540 BC

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	7th century BC – 6th century BC – 5th century BC
Decades:	570s BC  560s BC  550s BC  – 540s BC –  530s BC  520s BC  510s BC
Years:	543 BC 542 BC 541 BC – 540 BC – 539 BC 538 BC 537 BC

540 BC in other calendars

Gregorian calendar	540 BC DXXXIX BC
Ab urbe condita	214
Ancient Egypt era	XXVI dynasty, 125
- Pharaoh	Amasis II, 31
Ancient Greek era	60th Olympiad (victor)¹
Assyrian calendar	4211
Bengali calendar	−1132
Berber calendar	411
Buddhist calendar	5
Burmese calendar	−1177
Byzantine calendar	4969–4970
Chinese calendar	庚申年 (Metal Monkey) 2157 or 2097     — to — 辛酉年 (Metal Rooster) 2158 or 2098
Coptic calendar	−823 – −822
Discordian calendar	627
Ethiopian calendar	−547 – −546
Hebrew calendar	3221–3222
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	−483 – −482
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	2562–2563
Holocene calendar	9461
Iranian calendar	1161 BP – 1160 BP
Islamic calendar	1197 BH – 1196 BH
Julian calendar	N/A
Korean calendar	1794
Minguo calendar	2451 before ROC 民前2451年
Thai solar calendar	3–4

Events

• Cyrus attacks Babylonia
• Greek city of Elea of southern Italy is founded (approximate date)
• Persians conquer Lycian city of Xanthos (approximate date)
• Amasis Painter makes Dionysos with maenads, black-figure decoration on an amphora
• Exekias makes The Suicide of Ajax, black-figure decoration on an amphora
• Amyntas I becomes king of Macedonia (approximate date)
• Comet Hale–Bopp appears in the evening sky, making its closest approach to Earth. Its next appearance occurs in 1997

Births

• Epicharmus of Kos, Greek dramatist (approximate date; d. c. 450 BC)