label: 333 BCE

lead: King Darius III of Persia executes Charidemus, a Greek mercenary leader living in exile in Persia, for criticising preparations taken for the Battle of Issus. King Alexander of Macedonia conquers western Asia Minor, subduing the hill tribes of Lycia and Pisidia. Alexander makes one of his officers, Nearchus, satrap of the newly conquered Lycia and Pamphylia in Anatolia and he appoints his general, Antigonus, satrap of Phrygia.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Deaths

title: 333 BC


label: 334 BCE

lead: Alexander wins a major victory against the Persians commanded by the Greek mercenary Memnon of Rhodes, in the Battle of the Granicus near the Sea of Marmara. A large number of King Darius III's Greek mercenaries are massacred, but 2,000 survivors are sent back to Macedonia in chains. Alexander of Epirus, at the request of the colony of Taras (Tarentum) crosses over into Italy, to aid them against the Lucanians and Bruttii. He wins victories over the Italian Samnite tribes. The king of Caria, Pixodarus, dies and is succeeded by his son-in-law, Orontobates.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Births
Deaths

title: 334 BC

license: CC BY-SA 4.0


label: 335 BCE

lead: Aristotle returns to Athens from Macedon and opens a peripatetic school in an old gymnasium called the Lyceum. It contains a museum of natural history, zoological gardens and a library. The sculptor Praxiteles ends his active career in Athens (approximate date). After conquering Thebes, Alexander demands the surrender of the mercenary commanders, Chares and Charidemus, among others. Chares escapes to the Troad while Charidemus is banished and flees to Persia.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Crime & Justice
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 335 BC


label: 336 BCE

lead: The young king of Persia, Arses, objects to being controlled by Bagoas and attempts to poison him. Instead, Arses and all his children are killed by Bagoas. Following his assassination, Philip II of Macedon is succeeded by his son Alexander III. Suspecting the princes of the Lynkestis region of killing Phillip II, Alexander executes them all. The League of Corinth promotes Alexander to general of a unified Greek army for its planned invasion of Asia Minor. Macedonian troops, commanded by Parmenion, trusted lieutenant of Philip II, arrive in Asia Minor, but are driven back by Persian forces under the command of the Greek mercenary Memnon of Rhodes.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Health & Medicine
Crime & Justice
Deaths

title: 336 BC


label: 337 BCE

lead: Minucia, a Vestal Virgin, is convicted of unchastity. Olympias is put aside by her husband Philip II, following Philip's marriage to a girl named Cleopatra (who is renamed Eurydice). Their son, Alexander, is effectively disowned by Philip's actions. Philip II has Ptolemy, along with other companions of his son, exiled. A plebeian is chosen to be praetor of Rome for the first time.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Crime & Justice
Births
Deaths

title: 337 BC


label: 338 BCE

lead: Philip II of Macedon defeats the Athenians and Thebans in the Battle of Chaeronea in western Boeotia. His son, Alexander, commands the left wing of the Macedonian army during the battle. In victory, Philip II is harsh on Thebes, but merciful on Athens, thanks to the efforts of the Athenian orator and diplomat, Demades, who helps negotiate a peace agreement between Macedonia and Athens. The Latin War ends with the Latin League being dissolved and the individual Latin cities having to accept Rome's terms. Many of the cities are incorporated into the Roman state. In making peace with the cities of the defeated Latin League, Rome offers liberal terms. The men of many of these cities are granted citizenship and, as a result, Rome gains friends rather than enemies. King Archidamus III is succeeded as the Eurypontid King of Sparta by his son, Agis III.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Crime & Justice
Births
Deaths

title: 338 BC


label: 339 BCE

lead: The Roman consul Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus defeats the Latins in the Battle of Trifanum. Philip II of Macedon decides to attack the Scythians, using as an excuse their reluctance to allow Philip to dedicate a statue of Heracles at the Danube estuary. The two armies clash on the plains of modern-day Dobruja. The ninety-year-old King of the Scythians, Ateas, is killed during the battle and his army is routed. Xenocrates is elected as head of the Greek Academy replacing Speusippus.

title: 339 BC


label: 340 BCE

lead: Pixodarus, the youngest of the three sons of King Hecatomnus of Caria, gains possession of the satrapy of Caria by expelling his sister Ada, the widow and successor of her brother Idrieus. The Roman-Samnite army under consuls Publius Decius Mus and Titus Manlius Torquatus attack and defeat the Latins and Campanians near Mount Vesuvius in the Battle of Vesuvius. Hicetas, the tyrant of Leontini, again persuades Carthage to send a large army to Sicily, which lands at Lilybaeum. Timoleon of Syracuse meets this large Carthaginian army in the Battle of the Crimissus in the west of Sicily and achieves a brilliant victory against superior odds. Despite this victory, the Carthaginians continue to occupy the western half of Sicily, with a treaty being concluded that confines the Carthaginians to the area west of the Halycus (Platani) River.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Births
Deaths

title: 340 BC


label: 35 BCE

lead: Pannonia is attacked by Octavian Caesar, who conquers and sacks the stronghold Siscia (Sisak) of the Segestani, which is taken after a 30-day siege. The country is not definitely subdued, however, until 9 BC. Azes I, Indo-Scythian ruler, completes the domination of the Scythians in northern India. Sextus Pompeius defeats the governor of Asia, Gaius Furnius, with three legions and seizes Nicaea and Nicomedia (modern Izmit).

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Deaths

title: 35 BC


label: 341 BCE

lead: The First Samnite War ends with Rome triumphant and the Samnites willing to make peace. Demosthenes delivers his Third Philippic. In it, he demands resolute action against Philip II. Demosthenes now dominates Athenian politics and is able to considerably weaken the pro-Macedonian faction led by Aeschines. As a result, Demosthenes becomes controller of the Athenian navy. A grand alliance is organised by Demosthenes against Philip II, which includes Byzantium and former enemies of Athens, such as Thebes. These developments worry Philip and increase his anger towards Demosthenes. The Athenian Assembly, however, lays aside Philip's grievances against Demosthenes' conduct and denounces the Peace of Philocrates which has been signed by both sides in 346 BC, an action equivalent to an official declaration of war by Athens against Macedonia.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Births

title: 341 BC


label: 342 BCE

lead: The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, is invited by Philip II to his capital at Pella to tutor his son, Alexander. As the leading intellectual figure in Greece, Aristotle is commissioned to prepare Alexander for his future role as a military leader. (or 343 BC). Philip begins a series of campaigns in Thrace with the aim of annexing it to be a province of Macedonia. When the Macedonian army approaches Thracian Chersonese (the Gallipoli Peninsula), an Athenian general named Diopeithes ravages this district of Thrace, thus inciting Philip's rage for operating too near one of his towns in the Chersonese. Philip demands his recall. In response, the Athenian Assembly is convened. Demosthenes convinces the Athenians not to recall Diopeithes. The Battle of Mount Gaurus is fought between the Romans and the Samnites. The battle is a success for the Romans, who, it is said, are led by Marcus Valerius Corvus. Fought at the foot of Mount Gaurus, near Cumae, it is the most notable engagement of the First Samnite War.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Births
Deaths

title: 342 BC


label: 343 BCE

lead: King Philip II of Macedon again marches against Cersobleptes, King of Thrace, defeats him in several battles, and reduces him to the condition of being a tributary. The native Italian tribes, the Lucanians and Bruttians, press down upon the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia, including Tarentum. Responding to calls for help from these former Greek colonies, King Archidamus III of Sparta sets sail with a band of mercenaries for Italy. First Samnite War began when Rome fought the confederated Samnites over disputed territory in the Middle Liris Valley.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Crime & Justice
Births
Deaths

title: 343 BC


label: 344 BCE

lead: The aristocracy of Syracuse appeal to their mother city of Corinth against their tyrant Dionysius II. The Corinthian general Timoleon is chosen to lead a liberation force to Sicily. Landing at Tauromenium (Taormina) on March 21st, Timoleon faces two armies, one under Dionysius and the other under Hicetas (tyrant of nearby Leontini), who has also called in Carthaginian forces. By shrewd tactics Timoleon defeats his enemies and occupies Syracuse. The king of Caria, Idrieus, dies, leaving the Persian satrapy, by his will, to his sister Ada, to whom he was married. The Greek philosopher and scientist, Aristotle, travels from Assus to Lesbos to study natural history, especially marine biology.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Deaths

