View source for 550 BC

{{Year nav|-550}}
{{BC year in topic|550}}

The year '''550 BC''' was a year of the [[Roman calendar|pre-Julian Roman calendar]]. In the [[Roman Empire]], it was known as '''year 204 ''[[Ab urbe condita]]'''''. The denomination 550 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==
* [[Greek colonization]] ends (approximate date).{{clarify|date=March 2021}}
* [[Cyrus II the Great]] overthrows [[Astyages]] of the [[Medes]], establishing the [[Achaemenid Empire]].
* [[Mago I of Carthage|Mago I]] begins his rule of [[Carthage]] and founds the [[Magonid dynasty]].
* The Kingdom of [[Colchis]] is established.
* [[Abdera, Thrace|Abdera]] is destroyed by the [[Thrace|Thracians]].
* The [[Temple of Artemis]] is completed in [[Ephesus]].
* The Temple of Hera I is built in what is now [[Paestum]], [[Italy]] (approximate date).
* [[Siddhartha Gautama]] founds [[Buddhism]] in [[Northern India]] after achieving [[Enlightenment in Buddhism|enlightenment]] after six years of practicing [[penance]] and [[meditation]].

==Births==
*[[Aristodemus of Cumae]], [[tyrant]] of [[Cumae]]
*[[Hecataeus of Miletus]],  early [[Greece|Greek]] [[historian]]
*[[Miltiades]], renowned [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympic]] [[chariot race|chariot-racer]]
*[[Epicharmus]], [[Greek literature|Greek]] [[poet]]
*[[Atossa]], Achaemenid queen (approximate date)

==Deaths==
*[[Arcesilaus II of Cyrene]], the fourth Greek [[Cyrenaean]] King and a member of the [[Battiadae|Battiad dynasty]]; he was strangled by [[Learchus (regicide)|Learchus]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

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