•
Demotic becomes the dominant script of
ancient Egypt.
490s BC •
499 BC:
Aristagoras, acting on behalf of the
Persian Empire, leads a failed attack on the rebellious island of
Naxos. •
499 BC: Aristagoras instigates the
Ionian Revolt, beginning the
Persian Wars between
Greece and
Persia. •
499 BC:
Sardis sacked by
Athenian and Ionian troops. •
498 BC:
Leontini subjugated by
Hippocrates of Gela. •
498 BC:
Alexander I succeeds his father
Amyntas I as king of
Macedon. •
496 BC:
Battle of Lake Regillus: A legendary early
Roman victory, won over either the
Etruscans or the
Latins. •
496 BC:
Sophocles is born. •
495 BC:
Temple to
Mercury on the
Circus Maximus in
Rome is built. •
494 BC: The
Battle of Lade, where
Persians take back
Ionia. •
494 BC: Two
tribunes of the plebs and two
plebeian aediles are elected for the first time in
Rome: the office of the
tribunate is established. •
494 BC: The year Rome changed from an Aristocratic Republic to a Liberalized Republic. •
493 BC:
Piraeus, the port town of
Athens, is founded. •
493 BC:
Coriolanus captures the
Volscian town of
Corioli for
Rome. •
492 BC: First expedition of King
Darius I of Persia against Greece, under the leadership of his son-in-law
Mardonius. This marks the start of the campaign that culminated in the
Battle of Marathon in
490 BC. •
492 BC:
Ajatashartu overthrows his father
Bimbisara to become king of
Magadha. •
491 BC:
Leotychidas succeeds his cousin
Demaratus as king of
Sparta. •
491 BC:
Gelo becomes
Tyrant of
Gela. •
490 BC: The
Battle of Marathon, where Darius I of
Persia is defeated by the
Athenians and
Plataeans under
Miltiades •
490 BC:
Phidippides runs 40 kilometers from
Marathon to
Athens to announce the news of the Greek victory; origin of the
marathon long-distance race.
480s BC •
489 BC: Cities of
Rhodes unite and start construction of the new city of Rhodes. •
488 BC:
Leonidas I succeeds his brother
Cleomenes I as king of
Sparta after Cleomenes is judged insane. •
487 BC:
Egypt revolts against the
Persians. •
487 BC:
Aegina and
Athens go to war. •
487 BC: Athenian Archonship becomes elective by lot, an important milestone in the move towards radical
Athenian democracy. •
487 BC:
Siaspiqa becomes ruler of the
Kushite kingdom of Meroe. •
486 BC: First part of the
Grand Canal of China is built. •
486 BC:
Xerxes I succeeds
Darius I as Great King of
Persia. •
486 BC: Egypt revolts against Persian rule. •
486 BC:
First Buddhist Council at Rejgaha, under the patronage of King
Ajatashatru. Oral tradition established for the first time. •
484 BC: Athenian playwright
Aeschylus wins a poetry prize. •
484 BC: Xerxes I abolishes the
Kingdom of Babel and removes the golden statue of
Bel (
Marduk,
Merodach). •
484 BC: Persians regain control of Egypt. •
483 BC:
Gautama Buddha dies. •
483 BC: Xerxes I of Persia starts planning his expedition against
Greece •
481 BC: The
Isthmus of Corinth ends a war between Athens and Aegina. •
480 BC: King Xerxes I of Persia sets out to conquer Greece. •
480 BC:
Cimon and his friends burn horse-bridles as an offering to
Athena and join the marines •
480 BC:
Pleistarchus succeeds his father Leonidas I as king of
Sparta. • August,
480 BC:
Battle of Artemisium—The
Persian fleet fights an inconclusive battle with the Greek allied fleet. • August 11,
480 BC: The
Battle of Thermopylae, a costly victory by Persians over the Greeks. • September 23,
480 BC:
Battle of Salamis between Greece and Persia, leading to a Greek victory. •
480 BC:
Battle of Himera—The
Carthaginians under
Hamilcar are defeated by the Greeks of
Sicily, led by
Gelon of Syracuse. •
480 BC:
Roman troops march against the
Veientines.