title: 344 BC


label: 345 BCE

lead: The Nanda Empire is founded in Magadha. Supported by Thebes and Thessaly, Macedonia takes over Phocis' votes in the Amphictyonic League, a Greek religious organisation formed to support the greater temples of Apollo and Demeter. Despite some reluctance on the part of the Athenian leaders, Athens finally accepts Philip II's entry into the Council of the League. The Athenian statesman Demosthenes is among those who recommend this stance in his oration On the Peace. Carthaginians ravage and blockade Entella.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Deaths

title: 345 BC


label: 346 BCE

lead: The Peace of Philocrates is signed between Macedonia and Athens. The document agrees to a return to the status quo, but Philip II of Macedon keeps the right to punish the Phocians for starting the Sacred War. Following the conclusion of the Peace of Philocrates, Philip II's army moves through the pass of Thermopylae and subdues Phocis. Athens makes no move to support the Phocians. The Athenian politicians, Demosthenes and Timarchus, prepare to prosecute Aeschines for treason after he has sought to reconcile the Athenians to Macedonia's expansion into Greece. Eubulus loses his influence on Athenian affairs.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief

title: 346 BC


label: 347 BCE

lead: An Athenian delegation, comprising Demosthenes, Aeschines and Philocrates, is officially sent to Pella to negotiate a peace treaty with Philip II. During the negotiations, Aeschines seeks to reconcile the Athenians to Macedonia's expansion into Greece. Demosthenes became unhappy with the result. Aristotle leaves Athens due to the anti-Macedonian feeling that arises in Athens after Philip II of Macedon has sacked the Greek city-state of Olynthus in 348 BC. With him goes another Academy member of note, Xenocrates of Chalcedon. They establish a new academy on the Asia Minor side of the Aegean Sea at the newly built town of Assus. Plato dies and his nephew Speusippus is named as head of the Academy.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Exploration & Expansion
Economy & Finance
Deaths

title: 347 BC


label: 348 BCE

lead: The city of Eretria on the island of Euboea successfully rebels against the rule of Athens and Euboea is declared independent. The Athenian statesman and general, Phocion's tactical skills save an Athenian force sent to fight the supporters of Philip II on Euboea. Aristotle leaves Athens and Plato's Academy, after which he resided in Assus in northwestern Anatolia. The Athenian help to its cities in Macedonia is diverted by a revolt in Euboea which Philip II of Macedon has fomented. He conquers the city of Olynthus in the Chalcidice and he annexes Chalcidice to Macedonia.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Economy & Finance
Deaths

title: 348 BC


label: 349 BCE

lead: After recovering from illness, Philip II of Macedon turns his attention to the remaining Athenian controlled cities in Macedonia and to the city of Olynthus, in particular. The Athenians organize to send help. Sidon is besieged by Persian forces. The Persian Empire reasserted its dominance over Egypt after Nectanebo II was forced to flee following the Persian military campaign under Artaxerxes III. The native Egyptian rule briefly came to an end, and the Persians regained control. This was just a precursor to the later events that would lead to Alexander the Great's conquest of Egypt in the early 4th century BCE, ultimately ending Persian rule and ushering in the Hellenistic period.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Health & Medicine
Deaths

title: 349 BC


label: 350 BCE

lead: The Corinthian capital is made in the tholos at Epidaurus. It is now preserved at the Archaeological Museum in Epidaurus, Greece (approximate date). Aristotle argues for a spherical Earth using lunar eclipses and other observations. Also he discusses logical reasoning in Organon. Praxiteles makes the Aphrodite of Knidos (approximate date). A composite of two similar Roman copies after the original marble is now kept at Musei Vaticani, Museo Pio Clementino, Gabinetto delle Maschere in Rome.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Science & Discovery
Crime & Justice
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 350 BC


label: 36 BCE

lead: Mark Antony launches a major offensive against the Parthians, in which he marches with 10 legions and 10,000 cavalry to Carana in Anatolia. Octavian's fleet (102 warships) embarks from Puteoli and tries to invade Sicily, but it is caught in a storm at Vibo and forced to return. Battle of Naulochus: Agrippa defeats Sextus Pompeius, a son of Pompeius, in a naval engagement off Naulochus. Sextus escapes with 17 ships to Messana and then to Asia Minor.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 36 BC


label: 351 BCE

lead: The Etruscans are badly defeated by the Romans and abandon their attacks on the city and sue for peace. First use of the heavy throwing spear, the pilum, (according to Livy) in battle against the Gauls. Demosthenes tries to get the Athenians to cease depending on paid mercenaries and return to the old concept of a citizen army. He also delivers his First Philippic, warning Athenians of the folly of believing that Philip's ill health will save Athens from the Macedonians. In response, Athens' citizens vote for increased armaments.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Health & Medicine

title: 351 BC


label: 352 BCE

lead: Consuls: Publio Valerio Publicola & Gaius Marcius Rutilus. Philip then moves against Thrace. He makes a successful expedition into Thrace, gaining a firm ascendancy in the country, and brings away a son of Cersobleptes, the King of Thrace, as a hostage. Philip II's Thessalian victory earns him election as president (archon) of the Thessalian League.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Exploration & Expansion
Births

title: 352 BC


label: 353 BCE

lead: Mausolus, King and Persian satrap of Caria, dies and is succeeded in 352 BC by Artemisia, his sister and wife. The Phocians threaten Thessaly to their north. Philip II of Macedon saw his opportunity to penetrate south. Clearchus, the tyrant of Heraclea, a Greek city on the Black Sea, is murdered by some of the city's citizens led by Chion after a reign of twelve years. Most of the conspirators are killed by the tyrant's body-guards upon the spot, while others are captured and put to death. Within a short time, the city falls under the rule of the new tyrant Satyrus, Clearchus' brother.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Crime & Justice
Deaths

title: 353 BC


label: 354 BCE

lead: The State of Qi is victorious over the State of Wei in the Battle of Guiling, a conflict which involves the military strategy of Sun Bin. The Phocians suffer a defeat in the Sacred War against Athens. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in Caria, the tomb of King Mausolus and one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is built.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 354 BC


label: 355 BCE

lead: Chares' war party in Athens is replaced by one under Eubulus which favours peace. Eubulus restores the economic position of Athens without increasing the burden of taxation and improves the Athenian fleet while its docks and fortifications are repaired. King Artaxerxes III of Persia forces Athens to conclude a peace which requires the city to leave Asia Minor and to acknowledge the independence of its rebellious allies. King Archidamus III of Sparta supports Phocis against Thebes in the "Sacred War".

sections:
Conflict & Security
Births

title: 355 BC


label: 356 BCE

lead: (traditional date) – The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus is burned down by a madman named Herostratus, destroying one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The great temple was built by Croesus, king of Lydia, in about 550 BC and was famous not only for its great size (110 metres by 55 metres), but also for the magnificent works of art that adorned it. With his reforms initiated in this year, the Chinese prime minister Shang Yang starts to transform the once marginal and frontier State of Qin to become the most dominant military force amongst the Warring States of China by the 3rd century BC. With Pydna and Potidaea occupied, Philip II decides to keep Amphipolis anyway. He also takes the city of Crenides from the Odrysae and renames it Philippi.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Disasters & Accidents
Births
Deaths

title: 356 BC


label: 357 BCE

lead: Euboean mercenary Charidemus recaptures the Thracian Chersonese for Athens. He receives, from Athens, a golden crown for his part in the victory. The brother-in-law of Dionysius I, Dion, exiled from Syracuse in 366 BC by Dionysius II, assembles a force of 1,500 mercenaries at Zacynthus and sails to Sicily. Dion wrests power from the weak Dionysius II, who is exiled and flees to Locri. Philip II of Macedon marries Olympias, the Molossian princess of Epirus thus helping to stabilize Macedonia's western frontier.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Culture & Society

