397 BC

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	5th century BC – 4th century BC – 3rd century BC
Decades:	420s BC  410s BC  400s BC  – 390s BC –  380s BC  370s BC  360s BC
Years:	400 BC 399 BC 398 BC – 397 BC – 396 BC 395 BC 394 BC

397 BC in other calendars

Gregorian calendar	397 BC CCCXCVI BC
Ab urbe condita	357
Ancient Egypt era	XXIX dynasty, 2
- Pharaoh	Nepherites I, 2
Ancient Greek era	95th Olympiad, year 4
Assyrian calendar	4354
Bengali calendar	−989
Berber calendar	554
Buddhist calendar	148
Burmese calendar	−1034
Byzantine calendar	5112–5113
Chinese calendar	癸未年 (Water Goat) 2300 or 2240     — to — 甲申年 (Wood Monkey) 2301 or 2241
Coptic calendar	−680 – −679
Discordian calendar	770
Ethiopian calendar	−404 – −403
Hebrew calendar	3364–3365
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	−340 – −339
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	2705–2706
Holocene calendar	9604
Iranian calendar	1018 BP – 1017 BP
Islamic calendar	1049 BH – 1048 BH
Julian calendar	N/A
Korean calendar	1937
Minguo calendar	2308 before ROC 民前2308年
Thai solar calendar	146–147

Year 397 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Tribunate of Iullus, Albinus, Medullinus, Maluginensis, Fidenas and Capitolinus (or, less frequently, year 357 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 397 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

Greece

• Called on by the Ionians to assist them against the Persian King Artaxerxes II, King Agesilaus II of Sparta launches an ambitious campaign in Asia Minor.

Carthage

• The Carthaginians establish the town of Lilybaeum in Sicily to replace Motya.
• Himilco crosses to Sicily from Carthage with a fresh army, conquers the north coast, puts Dionysius I, the Tyrant of Syracuse, on the defensive and besieges Syracuse. However, the Carthaginian army again suffers from the plague. The Syracusans counterattack and completely defeat Himilco's army. Himilco has to escape back to Carthage.

Births

• Dionysius II, son of Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse (d. 343 BC)
• Antipater, a Macedonian general (d. 319 BC)