Download Ancient Greece Timeline

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Ancient Greece Timeline
Neolithic
I. Minoan
II. Mycenaean
III. Dark Ages
IV. Archaic Period
Late Archaic
V. Classical Period
Late Classical
VI. Hellenistic period
VI. Roman Period
(7000-3000)
(3000-1500)
(1600-1100)
(1100 BC - 750 BC)
(776 BC - 480 BC)
(561(480 BC - 323 BC)
(404-323)
(323 BC - 146 BC)
(146 BC - 330 AD)
Neolithic (7000-3000)
6500 First Farming in Greece
6000 First settlement in Crete
3400 Bronze Age begins on Crete
3200-2000 Cycladic Island society
I. Minoan civilization (3000-1500)
2800 Domed tombs in Crete (Minoan civilization)
2200 Indo-European people (Achaeans) invade Greece creating the Greek language and founding Mycenae
2000 Early Minoan palaces erected at Knossos
1900 Mycenaean arrive on the Greek mainland
1900 Palace of Knossos in Crete earliest writing in Crete
1856 The first immigration into Greece by Inachus began.
 Greece was already in the possession of powerful tribes, called "The Pelasgi" when the four immigrations of Inachus, Cecrops,
1750 Peak of Minoan civilization in Crete.
1700 Destruction of early Minoan palaces at Crete by earthquake or war
1650 Mycenaean civilization rises
1626 Eruption in Thera causes destruction in Crete
II. Mycenaean Greece (Bronze Age) (1600-1100)
1600 Palaces rebuilt at Knossos, Linear A in common use over Crete
1600 Royal tombs of Mycenae
1546 Scamander founded the kingdom of Troy. Homer immortalized its history.
1556 Cecrops, from Egypt, founded Athens.
1500 Peak of Mycenaean civilization. Hittite Empire in Asia Minor.
1470 Volcano destroys Cretan civilization through ash, poisonous vapors, seismic 250 meter high waves.
 Mycenae established as new cultural center
1450 Mycenaean conquer Minoan Crete, Final destruction of Minoan palaces, Linear B comes into use
1350 Lion Gate of Mycenae built
1266 Tyndareus, father of Helen, became ruler of Sparta. (Greece)
1263 Jason and the Argonauts
1250 Decline and eclipse of Mycenaean civilization. Disastrous fires cripple Mycenaean cities
1240 Hercules (or Heracles) became ruler in Mycenae.
1239 Troy was captured by the Argonauts.
1234 Theseus, the King in Attica, gathered his people into one city, which he named Athens. (
1228 King Theseus of Attica carried off Helen, daughter of Tyndareus, King of Sparta.
(She was rescued by Castor and Pollux, and married to Menelaus, who succeeded Tyndareus as King of Sparta.
1220 Priam, father of Paris, became ruler of Troy. Babylon and Assyria became separate nations again.
1200 Trojan war begins
1200 Sea People in Mediterranean
1194 Paris, son of Priam, visited Greece and carried away Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta.
1184 City of Troy falls to the Greeks under Agamemnon
III. Dark Age (ca.1100 BC - 750 BC)
1100 Fall of the Mycenaean kingdom destroyed by Dorian invaders who have iron weapons
1100 Delphi is the capital of a league of Greek cities (including Sparta and Athens)
1000 Greek colonization of eastern coasts of Aegean.
1000 Temple of Hera at Olympia
950 Greeks found Miletus in Ionia (west coast of Turkey)
c. 900 Sparta founded when four villages consolidated
900 Origin of the Homeric poems
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800 City-states or "polis" (Athens, Thebes, Megara, Corinth, Sparta)
800 Greeks adopt the alphabet from the Phoenicians
IV. Archaic Period (776 BC - 480 BC)
776 Traditional date for the first historic Olympic games.
760 Euboea founds the colony of Cumae in Italy
757-720 The first Messenian war Spartan conquest of Messenia
757 Office of Archon reduced to 10 years. Members of the ruling family to hold the office starting with Charops.
754 Polydorus becomes king of Sparta.
c.750 Homer composes Iliad and Odyssey
c.750 Greek alphabet developed
738 Alternate date for the end of the first Messenian war.
735 Perdiccas flees from Argos to Macedonia and conquers the land.
734 Polydorus sends colonists to Italy.
734 Naxus is the first Hellenic colony in Sicily
733 Corinth founds the Sicilian colony of Syracuse
727-717 Hippomenes, archon of Athens, who killed his daughter's adulterer.
c. 725 Lelantine War between Chalcis and Eretria.