470s BC •
479 BC: The
Battle of Plataea, the
Greeks defeat the
Persians, ending the
Persian Wars. •
479 BC:
Battle of Mycale. •
479 BC:
Potidaea is struck by a
tsunami. •
479 BC: Chinese philosopher
Confucius dies. •
478 BC: Establishment of the
Temple of Confucius at (modern-day)
Qufu. •
477 BC: The
Delian League is inaugurated. •
476 BC:
Archidamus II succeeds his grandfather
Leotychides, who is banished to
Tegea, as king of
Sparta. •
475 BC:
King Xuan of Zhou becomes King of the
Zhou dynasty. •
474 BC:
Battle of Cumae—The
Syracusans under
Hiero I defeat the
Etruscans and end
Etruscan expansion in
southern Italy. •
474 BC:
Greek poet Pindar moves to
Thebes. •
473 BC: The
Chinese State of Wu is annexed by the
State of Yue. •
472 BC:
Carystus in
Euboea is forced to join the
Delian League (approximate date). •
472 BC: The
tragedy The Persians is produced by
Aeschylus. •
471 BC: Athenian politician
Themistocles is
ostracized.
460s BC •
469 BC: Philosopher
Socrates is born in Attica, Athens, Greece. •
468 BC:
Sophocles,
Greek playwright, defeats
Aeschylus for the
Athenian Prize. •
468 BC:
Antium captured by
Roman forces. •
468 BC:
King Zhending of Zhou becomes King of the
Zhou dynasty of
China. •
466 BC:
Delian League defeats
Persia at the
Battle of Eurymedon. •
466 BC: The
Greek colony of
Taras, in
Magna Graecia, is defeated by
Iapyges, a native population of ancient
Apulia;
Tarentine monarchy falls, with the installation of a
democracy and the expulsion of the
Pythagoreans. •
465 BC: King
Xerxes I of the
Persian Empire is murdered by
Artabanus the Hyrcanian. He is succeeded by
Artaxerxes I, possibly with Artabanus acting as
Regent. •
465 BC:
Thasos revolts from the
Delian League. •
464 BC: An
earthquake in ancient
Sparta,
Greece leads to a
Helot uprising and strained relations with
Athens, one of the factors that lead to the
Peloponnesian War. •
464 BC:
Regent King
Artabanus of Persia is killed by his charge
Artaxerxes I. •
464 BC: Third
Messenian war. •
462 BC: The revolt of
Thasos against the
Delian League comes to an end with their surrender. •
461 BC:
Athenian politician
Cimon is
ostracized. •
460 BC:
Egypt revolts against
Persia, starting a six-year war. An
Athenian force sent to attack
Cyprus is diverted to support this revolt. •
460 BC:
Cincinnatus becomes
consul of the
Roman Republic. •
460 BC: Physician
Hippocrates is born in Kos, Greece. •
460 BC:
Udayin succeeds his father
Ajatashartu to become king of
Magadha. Third king of
Haryanka dynasty.
