159 BC

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	3rd century BC – 2nd century BC – 1st century BC
Decades:	180s BC  170s BC  160s BC  – 150s BC –  140s BC  130s BC  120s BC
Years:	162 BC 161 BC 160 BC – 159 BC – 158 BC 157 BC 156 BC

159 BC in other calendars

Gregorian calendar	159 BC CLVIII BC
Ab urbe condita	595
Ancient Egypt era	XXXIII dynasty, 165
- Pharaoh	Ptolemy VI Philometor, 22
Ancient Greek era	155th Olympiad, year 2
Assyrian calendar	4592
Bengali calendar	−751
Berber calendar	792
Buddhist calendar	386
Burmese calendar	−796
Byzantine calendar	5350–5351
Chinese calendar	辛巳年 (Metal Snake) 2538 or 2478     — to — 壬午年 (Water Horse) 2539 or 2479
Coptic calendar	−442 – −441
Discordian calendar	1008
Ethiopian calendar	−166 – −165
Hebrew calendar	3602–3603
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	−102 – −101
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	2943–2944
Holocene calendar	9842
Iranian calendar	780 BP – 779 BP
Islamic calendar	804 BH – 803 BH
Julian calendar	N/A
Korean calendar	2175
Minguo calendar	2070 before ROC 民前2070年
Seleucid era	153/154 AG
Thai solar calendar	384–385

Year 159 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dolabella and Nobilior (or, less frequently, year 595 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 159 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

By place

Seleucid Empire

• With the Seleucid victory in Judea over the Maccabees, Alcimus is re-established as the Jewish high priest and a strong force is left in Jerusalem to support him. However, he does not enjoy his triumph for long as he dies soon after from a paralytic stroke.

Bactria

• While Eucratides I is in north west India to claim possession of the previous Bactrian King Demetrius I's territory there, the Parthians, under Mithradates I, annex two Bactrian provinces. Returning from India to reconquer them, Eucratides is murdered by his son.

Births

• Quintus Mucius Scaevola Augur, politician of the Roman Republic and an early authority on Roman law (d. 88 BC) (approximate date)

Deaths

• Eucratides I, king of Bactria, who has reigned since around 170 BC.
• Eumenes II, king of Pergamon.
• Publius Terentius Afer (Terence), Roman comic dramatist, the author of six verse comedies that are long regarded as models of pure Latin (b. c. 195 BC) (approximate date).
• Alcimus, high priest of Judea.