725 Hesiod writes the Theogony
719 Polydorus The king of Sparta is murdered by Polymarchus.
716 Reign of Heraklids over Lydia ended when Candaules, known as Myrsilus to Greeks, murdered by Gyges because of wife’s anger.
700-650 Cimmerian raids in Asia Minor
700-650 Phalanx Infantry developed.
700 Lelantine War between Chalcis and Eretria
700 Milesian colonization of Black Sea and approaches; continuous contact with Egypt opened
690 Pheidon becomes tyrant of Argos
687 Annual office of Archon established. Any Athenian citizen can be elected to office if they meet the requirements.
 Creon elected first annual archon.
685-640 The second Messenian war
683 End of Monarchy in Athens in favor of an oligarchy
670 First Greek coins are minted by king Gyges of Lydia
670 Miletus begins founding colonies both in the Black Sea and in the Mediterranean Sea
669 Battle of Hysiae Argos beats Tegea
665 The second Messenian war ends
664 Naval battle between Corinth and Corcyra, the first sea battle known to Thucydides
656 Cypselus subjects Corinth to tyranny
650 Terrace of the lions at Dilos
 Perdiccas Temenid found the Macedonian kingdom with capital at Aegeae (Vergina)
 Messenian revolt against Sparta. Tyrtaeus. 'Lycurgan' reform at Sparta. Early Lyric poets. Early sculpture.
 Cypselus overthrows Bacchiad aristocracy at Corinth. Tyranny at Sicyon. Archilochus
645-560 Spartan wars with Tegea all unsuccessful
642 or 634 Battus establishes a Greek colony in Cyrene in Libya
640 Sparta adopts a militaristic form of government
c. 640 Kingdom of Macedon founded.
632 Cylon, Athenian noble, seizes Acropolis and tries to make himself king, fails
630 Thera founds Cyrene
630 Formal pederasty is introduced, first in Crete, as a means of population control and an educational modality
621 Draco, Athenian lawgiver, issues code of laws where everything is punishable by death – Draconian law code
610 Miletus founded a trading post in Egypt
600-570 Cleisthenes tyrant of Sicyon
597 Athenian statesman Solon established government by the rich
595 - 586 Sacred War for control of Delphi
594 Solon founds the Athenian democracy
 Archonship of Solon, captures Salamis from Megarians
 Abolishment of the security of debts on the debtor's person,
 Returning exiled Athenian slaves,
 Changing the value of weights and measures to the Corinthian standard,
 prohibiting the export of grain from Attica and encouraging the planting of olives,
 established the property classes and council of 400.
590 - 580 Pittacus' rule at Mytilene. Poet Sappho flourishes on island of Lesbos. Poet Alcaeus
590 Sappho, Greek poetess and priestess, flourishes on island of Lesbos.
585 Battle between Medes and Lydians interrupted by solar eclipse, allegedly foretold by Thales
585 philosopher Thales in Miletus
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583 Overthrow of Corinthian tyranny
582 First regular celebration of Pythian games at Delphi
582 Pythian games are established in Delphi and the Isthmian games are established in Corinth
581 Isthmian games
573 Nemean games
570 First coins are minted by Athens
565 Peisistratos, Athenian general, organizes Diakrioi, party of poor people.
Late Archaic Period
561 Pisistratus takes power in Athens for first time,
560 ? Spartan defeat in Arcadia
560 Lydian king Croesus conquers Ionia, except Miletus
560 temple of Artemis at Ephesus is built
555 Pisistratus driven out by Lycurgus who leads nobles
550 ? Sparta dominant in Peloponnese. Treaty with Tegea
550 Rise of Persian Empire.
549 Cyrus, king of Persia, conquers Medes, Lydia and Greek city-states in Asia Minor
549 Pisistratus restored by help of Megacles
546 tyrant Peisistratus conquers Athens
 Sparta forms the Peloponnesian League
 Pythagoras founded science and philosophy.