450s BC •
459 BC:
Pleistoanax succeeds his father
Pleistarchus as king of
Sparta. •
459 BC: Destruction of the
Sicilian town of
Morgantina by
Douketios, leader of the
Sikels, according to
Diodoros Siculus. •
459 BC:
Ezra leads the second body of
Jews from
Babylon to
Jerusalem. •
458 BC:
Greek playwright Aeschylus completes the
Oresteia, a
trilogy that tells the story of a family blood feud. The plays will have a great influence on future writers. •
458 BC:
Cincinnatus is named
dictator of the
Roman Republic in order to defend it against
Aequi. Sixteen days later, after defeating the invaders at the
Battle of Mount Algidus, he resigns and returns to his farm. •
457 BC:
Athenian statesman Pericles' greatest reform, allowing common people to serve in any state office, inaugurates
Golden Age of Ancient
Athens. •
457 BC:
Battle of Tanagra—The
Spartans defeat the
Athenians, near
Thebes. •
457 BC:
Battle of Oenophyta—The
Athenians defeat the
Thebans and take control of
Boeotia. •
457 BC: Decree of
Artaxerxes I to re-establish the city government of
Jerusalem. See Ezra 7, Daniel 9 and Nehemiah 1 in
Old Testament. •
455 BC: A thirty years'
truce concluded between
Athens and
Lacedaemon. •
455 BC:
Euripides presents his first known
tragedy,
Peliades, in the
Athenian festival of
Dionysia. •
454 BC:
Athens loses a fleet and possibly as many as 50,000 men in a failed attempt to aid an
Egyptian revolt against
Persia. •
454 BC: The
treasury of the
Delian League is moved from
Delos to
Athens. •
454 BC: Hostilities between
Segesta and
Selinunte, two
Greek cities on
Sicily. •
453 BC:
Taiyuan, a city in
China, gets flooded. •
451 BC:
Athens makes peace with
Sparta and wages a war against
Persia. •
451 BC: The
decemviri come to power in the
Roman Republic. They enact the
Twelve Tables, the foundation of
Roman Law. •
450 BC:
Wars of the Delian League:
Athenians under
Cimon defeat the
Persian fleet. •
450 BC:
Perdiccas II succeeds
Alexander I as king of
Macedonia (approximate date). •
450 BC to
325 BC:
Olmecs leave
La Venta, and it becomes depopulated by 325 BC.
440s BC •
449 BC: The
Peace of Callias between the
Delian League and
Persia ends the
Persian Wars. •
449 BC: Construction begins on the
Temple of Hephaestus in
Athens. •
449 BC: The
Twelve Tables are promulgated to the people of
Rome—the first public laws of the
Roman Republic. •
449 BC:
Romans revolt against the
decemvirate. The
decemvirs resign and the
tribunate is re-established. •
449 BC:
Herodotus completes his
History, which records the events concerning the
Persian War. •
448 BC:
Phidias finishes a 9 meter high statue of
Athena on the
Acropolis. •
447 BC:
Athens begins construction of the
Parthenon, at the initiative of
Pericles. •
447 BC:
Battle of Coronea—The
Athenians are driven out of
Boeotia. •
447 BC:
Achaeus of Eretria, a
Greek playwright, shows his first play. •
445 BC:
Pericles declares
Thirty Years' Peace between
Athens and
Sparta. •
445 BC:
Artaxerxes I gives
Nehemiah permission to rebuild
Jerusalem. •
445 BC: The
Lacus Curtius is created by a lightning strike in
Rome. It is consecrated by
Gaius,
Mettius or
Marcus Curtius. •
443 BC: The
Roman Republic creates the office of
censor, initially exclusive to
patricians. •
443 BC: Foundation of the
Greek colony of
Thurii in
Italy. Its
colonists include
Herodotus and
Lysias. •
442 BC:
Sophocles writes
Antigone. •
441 BC:
King Ai of Zhou becomes King of the
Zhou dynasty of
China but dies before the year's end. •
440 BC:
Famine in
Rome. •
440 BC:
King Kao of Zhou becomes King of the
Zhou dynasty of
China. •
440 BC:
Democritus proposes the existence of indivisible particles, which he calls
atoms.