title: 357 BC


label: 358 BCE

lead: Cersobleptes, in conjunction with his brothers, Amadocus II and Berisades, inherits the dominions of the Thracian king, Cotys I, following his murder. However, the overall management of Thracian affairs is assumed by the Euboean adventurer, Charidemus, who is connected by marriage with the royal family, and who plays the prominent part in the ensuing negotiations with Athens for the possession of the Thracian Chersonese. Philip II of Macedonia invades the hill tribes of Paeonia and decisively beats them. Alexander of Pherae, Despot of Pherae in Thessaly is murdered by his wife's brother at her instigation.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Crime & Justice
Births
Deaths

title: 358 BC


label: 359 BCE

lead: The Macedonian King Perdiccas III is killed while defending his country against an Illyrian attack led by King Bardylis. He is succeeded by his infant son, Amyntas IV. The child's uncle, Philip II, assumes the regency. The Illyrians prepare to close in, the Paeonians raid from the north and two claimants to the Macedonian throne are supported by foreign powers. Philip II buys off his dangerous neighbours and, with a treaty, cedes Amphipolis to Athens.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Births
Deaths

title: 359 BC


label: 360 BCE

lead: With the help of King Agesilaus II of Sparta, Nectanebo II deposes Teos and becomes king of Egypt. Teos flees to Susa and makes peace with the Persians. Nectanebo II pays the Spartans 230 talents for their help. As the Illyrians attack the Molossians, the Molossian king Arymbas brings his non-combatant people to safety elsewhere. When the Illyrians have finished looting, they are burdened with booty and are thus easily defeated by the Molossians. Plato writes the dialogues Timaeus and Critias, first mentioning Atlantis.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Births
Deaths

title: 360 BC


label: 37 BCE

lead: The kingdom of Goguryeo in Korea is founded by the king Dongmyeong. (traditional date). Antony reorganizes Asia Minor under strongmen loyal to him. He raises troops from his allies: Amyntas and Archelaus, kings of Galatia and Cappadocia. The old kingdom of Pontus is restored, from Armenia to the River Halys under Polemon I. Caesar Augustus (Octavian) engineers the "Second Pact of Tarentum" which renews the Triumvirate for an additional five years. Mark Antony exchanges 120 ships, for service against Sextus Pompeius. Octavian Caesar donates 1,000 troops from the Praetorian Guard and 20,000 legionaries for the Parthian campaign in Syria.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Technology & Infrastructure
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 37 BC


label: 361 BCE

lead: The Egyptians under their King Teos and the Spartans under King Agesilaus II, with some Athenian mercenaries under their general Chabrias, set out to attack the Persian King's Phoenician cities. However, they have to return almost at once due to revolts back in Egypt. Subsequently, Agesilaus II quarrels with the Egyptian king and joins a revolt against him. With the Persian empire weakening, revolts occur in many parts of the empire, including Sidon, a prosperous and rich Phoenician city. Plato returns once more to Syracuse to teach the young Syracusan tyrant Dionysius II. He fails to reconcile the tyrant to Dion, who Dionysius II banished in 366 BC. Because of this, Plato is forced to flee Syracuse to save his life.

title: 361 BC


label: 362 BCE

lead: The states of Qin, Han and Zhao defeat the state of Wei and Qin captures the prince of Wei. The Battle of Shaoliang is then fought between Qin and Wei, which Wei loses, whereupon Qin captures the prime minister of Wei. King Agesilaus II of Sparta arrives with 1,000 men to assist Egypt in its fight with Persia. Mausolus of Caria joins the revolt of the satraps of Anatolia against the Persian king Artaxerxes II.

title: 362 BC


label: 363 BCE

lead: The Egyptian pharaoh Teos (or Tachos) succeeds his father Nectanebo I to the throne. Planning a great attack on Persia, he invites Sparta to help him. The Theban general, Epaminondas, makes a bold attempt to challenge Athens' naval empire. With a new Boeotian fleet, he sails to Byzantium, with the result that a number of cities in the Athenian Empire rebel against their now threatened masters.

title: 363 BC


label: 364 BCE

lead: The Athenian general, Iphicrates, fails in attempts to recover Amphipolis. Retiring to Thrace, Iphicrates fights for his father-in-law, the Thracian king Cotys I, against Athens for the possession of the Thracian Chersonese. Cotys I is victorious and controls the whole Chersonese peninsula by 359 BC. On the advice of the city's military leader, Epaminondas, Thebes builds a fleet of 100 triremes to help combat Athens. Thebes destroys its Boeotian rival Orchomenus. The Chinese astronomer Gan De from the State of Qi reportedly discovers the moon Ganymede, belonging to Jupiter, and makes the earliest known sunspot observations.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Science & Discovery
Deaths

title: 364 BC


label: 365 BCE

lead: Perdiccas III of Macedon, son of Amyntas III and Eurydice II, kills Ptolemy of Aloros, who has been the regent of Macedon since he arranged the assassination of Perdiccas III's brother Alexander II in 368 BC. With Ptolemy's death, Perdiccas III becomes King of Macedon in his own right. The Athenian forces under general Timotheus overrun Samos, then occupied by a Persian garrison, after a 10-month siege. Etruscan actors stage the first theatrical performances in Rome.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 365 BC


label: 366 BCE

lead: Athens founds the town of Kos on the island of Kos in the Aegean Sea. The Abduction of Persephone, detail of a wall painting in Tomb I (Small Tomb) in Vergina, Macedonia, is made (approximate date). Theban leader, Epaminondas, returns to the Peloponnesus for a third time, seeking to secure the allegiance of the states of Achaea. Although no army dares to challenge him in the field, the democratic governments he establishes there are short-lived, as pro-Spartan aristocrats soon return to the cities, reestablish the oligarchies, and bind their cities ever more closely to Sparta.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Crime & Justice

title: 366 BC


label: 367 BCE

lead: Aristotle arrives in Athens and teaches at Plato's Academy. During the ten-year period that Gaius Licinius (Calvus) Stolo is tribune in Rome (376 BC to 367 BC) he does much to reduce the enmity between patricians and plebs by reforming a number of laws. During his term, he proposes the Lex Licinia Sextia, which restores the consulship to the plebs, requires a plebeian consul seat, limits the amount of public land that one person can hold, and regulates debts. The patricians oppose these laws, though they are now finally passed and take effect from 366 BC. The temple to Concordia on the Forum Romanum in Rome is built by Marcus Furius Camillus.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Science & Discovery
Births
Deaths

title: 367 BC


label: 368 BCE

lead: Zhou Xian Wang becomes king of the Zhou dynasty of China. At the instigation of Alexander's brother-in-law, Ptolemy of Aloros, Alexander II of Macedon is assassinated during a festival. Although Alexander's brother, Perdiccas III becomes the next king, he is under age, and Ptolemy is appointed regent. Plato's Republic is completed. It lays down the rules for an ideal, righteous society and suggests that kings ought to be philosophers (or at least taught by philosophers).

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 368 BC


label: 369 BCE

lead: Cleomenes II succeeds his brother Agesipolis II as Agiad king of Sparta. After driving off the Spartan army that has threatened Mantinea, Epaminondas of Thebes moves south and crosses the Evrotas River (the frontier of Sparta), which no hostile army has breached in historical memory. The Spartans, unwilling to engage the massive Theban army in battle, remain inside their city while the Thebans and their allies ravage Laconia. On the death of the Macedonian King Amyntas III, his eldest son Alexander II becomes king. The young king is simultaneously faced with an Illyrian invasion from the north-west and an attack from the east by the pretender of the Macedonian throne, Pausanias (who quickly captures several cities and threatens the queen mother, Eurydice). Alexander defeats his enemies with the help of the Athenian general Iphicrates, who has been sailing along the Macedonian coast on the way to recapture Amphipolis.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Crime & Justice
Births
Deaths

title: 369 BC


label: 370 BCE

lead: Eudoxus of Cnidus develops the method of exhaustion for mathematically determining the area under a curve. The tagus of Thessaly, Jason of Pherae, dies, after making Thessaly a powerful force in Greek politics. The sculptor Praxiteles begins his active career in Athens (approximate date).