 Croesus, rich king of Lydia, captured at Sardis by Persians
542 Pisistratus expelled, makes fortune from Thracian mines
530 Pythagoras founds Mathematics
528 - 527 Hippias succeeds Peisistratus at Athens
532 Pisistratus restored by Thessaly and Lygdamos of Naxos
527 Pisistratus dies, succeeded by sons Hippias and Hipparchus
525 Tragedy (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides)
525 Persian Darius I, son-in-law of Cyrus the Great takes Egypt
515 Hippias becomes sole ruler after the death of Hipparchus
510 Athens joins the Peloponesean League
 Sparta expels Hippias from Athens. Conflict between Isagoras and Cleisthenes
 Pythagoras founded his own school.
508 Cleisthenes grants full rights to all free men of Athens
508 Hippias is forced to leave Athens.
507 Cleisthenes, Greek reformer, takes power, increases democracy
506 Spartan expedition against Athens frustrated by mutiny of Corinthians and others
505 temple to Apollo is built at Delphi
500 First known conference of Peloponnesian League. Heraclitus. Empedocles.
499 - 494 Ionian Revolt against Persia Sack Sardis
498 - 491 Hippocrates tyrant of Gela
498 Earliest dated poem of Pindar
490 Themistocles and Miltiades, Athenians, defeat Darius at Marathon, Phidippides runs with news
485 - 478 Gelon tyrant at Syracuse
485 sophist Protagoras ("Man is the measure of all things")
484 Aeschylus, Athenian playwright, wins Athenian Prize
483 Themistocles persuades Athens to build large fleet
481 both Athens and Sparta join the Hellenic League against Persia
IV. Classical Period (480 BC - 323 BC)
480 Thermopylae
 Battle of Artemisium
 Battle of Salamis - Themistocles, Athenian general.
 Syracuse repels an attack by Carthage
479 Pausanias, Greek general routs Mardonius at the Battle of Plataea
 Battle of Mycale last of Persian fleet destroyed.
 Sparta formed rival Peloponnesian League
478 - 477 Pausanias recalled to Sparta.
478 Athens founds Delian League.
478-67 Hieron I dictator at Syracuse
478 Pausanias' campaign to Cyprus and Byzantium
476-462 Cimon elected general each year, he was victorious over Persia.
475 - 465 Anti-Spartan movement in Peloponnese
474 Hieron defeats Etruscans at Cumae
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 Pindar, Greek poet moves to Thebes from court at Syracuse
472 Aeschylus presents his first surviving play, The Persae (The Persians)
471 Themistocles ostracized
470? Revolt of Naxos against Athens
469? Cimon's victory over Persians at R. Eurymedon
468 Sophocles, Greek playwright, defeats Aeschylus for Athenian Prize
467 Death of Hieron
465 Revolt of Thasos, Athens invades and destroys city walls.
464 Earthquake at Sparta.
464-54 Messenian Helot revolt
463-31 Pericles public career
462 Reforms of Ephialtes at Athens. Murder of Ephialtes.
461 Pericles promotes the ideals of democracy and peace
461 Cimon ostracized
460 - 454 Athenian expedition to Egypt fails
460-446 Fighting in Greece (First Peloponnesian War)
