| (1300) | Troy VI wrecked probably by earthquake |
| (1260) | Fall of Troy VIIa |
| (1225) | Voyage of the Argonauts |
| (1213) | War of the Seven against Thebes |
| (1200) | Trojan war begins. Accession of Agamemnon |
| (1184) | Troy fall to Argamemnon |
| (1176) | Accession of Orestes |
| (1104) | Dorian invasion of Greece |
| (1100) | Dorians: A Greek people who took their name from Dorus, son of Hellen. They came from north or northwest and invaded Corinth, then Crete in 1100 B.C.; Spartans always regarded as representatives of unmixed Dorian ancestry. |
| (1050) | Dark Ages of Greece |
| (1001) | The Prophet Zoroaster was one of the first prophets to introduce the concepts of: monotheism, duality of good and evil, mankind's free choice between the two alternatives, messianic redemption, resurrection, final judgement, heaven (the word "paradise" comes from Old Persian), hell and the notion of an almighty, kind, loving and forgiving God |
| (1000) | Temple of Hera at Olympia |
| (850) | Iliad and Odyssey |
| (840) | Probable period of Homer |
| (800) | The Archaic Period. City states begin to appear |
| (776) | The first Olympic games takes place in Olympia |
| (775) | Greeks develop a phonetic alphabet, written from left to right |
| (770) | |
| (756) | Delphi Oracle - Crowning of Olympic victors. Iphitos of Elis proposing to crown victors. Instructed to do so with olive wreaths. 756 BC |
| (753) | Rome Founded- According to legend, Rome was founded in 753 B.C. Its traditional founder was Romulus, said to be the son of a princess of Alba Longa. In truth, we know little about the actual founding of the city. The first settlement in Rome most likely took place on Palatine Hill near the Tiber River. |
| (752) | First decennial archons |
| (750) | Homer writes/complies the The Iliad and the The Odyssey |
| (749) | Greeks establish a colony at Cuma - |
| (735) | First Greek colonies in Sicily. |
| (734) | Corcyra and Syracuse |
| (730) | Spartans + conquer southwest Peloponnese in the First Messenian War. |
| (725) | Coinage in Lydia and Ionia |
| (721) | Sybaris |
| (710) | Crotona |
| (700) | About 700 BC the 1st Messenian War gives the eastern part of Messenia to Sparta. Poseidonia; Beginnings of Greek architecture in stone |
| (699) | 2nd Messenian War reduces Messenians to Spartan Helots |
| (683) | First annual archons at Athens |
| (680) | Pheidon dictator at Argos; earliest state coinage in Greece |
| (676) | Orthagoras dictator at Sicyon |
| (670) | Terpander of Lesbos; Archilochus of Paros; Homeric hymns to Apollo and Demeter |
| (660) | Laws of Zaleucus at Locri |
| (654) | Kampsacus |
| (650) | Abdera and Olbia |
| (648) | Himera; Myron dictator at Sicyon |
| (630) | Cyrene |
| (621) | Draco of Athens compiles "Draconian Laws" which lists death for most offenses |
| (620) | Laws of Draco at Athens |
| (616) | Tarquinius I becomes an Etruscan king of Rome |
| (615) | Abydos |
| (610) | Laws of Charondas at Catana |
| (605) | Nebuchadnezzar II rules Babylon |
| (604) | The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are created. |
| (601) | Delphi: 601-591 BC: the First
Sacred War: the Amphictyony declared war on the Phocians of Crisa, a
neighboring town levying heavy taxes on visitors to the Delphic sanctuary.
The Amphictyony defeated the Crisaians and dedicated their territory to the
Delphic deities. |
| (600) | Naucratis; Massalia (Marseilles); Cleisthenes dictator at Sicyon, Pittacus at Mytilene; Sappho and Alcaeus, poets of Lesbos; Thales of Miletus, philosopher; Alcman, poet at Sparta; Rise of sculpture. The Roman Forum is built |
| (595) | First Sacred War |
| (594) | Laws of Solon at Athens |
| (590) | Age of the Seven Wise Men; rise of the Amphictyonic League and Orphism, second Temple of Artemis at Ephesus |
| (585) | Solar eclipse predicted by Thales of miletus, the first philosopher |
| (582) | First Pythian and Isthmian games; the Acropolis statues and the "Apollos" |
| (580) | Acragas; Aesop of Samos, fabulist |
| (576) | First Nemean games |
| (570) | Phalaris dictator at Acragas;Stesichorus of Himera, poet; Anaximander of Miletus, philosopher |
| (566) | First Panathenaic games |
| (558) | Carthage conquers Sicily and Corsica |
| (551) | The Persian Empire became the dominant world power for over the next two centuries |
| (550) | Cyrus the Great established the Persian Empire in 550 BC, the first world empire. His respect for local traditions, laws, languages, and religions set the foundation of a relatively benevolent empire. |
| (548) | Delphi: the temple of Apollo was accidentally destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt by the Amphictyony with international contributions (including from the Egyptian king Amasis and the Lydian king Croesus). The contractors for the construction were the Alcmaeonids, a wealthy Athenian family |
| (545) | Persian Empire occupies Ionia (now Aegean coase of Turkis mainland) |
| (544) | Anaximenes of Miletus, philosopher |
| (540) | Hipponax of Ephesus, poet |
| (539) | Babylonia surrendered peacefully to Cyrus the Great |
| (535) | Elea (Italy) |
| (534) | Thespis establishes drama at Athens |
| (533) | First competition for Greek Tragedy won by Thespis at Dionysia |
| (530) | In Greece, a library |
| (520) | Olympieum begun at Athens |
| (517) | Simonides of Ceos, poet |
| (514) | Conspiracy of Harmodius and Aristogeiton |
| (511) | Phrynichus of Athens, dramatist |
| (510) | Destruction of Sybaris by Crotona |
