Archaic period

Archaic period

Period: 800 BCE to 480 BCE

Archaic Greece was the period in Greek history lasting from the eighth century BC to the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC, following the Greek Dark Ages and succeeded by the Classical period.

Greek alphabet established

Period: 800 BCE to 750 BCE

Homer writes the Iliad and Odyssey

Period: 800 BCE to 700 BCE

Homer is the name ascribed by the ancient Greeks to the legendary author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems which are the central works of ancient Greek literature.

Greek colonisation of the Mediterranean and Black Sea

Period: 800 BCE to 500 BCE

Traditional date for first historical Olympia

776 BCE

The ancient Olympic Games were originally a festival, or celebration of and for Zeus; later, events such as a footrace, a javelin contest, and wrestling matches were added. The Olympic Games were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and one of the Panhellenic Games of ancient Greece.

First Messenian war

Period: 757 BCE to 738 BCE

a war between Messenia and Sparta due to Sparta's requirement for expansion to make room for over population. This resulted in a Spartan victory and the Messenians reduced to helot slaves.

Polydorus becomes king of Sparta

754 BCE

Perdiccas I of Macedon flees Argos to Macedonia to conquer the land

735 BCE

Polydorus sends colonists to Italy

734 BCE

Polydorus changed the constitution of Sparta so that the Kings and the Gerousia (28 chosen men above the age of 60) could reject decisions made by the Spartan Apella (the male citizen body).

Lelantine war between Chalcis and Eretria

721 BCE

a military conflict between the two ancient Greek city states Chalcis and Eretria in Euboea which took place in the early Archaic period. The reason for war was the struggle for the fertile Lelantine Plain on the island Euboea. Due to the economic importance of the two participating poleis, the conflict spread considerably, with many further city states joining either side, resulting in much of Greece being at war. The only war in Greece where allied cities rather than single ones were involved.

Polydorus (king of Sparta) murdered by Polymarchus

719 BCE

Pheidon becomes tyrant of Argos

690 BCE

Pheidon rose to power after he seized control of Argos from the reining monarchy. In doing so, he became the King of Argos and seemed to have ruled with a level of toughness that have caused some to label him as a tyrant. However, it is important to note that the city-state began to thrive under his leadership, which enabled Argos to grow in strength.

Second Messenian war

Period: 685 BCE to 665 BCE

A major revolt by the Messenians occurred, leading to the Second Messenian War. This war was significant as the other states on the Peloponnesian peninsula supported Messenia. Sparta won this war, which lasted for 17 years.

Cypselus subjects Corinth to tyranny

656 BCE

the first tyrant of Corinth in the 7th century BCE. Corinth had been involved in wars and the Corinthians were unhappy with their rulers. At the time, Cypselus was the archon in charge of the military, and he used his influence to expel his enemies, but allowed them to set up colonies in northwest Greece. He increased trade with the colonies in Italy and Sicily. He ruled for 30years and in 627 BCE was succeeded as tyrant by his son Periander, who was considered one of the Seven Sages of Greece.

Sparta crushes a Messenian revolt

650 BCE

Spartan wars with Tegea (unsuccessful)

Period: 645 BCE to 560 BCE

Battus establishes a Greek colony in Cyrene and Libya

Period: 642 BCE to 634 BCE

was the founder of the Ancient Greek colony of Cyrene. He was its first king, the first Greek king in Africa and the founder of the Battiad dynasty.

Cylon (Athenian noble) seizes Acropolis and tries to make himself king/tyrant but fails

632 BCE

was an Athenian associated with the first reliably dated event in Athenian history, the Cylonian Affair, an attempted seizure of power in the city. His attempted coup, which he undertook during the Olympics after the oracle at Delphi advised him to strike during a festival to Zeus, was a failure. He was supported in this undertaking by the city-state of Megara, where his father-in-law, Theagenes, was a tyrant.

Draco (Athenian lawgiver) issues code of laws with many crimes punishable by death

621 BCE

was the first recorded legislator of Athens in Ancient Greece. He replaced the prevailing system of oral law and blood feud by a written code to be enforced only by a court of law. Draco was the first democratic legislator, he was requested by the Athenian citizens to be a lawgiver for the city-state, but the citizens were fully unaware that Draco would establish harsh laws

Solon (Athenian statesman) becomes Archon

594 BCE

was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in archaic Athens. His reforms failed in the short term, yet he is often credited with having laid the foundations for Athenian democracy. He wrote poetry for pleasure, as patriotic propaganda and in defence of his constitutional reforms. Solon introduces legislation to lessen the suffering of the poor, but fails to address its cause.

Sappho (Greek poet) flourishes on island of Lesbos

590 BCE

was an archaic Greek poet from the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her lyric poetry, written to be sung and accompanied by a lyre. Most of Sappho's poetry is now lost, and what is extant has survived only in fragmentary form, except for one complete poem – the "Ode to Aphrodite". As well as lyric poetry, ancient commentators claimed that Sappho wrote elegiac and iambic poetry.

