204 BC

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	4th century BC – 3rd century BC – 2nd century BC
Decades:	230s BC  220s BC  210s BC  – 200s BC –  190s BC  180s BC  170s BC
Years:	207 BC 206 BC 205 BC – 204 BC – 203 BC 202 BC 201 BC

204 BC in other calendars

Gregorian calendar	204 BC CCIII BC
Ab urbe condita	550
Ancient Egypt era	XXXIII dynasty, 120
- Pharaoh	Ptolemy IV Philopator, 18
Ancient Greek era	144th Olympiad (victor)¹
Assyrian calendar	4547
Bengali calendar	−796
Berber calendar	747
Buddhist calendar	341
Burmese calendar	−841
Byzantine calendar	5305–5306
Chinese calendar	丙申年 (Fire Monkey) 2493 or 2433     — to — 丁酉年 (Fire Rooster) 2494 or 2434
Coptic calendar	−487 – −486
Discordian calendar	963
Ethiopian calendar	−211 – −210
Hebrew calendar	3557–3558
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	−147 – −146
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	2898–2899
Holocene calendar	9797
Iranian calendar	825 BP – 824 BP
Islamic calendar	850 BH – 849 BH
Julian calendar	N/A
Korean calendar	2130
Minguo calendar	2115 before ROC 民前2115年
Seleucid era	108/109 AG
Thai solar calendar	339–340

Year 204 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cethegus and Tuditanus (or, less frequently, year 550 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 204 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

Carthage

• Having lost his alliance with the Numidian chief Masinissa, the Carthaginian general, Hasdrubal Gisco, finds a new ally in the Numidian king Syphax, who marries Sophonisba, Hasdrubal's daughter, whom until his defection to Rome has been betrothed to Masinissa.
• Roman forces under Publius Cornelius Scipio besiege Utica in Carthaginia. Scipio is unable to stop the combined forces of the Carthaginians under Hasdrubal Gisco and the Numidians under their chief, Syphax, and he is forced to lift his siege of Utica.

Egypt

• The late Egyptian King Ptolemy IV's clique of favourites, led by Sosibius, Ptolemy's chief minister, keeps Ptolemy's death a secret, fearing retribution from the new king Ptolemy V's mother, Queen Arsinoe III. They arrange for the murder of Arsinoe, and then the five-year-old king is officially elevated to the throne with Sosibius as his guardian. Arsinoe has been popular with the Egyptian population so rioting follows the news of her assassination.

Roman Republic

• The Battle of Crotona is fought between Hannibal's Carthaginian army, and a Roman force led by Publius Sempronius Tuditanus, with no decisive outcome for either side.

Seleucid Empire

• Philip V of Macedon and Antiochus III of the Syrian-based Seleucid kingdom realize Egypt's weakness and agree to partition Egypt's Anatolian and Aegean possessions. Antiochus' share is to be southern Syria, Lycia, Cilicia and Cyprus, while Philip is to gain western Anatolia and the Cyclades.

Deaths

• Arsinoe III, queen of Egypt, sister and wife of the King Ptolemy IV (assassinated) (b. c. 246 BC)
• Fan Kuai, bodyguard of the Chinese emperor Liu Bang