474 BC

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Year 474 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Medullinus and Vulso (or, less frequently, year 280 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 474 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

Italy

• Hiero I, tyrant of Sicily, allied with Aristodemus, the tyrant of Cumae, defeat the Etruscan navy in the Battle of Cumae as the Etruscans try to capture the Greek city of Cumae in Italy. This victory marks the end of the Etruscan aggression against the Greeks in southern Italy and saves the Greeks of Campania from Etruscan domination.
• Taranto signs an alliance with Rhegion, to counter the Messapii, Peuceti, and Lucanians, but the joint armies of the Tarentines and Rhegines are defeated near Kailìa (modern Ceglie Messapica).
• Hiero builds Castello Aragonese on the island of Ischia.

Persian Empire

• King Xerxes I of Persia issues a decree, as dictated by Mordecai upon the king's secretaries, giving the Jews in every city the authority to unite to defend their lives against their opponents in all of the 127 provinces of the Persian Empire, stretching from India to Ethiopia.^[1]

By topic

Literature

• The Greek poet Pindar moves to Thebes after two years at the Sicilian Court of Hiero I of Syracuse. While at Thebes, he composes lyric odes to celebrate triumphs in the Olympic Games and other athletic events.

Births

Deaths

References