430s BC •
439 BC:
Cincinnatus again becomes
dictator of the
Roman Republic; during his term he defeats the
Volsci. •
439 BC: According to
legend,
Gaius Servilius Ahala saves
Rome from
Spurius Maelius. •
438 BC:
Ictinus and
Callicrates finish construction of the
Parthenon, located on
Athens'
Acropolis. •
435 BC: The
Statue of Zeus at Olympia by
Phidias, one of the seven
wonders of the world, is completed. •
434 BC: Conflict occurs between the
Greek island of
Kerkyra and its mother-city
Corinth. •
434 BC:
Anaxagoras tries to
square the circle with a
straightedge and
compass. •
433 BC:
Battle of Sybota between
Kerkyra and
Corinth. •
433 BC (or later):
Burial of Marquis Yi of Zeng in
China. •
432 BC:
Athens adopts a 19-year cycle of synchronizing
solar and
lunar calendars. •
432 BC:
Athens defeats
Corinth in the
battle of Potidaea. •
432 BC: The
Greek colony of
Heraclea is founded by
Tarentum and
Thurii. •
431 BC: The
Peloponnesian War begins between
Sparta and
Athens and their allies. •
431 BC: Defeat of the
Aequi by the
Romans under the
dictator Aulus Postumius Tubertus. •
431 BC: The
Greek physician and
philosopher Empedocles articulates the notion that the human body has
four humors:
blood,
bile,
black bile, and
phlegm, a belief that dominates
medical thinking for centuries. •
430 BC:
Athens suffers a major
pestilence, believed to be caused by
epidemic typhus. •
430 BC: The philosopher
Xenophon is born. • c.
430 BC: First performance of
Sophocles's
Oedipus Rex.
420s BC •
429 BC:
Battle of Chalcis—
Chalcidians and their allies are defeated by
Athens. •
429 BC:
Battle of Naupactus—
Phormio defeats the
Peloponnesian fleet. •
429 BC: An
outbreak of a plague kills over one-third of the population of
Athens. •
429 BC: King
Sitalkes of
Thrace invades
Macedonia. •
428 BC:
Mytilene rebels against
Athens but is crushed. •
428 BC:
Sparta attempts to crush a rebellion on
Corcyra, but cancels the effort when the Athenians try to intercept them. •
428 BC: The Greek colony of
Cumae in
Italy falls to the
Samnites. •
427 BC: The leaders of the Mytilenian revolt are executed. •
427 BC:
Platea surrenders to the Spartans, who execute over 200 prisoners and destroy the city. •
427 BC: The Athenians intervene in
Sicily to blockade Sparta from the island. •
428 BC: The philosopher
Plato is born. •
426 BC:
Demosthenes unsuccessfully besieges the
Corinthian colony of
Leukas. •
426 BC: When
Ambracia invades
Acarnania, they seek help from the Spartans and Athenians respectively. The Athenians then defeat the Spartans in the
Battle of Olpae. •
425 BC: Demosthenes captures the port of
Pylos in the
Peloponnesus. •
425 BC: The Athenians invade
Sphacteria and defeat the Spartans in the
Battle of Pylos. •
424 BC:
Sicily withdraws from the war and expels every foreign power. Thus,
Athens is forced to withdraw from the island. •
424 BC: The Athenians try to capture
Megara, but are defeated by the Spartans. •
424 BC: The Spartan general
Brasidas captures
Amphipolis, which is a setback for Athens.
Thucydides is held responsible for the Athenian failure and is ostracised. This gives him time to start writing his
history book. •
423 BC: The Athenians propose a cease-fire, which the Spartan general Brasidas ignores. •
422 BC: The Spartans defeat the Athenians in the
Battle of Amphipolis, where the Athenian
Cleon and the Spartan
Brasidas are both killed. •
421 BC: The
Peace of Nicias puts a temporary end to the hostilities between
Athens and
Sparta. •
420 BC:
Alcibiades is elected
strategos of Athens and begins dominating Athenian politics.
