of Qin and the State of Zhao in China; a decisive Qin victory. 260 BC: Ashoka inscribes the Edicts of Ashoka. 250s BC 258 BC: An Dương Vương overthrows the Hồng Bàng dynasty in Viet Nam. 257 BC: Thục dynasty takes over Vietnam. 240s BC 246 BC: The death of Antiochus II sparks the Third Syrian War; Ptolemy III conquers Syria and Babylon from the Seleucids, but loses the Nesiotic League to Antigonus II 243 BC: Surprise attack on the Macedonian garrison at Corinth. Expansion of the Achaean League. 241 BC: First Punic War ends in Carthaginian defeat. Rome demands large reparations, and annexes Sicily and Corsica. 240 BC: On May 15, Chinese mathematicians observed and recorded the passage of the Halley's Comet. 230s BC 230 BC: The Chinese Qin State conquers Han. 230 BC: Simuka declares independence from Mauryan rule and establishes the Satavahana Empire. 220s BC 229 BC: The First Illyrian War ends with a Roman victory. 229 BC: Last tyrants on the Peloponnese abdicate, Argos joins the Achaean League, Athens liberated from Macedonian garrison. 227 BC: The attempted assassination of Ying Zheng (嬴政), king of Qin State, by Jing Ke (荊軻) from Yan failed. 225 BC: A large Gallic army is defeated by the Romans at the Battle of Telamon. 225 BC: The Chinese Qin State conquers Wei. 223 BC: The Chinese Qin State conquers Chu. 222 BC: The Chinese Qin State conquers Yan and Zhao. 222 BC: Spartan defeat in the Battle of Sellasia ends the Cleomenean War. 221 BC: With the conquest of the State of Qi, Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) unifies the whole of China into one empire that also included northern Vietnam, forming the Qin dynasty. 220 BC: the Social War (220–217 BC) of Greece begins, pitting Macedonia and the Achaean League against Sparta and the Aetolian League, ultimately resulting in a Macedonian-Achaean victory with territorial gains for each. 210s BC 218 BC: Second Punic War begins. Hannibal makes his famous Alpine crossing to invade Italy, the Roman heartland. 217 BC: Antiochus III invades the Levant in the Third Syrian War, but is defeated by Ptolemy IV at the Battle of Raphia. 216 BC: Hannibal famously crushed the Roman legions at the Battle of Cannae. 214 BC: Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) of the Chinese Qin dynasty ordered construction of the Great Wall of China. 214 BC: In the Mediterranean, the First Macedonian War