View source for 439 BC

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{{BC year in topic|439}}
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Year '''439 BC''' was a year of the [[Roman calendar|pre-Julian Roman calendar]]. At the time, it was known as the '''Year of the Consulship of Lanatus and Barbatus''' (or, less frequently, '''year 315 ''[[Ab urbe condita]]'''''). The denomination 439 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 ==
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=== By place ===
==== Greece ====
* As a result of [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] assistance to [[Samos]], it takes the [[Athens|Athenian]] army nine months to successfully complete its siege of Samos and force the Samians to surrender. Samos becomes a tributary of Athens.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Meritt |first=Benjamin D. |date=1984 |title=The Samian Revolt from Athens in 440-439 B. C. |journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society |publisher=American Philosophical Society |volume=128 |issue=2 |pages=123–133 |issn=0003-049X |jstor=986226}}</ref>

==== Roman Republic ====
* [[Spurius Maelius]], a wealthy Roman [[plebeian]], tries to buy popular support with the aim of making himself king. During the severe [[famine]] affecting [[Rome]], he buys up a large store of grain and sells it at a low price to the people of Rome &ndash; the first time this had been done in Rome. This leads Lucius Minucius, the [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] [[praefectus annonae]] ("president of the market"), to accuse Maelius of seeking to take over the government.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kagan |first=Donald |url=https://public.ebookcentral.proquest.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=3138416 |title=The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War |date=1969 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-6721-9}}</ref>
*[[Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus]] is made dictator of the [[Roman Republic]] for a second time to deal with the Maelius controversy. He appoints [[Gaius Servilius Ahala]] as his Master of the Horse.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neel |first=Jaclyn |date=May 2015 |title=Reconsidering the Affectatores Regni |journal=Classical Quarterly |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=224–241 |doi=10.1017/S0009838814000639 |issn=0009-8388}}</ref>

* Maelius is summoned before Cincinnatus but refuses to appear. Shortly thereafter, Maelius is killed by Gaius Servilius Ahala and his house is burnt to the ground.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Spurius Maelius |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Spurius-Maelius |access-date=7 August 2024 |date=25 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Cincinnatus |encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]] |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Cincinnatus/ |access-date=7 August 2024 |last=Wasson, Donald L. |date=4 April 2017}}</ref>
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== Births ==
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== Deaths ==
*[[Spurius Maelius]] - was the youngest man to ever attempt taking over Rome

== References ==
{{Reflist}}


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[[Category:439 BC| ]]