Pythagoras born

569 BCE

Pythagoras was a Greek philosopher known for many things. Among his accomplishments in life was the founding of the religion known as Pythagoreanism. The works of Pythagoras continue to influence and impact math and, in particular, geometry, to a great deal even well into the modern era. A brief look at his life reveals he was both a historically important and controversial figure.

Peisistratos (Athenian general) organises Diakrioi, a party of poor people

565 BCE

a good tyrant who took Athens by force during 561-527 BC until death. While in power, he did not hesitate to confront the aristocracy, and he greatly reduced their privileges, confiscated their lands and gave them to the poor, and funded many religious and artistic programs. He sought to increase "the unity and majesty of the Athenian state" by protecting foreign immigrants, increasing the wealth of the poor and contributing to the construction of an aqueduct, improving the city's water supply.

Persian Subjugation of Ionian Poleis

546 BCE

Persian conquest of Ionian Greek city states

Period: 546 BCE to 545 BCE

Persian Cambyses II, son of Cyrus the Great takes Egypt

525 BCE

Cambyses II further expanded the empire into Egypt during the Late Period by defeating the Egyptian Pharaoh Psamtik III during the battle of Pelusium in 525 BC. After the Egyptian campaign and the truce with Libya, Cambyses invaded the Kingdom of Kush (located in what is now Sudan) but with little success

Hippias becomes sole ruler after the death of his brother Hipparchus

515 BCE

was one of the sons of Peisistratus (Hippias and Hipparchus who was murdered by men anti-tyrants) and was a bad tyrant of Athens between about 527 BC and 510 BC when Cleomenes I of Sparta successfully invaded Athens and forced Hippias to leave Athens. He imposed high and unfair taxes on the people during his reign and ruled harshly and cruelly, seeking vengeance for his brother's death.

Fall of the Peisistratid tyranny

510 BCE

Peisistratis had seized Athens by force. He was a peaceful ruler, and is believed to have shown sympathy towards people living in rural areas (farmers), whose lives were considerably more difficult than those of urban citizens. Upon his death, Athens' power was significantly less than that of Sparta as his two sons came to rule.

Cleisthenes (Greek reformer) takes power and begins democracy

507 BCE

was an ancient Athenian lawgiver credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508/7 BC. For these accomplishments, historians refer to him as "the father of Athenian democracy." He was also credited with increasing the power of the Athenian citizens’ assembly and for reducing the power of the nobility over Athenian politics.

Ionian cities rebel against Persian rule

Period: 499 BCE to 493 BCE

The Athenians felt they had lost their independence and lifestyle and were ruled under a barbarian king who didn't speak their language who requested tribute, something they did not want to give. The Persian system involved having tyrants in each area to rule for Persia. As the Greeks hated tyrants, they refused to follow this. With the influence of Aristogoras and these other factors, they attacked Sardis in Persia, burning a sacred Persian temple to the ground accidentally and angering Darius.

Ionians and Greek allies invaded and burned a Persian settlement, Sardis

498 BCE

The Greeks were worried that the barbarian Persian army would expand too far into their sphere of influence and this highly motivated their attack as well as the plea from Aristragoras for help to do so. In Persia, they burnt various buildings Sardis but this ended up burning down the entire village including a temple, which was a very sacred thing to Persians. Because of this Darius I was furious and sought revenge leading to the following wars.

Birth or Pericles

495 BCE

Pericles was a prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during the Golden Age — specifically the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars.

Darius I of Persia invades Greece

492 BCE

The 1st Persian invasion of Greece, during the Persian Wars, ended with the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon. The invasion, consisting of 2 distinct campaigns, was ordered by the Persian king Darius I to punish the city-states of Athens and Eretria. These cities had supported the cities of Ionia during their revolt against Persian rule, thus incurring the wrath of Darius. Darius also saw the opportunity to extend his empire into Europe, and to secure its western frontier but failed.

Mardonius unsuccessful invasion of Greece after storms destroy his fleet

492 BCE

Mardonius, Darius' son in law, gathered an army and fleet to invade Athens and Eretria. He subjugated as many towns as he could on his way. Thrace and Macedonia submitted without resistance however, a great storm wrecked his fleet where many ships and men were lost. This was followed by an attack from the Thracian tribe which left Mardonius wounded. The attempted invasion was aborted however, this made no setbacks for Persia in the long run.

Themistoscles and Miltiades (Athenians) defeat Darius at Marathon

490 BCE

The Persians raided Eretria, an Athens ally and enslaved its people. The Athenians left their walled city to attack the Persians and this began the battle of Marathon. Athens paired up with other city states to defeat a common enemy. The Greeks had the upper hand as they had the mountains and knowledge of terrain. The Persians wanted to attack a 'defenceless Athens' but therefore had no cavalry. The Athenians launched a surprise attack and won the battle although most Persian ships got away.

Battle of Thermopylae

480 BCE

The Greek army, comprising King Leonidas, 300 Spartans and citizens of other poleis, was defeated by that of Xerxes I after a battle lasting three days.

Battle of Salamis

480 BCE

In this battle, the Greek naval fleet, which was led by Themistocles, defeated that of Xerxes I of Persia

The battle of Artemisium

480 BCE