| (509) | the last king is expelled and Rome becomes a republic |
| (507) | Cleisthenes extends democracy at Athens |
| (501) | The reign of Darius the Great marked the zenith of the Persian Empire |
| (500) | Persian Wars begin, Greek city states in Asia Minor revolt against Daruis 1 of Persia. The height of Greek sculpture begins with the work of Phidias. His masterpieces include the statue of Athena in the PARTHENON, the Parthenon reliefs and the statue of Zeus in the Temple of Olympian Zeus. The second most important sculptor, Myron, is renowned for his statue of the discus thrower. |
| (499) | Ionia revolts; Aeschylus' first play |
| (497) | Ionian Greeks burn Sardis |
| (494) | Darius 1 of Persia takes control of Asia Minor, defeat Ionian at Lade.. |
| (493) | Darius decided to punish Athens and Eretria and to add Greece to his vast empire. Themistocles archon at Athens |
| (492) | Persian expedition commanded by Mardonius conquers Thrace and Macedon, but fleet crippled by storm |
| (490) | The battle for Marathon takes place between the Athenians v Perians. A second expedition, commanded by Artaphernes and Datis, destroyed (490) Eretria and then proceeded against Athens. The Persians encamped 20 mi (32 km) from the city, on the coast plain of Marathon. Here they were attacked and decisively defeated (Sept.) by the Athenian army of 10,000 men aided by 1,000 men from Plataea. The Athenians were heavily outnumbered, but fought under Miltiades, whose strategy won the battle. They had sought the help of Sparta, by way of the Athenian courier Pheidippides, who covered the distance (c.150 mi; 241 km) from Athens to Sparta within two days. The Spartan forces, however, failed to reach Marathon until the day after the battle. The Persians did not continue the war, but Darius at once began preparations for a third expedition so powerful that the overwhelming of Greece would be certain. |
| (489) | Aristides archon; trial of Miltiades |
| (487) | The Athenians were persuaded by their leader Themistocles to strengthen their navy |
| (486) | Darius 1 dies before his invasion plans for Greece were completed, but they were continued by Xerxes I, his son and successor. |
| (485) | Epicharmus establishes comedy at Syracuse |
| (484) | Herodotus is born. |
| (482) | Ostacism of Aristides |
| (480) | Xerxes reached Greece with a
tremendous army and navy, and considerable support among the Greeks. Xerxes'
invading army headed for Delphi to plunder its rich temple, and was supposed
to have been warded off by Apollo's divine intervention in the form of a rock
fall. The route of the Persian land forces lay through the narrow pass of Thermopylae. The pass was defended by the Spartan Leonidas; his small army held back the Persians but was eventually trapped by a Persian detachment; the Spartan contingent chose to die fighting in the pass rather than flee. The Athenians put their trust in their navy and made little effort to defend their city, which was taken by the Persians. Shortly afterward the Persian fleet was crushed in the straits off the island of Salamis by a Greek force. The Greek victory was aided by the strategy of Themistocles. Xerxes returned to Persia but left a military force in Greece under his general, Mardonius |
| (479) | The defeat of this army in 479 at Plataea near Thebes (now Thivai) by a Greek army under the Spartan Pausanias (with Aristides commanding the Athenians) and a Greek naval victory at Mycale on the coast of Asia Minor ended all danger from Persian invasions of Europe. |
| (478) | During the remaining period of the Persian Wars the Greeks in the Aegean islands and Asia Minor, under Athenian leadership (Delian League) strengthened their position without seeking conquest. Persian war ends |
| (477) | Delian Confederacy founded |
| (474) | Gelon defeats Carthaginians at Himera. Greeks defeat the Etruscans at Cuma |
| (472) | Polygnotus, painter; Aechylus' Persae |
| (470) | Naxos forced into Delian League with Athens. |
| (469) | Birth of Socrates |
| (468) | Kimon defeats Persians at the Eurymedon; first contest between Aeschylus and Sophocles |
| (467) | Bacchylides of Ceos, poet; Aeschylus' Seven against Thebes |
| (465) | Assassination of Xerxes, the Great King of Persia, on order from his son Artaxerxes, who succeeds him |
| (464) | Earthquake at Sparta. Messenian revolt, 3rd Messenian War begins. |
| (463) | Thasos tries to get out of Delion League, Athens keeps them in. |
| (462) | Ephialtes limits the Areopagus; pay for jurors; Anaxagoras at Athens |
| (461) | Kimon ostracized; Ephialtes killed |
| (460) | Empedocles of Acragas, philosopher; Aeschylus' Promotheus Bound |
| (459) | 3rd Messenaian War ends to a Spartan victory but very costly to Sparta. |
| (458) | Aeschylus' Oresteia; the Long Walls |
| (457) | Golden age in Athens begins as Pericles promotes architecture and art and studies philosophy with Anaxagoras. Sparta war with Delian league is averted. |
| (456) | Temple of Zeus at Olympia; Paeonius of Mende, sculptor |
| (454) | Delian League grows to 140 members, the treasury was transported from Delos to the Athenian Acropolis |
| (450) | Zeno of Elea, philosopher; Hippocrates of Chios, matematician; Callimachus develops the Corinthian order; Philolaus of Thebes, astronomer |
| (449) | Peace between Athens and Persia |
| (448) | Rebuilding of Persian-destroyed Acropolis. Peace of Callias with Persia |
