The 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 301 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period.
This century marked the height of Classical Greek civilization in all of its aspects. By the year 400 BC Greek philosophy, art, literature and architecture had spread far and wide, with the numerous independent Greek colonies that had sprung up throughout the lands of the eastern Mediterranean.
The Northern Coast of Egypt (Egyptian Arabic: الساحل الشمالى, El Sahel El Shamali, . "The Northern Egyptian Coast" extends for about 1,050 km (650 mi) along the Mediterranean Sea, it covers entirely the northern territory of Egypt. It is one of the longest Mediterranean coastlines, and is popularly known of sandy beaches and crystal clear water.
The city of Alexandria lies at the center of Egypt's Mediterranean coastline in Lower Egypt (northern Egypt), as chosen by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE. The North Coast has been the hub of sea travel between the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile Delta for over 2,300 years. During summer, Egyptians usually travel to the North Coast to flee heat in other towns and cities in Egypt. They stay in villages and resorts located in Sidi Abdel Rahman, El Alamein, and Ras El Hekma, amongst other areas.
There is evidence of mercenaries (misthophoroi (plural), misthios (singular male), misthia (singular female) in Greek) being hired in Ancient Greece from the 6th century BC. The tyrants of that time hired bodyguards from other city-states. It is not known if earlier Aegean armies and navies, such as the Minoans and Mycenaeans, used mercenaries.
Mercenary troops from Caria and Ionia are known to have fought with Psamtik I against the Assyrians. These were the "bronze men from the sea" whose arrival in Egypt, according to Herodotus, was foretold to Psamtik by an oracle. They entered the country as raiders but Psamtik made a truce with them and hired them to his cause. Afterwards, he granted land to them alongside the Nile and they are traditionally held to have been the first Greeks to settle in Egypt.
Zhuang Zhou (/dʒuˈɑːŋ ˈdʒoʊ/), commonly known as Zhuangzi (/ˈdʒwɑːŋˈdzʌ/; Chinese: 莊子; literally "Master Zhuang"; also rendered in the Wade–Giles romanization as Chuang Tzu), was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States period, a period of great development in Chinese philosophy, the Hundred Schools of Thought. He is credited with writing—in part or in whole—a work known by his name, the Zhuangzi, which is one of two foundational texts of Taoism, alongside the Tao Te Ching.
Elementa harmonica (Ἁρμονικὰ στοιχεῖα in Greek; Elements of Harmonics in English) is a treatise on the subject of musical scales by Aristoxenus, of which considerable amounts are extant.The work dates to the second half of the 4th century BC. It is the oldest substantially surviving work written on the subject of music theory.
The Cycles of the Kings or Kings' Cycles, sometimes called the Historical Cycle, are a body of Old and Middle Irish literature. They comprise legends about historical and semi-historical kings of Ireland (such as Buile Shuibhne, "The Madness of King Suibhne"), stories about the origins of dynasties and peoples (such as The Expulsion of the Déisi), accounts of significant battles (such as Battle of Mag Mucrama), as well as anecdotes that explain rites and customs. It is one of the four main groupings of early Irish sagas, along with the Mythological Cycle, the Ulster Cycle and the Fianna Cycle.
The kings that are included range from the almost entirely fictional Labraid Loingsech, who allegedly became High King in the 4th century BC, to the entirely historical Brian Boru. Other kings include Cormac mac Airt, Niall of the Nine Hostages, Conall Corc, Diarmait mac Cerbaill, Lugaid mac Con, Conn of the Hundred Battles, Lóegaire mac Néill and Crimthann mac Fidaig. It was part of the duty of the medieval Irish bards, or court poets, to record the history of the family and the genealogy of the king they served. This they did in poems that blended the mythological and the historical to a greater or lesser degree.