410s BC •
419 BC: The
Peace of Nicias is broken when Sparta defeats
Argos. •
418 BC: The Spartans win a major victory over the Athenians in the
Battle of Mantinea, the biggest land battle of the
Peloponnesian War. •
416 BC: The Athenians capture the island of
Melos and treat the inhabitants with great cruelty. •
416 BC: The Athenians adhere to a plea of help from
Sicily and start planning an invasion of the island. •
415 BC: The sacred
Hermae busts in Athens are mutilated just before the expedition to Sicily is sent away. One of the culprits,
Andocides, is captured and is forced to turn informer. He names the other mutilators, among them Alcibiades, who are sentenced to death in their absence. •
415 BC: Alcibiades defects from Athens to Sparta after having learned about his death sentence. •
414 BC: The Athenians try to make a breakthrough in
their siege of
Syracuse but are defeated by the Spartans. •
413 BC:
Nagadaska is deposed by people of
Magadha. Thus, ending
Haryanka dynasty. He succeeded by
Shishunaga who founded
Shaishunaga dynasty. •
413 BC:
Demosthenes suggests the Athenians leave Syracuse in order to return to Athens, where help is needed. However,
Nicias refuses and they are again
defeated in battle by the Spartans. Both Demosthenes and Nicias are killed. •
413 BC:
Caria allies itself with Sparta. •
412 BC: The
Persian Empire starts preparing an invasion of
Ionia and signs a treaty with
Sparta about it. •
411 BC: The democracy in Athens is overthrown and replaced by the oligarchic
Council of Four Hundred. This council is itself soon defeated and order is almost restored, when the Five Thousand start ruling. Early next year, they are also overthrown and the old democracy is restored. •
410 BC: Athens regains control over its vital grain route from the
Black Sea by defeating Sparta in the
Battle of Cyzicus.
400s BC •
409 BC: Athens recaptures
Byzantium, thereby putting an end to its revolt against Athens and taking control of the whole
Bosporus. •
409 BC: The city of
Rhodes is founded. •
409 BC: The Carthaginians invade
Sicily. •
408 BC: The Persian king,
Darius II, decides to aid Sparta in the war and makes his son
Cyrus a
satrap. However, Cyrus starts collecting an army to benefit his own interests, rather than his father's. •
408 BC:
Alcibiades returns to Athens in triumph after an absence of seven years. •
407 BC: The Athenian fleet is routed by the Spartan one in the
Battle of Notium, which gives Alcibiades' opponents a reason to strip him of command. He never returns to Athens again. •
406 BC: Athens defeats Sparta in the
Battle of Arginusae and the blockade of
Conon is lifted. •
406 BC: Sparta sues for peace, but Athens rejects this. •
406 BC: The
Carthaginians once again invade Sicily and return to Carthage with spoils of war, but also with the plague. •
405 BC: The Spartan king
Pausanias lays siege to
Athens, which makes the city start starving. •
405 BC:
Dionysius the Elder rises to power in
Syracuse. He signs a peace with Carthage and starts consolidating and expanding his influence. • April 25,
404 BC: Athens surrenders to Sparta, ending the
Peloponnesian War. Sparta introduces an oligarchic system, the
Thirty Tyrants, in Athens. •
404 BC:
Egypt rebels against Persian rule. •
403 BC: The Chinese state of
Jin is
divided into three smaller nations. •
403 BC: The first
hydraulic engineering in
China for a large irrigation canal system is designed by
Ximen Bao. •
403 BC: Some exiled Athenians return to fight the Thirty Tyrants and restore democracy in Athens. They are, however, narrowly defeated by the Spartans in the
Battle of Piraeus. After this, the Spartan king
Pausanias allows democracy to be restored in Athens. •
403 BC:
Thrasybulus restores the Athenian democracy and grants an almost general amnesty. •
403 BC: The Athenians adopt the Ionian alphabet. •
401 BC:
Cyrus the Younger rebels against the Persian king
Artaxerxes II but is, however, eventually slain in battle. •
400 BC: After Cyrus has been killed, his Greek mercenaries make their way back to Greece, where Sparta is so impressed with their feats in and march through
Persia that they declare war on the Persians. •
400 BC: The Carthaginians occupy
Malta. •
400 BC: The Egyptians successfully revolt against Persian rule. •
400 BC:
London has its origins as far back as this time. •
400 BC:
Jōmon period ends in
Ancient Japan. •
400 BC: The
Kingdom of D'mt is disestablished. ==Inventions, discoveries, introductions==