| (447) | Parthenon begun. Dephi:the Second Sacred War: the Amphictyony successfully fought the Phocians to restore the independence of Delphi, which had been taken over by the Phocians |
| (445) | Pericles is now in charge of Athens |
| (444) | Xenophone is born 430 to 444? |
| (443) | Herodotus of Halicarnassus, historian joins colonists founding Thurii (Italy); Gorgias of Leontini, Sophist |
| (442) | Sophocles' Antigone; Myron of Eleutherae, sculptor |
| (440) | Protagoras of Abdera, Sophist |
| (438) | Parthenon completed |
| (437) | The Propylaea. Parthenon began |
| (435) | Statue of Zeus in Olympia - 7 wonders |
| (433) | Athens & Corinth contest over Corcyra (now Kerkira) |
| (432) | Revolt of Potidaea; trials of Aspasia, Pheidias, and Anaxagoras. Pathenon finished |
| (431) | The Peloponnesian War begins, Sparta invades Attica. |
| (430) | Plague grips Athens, trial of Pericles |
| (429) | Death of Pericles-Cleon in charge; plague destroys a third of the population. Birth of Plato |
| (428) | Plague has destroyed about a quarter of population.Revolt of Mytilene; Euripides' Hippolytus; death of Anaxagoras |
| (427) | Embassy of Gorias at Athens; Prodicus and Hippias, Sophists |
| (425) | Siege of Sphacteria; Aristophanes' Acharnians |
| (424) | Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. Brasidas (Spartan) surpriese Athens NE Greece. |
| (423) | Aristophanes' Clouds; Zeuxis of Heraclea and Parrhasius of Ephesus, painters |
| (422) | Cleon killed in Spartan battle. Nicias new Athenian leader. |
| (421) | Nicias arranges peace, but his rival Alcibiades persuaded the Athenians to invade powerful Syracuse |
| (420) | Hippocrates of Cos, physician; Democritus of Abdera, philosopher; Polycleitus of Sicyon, sculptor |
| (419) | Lysias, orator |
| (418) | Sparta defeats Athens and Argos at Mantineia |
| (416) | Alcibiades urges conquest of Sicily and Carthage.Massacre at Melos; Euripides' Electra |
| (415) | Alcibiades recalled to Athens to face charge of sacrilege. He flees to Sparta; at his advice the Spartans set up a permanent base at Decelea in Attica and sent a military expert, Gylippus, to Syracuse |
| (414) | Siege of Syracuse; Aristophanes' Birds |
| (413) | Athens responded by sending a second armada in July of the following year, but its troops were mauled in an unsuccessful night attack. The Athenians then compounded their problems disastrously. By late August they had decided to terminate their siege and withdraw, but instead of implementing their plan immediately, they postponed their departure because of superstitious fears caused by an eclipse of the moon on August 27. The Syracusans seized the opportunity to block the mouth of the harbor, bottling up the entire Athenian fleet. In desperation the Athenians abandoned their ships and attempted to flee into the Sicilian interior. They were swiftly overtaken and captured. Those who were not massacred were sent to the Syracusan quarries as slave laborers for the rest of their short lives. The entire Athenian attack force had been annihilated. |
| (412) | Persia finances Spartan fleet. Alcibiades sailed it across the Aegean, and there was (412) a general revolt of Athenian dependencies |
| (411) | Revolt of the Four hundred; Aristophanes' Lysistrata and Thesmophoriazusae |
| (410) | Restoration of the democrary; victory of Alcibiades at Cyzicus |
| (408) | Timotheus of Miletus, poet and musician; Euripides' Orestes |
| (406) | Athenian victory over Spartan fleet at Arginusae Six of the victorious generals condemned to death for not picking up survivors |
| (405) | Lysander wiped out the Athenian navy at Aegospotamos |
| (404) | Athens capitulates to Sparta; ends Peloponnesian War and Delian league; Athens is starved into submission; plague sweeps city |
| (403) | Restoration of the democracy |
| (401) | Defeat of Cyrus II at Cunaxa; retreat of Xenophon's Ten Thousand; Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus |
| (399) | Socates setenced to death |
| (397) | War between Syracuse and Carthage |
| (396) | Aristippus of Cyrene and Antisthenes of Athens, philosophers |
| (395) | Corinthian War (395 B.C.-86 B.C.), armed conflict between Corinth, Argos, Thebes, and Athens on one side and Sparta on the other. Angered by Sparta's tyrannical overlordship in Greece after the Peloponnesian War, several Greek states took advantage of Sparta's involvement in war with Persia to challenge Spartan supremacy. With Persian aid, Athens was able to build a fleet, refortify its port, and eventually recover the islands of Lemnos (now Limnos), Scyros (now Skiros), and Imbros (now Gökceada). Unable to fight a war on two fronts, Sparta withdrew its forces from Asia Minor. |
| (394) | Battles of Coronea and Cnidus |
| (393) | Plato's Apology; Xenophon's Memorabilia; Aristophanes' Ecclesiazusae |
| (391) | Isocrates opens his school |
| (390) | Evagoras Hellenizes Cyprus - The Gauls sack Rome |
| (387) | The Persian influence over the two Greek city-states was such that the Persian King Artaxerxes II was asked to mediate between them, leading to the King's Peace of 387 BC. Plato visits Archytas of Taras, mathematician, and Dionysius I. Celts destroy Rome and all its records |
| (386) | Plato founds the Academy |
| (384) | Birth of Aristotle |
| (383) | Spartans occupy Cadmeia at Thebes |
| (380) | Isocrates' Panegyricus |
| (379) | Pelopidas and Melon liberate Thebes |
| (378) | Delian League takes shape for the second time. |
