-
323
Death of Alexander the Great-
It was May of 323 BC and Alexander the Great was in Baghdad. The thirty-two-year-old King of Macedonia had spent the past thirteen years conquering much of the known world. -
324
Macedonian Army defeats Athens
In 324 BC Antipater demanded Harpalus from the Athenians, and his demand was ignored. We need a satisfying explanation of why Antipater issued his demand, why the Athenians felt free to disregard it, and why they suffered no consequences. -
335
Aristotle founds the Lyceum
Opened in 335 BC, the Lyceum was a centre of study and research in both science and philosophy, which in that time were still seen as part of the same subject, philosophy. Alongside these intellectual pursuits, physical exercise was also undertaken, as the excavation of a wrestling ring illustrates. -
336
Alexander the Great becomes King of Macedonia
Conqueror and king of Macedonia, Alexander the Great was born on July 20, 356 B.C., in Pella, Macedonia. During his leadership, from 336 to 323 B.C., he united the Greek city-states and led the Corinthian League. He also became the king of Persia, Babylon and Asia, and created Macedonian colonies in the region. -
462
Helot revolt against Sparta
By 462 B.C. the revolt had become so serious that the Spartans, swallowing their considerable pride, appealed to Athens for military help, despite the chill that had fallen over relations between Athens and Sparta since the days of their cooperation against the Persians. The tension between the former allies was caused by rebellious members of the Delian League like the Thasians, who had received at least moral support from the leaders at Sparta. -
500
Kleisthenes reforms Athenian Law Code
Athens came late to the problem of land hunger and tyranny, probably because Attica as a region possessed more arable land and was able to sustain a larger subsistence population than most neighboring regions of Greece. When it did obtain suitable conditions, the community experienced repeated threats of seizure by outside influences, neighboring tyrannical regimes, Sparta, and Persia. Unlike Sparta, Athens underwent the entire tyrannical experience to emerge by 500 BC. -
Sep 25, 776
First Olympic Games
The first ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 BC. They were dedicated to the Olympian gods and were staged on the ancient plains of Olympia. They continued for nearly 12 centuries, until Emperor Theodosius decreed in 393 A.D. that all such "pagan cults" be banned. -
Sep 25, 1100
Dorian Invasions
In about 1100 B.C., according to the ancient Greeks, a group of men from the North, who spoke Greek, invaded the Peloponnese -
Sep 25, 1200
Sea peoples begin Raids in Eastern Mediterranean
Relentless attacks by groups known as the Sea Peoples around 1200 BC virtually destroyed all the major powers of the Mediterranean, and cleared the way for the rise of the Greeks, Romans and Western civilization. -
Sep 25, 1200
Trojan War
In Troy, Helen and Paris were married. This occured around 1200 B.C. -
Destruction of Palace at Knossos
The first palace identified in modern times was built c. 1900 BCE on the ruins of a much older settlement. Based upon excavations done at the site, the first palace seems to have been massive in size with very thick walls. Ancient pottery found throughout Crete, at various sites, indicate that the island was not unified under a central culture at this time and so the walls of the palace were most likely constructed to their size and thickness for defensive purposes. -
Mycenean Civilization
The Mycenaean civilization flourished in the late Bronze Age, from the 15th to the 13th century BCE and extended its influence not only throughout the Peloponnesein Greece but also across the Aegean, in particular, on Crete and the Cycladic islands. -
Period: to
Greese time
-
Minoan Civilization
It started from 2000 BCE until ca. 1500 BCE. The Minoans established a great trading empire centered on Crete, which is conveniently located midway between Egypt, Greece, Anatolia, and the Middle East. -
Dark Age of Greece
Between 950 and 750 BCE, Greeks relearned how to write once again, but this time instead of using the Linear B script used by the Mycenaeans, they adopted the alphabet used by the Phoenicians “innovating in a fundamental way by introducing vowels as letters. -
The Iliad and Odyssey recorded in writing
The Iliad and the Odyssey are two epic poems written by Homer around the 9th century BC. They are two of the oldest recorded written works in history. The Iliad deals with a ten-year war between the Greeks and Trojans, called the Siege of Troy. It centers around Achilles, the great Greek hero who was dipped in the River Styx when he was young and whose only weak spot was his heel. He was killed when Apollo helped one of his enemies shoot an arrow into his heel. -
