287 BC

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	4th century BC – 3rd century BC – 2nd century BC
Decades:	310s BC  300s BC  290s BC  – 280s BC –  270s BC  260s BC  250s BC
Years:	290 BC 289 BC 288 BC – 287 BC – 286 BC 285 BC 284 BC

287 BC in other calendars

Gregorian calendar	287 BC CCLXXXVI BC
Ab urbe condita	467
Ancient Egypt era	XXXIII dynasty, 37
- Pharaoh	Ptolemy I Soter, 37
Ancient Greek era	123rd Olympiad, year 2
Assyrian calendar	4464
Bengali calendar	−879
Berber calendar	664
Buddhist calendar	258
Burmese calendar	−924
Byzantine calendar	5222–5223
Chinese calendar	癸酉年 (Water Rooster) 2410 or 2350     — to — 甲戌年 (Wood Dog) 2411 or 2351
Coptic calendar	−570 – −569
Discordian calendar	880
Ethiopian calendar	−294 – −293
Hebrew calendar	3474–3475
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	−230 – −229
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	2815–2816
Holocene calendar	9714
Iranian calendar	908 BP – 907 BP
Islamic calendar	936 BH – 935 BH
Julian calendar	N/A
Korean calendar	2047
Minguo calendar	2198 before ROC 民前2198年
Seleucid era	25/26 AG
Thai solar calendar	256–257

Year 287 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marcellus and Rutilus (or, less frequently, year 467 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 287 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

Roman Republic

• A new law, Lex Hortensia, gives much greater power to the plebeian Assembly compared to the Senate. This law is passed following a threat from plebeian soldiers to secede. In the face of this threat, the Senate yields to plebeian concerns over their lack of political power and over their level of debt to the aristocracy. The law is named after Quintus Hortensius, a plebeian, who is made dictator to settle the controversy.
• With the Lex Hortensia in place, in theory the political distinctions in Rome between the patricians and the plebeians disappear. However, in practice, the coalition of leading plebeian families keep control which means that the patricians are able to largely nullify the power of the assemblies. So Roman government continues to be oligarchic in character.

Greece

• The Macedonians resent the extravagance and arrogance of Demetrius Poliorcetes and are not prepared to fight a difficult campaign for him. When Pyrrhus of Epirus takes the Macedonian city of Verroia, Demetrius' army promptly deserts and goes over to Pyrrhus' side as he is much admired by the Macedonians for his bravery. At this change of fortune, Phila, the mother of Antigonus, kills herself with poison.
• Demetrius besieges Athens without success. He leave Antigonus in charge of the war in Greece, assembles all his ships and embarks with his troops to attack Caria and Lydia, provinces in Asia Minor controlled by Lysimachus.
• Agathocles is sent by his father Lysimachus against Demetrius. Agathocles defeats Demetrius and drives him out of his father's provinces.
• Pyrrhus is proclaimed King of Macedonia.

Births

• 

  Archimedes

• Archimedes of Syracuse, Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer and philosopher (approximate date) (d. 212 BC)

Deaths

• Phila, daughter of Antipater, the regent of Macedonia
• Theophrastus, Greek Peripatetic philosopher and pupil of Aristotle (b. c. 372 BC)