| (376) | Athens won a naval victory over Sparta near Naxos; the Athenians and Spartans compromised with a treaty that left Athens supreme on the sea and Sparta supreme on the mainland of Greece. |
| (375) | Theaeterus, mathematician |
| (373) | Dephi: the second temple of Apollo was destroyed by an earthquake. It was rebuilt with pan-Hellenic contributions |
| (372) | Diogenes of Sinope, philosopher |
| (371) | Thebes victory at Leuctra over Sparta gained ascendancy in Greece.Messinia no longer under Sparta control |
| (370) | Diocles of Euboea, embryologist; Eudoxus of Cnidus, astronomer |
| (369) | Messene, ancient city, central Messenia (now Messinias prov.), Greece. It was founded (c.369 B.C.) under Theban auspices to be a capital and fort for the Messenians, whom the battle of Leuctra had just freed from the Spartans. The ruins, notably of the city walls dating from the 4th cent. B.C., are well preserved. Modern Messini is at some distance. |
| (367) | Epaminondas forces Alexander of Pherae to release the Theban general Pelopidas |
| (362) | Epaminondas again commanded the Boeotians against the Spartans and was victorious at Mantinea, but he died in battle. |
| (361) | Plato's third visit to Syracuse |
| (360) | Praxiteles of Athens and Scopas of Paros, sculptors; Ephorus of Cyme and Theopompus of Chios, historians |
| (359) | Philip II regent in Macedonia |
| (357) | Plato visits Dionysius II |
| (356) | Alexander born in Pella. The
exact date is not known, but probably either 20 or 26 July the temple of
Artemis in Ephesus was set on fire. - Philip knew to take advantage of the
hostilities between the Greek city states, and when Thebes asked for help against
the Phoceans, he gladly obliged After defeating Phocis in 356 Philip got the
right to participate in Greek politics as a member of the Amphictyonic League
instead of Phocis. He was made commander of the league's forces, which of
course upset Demosthenes and his fellow Athenians. Delphi: the Third Sacred
War: the neighboring Phocians once again occupied Delphi and plundered the
temple of Apollo to finance their war against Thebes. The Amphictyony finally
appealed to Philip of Macedon for help, who drove out the Phocians, but not
without appropriating the two votes allotted to Delphi in the Amphictyonic
council. |
| (355) | Isocrates' Areopagiticus |
| (354) | Death of Xenophon. Assissination of Dion |
| (351) | Delion League-status of the league had been seriously weakened in the north and in the east. Demosthenes started publicly speaking to the Athenians against the Macedonians. |
| (349) | Philip attacks Olynthus; Demosthenes' Olynthiacs I and II |
| (348) | Heracleides of Pontus, astonomer; Speusippus succeeds Plato as head of the Academy |
| (347) | Plato's Academy founded and will continue for 876 years; Plato formulates The Republic. Death of Plato. Aristotle leaves Athens. |
| (346) | Demosthenes' On the Peace; Isocrates' Letter to Philip |
| (344) | Timoleon rescues Syracuse; Demosthenes' Philippic II |
| (343) | Aristotle invited to Macedonia as Alexander's tutor. Trial and acquital of Asechines. |
| (340) | Timoleon defeats the Carthaginians |
| (339) | Delphi: the Fourth Sacred War: the Amphictyony, again led by Philip of Macedon, defeated the Locrians |
| (338) | Philip 11 of Macedonia defeats Athens & Thebes at the Battle of Chaeronea and unites all Greek cities except Sparta. Delian League falls for the 2nd time. |
| (336) | Philip assassinated; succeeded by Alexander |
| (335) | Alexander burns down Thebes, and begins his Persian campaigns |
| (334) | Alexander advances through Lycia and Pamphylia. Battle of the Granicus. Siege of Miletus. Oracle at Didyma. Siege of Halicarnassus vs Memnon. Alexander Invaded Persia. After his victory over the Persian army, he ordered the execution of many Persians, allowed his troops to indulge themselves in plunder and rape and, in a drunken rage, set torch to Persepolis. However, he also considered himself a successor to Achaemenian Kings and paid tribute to Cyrus the Great at his tomb. He emulated Persian court customs and attempted to create a new culture, a mixture of both Persian and Hellenistic. He married a Persian woman (Roxana) and ordered all his generals and 10,000 of his soldiers to follow suit in a mass wedding. |
| (333) | At the Battle of Issus in 333 BC, Alexander defeated the Persian king Darius II huge army. Darius himself fled, which demoralized his troops and caused general chaos, making it relatively easy for Alexander to defeat the Persians. Gordian Knot cut. |
| (332) | Siege and capture of Tyre; surrender of Jerusalem; foundation of Alexandria |
| (331) | Early spring: visit to the Oracle of Ammon at Siwah. He had now secured the Greek mainland from any possible Persian naval attack. It was now time to move to the heart of the Persian Empire. Alexander left Egypt in the middle of 331 BC in pursuit of Darius. |
| ? 7-8 April: foundation of Alexandria. | |
| Alexander returns to Tyre. | |
| July-August: Alexander reaches Thapsacus on Euphrates; Darius moves his main forces from Babylon. | |
| 18 September: Alexander crosses the Tigris. | |
| Darius' final peace-offer rejected. | |
| 30 September or 1 October: Battle of Gaugamela. | |
| Macedonians advance from Arbela on Babylon, which falls in mid-October. | |
| Revolt of Agis defeated at Megalopis. | |
| Early December: Alexander occupies Susa unopposed. | |
| (330) | Apelles of Sicyon, painter; Lysippus of Argos, sculptor; Aeschines' Against Ctesiphon; Demosthenes' On the Crown |