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 370 BC


label: 38 BCE

lead: It was also the first year (year 1) of the Spanish era calendar in use in Hispania until the 15th century.

title: 38 BC


label: 371 BCE

lead: Agesipolis II succeeds his father Cleombrotus I as king of Sparta. It is suggested that the original comet associated with the Kreutz Sungrazers family of comets passes perihelion at this time. It is thought to have been observed by Aristotle and Ephorus during this year. With the unexpected defeat of Sparta by the Thebans, the Arcadians decide to re-assert their independence. They rebuild Mantinea, form an Arcadian League and build a new federal city, Megalopolis.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Science & Discovery
Births
Deaths

title: 371 BC


label: 372 BCE

lead: Troilus of Elis wins two equestrian events at the Olympic Games, which leads to referees being banned from competing in the Games. Jason of Pherae, the ruler of Thessaly, allies himself first with Athens and then with Macedon.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Culture & Society
Births

title: 372 BC


label: 373 BCE

lead: The ancient Greek city of Helike is destroyed by a massive earthquake and tsunami. The Persian King Artaxerxes II launches an invasion of Egypt to bring that country back under Persian rule. The invasion is led by Pharnabazus. After initial successes, the Greek mercenaries fighting for the Persians push on towards Memphis. However, King Nectanebo I is able to gather his forces and repulse the Persian invasion. Iphicrates leads an Athenian expedition which successfully relieves Corcyra of a Spartan siege.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Climate & Environment

title: 373 BC


label: 374 BCE

lead: Pharnabazus II, Satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia, ends his reign. Sparta attacks Corcyra, enlisting Syracusan help. Athens comes to the island's aid. The Athenian general, Timotheus, captures Corcyra and defeats the Spartans at sea off Alyzia (Acarnania). The King of Salamis, Evagoras, is assassinated. He is succeeded by his son, Nicocles, who continues his father's liberal Hellenising policy in Cyprus, encouraged by Isocrates, who writes his Exhortation to Nicocles.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Deaths

title: 374 BC


label: 375 BCE

lead: Zhou Lie Wang becomes king of the Zhou dynasty of China. The Theban general, Pelopidas, is made the leader of the Sacred Band, a selected infantry body of 300.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Births
Deaths

title: 375 BC


label: 376 BCE

lead: The Thracian city of Abdera is sacked by the Triballi. The Athenian admiral Chabrias wins a naval victory for Athens over the Spartan fleet, off the island of Naxos (the Battle of Naxos). The battle is brought on by the Athenians to break the Spartans' blockade of Athens' corn-ships from the Black Sea.

title: 376 BC


label: 377 BCE

lead: Timotheus wins over the Acarnanians and Molossians as friends of Athens. Mausolus is appointed as the Persian satrap of Caria. The Peace of Antalcidas (387 BC), includes a clause guaranteeing the Greek cities their independence. The Spartan King Agesilaus II uses this clause as an excuse to force the dissolution of Thebes' Boeotian League. In two sieges, he reduces Thebes to near starvation.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief

title: 377 BC


label: 378 BCE

lead: The Servian Wall is constructed around Rome to prevent the city from being captured or sacked (see 390 BC). This is the first fortification that the Romans build around their home city. Athens allies itself with Thebes and forms the Second Athenian League. The confederacy includes most of the Boeotian cities and some of the Ionian islands. The Theban general and statesman, Epaminondas, takes command of Thebes. Pelopidas is elected boeotarch, or chief magistrate, of the city.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Technology & Infrastructure

title: 378 BC


label: 379 BCE

lead: Sparta suppresses the Chalcidian League and imposes terms favourable to King Amyntas III of Macedonia. Rome sends colonists to Setia, the inhabitants complain that their numbers are too small. Publius and Gaius Manlius are assigned to the Volsicans for campaign. A defeat follows for the Romans after having been attacked in their camp and foraging parties being killed. The Roman soldiers do not waver even when they have no leader. A dictator is soon afterwards requested but the Volsicans do not know how to follow up a victory. At the end of the year the Parenestines inspire the Latin peoples to revolt. The Thebans are able to reconstitute their old Boeotian confederacy in a new, democratic form. The cities of Boeotia unite as a federation with an executive body composed of seven generals, or Boeotarchs, elected from seven districts throughout Boeotia.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion

title: 379 BC


label: 380 BCE

lead: The Egyptian Pharaoh Hakor dies and is succeeded by his son Nepherites II, but the latter is overthrown by Nectanebo I within the year, ending the Twenty-ninth dynasty of Egypt. Nectanabo (or more properly Nekhtnebef) becomes the first Pharaoh of the Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt. Cleombrotus I succeeds his brother Agesipolis I as king of Sparta. Persia forces the Athenians to withdraw their general Chabrias from Egypt. Chabrias has been successfully supporting the Egyptian Pharaohs in maintaining their independence from the Persian Empire.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Economy & Finance
Births
Deaths

title: 380 BC


label: 39 BCE

lead: Marcus Antonius dispatches Publius Ventidius Bassus with 11 legions to the East and drives Quintus Labienus out of Asia Minor. Labienus retreats into Syria, where he receives Parthian reinforcements. Ventidius finally defeats him in the battle at the Taurus Mountains. Publius Ventidius defeats Pharnastanes with his cataphracts at the Amanus Gates, and goes on to reclaim Syria, Phoenicia and Judea. Labienus flees to Cilicia, where he is captured and executed.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Births
Deaths

title: 39 BC


label: 381 BCE

lead: Sparta increases its hold on central Greece by reestablishing the city of Plataea, which Sparta formerly destroyed in 427 BC. The Persian generals Tiribazus and Orontes I invade Cyprus, with an army far larger than any King Evagoras I of Cyprus could raise. However, Evagoras manages to cut off this force from being resupplied, and the starving troops rebel. However, the war then turns in the Persians' favour when Evagoras' fleet is destroyed at the Battle of Citium (Larnaca, Cyprus). Evagoras flees to Salamis, where he manages to conclude a peace which allows him to remain nominally king of Salamis, though in reality he is a vassal of the Persian king. The district of Tusculum is pacified after a revolt against Rome, and then conquered. After an expression of complete submission to Rome, Tusculum becomes the first "municipium cum suffragio", and thenceforth the city continues to hold the rank of a municipium.

title: 381 BC


label: 382 BCE

lead: The Spartan commander Phoebidas, who is passing through Boeotia on campaign, takes advantage of civil strife within Thebes to gain entrance to the city for his troops. Once inside, he seizes the Cadmeia (the citadel of Thebes), and forces the anti-Spartan party to flee the city. The government of Thebes is placed in the hands of the pro-Spartan party, backed by a Spartan garrison based in the Cadmeia. Many of the previous leaders of Thebes are driven into exile. Epaminondas, although associated with the anti-Spartan faction, is allowed to remain. In punishment for his unauthorized action in the previous year of taking over Thebes, Phoebidas is relieved of his command, but the Spartans continue to hold Thebes. The Spartan king Agesilaus II argues against punishing Phoebidas, on the grounds that his actions had benefited Sparta, and this was the only standard against which he ought to be judged. Evandrus takes over being Archon of Athens from Demonstrates.

title: 382 BC


label: 383 BCE

lead: The second Buddhist council is convened by king Kalasoka and held at Vaisali. King Amyntas III of Macedon, forms a temporary alliance with the Chalcidian League, a confederation of cities of the Chalcidice peninsula, east of Macedonia. Sparta, whose policy is to keep Greeks disunited, sends an expedition northwards to disrupt the Chalcidian League. The 19 year lunar cycle is introduced into the Babylonian calendar.