Athenian democracy begins
Athenian democracy developed in the Greek city-state of Athens, comprising the central city-state of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica, around 508 BC. Athens was one of the first known democracies. -
Solon ends Draconian Laws
Lycurgus, the reputed Spartan lawgiver, is credited with the construction, about B.C. 800, of the earliest Grecian commonwealth founded upon a specific code of laws. These laws had mainly a military basis, and through obedience to them the Spartans became a people of great hardiness, accustomed to self-discipline, famous for their prowess and endurance in war, and for sternness of individual and social virtues. -
Persian Wars
In the first stage of the war between Persia and Greece the Persian armies were led by king Darius I (550-486 B. C.). The Persians lost to the Athenians and their Greek allies. In the famous land battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. the Persians were defeated by the Athenians and the Plataeans. News of the victory was delivered by a messenger who ran the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens, and who died afterwards. This is the origin of the modern Olympic event of the marathon. -
Battle of Marathon
In September of 490 BC a Persian armada of 600 ships disgorged an invasion force of approximately 20,000 infantry and cavalry on Greek soil just north of Athens. Their mission was to crush the Greek states in retaliation for their support of their Ionian cousins who had revolted against Persian rule. -
Battle of Thermopylae
The battle of Thermopylae was the first between the Persians and Greeks during the Persian invasion of 480-479 BC. The Greek force was very small but was determined to make a stand against the huge Persian army. battle of Thermopylae was the first between the Persians and Greeks during the Persian invasion of 480-479 BC. Battle of Salamis- The Athenians had fled to Salamis after the Battle of Thermopylae in August, 480 BC, while the Persians occupied and burned their city. -
Peloponnesian Wars
Athens and Sparta, both powerful Greek city-states, had fought as allies in the Greco-Persian Wars between 499 and 449 B.C. In the wake of the Persian retreat, however, Athens grew more powerful and tensions rose, escalating into nearly three decades of war. Sparta emerged victorious, while the constant fighting left Athens bankrupt, exhausted and demoralized. -
Golden Age of Athens
After being part of a coalition of Greek city-states which repelled the Persian invasion in 480-479 BCE, Athens headed an anti-Persian defence confederation of the independent Greek cities around the eastern Mediterranean, and in enforcing contributions from them, turned them into an empire. When the Persian threat disappeared in a peace in 449 BCE, Athens kept the contributions going by force. -
Construction of the Parthenon
Work began on the Parthenon, built on the Acropolis, in 447 BC to replace an existing temple which was destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC and cost 469 silver talents to build. The work began under the orders of Pericles to show the wealth and exuberance of Athenian power. The name of the building most likely came from a cult statue of Athena Parthenos housed in the eastern room of the building. -
Trial and execution of Socrates
In 399 BC the philosopher Socrates stood before a jury of 500 of his fellow Athenians accused of "refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state" and of "corrupting the youth." If found guilty; his penalty could be death. The trial took place in the heart of the city, the jurors seated on wooden benches surrounded by a crowd of spectators. -
Phillip II becomes King of Macedonia
Philip II was himself a hostage of the Greeks at Thebes, between 368 and 365 BC. But while in captivity there, he observed the military techniques of then the greatest power in Greece. When he returned to Macedonia he immediately set forth in helping his brother Perdiccas III, who became king of Macedonia after the death of Alexander II, to strengthen and reorganize the Macedonian army. -
Delian League established
In 478, the Spartan prince Pausanias led a Greek expeditionary force to Byzantium. If he would take the city, the Greeks would control the Bosphorus and could keep the Persians out of Europe. However, Pausanias lost authority when rumors were spread that he wanted to collaborate with the satrap of nearby Hellespontine Phrygia, Artabazus.