| (327) | Alexander enters India and marriage to Roxane.Deaths of Cleitus and Callisthenes |
| (326) | Battle of hydaspes. Death of Bucephalus |
| (325) | Voyage of Nearchus |
| (324) | Exile of Demosthenes. Alexander marries Darius III daughter Stateira |
| (323) | Alexander dies on the 10th or 11th of June. Although a masterful general, he lacked administrative skills. Shortly after his death, his empire was divided among his contesting generals. An important legacy of his conquest of Persia was the introduction of the Persian imperial practices into the West. Many of these practices particularly those relating to state administration and the rule of law were later adopted by the Roman Empire. Lamian War |
| (322) | Deaths of Aristotle, Demosthenes, and Diogenes. The Seleucid Dynasty was established by one of Alexander's generals |
| (309) | End of the Persian Empire. |
| (292) | Colossus of Rhodes - 7 wonders |
| (290) | Founding of th Library at Alexandria |
| (289) | Rome defeated by Gaulish tribes |
| (283) | Rome captures Corsica |
| (280) | Pharos Lighthouse - 7 wonders - Rome issues coins |
| (279) | The Greek influence in Sicily if finally overcome by the Romans. Delphi: Gauls plundered the sanctuary |
| (275) | Rome conquers southern Italy (Greek colonies) |
| (268) | Rome controls all Italy |
| (264) | The 1st Punic War In 264 the Mamertine mercenary rulers of Messana called on Carthaginians to protect them from Hiero of Syracuse; then called on Rome to protect them from Carthaginians. This led to war between Carthage and Rome, primarily about control over Sicily. |
| (263) | the Romans destroy the last vestiges of the Etruscan civilization (Volsinies) |
| (262) | Rome built a fleet (262 BC) for the first time and defeated the former Mediterranean sea-power, Carthage |
| (261) | Antigonus II takes Athens |
| (260) | Herodas of Cos, poet |
| (258) | Erasistratus of Ceos, physiologist |
| (256) | Romans invade Africa but the Carthaginians defeat them with the help of a Spartan general and the Romans withdraw |
| (254) | After initial successes, the Roman fleet was almost entirely destroyed |
| (251) | Aratus of Sicyon frees his city |
| (250) | Arsaces founds kingdom of Parthia; the Laocoon; Manetho, Egyptian historian; Lycophron of Chalcis, poet |
| (247) | Archimedes of Syracuse, scientist.- The rebuilt Roman fleet defeated Carthaginian ships near Aegates (Egedi) islands |
| (246) | Aratus leads Achaean League against Macedonia |
| (244) | Agis IV, son of Eudamidas II, succeeded his father as King of Sparta |
| (242) | Agis IV attempts reforms in Sparta |
| (241) | Romans win Sicily. A further naval defeat in results in the surrender of Carthage to Rome. After 25 years of fighting, Rome finally forced the Carthaginians to accept humiliating surrender terms: give up all claims to Sicily (including land that had been Carthaginian for generations), keep its fleets out of Roman waters, and pay a large fine. This was a bitter pill to swallow, and it is little wonder the peace did not hold. The 1st Punic War ends |
| (240) | Agis IV tries to revitalize Sparta by reform and by returning to the constitution of Lycurgus. His efforts failed, and he was murdered. |
| (229) | Aratus frees Athens |
| (228) | Roman ambassadors in Athens and Corinth |
| (224) | Earthquake destroys the Colossus. |
| (222) | the Gauls are defeated by the Romans |
| (221) | Antigonus III defeats Kleomenes III at Sellasia |
| (220) | Apollonius of Perga, mathematician |
| (218) | 2nd Punic War begins. Hannibal of Carthage wins major victories in Italy. |
| (217) | Ptolemy IV defeats Antiochus III at Raphia |
| (215) | Alliance of Philip V and Hannibal |
| (214) | war machines designed by Greek mathematician Archimedes save the city of Syracuse, an ally of Carthage, from a Roman naval attack |
| (212) | Marcellus takes Syracuse; death of Archimedes |
| (210) | Sicily becomes a Roman province |
| (208) | Zeno of Tarsus, philosopher |
| (207) | Revolution of Nabis in Sparta |
| (205) | Egypt a Roman protectorate |
| (202) | Scipio defeats Hannibal and Rome annexes Spain |
| (200) | Diogenes of Seleucia, philosopher. Great Wall of China |
| (197) | the Romans defeat the Macedonian king Philip V at Cynoscephalae |
| (196) | Flamininus proclaims freedom of Greece; foundation of Pergamene Library |
| (190) | The Farnese Bull |
| (189) | Rome, Antiochus III, king of the Seleucids, is defeated at the battle of Magnesia |
| (188) | Philopoemen abolishes Lycurgean constitution in Sparta |
| (180) | Great altar of Pergamum; Aristarchus of Samothrace librarian at Alexandria |
| (174) | Antiochus IV rebuilds Olympieum |
| (173) | Carneades head of New Academy |
| (168) | Aemilius Paullus defeats Perseus at Pydna; Antiochus IV despoils the Temple at Jerusalem. Rome defeats Macedonia |
| (167) | Deportation of the Achaeans, including Polybius, historian |
| (166) | First rising of the Maccabees; Book of Daniel |
| (165) | Judas Maccabee restores the Temple services |
| (161) | Judas Maccabee makes treaty with Rome |
| (160) | Defeat and death of Judas Maccabee |
| (157) | Judea becomes an independent priestly state |
| (155) | Carneades in Rome |
| (150) | Hipparchus of Nicaea and Seleucus of Seleucia, astronomers; Moschus of Smyrna, poet |
| (146) | Rome annexes Greece as a province of the Roman Empire.Mummius sacks Corinth; Greece and Macedonia become a province of Rome. Rome conquers Greece |