sections:
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Science & Discovery

title: 383 BC


label: 384 BCE

lead: Lysias, the Athenian orator, on the occasion of the Olympiad, rebukes the Greeks for allowing themselves to be dominated by the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius I and by the barbarian Persians. The Greeks found the colony of Pharos at the site of today’s Stari Grad on the island of Hvar, defeating Iadasinoi warriors brought in for its defense.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Births

title: 384 BC


label: 385 BCE

lead: Bardyllis becomes king of Illyria and the Dardani and establishes the Bardyllian Dynasty. Jason of Pherae becomes tyrant of Thessaly. Plato forms his Academy, teaching mathematics, astronomy and other sciences as well as philosophy. It is dedicated to the Attic hero Academus. Philanthropists bear all costs; students pay no fees.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Science & Discovery
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 385 BC


label: 386 BCE

lead: Freed from Spartan attacks by the Peace of Antalcidas ("King's Peace") of the previous year, Persia turns to quieting Cyprus and Egypt. Owing to the skill of King Evagoras of Cyprus and of Egypt's Greek mercenary general Chabrias, these wars drag on for the rest of the decade. Dionysius I of Syracuse extends the influence and trade of Syracuse to the Adriatic, establishing colonies at Adria, Ancona and Issa. The Chinese city of Handan is founded by the State of Zhao.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Births
Deaths

title: 386 BC


label: 387 BCE

lead: Plato founds the Platonic Academy in Athens, where he teaches Aristotle until 347 BC. With the aid of the Lucanians, Dionysius I of Syracuse devastates the territories of Thurii, Crotone, and Locri in mainland Italy. When Rhegium falls, Dionysius becomes the chief power in Greek Southern Italy. He then turns his attention to the Adriatic and founds the colonies of Ancona (Ankon) and Adria (Adrìa). Rome begins to rebuild after being invaded by the Gauls under Brennus.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 387 BC


label: 388 BCE

lead: The Athenian general, Thrasybulus, sails to Lesbos, where, with the support of the Mytileneans, he defeats the Spartan forces on the island and wins over a number of cities. While still on Lesbos, however, Thrasybulus is killed by raiders from the city of Aspendus where his financial exactions have made him unpopular. Plato, having left Athens on Socrates' death to visit Megara and possibly Egypt, travels to Syracuse at the invitation of Dionysius I's brother-in-law Dion. King Agesipolis I leads a Spartan army against Argos. Since no Argive army challenges him, he plunders the countryside for a time, and then, after receiving several unfavorable omens, returns to Sparta.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Crime & Justice
Births
Deaths

title: 388 BC


label: 389 BCE

lead: This is the latest possible date for the compilation of the historical text Zuo Zhuan, attributed to a blind historian known as Zuo Qiuming. A Spartan expeditionary force under King Agesilaus II crosses the Gulf of Corinth to attack Acarnania, an ally of the anti-Spartan coalition. Agesilaus is eventually able to draw them into a pitched battle, in which the Acarnanians are routed. Due to threats of attack from Akarnania, Kalydon garrisons the Achaeans.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Technology & Infrastructure
Science & Discovery
Births

title: 389 BC


label: 390 BCE

lead: Battle of the Allia: Brennus, a chieftain of the Senones of the Adriatic coast of Italy, leads an army of Cisalpine Gauls in their attack on Rome. They capture the entire city of Rome except for the Capitoline Hill, which is successfully held against them. However, seeing their city devastated, the Romans attempt to buy their salvation from Brennus. The Romans agree to pay one thousand pounds weight of gold. The Pharaoh of Egypt, Hakor (Akoris), concludes a tripartite alliance with Evagoras, king of Cyprus, and Athens. The Temple of Asclepius is built at Epidaurus.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Births
Deaths

title: 390 BC


label: 40 BCE

lead: Gaius Claudius Marcellus, a distinguished member of the Claudii, dies. He leaves Octavia the Younger (the elder sister of Octavian) widowed. She will later marry Mark Antony. Sextus Pompey dispatches Menas with four legions and captures Sardinia, driving out Octavian's governor Marcus Lurius. He seizes the capital, Caralis and occupies Corsica. Sextus besieges Cosenza in Bruttium and Thurii in Lucania, ravaging the territory with his cavalry. The Ji Jiu Pian dictionary, published about this year during the Han dynasty, is the earliest known reference to the hydraulic-powered trip hammer device.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Technology & Infrastructure
Crime & Justice
Births
Deaths

title: 40 BC


label: 391 BCE

lead: Quintus Fabius Ambustus and two other Fabii are sent as ambassadors by Rome to a wandering tribe of Celts (whom the Romans call Gauls), under Brennus, who are advancing down the Tiber while the Celtic army is besieging Clusium. After Quintus Fabius' group becomes involved in a skirmish with the Gauls and kill one of the Gauls' leaders, the offended Gauls demand that Rome surrender the Fabii members to them. The Romans refuse, so the Gauls advance on Rome. Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse, begins an attempt to extend his rule to the Greek cities of southern Italy. He unsuccessfully besieges Rhegium. The Athenian general, Iphicrates, with a force composed almost entirely of light troops and peltasts (javelin throwers), wins a decisive victory against the Spartan regiment that has been stationed at Lechaeum in the Battle of Lechaeum. This is the first time that a force of light infantry defeats a unit of Greek hoplites.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Climate & Environment
Deaths

title: 391 BC


label: 392 BCE

lead: The Persian general, Struthas is dispatched by King Artaxerxes II to take command of the satrapy of Sardis, replacing Tiribazus, and to pursue an anti-Spartan policy. Dionysius I of Syracuse, having increased his power over the native Sicilians (Sicels), is now attacked by a second Carthaginian expedition. He is forced to ally himself with the Sicels. The Carthaginian army, under Mago II, is defeated, makes peace, and returns to Carthage. The treaty with Carthage is advantageous to Dionysius. During the Corinthian War, the Spartans dispatch an ambassador, Antalcidas, to the Persian satrap Tiribazus, hoping to turn the Persians against the allies by informing them of Conon's use of the Persian fleet to begin rebuilding the Athenian empire. Learning of this, the Athenians send an embassy led by Conon to present their case to the Persians at Sardis. Alarmed by Conon's actions, Tiribazus arrests him, and secretly provides the Spartans with money to equip a fleet. Although Conon quickly escapes, he dies in Cyprus without returning to Athens.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 392 BC


label: 393 BCE

lead: The Athenian general Conon and the Persian satrap Pharnabazus sail to mainland Greece, where they raid the coast of Laconia and seize the island of Cythera, where they leave a garrison and an Athenian governor. Aristophanes' play, a new comedy called The Ecclesiazusae, is performed. Upon the death of King Nepherites I, two rival factions fight for the throne; one backing Muthis, son of Nepherites I, and the other supporting Psammuthes. Psammuthes is successful, but he only manages to reign as King of Egypt for part of the year.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Crime & Justice
Deaths

title: 393 BC


label: 394 BCE

lead: The allies, Athens, Thebes, Corinth and Argos, gather a large army at Corinth. A sizable army is sent out from Sparta to challenge this force. The two sides meet on the dry bed of the Nemea River, in Corinthian territory. In the resultant Battle of Nemea, the Spartans win a major victory over the allies. The temple of Athena Alea in Tegea is burned down, but is however soon rebuilt to the designs of Scopas of Paros. The Athenian general Conon, the Persian satrap Pharnabazus and Evagoras, King of Salamis, win an overwhelming naval victory over the Spartans under Peisander in the Battle of Cnidus (near Rhodes). Following this victory, Conon and Pharnabazus sail along the coast of Ionia, expelling Spartan governors and garrisons from the cities, although they fail to reduce the Spartan bases at Abydos and Sestos. With the Spartan bid for building an empire crumbling, Persia gains mastery of the Aegean.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Disasters & Accidents

title: 394 BC


label: 395 BCE

lead: The Persian satrap Tissaphernes' enemy Parysatis, mother of Cyrus, succeeds in persuading Persian King Artaxerxes II to have him executed at Colossae, Phrygia (now Turkey). Parysatis cannot forgive Tissaphernes for the rough treatment he has handed out to her favourite son, the late Cyrus. Unable to defeat Agesilaus's army, Pharnabazus decides to force Agesilaus to withdraw by stirring up trouble on the Greek mainland. He dispatches Timocrates of Rhodes to visit Athens, Thebes, Corinth, and Argos to incite and bribe them to act against Sparta. Timocrates succeeds in persuading powerful factions in each of those states to pursue an anti-Spartan policy. The "Corinthian War" begins, with Athens, Thebes, Corinth and Argos (with the backing of Persia) against Sparta. The Spartans prepare to send out an army against this new alliance, and order Agesilaus to return to Greece. Agesilaus sets out for Sparta with his troops, crossing the Hellespont and marching west through Thrace.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Crime & Justice
Deaths

title: 395 BC


label: 396 BCE

lead: The Carthaginians are forced to abandon their siege of Syracuse (begun in 398 BC) due to a plague, but destroy Messina. Dionysius' first war with Carthage ends with a notable victory for Dionysius, who confines his enemy's power to an area of northwest Sicily. On his return home, the Carthaginian general, Himilco, commits suicide. Plato publishes his Apologia, which is a defence of his mentor Socrates. (Approximate date.). Kyniska becomes the first woman to win an event at the Olympic Games when the horse-drawn chariot she sponsors crosses the finish line first, even though the prohibition on women competing forces her to hire a man to drive it.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 396 BC


label: 397 BCE

lead: The Carthaginians establish the town of Lilybaeum in Sicily to replace Motya. Siege of Syracuse: A Carthaginian expeditionary army (some 50,000 men) under Himilco crosses to Sicily. They conquer the north coast and put Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse, on the defensive and besiege Syracuse. However, the Carthaginian army suffers from the plague. The Syracuse counterattacked and completely defeat Himilco's army. Himilco has to escape back to Carthage. Called on by the Ionians to assist them against the Persian King Artaxerxes II, King Agesilaus II of Sparta launches an ambitious campaign in Asia Minor.

