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181| c. 400 BC–AD c. 250 | Central America [everyday life] | The Late Formative (or pre-Classic) period of Mayan culture takes place in Mexico. By 400 BC, large structures have been built at several sites in the tropical lowland jungle. In the highlands, people begin to put up large clay platforms, some the basis for temples and others for elite houses, flanking open plazas. | | c. 200 BC–AD c. 200 | South America [religion] | During this period the Nazca Lines are drawn in the desert along the south coast of Peru. These are enormous stylized outlines of animals, including a monkey, whale, spider, and hummingbird, and sets of parallel lines, some as long as 20 km/12 mi. They are believed to be a development of Chavín de Huantar art; they may have had religious significance, or they may have been connected with astronomy. | | c. 100–c. 200 | Central America [town planning] | Great building projects are carried out in the pre-Toltec city of Teotihuacán in the Mexican Basin. A great central avenue is laid out, now known as the Street of the Dead. The Temple of the Sun is also completed, dominating the Street of the Dead; at 65 m/216 ft, it is the highest pyramid in Mexico. Another slightly smaller pyramid, to the Moon, is also constructed. Twenty further temples line the avenue. | | 181 | Roman Empire [administration] | Commodus, the new Roman emperor, returns to Rome and gives himself up to dissipation. He is a skilled huntsman, swordsman, and bowman, and takes part in the gladiatorial shows. He reputedly keeps a harem of some 300 women and an equal number of boys. In the ensuing decade of his reign there is virtually no trouble from the barbarians of the north whom his father, Marcus Aurelius, had fought. Rome is at the apex of its power, but the marks of decay are apparent and in future the initiative will largely be taken by the barbarians. |
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