| (141) | The Seleucid Dynasty was established by one of Alexander's generals comes to an end |
| (140) | Venus de Milo sculpture made |
| (134) | Attalus III of Pergamum wills his kingdom to Rome and the whole Mediterranean Sea is under Roman control ("mare nostrum") |
| (133) | Asia Minor becomes eighth Roman province |
| (91) | The Social War between Rome and her Italian allies breaks out |
| (87) | Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a renegade army commander, marches on Rome, and an even more convulsive and bloody Civil War begins. |
| (86) | Roman General Sulla plunders Delphi and seizes Athens |
| (85) | King Mithriades VI Eupator of Pontos is defeated in Asia and Greece by the Romans |
| (84) | Julius Caesar ?+ [a.16] marries Cornelia, the daughter of one of his uncle's associates |
| (83) | The Second Mithradatic War starts. Delphi: Barbarians from Thrace plundered the sanctuary and set fire to the temple |
| (82) | 2nd Mithradatic War ends. Lucius Cornelius Sulla [aka Felix] is made dictator of Rome, and issues a list of over 4,000 people to be executed, including 40 senators. Included in his orders is that young Julius Caesar divorce Cornelia. Julius Caesar leaves Rome, refusing to obey. |
| (81) | Civil wars in Rome ?+ end. |
| (79) | Lucius Cornelius Sulla [aka Felix] resigns his post as dictator, and retires |
| (78) | Lucius Cornelius Sulla [aka Felix] dies. |
| (73) | The slave revolt of Spartacus begins |
| (71) | Spartacuss slave revolt, involving an army of 90,000 former slaves and outlaws, is finally put down by Cassius and Pompey. More than 6000 of the captured rebels are crucified and their bodies left for display along the Appian Way. |
| (64) | Syria becomes a Roman province |
| (63) | Pompeus captures Jerusalem and annexes Palestine to Rome |
| (55) | Julius Caesar unsuccessfully attacks England |
| (54) | Julius Caesar expeditions to Germany and Britain |
| (53) | in the first war against Persia, Crassus is defeated by the Parthians at Carrhae (Syria) |
| (51) | 17 year old Cleopatra VII of Egypt marries her twelve year old brother Ptolemy XII and they jointly succeed the throne of Egypt. Caesar crushes revolt of Vercingetorix in Gaul |
| (49) | JCaesar ousts Pompey, becomes dictator |
| (48) | JCaesar pursues Pompey from Greece to Egypt, P killed; 52yo JC meets 21yo Cleopatra; Alexandrian War Ptolemy XII of Egypt exciles Cleopatra VII and assumes sole leadership of Egypt |
| (47) | JCaesar defeats king of Pontus south of Black Sea ('veni, vidi, vici'); Cleopatra bears JC's son (she claims) Caesarian |
| (46) | Cleopatra in Rome |
| (45) | Cleopatra in Rome |
| (44) | The assassination of Julius Caesar marks the end of the Roman Republic. Ptolemy XIII is poisoned and Cleopatra makes her son, Caesarian her coregent |
| (43) | assassinated by Cassius and Brutus to restore republic |
| (42) | Julius Caesar is recognoised as a god and Octavian as the "son of god" Mark Anthony and Cleopatra fall in love |
| (41) | Mark Anthony and Cleopatra return to Egypt. Cleopatra gives birth to twins |
| (36) | Mark Antony is married to Cleopatra, and she gives birth to another child |
| (34) | Mark Antony defeats the Parthians |
| (32) | Mark Antony divorces his first wife, Octavia. Octavian declares war on Cleopatra. |
| (31) | Octavian Caesar defeats Mark Antony at the navel battle of Actium and becomes emperor of Roman world. He is given title Augustus |
| (30) | Octavian attacks Alexandria, where Mark Anthony commit suicide. Cleopatra commits suicide. Octavian has Cleopatra's son Caesarion put to death. Egypt is annexed, and put under the rule of Octavian's representatives |
| (20) | a treaty between Rome and Persia (Parthians) fixes the boundary between the two empires along the Euphrates river (Iraq) |
| (6) | Jesus is born in Palestine |
| 5 | Rome acknowledges Cymbeline, King of the Catuvellauni, as king of Britain |
| 6 | Augustus expands the borders to the Balkans |
| 12 | The last Etruscan inscription is carved |
| 14 | Augustus dies and Tiberius becomes emperor. 5Mill people live in Rome |
| 25 | Agrippa builds the Pantheon |
| 30 | Cleopatra dies |
| 37 | Tiberius March AD 37 and subsequently collapsed into a coma. The court officials thought he had died and began to congratulate Caligula on his accession, when Tiberius awoke. It is said that the Emperor was smothered with his bedclothes by Caligula's chamberlain, Macro. Thus Caligula came to power. |
| 41 | Gaius Julius, the emperor Caligula, is murdered succeeded by Claudius |
| 43 | Claudius wins victories in Britain |
| 46 | Thracia becomes a Roman province |
| 50 | the Romans found Londinium in Britain |
| 54 | Claudius is succeeded by Nero |
| 58 | the Romans conquer Armenia |
| 64 | Nero sets fire to Rome and blames the Christians for it |
| 68 | Nero commits suicide and is succeeded by Vespasianus |
| 70 | Tito destroys Jerusalem and Jews spread in Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Arabia, Egypt, Italy, Spain and Greece. Colosseum finished |
| 77 | The Romans conquer Wales |
| 79 | Mt Versouvia erupts, Pompeii is burned under ash. Vespasianus is secceeded by Tito |
| 80 | The Romans invade Caledonia (Scotland) |
| 84 | British rebels are defeated by the Romans at the battle of Mons Graupius |
| 98 | Trajan becomes emperor |
| 106 | Trajan defeats Dacia that becomes a Roman province |
| 107 | Trajan captures the Nabataean capital Petra (Jordan) and turns Nabataea into the province of Arabia |
