lasted only fifteen years.

Civilization · Classical antiquity · Han dynastyHan dynasty206 BCE–220 CEThe Han dynasty ruled China for four centuries and set the pattern for all later dynasties. It made Confucianism the state creed, opened the Silk Road, and invented paper. Its fall in 220 CE split China for centuries.