title: 397 BC


label: 398 BCE

lead: Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, breaks his peace treaty with Carthage and strikes at Carthaginian cities in the western corner of Sicily which have been weakened by the plague. There is a massacre of Carthaginians in many of these cities. Motya, with its fine harbour, is attacked and captured.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Births

title: 398 BC


label: 399 BCE

lead: The Greek philosopher Socrates is sentenced to death by Athenian authorities, condemned for impiety and the corruption of youth. He refuses to flee into exile and dies by drinking hemlock. King Archelaus I of Macedon is killed during a hunt, by one of the royal pages, his lover Craterus. King Amyrtaeus of Egypt is defeated in battle by his successor, Nepherites I of Mendes, and executed at Memphis. King Nepherites I, or Nefaarud I, founds the Twenty-ninth dynasty of Egypt. He makes Mendes his capital.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Crime & Justice
Deaths

title: 399 BC


label: 400 BCE

lead: The Mature classical period of sculpture ends in Ancient Greece and is succeeded by the fourth-century (Late Classical) period (approximate date). India had the biggest epic on earth - The Mahabharata. Artaxerxes II, king of Persia, appoints Tissaphernes to take over all the districts in Asia Minor over which Artaxerxes II's brother Cyrus had been governor before his revolt.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Economy & Finance
Technology & Infrastructure
Health & Medicine
Crime & Justice
Climate & Environment
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 400 BC


label: 5 BCE

lead: Probable nova in the constellation Aquila. C.December – Probable supernova in the constellation Capricornus.

sections:
Science & Discovery
Births
Deaths

title: 0s BC


label: 41 BCE

lead: Mark Antony meets Cleopatra VII in Tarsus (Cilicia) and forms an alliance. He returns to Alexandria with her and they become lovers in the winter of 41–40 BC. To safeguard herself and Caesarion, she has Antony order the execution of her (half) sister Arsinoe IV, who is living at the temple of Artemis in Ephesus. Perusine War: An armed resistance breaks out across Italy; the Umbrian city of Sentinum is captured and destroyed by Quintus Salvidienus Rufus. Lucius Antonius occupies Perusia. He accepts the appeal of the local population. Lucius and Fulvia are defeated by Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian in the Battle of Perugia.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Crime & Justice
Births
Deaths

title: 41 BC


label: 401 BCE

lead: Sophocles' tragic play Oedipus at Colonus is performed posthumously. It is produced by his grandson (also called Sophocles) at the Festival of Dionysus in Athens. The Greek mercenaries fighting for Cyrus are left stranded after Cyrus' defeat. They fight their way north through hostile Persians, Armenians, and Kurds to Trapezus on the coast of the Black Sea under Xenophon, who becomes their leader when the satrap of Lydia, Tissaphernes, has Clearchus of Sparta and the other senior Greek captains captured and executed. Cyrus the Younger uses a quarrel with Tissaphernes over the Ionian cities as a pretext for gathering a large army and also pretends to prepare an expedition to Pisidia, in the Taurus Mountains. Cyrus starts out with about 15,220 men, of whom 10,400 are Greek mercenaries. When he reaches the Euphrates River at Thapsacus, he announces that he is marching against Artaxerxes II. He advances unopposed into Babylonia; but Artaxerxes, warned at the last moment by Tissaphernes, hastily gathers an army. The two forces meet in the Battle of Cunaxa, north of Babylon, where Cyrus is slain.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 401 BC


label: 402 BCE

lead: Archelaus I, King of Macedonia, helps establish a pro-Macedonian oligarchy in Larissa in Thessaly.

sections:
Economy & Finance
Births
Deaths

title: 402 BC


label: 403 BCE

lead: Andocides, Athenian orator and politician, who has been implicated in the mutilation of the Herms on the eve of the departure of the Athenian expedition against Sicily in 415 BC, returns from exile under the general amnesty. The states of Han, Zhao and Wei receive official recognition as Marquesses from the Eastern Zhou dynasty, confirming the Partition of Jin. This is one of the traditional starting points of the Warring States period. Under archon Eucleides, the Athenians accept a spelling reform, adopting the Ionian alphabet, which includes eta and omega. The new alphabet came to be known as the Euclidean alphabet.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Deaths

title: 403 BC


label: 404 BCE

lead: Theramenes secures terms that save the city of Athens from destruction. The Spartans allow Athens to retain its independence. However, Athens loses all its foreign possessions and what is left of its fleet and is required to become an ally of Sparta. The Long Walls around Athens are pulled down. Greek towns across the Aegean Sea in Ionia are again the subjects of the Persian Empire. Athens, full of refugees and weakened by plague and hunger, capitulates and the Peloponnesian War ends. The Athenian leader Cleophon continues to urge resistance against the Peloponnesians, but the situation becomes desperate and he is arrested, condemned to death and executed.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Health & Medicine
Crime & Justice
Deaths

title: 404 BC


label: 405 BCE

lead: Aristophanes' The Frogs is first performed, winning first prize at the Lenaia festival. /April – Euripides' The Bacchae and Iphigeneia at Aulis are performed posthumously as part of a tetralogy at the City Dionysia festival and win first prize. The Erechtheum, which includes The Porch of Maidens (Caryatid Porch), is completed in the Ionian style on the Acropolis in Athens after 16 years of construction.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Health & Medicine
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 405 BC


label: 406 BCE

lead: Callicratidas is appointed as the navarch of the Spartan fleet, replacing Lysander. Callicratidas assembles a fleet and sails to Methymna, on Lesbos, to which he lays siege. This move threatens the Athenian grain supply. Sparta sues for peace, which the Athenian leader Cleophon rejects. Sparta yields to demands by the Persian satrap Cyrus that Lysander command a fleet in the Hellespont. The Carthaginians again invade Sicily and attack Agrigentum (Acragas). Plague breaks out in their camp and Hannibal Mago dies. Himilco assumes command and captures Agrigentum (Acragas), Gela and Camarina. Gela is destroyed and its treasures sacked. The survivors take refuge in Syracuse. The plague is carried back to Carthage by its soldiers.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Deaths

title: 406 BC


label: 407 BCE

lead: The defeat gives the enemies of Alcibiades an excuse to strip him of his command. He never returns again to Athens. He sails north to land he owns in the Thracian Chersonese. Except for a brief appearance at Aegospotami, Alcibiades' involvement in the Peloponnesian War is over. The Spartan admiral Lysander refuses to be lured out of Ephesus to do battle with Alcibiades. However, while Alcibiades is away seeking supplies, the Athenian squadron is placed under the command of Antiochus, his helmsman, who is routed by the Spartan fleet (with the help of the Persians under Cyrus) in the Battle of Notium (or Ephesus). The exiled former leader of the moderate democrats of Syracuse, Hermocrates, is killed while attempting to force his way back into Syracuse.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Crime & Justice
Births
Deaths