| 112 | the Forum of Trajanus |
| 113 | Colonna Traiana |
| 116 | Trajan conquers Mesopotamia and the Parthian capital Ctesiphon |
| 117 | Trajan dies on his way to the Persian Gulf and Hadrian becomes emperor |
| 122 | Hadrian's Wall is built along the northern frontier to protect from the Barbarians |
| 132 | Jews, led by Bar-Cochba, whom some identify as the Messiah, revolt against Rome |
| 136 | Emperor Hadrian definitely crushes the Jewish resistance, forbids Jews from ever entering Jerusalem, and changes the name of the city to Aelia Capitolina |
| 138 | Hadrian is succeeded by Antoninus Pius, who repels Hadrian's anti-Jewish laws |
| 161 | Marcus Aurelius becomes Roman emperor |
| 164 | The plague spreads throughout the Roman empire |
| 167 | Plague in Rome |
| 212 | Caracalla grants Roman citizenship on all free people who live in the Roman Empire |
| 214 | Caracalla murders King Abgar IX of Edessa and declares Edessa a Roman colony |
| 218 | Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, the last of the Antonines, becomes emperor and promoties the cult of Elegabalus, a Syriac sun god |
| 224 | Ardeshir I founded the Sasanian dynasty. The Sasanians revived Persian culture and Zoroastrianism and made a conscious effort to return to the Achaemenian norms. They sponsored trade both with their arch-enemy, the Romans/Byzantines, and the Chinese. Excavations in China have unearthed gold and silver Sasanian coins covering a span of many centuries. |
| 244 | Shapur I becomes king of the Sassanids and attacks Rome |
| 250 | Emperor Decius orders the first emperor-wide persecution of Christians |
| 260 | Shahpur I invaded the Roman Empire and took Emperor Valerian prisoner. He also established Jondi Shahpur, a major center of higher learning |
| 267 | Goths ruin Athens, Sparta, and Korinth |
| 274 | Mani, the founder of Manichaeism, tried to introduce a new universal world religion, combining elements of Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Buddhism. |
| 298 | Rome captures Nisibis and the Sassanids sign a peace treaty with Rome |
| 300 | the population of the Roman Empire is 60 million (about 15 million Christians) |
| 303 | Diocletian orders a general persecution of the Christians |
| 312 | Constantine defeats Maxentius to become absolute ruler of Rome. |
| 313 | Constantine ends the persecution of the Christians (edict of Milan) |
| 314 | Constantine recognizes the Christian church |
| 329 | The Ancient Olympic games end |
| 330 | After enlarging the ancient Greek city of Byzantium, Constantine I renames it for himself and establishes an imperial residence there. Constantinople becomes the capital in 359, and Eastern Romans (Byzantines) come to call it simply "The City." |
| 337 | After Constantine's death his sons split the empire. Constantine II (Spain, Britain, Gaul), Constans I (Italy, Africa, Illyricum, Macedon, Achaea) and Constantius II (the East) |
| 359 | Constantinople becomes the capital of the Roman empire |
| 363 | Persians capture Mesopotamia. Earthquake destroys Petra |
| 364 | Valentinian delegates Valens as emperor of the East |
| 376 | Valens allows Visigoths to settle within the empire |
| 378 | As the Huns approached the Black Sea and conquered the Ostrogoths, they also drove the Visigoths across the Danube into the Roman Empire and caused the crisis that led to the astounding defeat of the Roman army under the Emperor Valens at Adrianople in 378 AD. |
| 380 | Theodosius I proclaims Christianity as the sole religion of the Roman Empire |
| 393 | Theodosius forbids the Olympic Games because pagans and shuts down the temple of Zeus at Olympia |
| 394 | Delphi: Theodosios prohibited the cult of Apollo and the celebration of the Pythian games |
| 395 | Goths destroy Sparta. Rome divided into East & West. Greeks dominate in the East. |
| 396 | Theodosius divides the Roman empire in the Western and Eastern Empires, with Milan and Constantinople as their capitals |
| 402 | the western Roman empire moves the capital to Ravenna |
| 406 | Barbarians invade France from the north |
| 410 | Goths destroy Rome. Rome withdraws from Britannia |
| 425 | the eastern emperor Theodosius II installs Valentinian III as emperor of the west |
| 433 | 433 Attila shared the throne with his brother Bleda |
| 442 | Roman legions withdraw from Britain. After securing a strong position on the Roman side of the Danube the Huns were checked by the famous Eastern Roman general, Aspar, as they raided Thrace |
| 445 | Attila kills his brother Bleda |
| 447 | Attila advanced through Illyria and devastated the whole region between the Black and the Mediterranean seas. Those of the conquered who were not destroyed were compelled to serve in his armies. He defeated the Byzantine emperor Theodosius II; Constantinople was saved only because the Hunnish army, primarily a cavalry force, lacked the technique of besieging a great city. The Huns marched as far as Thermopylae and stopped only when the Eastern Emperor, Thodosius II, begged for terms. |
| 450 | Theodosius II falls from his horse & dies and Marcian succeeds him, the first Roman emperor to be crowned by a religious leader (the patriarch of Constantinople) |
| 451 | With great numbers of Ostrogoths, or East Goths, whom he had conquered, in his army, Attila invaded Gaul (451) in alliance with Gaiseric, king of the Vandals. He was met by the Roman general Flavius Aetius and defeated that same year in the great Battle of Châlons, fought on the Catalaunian Plains (some believe closer to Troyes than to Châlons) a great battle was fought, probably about June 20 |
