View source for 440 BC

{{more citations needed|date=October 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2011}}
{{Year nav|-440}}
{{BC year in topic|440}}
__NOTOC__
Year '''440 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 Macerinus and Lanatus''' (or, less frequently, '''year 314 ''[[Ab urbe condita]]'''''){{citation needed|date=September 2013}}. The denomination 440 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 ==
<onlyinclude>

=== By place ===
==== Greece ====
* [[Samos]], an autonomous member of the [[Delian League]] and one of [[Athens]]' principal allies with a substantial fleet of its own, quarrels with [[Miletus]]. Miletus, also a member of the Delian League, appeals to Athens for assistance. [[Pericles]] decides in favour of Miletus, so Samos revolts. Pericles then sails to Samos with a fleet to overthrow its [[Oligarchy|oligarchic]] government and install a democratic one. [[Sparta]] threatens to interfere. However, at a congress of the [[Peloponnesian League]], its members vote not to intervene on behalf of Samos against Athens.
The Histories by Herodotus was written that contain the knowledge of the Greco Persian wars.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/asbook07.asp#The%20Persian%20Wars | title=Internet History Sourcebooks Project: Ancient History }}</ref>

==== Roman Republic ====
* A [[famine]] strikes in [[Rome]].{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

==== China ====
* [[Zhou Kao Wang]] becomes king of the [[Zhou dynasty]] of [[China]].

=== By topic ===
==== Physics ====
* [[Democritus]] proposes the existence of indivisible particles, which he calls [[atom]]s.

==== Art ====
* [[Polykleitos]] completes one of his greatest statues, the ''[[Doryphorus]]'' (''The Spear Bearer'') (approximate date).
* The stela, ''Demeter, Persephone and Triptolemos'', from [[Eleusis]], is made (approximate date). It is now kept at the [[National Archaeological Museum of Athens]].
* A temple for [[Poseidon]] is erected in [[Sounion]].
</onlyinclude>

== Births ==

* [[Cynisca]], Greek princess of Sparta

== Deaths ==
* [[Ducetius]], a Hellenized leader of the [[Sicels]] and founder of a united [[Sicily|Sicilian]] state
* [[Ezra]], [[Jewish]] scribe and priest (b. c. [[480 BCE]])
* [[Amestris]], Achaemenid queen (approximate date)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:440 Bc}}
[[Category:440 BC| ]]