title: 407 BC


label: 408 BCE

lead: King Darius II of Persia decides to continue the war against Athens and give support to the Spartans. His wife, Parysatis, persuades him to appoint his younger son, Cyrus, as satrap (governor) of Lydia, Phrygia, and Cappadocia and commander in chief of the Achaemenian forces in Asia Minor in place of Tissaphernes. Alcibiades enters Athens in triumph after an absence of 7 years. He leads the religious procession from Athens to Eleusis, thus atoning for his alleged impiety in 415 BC when he was held to have joined in profaning the Sacred Mysteries. Alcibiades is appointed commander-in-chief with autocratic powers and leaves for Samos to rejoin his fleet. Euripides' plays Orestes and The Phoenician Women are performed. Euripides then leaves Athens in dissatisfaction and travels to the court of Archelaus I of Macedon at the King's invitation.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Crime & Justice
Births
Deaths

title: 408 BC


label: 409 BCE

lead: The Athenian general, Thrasyllus, sails out from Athens with a sizable force to campaign in Ionia. There, he quickly captures Colophon and raids the Ionian countryside, but is defeated outside Ephesus by a combined Ephesian, Persian, and Syracusan force. Sophocles' play Philoctetes is performed, with the theme of the Trojan War. Taking advantage of the quarrels between the Greek cities in Sicily and of the mutual exhaustion of Athens and Syracuse, Carthage seeks to reimpose its influence over the island. Hannibal Mago, grandson of Hamilcar, invades Sicily with a strong force. He defeats the Sicilian Greeks and avenges his grandfather through the torture and killing of 3,000 Greek prisoners. In the Battle of Selinus and Battle of Himera he captures and destroys both cities before returning triumphantly to Carthage with the spoils of war.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Deaths

title: 409 BC


label: 410 BCE

lead: A relief decoration from the parapet (now destroyed), Nike (Victory) adjusting her sandal is constructed in the Temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis in Athens and is ready in 407 BC. It is now preserved at the Acropolis Museum in Athens. The grave stele of Hegeso is made and is finished about ten years later (approximate date). It is now preserved at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Commanding 20 ships, the Athenian generals Theramenes and Thrasybulus collaborate with Alcibiades and the main Athenian fleet in inflicting a major defeat on the Spartan navy commanded by Mindarus and its supporting Persian land army near Cyzicus on the shore of the Propontis (Sea of Marmara). As a result of its victory in the Battle of Cyzicus, Athens regains control over the vital grain route from the Black Sea.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 410 BC


label: 42 BCE

lead: Publius Vatinius, governor of Illyricum, seizes Dyrrachium and is forced to surrender his army (three legions) to Marcus Junius Brutus. Mark Antony lands with an army (28 legions) in Illyria, leaving Octavian ill at Dyrrachium, and marches to Amphipolis. Admiral Ahenobarbus, with the Republican fleet (130 warships), blockades the Adriatic Sea. Lucius Decidius Saxa and Gaius Norbanus Flaccus are appointed by Mark Antony, to lead an advanced force of eight legions to Macedonia along the Via Egnatia into Thrace.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Births
Deaths

title: 42 BC


label: 411 BCE

lead: Antiphon defends himself in a speech Thucydides describes as the greatest ever made by a man on trial for his life. Nevertheless, Antiphon is unable to persuade his accusers and he is executed for treason. Euripides' play Iphigenia in Tauris is performed. Aristophanes' plays Lysistrata and Women Celebrating the Thesmophoria are performed.

title: 411 BC


label: 412 BCE

lead: The Spartans sign a treaty of mutual help with the Persian satrap of Lower Asia, Tissaphernes. By the treaty of Miletus, Persia is given complete freedom in western Asia Minor in return for agreeing to pay for seamen to man the Peloponnesian fleet. Alcibiades helps stir up revolts amongst Athens' allies in Ionia, on the west coast of Asia Minor. However, Alcibiades loses the confidence of the Spartans and antagonises their king Agis II. As a result, he flees to the court of the Persian satrap Tissaphernes. Alcibiades advises Tissaphernes to withdraw his support from Sparta while conspiring with the oligarchic party in Athens, as Sparta's allied cities break away in a series of revolts. The Persians under Darius II see their opportunity to play off one Greek city-state against another and to recover control of the Greek cities of Asia Minor, which have been under Athenian control since 449 BC. The satraps of Asia Minor, Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus, are ordered to collect overdue tribute.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Health & Medicine

title: 412 BC


label: 413 BCE

lead: Archelaus I becomes King of Macedonia following the death of his father, King Perdiccas II. Archelaus seizes the throne after murdering his uncle, his cousin, and his half brother, the legitimate heir. Euripides' play Electra is performed. Tissaphernes, the Persian satrap of Lydia and Caria, forms an alliance with Sparta. The Spartans, with strategic advice from Alcibiades and limited assistance from the Persians under Pharnabazus, advance almost to the gates of Athens. King Agis II leads the Spartan force that occupies Decelea in Attica.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Crime & Justice
Deaths

title: 413 BC


label: 414 BCE

lead: The Athenian army moves to capture Syracuse while the larger fleet of Athenian ships blocks the approach to the city from the sea. After some initial success, the Athenian troops become disorganised in the chaotic night operation and are thoroughly routed by Gylippus, the Spartan commander. The Athenian commander Lamachus is killed. Nicias, although ill, is left in sole charge of the siege of Syracuse. Athens responds to appeals from its general, Nicias, by sending out 73 vessels to Sicily under the command of Demosthenes to assist Nicias and his forces with the siege of Syracuse. Aristophanes' play The Birds is performed.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Crime & Justice

title: 414 BC


label: 415 BCE

lead: Euripides' play The Trojan Women is performed shortly after the massacre by Athenians of the male population of Melos. After learning that he has been condemned to death in absentia, Alcibiades defects to Sparta and Nicias is placed in charge of the Sicilian expedition. The Athenian forces land at Dascon near Syracuse but with little result. Hermocrates heads the Syracusan defence. The Athenian expedition to Sicily sets sail under Nicias, Lamachus and Alcibiades. After his departure with the armada, Alcibiades is accused of profanity and is recalled to Athens to stand trial.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief

title: 415 BC


label: 416 BCE

lead: According to Plato's Symposium, the tragedian Agathon wins first prize at the Lenaia. With the encouragement of Alcibiades, the Athenians take the island of Melos (which has remained neutral during the Peloponnesian War). Its inhabitants are treated with great cruelty by the Athenians, with captured adult men being killed and the women and children made slaves. In Sicily, the Ionian city of Segesta asks for Athenian help from the Dorian city of Selinus (which is supported by the powerful Sicilian city of Syracuse). The people of Syracuse are ethnically Dorian (as are the Spartans), while the Athenians, and their allies in Sicily, are Ionian. The Athenians feel obliged to assist their ally and therefore prepare an armada to attack Sicily.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Culture & Society

title: 416 BC


label: 417 BCE

lead: The second battle of Hysiae is fought between the armies of Sparta and Argos during the Peloponnesian War. The Spartan King Agis II was seeking to restore the pro-Spartan faction evicted from Argos by Alcibiades. While he failed to take the city of Argos, he did capture and subsequently destroy the town of Hysiae, killing all its male inhabitants. Following the loss by Athens and its allies in the Battle of Mantinea, a political "tug of war" takes place in Athens. Alcibiades joins forces with Nicias against Hyperbolus, the successor of the demagogue politician Cleon as champion of the common people. Hyperbolus tries to bring about the ostracism of either Nicias or Alcibiades, but the two men combine their influence and induce the Athenian people to expel Hyperbolus instead.

title: 417 BC


label: 418 BCE

lead: King Agis II of Sparta escapes being fined 10,000 drachmae and having his house razed for his failure to press his advantage by promising more successful outcomes in the future. The Battle of Mantinea is the largest land battle of the Peloponnesian War (with as many as 10,000 troops on each side). Sparta under King Agis II has a major victory over Argos (and its allies Athens, Ellis and Mantinea), which has broken its treaty with Sparta's King Agis II at the insistence of Alcibiades. Agis II's major victory makes amends with the Spartans for his earlier truce with Argos. The commander of the Athenian forces, Laches, is killed in the battle. Impressed with the Spartan victory, the inhabitants of Argos change their government from democracy to oligarchy and end their support for Athens in favour of an alliance with Sparta. Many of Argos' allies do the same. Athens becomes increasingly isolated.