| 452 | All Rome awaited the coming of the Mongol King in hopeless terror. They had no defense left against him. And then, in the darkest hour as would often be the case through the centuries ahead - the Eternal City was saved, not by its legions, its tribunes, its senators, or its suffering citizens. Rome was saved by its Bishop, the Holy Roman Pontiff, Pope Leo I. Rome was saved from destruction, probably, by the mediation of Pope Leo I, who went out to meet Attila. He climbed steadily northward, over the mountains, and found the Mongolian chief below Mantua, at the point where the Mincio River, flowing down from its Alpine source - Lago di Garda emptied itself in the Po. Attila's troops, hardened veterans seasoned in plunder and sack and rape, were ready and waiting to cross the Po when Saint Leo, in his papal robes, entered the disordered camp and stood before the King of the Huns. Pope Leo threatened Attila with the power from St Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, if he did not turn back and leave Italy unmolested. Attila the Hun yielded before Leo, and agreed to turn back. He gave up Rome. And Leo, absorbed in thanksgiving, returned to his See. Attila's servants, so the story is told, asked him why he had reversed his custom and capitulated so easily to the Bishop of Rome. The brigand chief answered that all the while the Pope was speaking, he, Attila, the generator of terror in others, was himself consumed in fear, for there had appeared in the air above the Pope's head a figure in the dress of a priest, holding in his hand a drawn sword with which he made as if to kill him unless he consented to do as Leo asked. The figure was that of St Peter! Attila's position was weaker than the Romans realized, undoubtedly because of the serious losses he had suffered the previous year at Châlons. In an act that added immeasurably to the influence of the fledgling papacy, an obliging Attila led his army out of Italy. It was probably not so much the influence of Leo as the fact that his troops were short of supplies that motivated the great Barbarian leader. There had been a famine in Italy in 450-51, and logistical support had never been a strong point for Barbarian armies. Also a plague swept through the army of the Huns, and the Eastern Emperor Marcian sent an army across the Danube to strike into the heartland of the Huns' territory. When these factors are added to the disastrous loses the year earlier at Châlons, it is obvious why Attila was able to see merit in the humanitarian arguments of Pope Leo. |
| 453 | Attila plans to invade Italy again but dies. |
| 454 | The empire of the Huns dissipated nearly as quickly as its most famous leader. In 454 the Ostrogoths and other Germanic tribes revolted against the Huns, and the sons of Attila, who had quarreled among themselves, could not deal with the crisis. In the words of Bury, the Huns were "scattered to the winds." |
| 455 | the Vandals sack Rome |
| 476 | In 476, revolting Visigoths, led by Alaric, sacked the city of Rome. The Roman army had dwindled to nothing, and a band of angry settlers sent a message to history - and though the government held together even after 476, the Sack of Rome is considered to have been the death knell for the 1000 year old empire |
| 477 | Odoacer, a mercenary in the service of Rome, leader of the Germanic soldiers in the Roman army, deposes the western Roman emperor and thereby terminates the western Roman empire |
| 527 | Justinian's reign begins. He is responsible for the re-conquest of Africa and Italy and a codification of Roman Law that affects many future civilizations. With the support of his wife Theodora (who had once been a courtesan), he puts down the Nike rebellion. Byzantium enforces anti-Jewish laws and the Jews all but disappear from the eastern Roman Empire |
| 528 | Mazdak advocated abolition of private property, the division of wealth, as well as nonviolence and vegetarianism. His ideas brought about a major class struggle between the peasants and the nobility. He could be considered the world's first "communist/socialist." |
| 529 | Roman emperor Justinian shuts down the Academia of Plato |
| 531 | The reign of Khosrow I (Anushiravan) marked the height of the Sasanian dynasty. He promoted scholarship and sponsored the translation of Indian and Greek scientific and medical texts into Middle Persian or Pahlavi, Persia's native language. By the time of Khosrow I, Jondi Shahpur's library had amassed one of the largest collections of books in the world |
| 533 | Justinian's code of law ("Corpus Juri Civilis") is published |
| 534 | Justinian's general Belisarius destroys the Arian kingdom of the Vandals and reconquers southern Spain and northern Africa |
| 537 | Justinian builds the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople |
| 540 | Justinian's general Belisarius reconquers Italy |
| 542 | the plague decimates the Empire |
| 545 | He also gave refuge and financial assistance to philosophers fleeing oppression in the Byzantine Empire. Khosrow I was also a populist king, possibly a reflection of Mazdak's ideology and the civil conflicts that subsequently ensued. |
| 546 | the Visigoths led by Totila sack Rome |
| 552 | Nestorian monks smuggle silkworm eggs from China to Byzanthium |