458 Oresteian trilogy by Aeschylus
458 The Long Walls
457 Golden age in Athens begins
456 Temple of Zeus at Olympia
455 Euripides' first play. Approximate date of Thucydides' birth
454 Treasury of Delos moved to Athens
454 Athens attacks the Persians in Egypt but is defeated
451 Pericles' law restricting Athenian citizenship
450 Great age of Attic tragedy. Parthenon. Herodotus.
 first bank is founded in Athens by Antisthenes and Archestratos
 sculptor and architect Pheidias, poet Pindar
 Hippocrates founds Medicine
 Temple of Zeus at Olympia
449 Herodotus, Greek Historian, writes History of Greco-Persian War from 490-479
449 Peace of Callias between Athens and Persia
448 Rebuilding of Persian-destroyed Acropolis
447 Parthenon begun
446 Boeotia and Megara revolt from Athenian control. Federal constitution of Boeotia.
 Spartan invasion of Attica. Thirty Years' Peace between Athens and Sparta
445 Famine in Athens
443-429 Age of Pericles
441 Euripides wins drama prize
440 Heraclitus forms theory of universal flux
440 Revolt of Samos against Athens
438 Parthenon completed
437 Athens founds Amphipolis in Thrace
435 Phidias, Greek sculptor, completes Zeus at Elis 1 of 7 wonders
435-34 War between Corinth and Corcyra
433 Alliance of Athens and Corcyra
432 Revolt of Potidaea; Trials of Aspasia, Pheidias and Anaxagoras
432 End of Golden Age, Athens under Pericles blockades Potidaea (Battle of Potidaea),
 Corfu declares war on Corinth (Battle of Sybota)
431-404 Peloponnesian war
431-421 Archidamian phase of war
431 Sparta led by Archidamus II sets out to destroy Athens thus starting the Peloponnesian War
 Empedocles, Greek doctor, believes body has Four Temperaments.
431 Theory of four humors of the body formed by Empedocles
430 Athens has about 200,000 inhabitants
 Temple of Concord is built at Agrigento (in Sicily)
 Plague in Athens
 Trial of Pericles
 Leucippus, Greek philosopher, believes every natural event has natural cause. Athenian Plague appears in Athens.
429 - 427 Peloponnesian siege of Plataea
429 Phormio, Athenian admiral, wins the Battle of Chalcis
 Hippocrates, Greek doctor, believes diseases have physical cause
 Death of Pericles; plague destroys a third of the population.
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428 Mitylene rebels, chief city of Lesbos
427 - 424 First Athenian expedition to Sicily
427 Archidamus II dies, Alcidas, Greek admiral sent to help Lesbos, raids Ionia and flees after seeing Athenian might
 Athenian Plague returns
 Mitylene surrenders to Athens, Plataeans surrender to Athens
 Aristophanes, Greek playwright, wins Athenian Prize
426 Corfu secures island for Athens
 Demosthenes, Athenian general, and Cleon, Athenian demagogue, revitalizes Athenian forces, makes bold plans opposed by Nicias,
his first military campaign barely succeeds
425 Athenian fleet bottles up Spartan navy at Navarino Bay, Nicias resigns
425 Spartan detachment cut off on Sphacteria near Pylos and forced to surrender
424 Battle of Delium Athens vs. Boeotians
424 Syracuse sends Athenians home
 Oedipus Rex by Sophocles.
 Athenian defeat at Delium in Boeotia Brasidas captures Amphipolis.
 Thucydides exiled from Athens
423 Truce of Laches supposed to stop Brasidas but doesn't, Nicias leads Athenian forces in retaking Mende
422 Cleon meets Brasidas outside of Amphipolis, both are killed (Battle of Amphipolis)
421 Alcibiades comes to the fore of political and military intrigue
421 Peace of Nicias between Sparta and Athens
420 onwards Sporadic fighting in Peloponnese
420 Quadruple alliance of Athens, Argos, Mantinea, and Elis confronts Spartan-Boeotian alliance
419 King Agis, ruler of Sparta, attacks Argos, makes treaty
418 Sparta defeats Athens and Argos at Mantineia
416 Alcibiades makes plans, is restored to power, urges conquest of Sicily and Carthage
415-413 Sicilian Expedition
415 Syracuse with help from Sparta repels an invasion from Athens
415 Hermai are mutilated in Athens, Alcibiades accused is condemned to death in absentia, he defects to Sparta
414 Lemachus, Athenian commander killed at Syracuse
413-404 Decelean phase of war
413 Sparta formally resumes war against Athens, and fortifies Deceleia in Attica. Destruction of Athenian force in Sicily
