Decades: 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC - 250s BC - 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC

Years: 261 BC 260 BC 259 BC 258 BC 257 BC - 256 BC - 255 BC 254 BC 253 BC 252 BC 251 BC

• Luoyang falls without much resistance to the armies of the Qin, ending the reign of the emperor Zhou Nan Wang. Although a successor was appointed as Dong Zhou Hui Wang, traditionally in Chinese history this is considered the end of the Zhou Dynasty.
• First Punic War:
  • In the Battle of Cape Ecnomus, the Romans defeat a Carthaginian fleet under Hamilcar and Hanno the Great attempting to stop a Roman invasion of Africa by Marcus Atilius Regulus.
  • In the Battle of Adys, the Romans under Regulus defeat the Carthaginians on North African soil.