413 Nicias and Demosthenes killed at Syracuse
412 Persia pays for Spartan fleet.
412 Spartans lose confidence in Alcibiades; he goes to Persia
411 – 410 Oligarchic revolution of the Four Hundred at Athens
411 Democracy ends in Athens by Antiphon, Peisander, and Phrynichus, overthrown by Theramenes, Constitution of the 5000
 Athenian navy recalls Alcibiades, confirmed by Athenians
 Democracy overthrown by oligarchic extremists Antiphon, Peisander and Phrynichus
 Alcibiades recalled and reelected general
410 the temple of the Erechtheion is built at the Athens acropolis
 Athenian demagogue Cleophon rejects Sparta peace overtures
 Spartans and Persians crushed under leadership of Alcibiades
409 Byzantium recaptured by Alcibiades for Athens
408 Alcibiades reenters Athens in triumph, Lysander, a Spartan commander, builds fleet at Ephesus
407 Lysander begins destruction of Athenian fleet, Alcibiades defeated at Notium stripped of power
406 Athenian victory over Spartan fleet at Arginusae. Callicratides, Spartan naval leader
 Six of the victorious generals condemned to death for not picking up survivors
 Sparta sues for peace, rejected by Cleophon
405 Lysander captures Athenian fleet, Spartan king Pausanius lays siege to Athens,
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Cleophon executed, Corinth and Thebes demand destruction of Athens
 Aristophanes produced The Frogs. Dionysius I tyrant at Syracuse. Athenian fleet defeated at Aegos potami in Hellespont
Late Classical
404 Apr 25 Athens capitulates ends Peloponnesian war Theramenes secures terms, prevents total destruction of Athens,
 Theramenes and Alcibiades are killed Athens is starved into submission; plague sweeps city
 Revolt of Egypt from Persia. Oligarchy of the Thirty set up at Athens
403 Athenians restore the democracy
401 March of Cyrus the Younger against Artaxerxes II. Cyrus killed at Cunaxa.
 Retreat of the Ten Thousand to the sea with Xenophon
400 - 395 Spartan campaigns against Persians in Asia Minor
400 Comedy (Aristophanes)
399 Socrates, Greek philosopher, condemned to death for corrupting youth.
399-60 Agesilaus king at Sparta
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396 Siege of Syracuse by Carthaginians who withdraw after plague in their camp
395 Athens rebuilds the Long Walls
395 Athens, Argos, Corinth and Thebes revolt against Sparta and Persia attacks Sparta ("Corinthian war")
395 Battle at Haliartus and death of Lysander
394 Spartan victories at Nemea River and Coroneia
392 Spartan victory at Lechaeum outside Corinth.
 Negotiations for peace; first mention of 'Common Peace'. Democratic revolution in Corinth
391-87 Dionysius subjugates south Italy
390 Iphicrates destroys Spartan mora
390 Evagoras hellenizes Cyprus
388 Plato, a pupil of Socrates, founds his philosophical Academy, the first university
387 Peace of Antalcidas concluded between the Greeks and the Persians.
383 Spartans seize citadel of Thebes
379 - 378 Liberation of Thebes
378-54 Second Athenian Empire
378 - 371 Athens and Thebes at war with Sparta
378 Sphodrias' march against Peiraeus. His acquittal at Sparta. Formation of Second Athenian Confederacy
375 Plato writes the "Republic"
373 Destruction of temple of Apollo at Delphi
371 Battle of Leuctra, Thebes defeats Sparta, first defeat by Sparta in its entire history
370 Murder of Jason of Pherae
367 Death of Dionysius I; succession of Dionysius II. Plato at Syracuse
362 Battle of Mantineia; death of Epameinondas
361 Plato's third visit to Syracuse
359 Accession of Philip II of Macedon
357-46 War between Athens and Macedonia
357 Dion 'liberates' Syracuse
357-46 Exile of Dionysius II
356 Temple of Artemis at Ephesus is rebuilt
356-46 Second Sacred War
356 Birth of Alexander the Great
354 Assassination of Dion
354 Tomb for King Mausolus built at Halicarnassus. Demosthenes' first public speech
346 Peace of Philocrates between Athens and Philip. Philip ends Sacred War
344 Philip II of Macedonia conquers Thessaly, Illyria, Epirus
344 Expedition of Timoleon to Sicily
343 Demosthenes' unsuccessful prosecution of Aeschines.
342-38 Aristotle tutor to Alexander
340 Hellenic league established
340 Resumption of war between Athens and Philip
338 Battle of Chaeronea - Philip II defeats Athens and Thebes and unites several eastern Greek cities (League of Corinth)
336 Philip assassinated; succeeded by Alexander
335 Aristotle founds the Lyceum of Athens Alexander destroys Thebes
334 Battle of Granicus, Alexander defeats the Persian army at the Dardanelles
334 Siege of Halicarnassus
333 Battle of Issus, Alexander defeats Persians
332 Siege of Tyre
332 Alexander conquers Egypt
331 Oct 1, Battle of Gaugamela
330 Alexander takes Persepolis; atomic theory of Democritus is developed
329 Alexander conquers Bactria and Sogdiana
327 Alexander invades Northern India
326 Battle of Hysdaspes, army refuses to march further eastwards.
325 Voyage of Nearchus
324 Exile of Demosthenis
324 Comedies of Menader
V. Hellenistic Period (323 BC - 146 BC)
323 Alexander dies, his generals vie for power in Wars of the Diadochi
323 - 322 Lamian War.
322 Death of Aristotle
322 - 320 First War of the Diadochi.
320 Partition of Triparadisus.
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320 - 311 Second War of the Diadochi.
317 Cassander kills Alexander's son and seizes power in Greece and Macedonia
316 Menander, Greek playwright, wins Athenian prize.
312 Seleucos captures Babylon and founds Seleucid kingdom
310 Aristarchus believes in a heliocentric world
310 Zeno of Citium founds his stoic school in Athens.
307 Epicurus founds his philosophic school in Athens.
301 Battle of Ipsus. Kingdom of Antigonos falls.
300 Museum of Alexandria founded. Euclid writes the Elements of Geometry
300 Epicureanism (Epicurus) and stoicism (Zeno)
297 Cassander dies
295 Athens falls to Demetrius, Lachares killed.
290 Colossus of Rhodes is built
281 Creation of the Achaean League.
280 - 275 Pyrrhic War.
279 Celts invade Thrace and Anatolia
278 Colossus of Rhodes
277 Antigonus II Gonatos defeats the Gauls and becomes king of Macedonia
277 Gauls invade Asia Minor
274 Pyrrhus invades Macedonia and Greece
274 - 271 First Syrian War.
272 Antigonus II Gonatos defeats Pyrrhus
267 - 262 Chremonidean War.
265 Archimedes, Greek mathematician, develops screw, specific gravity, center of gravity
261 Antigonus II Gonatos conquers Athens
260 - 253 Second Syrian War.
250 scientist Archimedes
246 - 241 Third Syrian War.
239 Antigonus II Gonatos dies and is succeeded by Demetrius II
239 Foundation of Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
238 Foundation of Parthian Kingdom
229 Athens achieves independence
219 - 217 Fourth Syrian War.
217 Battle of Raphia, Egypt defeats Antiochus III
216 Philip V of Macedonia allies with Hannibal of Carthage
214 - 205 First Macedonian War.
203 - 200 Fifth Syrian War.
201 Chios besieged by Phillip
200 - 196 Second Macedonian War.
198 Battle of Panion Seleucids win control of Palestine.
197 Philip V of Greece is defeated by the Romans at Kynoskephalai
192 - 188 Roman–Syrian War.
190 Battle of Magnesia Romans beat Antiochus III
179 Philip V dies and is succeeded by Perseus
172 - 167 Third Macedonian War.
170 - 168 Sixth Syrian War.
168 Romans defeat Perseus and end the Antigonid dynasty
150 - 148 Fourth Macedonian War.
149 Romans annex Macedonia as a province
VI. Roman Period (146 BC - 330 AD)
146 Destruction of Corinth
133 Attalus III bequeaths his kingdom to the Roman people.
129 Creation of the province of Asia.
89 - 85 First Mithridatic War.
89 Mithriades VI of Pontus leads a revolt against Rome
86 Roman general Sulla defeats Mithridates and burns Athens
83 - 81 Second Mithridatic War.
73 - 63 Third Mithridatic War.
31 Battle of Actium.
30 Romans conquer all of Greece