title: 418 BC


label: 419 BCE

lead: Sophocles' play Electra is performed. The play takes its theme from The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus. Euripides' play Andromache is performed. Despite the Peace of Nicias still being in effect, Sparta's King Agis II gathers a strong army at Philus and descends upon Argos by marching at night from the north. His allied Boeotian forces fail him, but he is able to conclude a treaty with Argos. In 419 BC, the Argives, at the instigation of Alcibiades, attacked Epidaurus; and Agis with a large force from Lacedaemon set out and marched to the frontier city of Leuctra. No one, Thucydides tells us, knew the purpose of this expedition. It was probably to make a diversion in favour of Epidaurus.

sections:
Exploration & Expansion
Crime & Justice

title: 419 BC


label: 420 BCE

lead: 17 Boedromion (Epidauria): The cult of Asclepius is introduced at Athens. The young and popular Alcibiades is elected "Strategos" (one of a board of ten generals) and begins to dominate Athenian life and politics. A Quadruple Alliance of Athens, Argos, Mantineia and Elis, which has been organised by Alcibiades (in opposition to Nicias) confronts a Spartan-Boeotian alliance. Euripides' play The Suppliant Women is performed.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Crime & Justice
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 420 BC


label: 43 BCE

lead: Vibius Pansa set out to link up with Hirtius and Octavian, bringing four legions of recruits, having left one, the legio urbana, to defend Rome. The triumvirs introduce proscriptions in which allegedly 130 senators and 2,000 equites are branded as outlaws and deprived of their property. The orator Cicero is killed in Formiae in a litter going to the seaside, by a party led by Herennius (a centurion) and Popilius (a military tribune). His head and hands are displayed on the Rostra in the Forum Romanum.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Technology & Infrastructure
Health & Medicine
Crime & Justice
Climate & Environment
Births
Deaths

title: 43 BC


label: 421 BCE

lead: Aristophanes' play Peace is performed. The city of Cumae, the most northerly of the Greek colonies in Italy, falls to the Samnites. The construction of the Porch of the Maidens (the Caryatid Porch) commences at the Erechtheion which is part of the Acropolis in Athens.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Exploration & Expansion
Technology & Infrastructure
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 421 BC


label: 422 BCE

lead: Aristophanes' play The Wasps is performed. Alcibiades takes over the leadership of the pro-war party in Athens. Athenian leader, Cleon, ends the truce between Athens and Sparta after he resolves to rescue the town of Amphipolis in Macedonia. However, through skillful generalship by Brasidas, the Spartans rout the Athenians in the Battle of Amphipolis. Both Brasidas and Cleon are killed in the battle, thereby removing the key members of the pro-war factions on both sides.

title: 422 BC


label: 423 BCE

lead: The Athenian general, Laches, successfully moves in the Athenian Assembly for an armistice with Sparta to check the progress of Sparta's most effective general, Brasidas. However, the "Truce of Laches" has little impact on Brasidas and collapses within a year. Ochus, satrap of Hyrcania and son of Artaxerxes I and a Babylonian concubine, seizes the Persian throne from his half brother Secydianus (or Sogdianus), whom he has executed. The new king rules as Darius II. Aristophanes' play The Clouds is performed as is Sophocles' play Maidens of Trachi and The Putine (The Bottle), by Cratinus.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 423 BC


label: 424 BCE

lead: The temple to Athena Nike (also known as the Wingless Victory) on the Athenian Acropolis is completed. It has been designed by the Athenian architect Callicrates. Brasidas' capture of the city of Amphipolis is a major reverse for Athens, for which the Athenian general (and future historian) Thucydides is held responsible and banished. This gives Thucydides the opportunity for undistracted study for his History and travel and wider contacts, especially on the Peloponnesian side (Sparta and its allies). Nicias captures the Peloponnesian island of Cythera, from which to harry the Spartans.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Crime & Justice
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 424 BC


label: 425 BCE

lead: Callicrates starts to build the Temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis in Athens (approximate date). Between 410 and 407 BC the temple is surrounded by a parapet. Artaxerxes I, Achaemenid king of Persia, is succeeded by his son Xerxes II. Demosthenes captures and fortifies the port of Pylos in the Peloponnesus, giving Athens a strong base close to Sparta. Meanwhile, a Spartan army, commanded by Brasidas, lands on the nearby island of Sphacteria, but is repulsed by the Athenians. An Athenian fleet summoned by Demosthenes bottles up the Spartan navy in Navarino Bay.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Crime & Justice
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 425 BC


label: 426 BCE

lead: An Athenian army under Nicias, Hipponicus and Eurymedon defeats a combined Tanagran and Theban army in the Battle of Tanagra. The Athenian leader Cleon and Athenian general Demosthenes revitalise the city's military and naval forces despite opposition from Nicias, a rich merchant and soldier, and his supporters.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Deaths

title: 426 BC


label: 427 BCE

lead: In an effort to blockade Sparta from access to Sicilian corn, Athens responds to a plea for help from a delegation from the city of Leontini led by Gorgias, the sophist and rhetorician. Leontini is being threatened by Syracuse which is allied to Sparta. However, the Athenian mission led by the Athenian general Laches is unable to offer much help. Laches is later prosecuted by Cleon for his unsuccessful mission to support Athenian interests in Sicily. The Quaestorship is opened to the Plebs. Plataea surrenders to the Spartans and Thebans after its garrison comes close to death from starvation. Over 200 prisoners are put to death and Plataea is destroyed.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Crime & Justice
Births

title: 427 BC


label: 428 BCE

lead: Euripides' play Hippolytus is performed in the Dionysia competition, the famous Athenian dramatic festival. The play is awarded first prize. The chief city of Lesbos, Mytilene, revolts against Athenian rule. The Spartan admiral, Alcidas, leads 40 Peloponnesian alliance ships with the aim of assisting the inhabitants of Mytilene. However, the rebellion by Mytilene is crushed before his forces can arrive. Despite encouragement from the Ionian leaders to engage the Athenians, Alcidas declines. Rather, Alcidas leads his fleet to Cyllene where the Spartans resolve to strengthen the fleet and send it to Corcyra where a revolution has broken out. Spartan leaders, Brasidas and Alcidas, then defeat a fleet of Corcyran ships. However, they retire when word reaches them that 60 Athenian ships from Leucas under the command of Eurymedon have been dispatched to intercept them.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 428 BC


label: 429 BCE

lead: The Athenian admiral Phormio has two naval victories, the Naupactus and the Battle of Rhium at the mouth of the Corinthian Gulf. In the first battle, his 20 ships defeat 47 Corinthian ships commanded by Machaon, Isocrates, and Agatharchidas that were advancing to reinforce the Spartan general, Cnemus's campaign in Acarnania. In the second battle, Phormio routs Cnemus's 77-vessel fleet. The Athenians under Xenophon march into Thrace to attack Chalcis. They destroy crops outside Spartolus and begin negotiating with pro-Athenian factions in Chalcis, but the anti-Athenian factions ask for help from Olynthus. An army from Chalcis, Spartolus, and Olynthus meet the Athenians in battle, but their hoplites are defeated. Reinforcements soon arrive from Olynthus, and they launch a second attack on the Athenians. The Athenians are routed, with all of their generals and 430 other men killed. The plague in Athens that is killing thousands of the city's inhabitants, claims Pericles. Cleon, who has headed the opposition to Pericles's rule, succeeds to power in Athens following Pericles's death.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Health & Medicine
Births
Deaths

title: 429 BC


label: 430 BCE

lead: Traditional date where scholars believe the Hebrew prophet known as Malachi writes the 39th and last book, and last of the prophetic books, of the Old Testament of the Biblical canon, the Book of Malachi. Biblical books written between now and the millennium will not be included in the Hebrew Bible and in some Christian traditions considered Biblical apocrypha. Approximate date – Sophocles' drama Oedipus Rex is first performed in Athens. An outbreak of a plague hits Athens and the disease ravages the densely packed city (modern DNA analyses of material from ancient cemeteries suggest the mortal disease may have been typhus). The plague wipes out over 30,000 citizens, sailors, and soldiers as well as Pericles' two sons. Roughly one-quarter of the Athenian population dies. The fear of plague is so widespread that the Spartan invasion of Attica is abandoned, their troops being unwilling to risk contact with the diseased enemy.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Health & Medicine
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 430 BC


label: 44 BCE

lead: Rome celebrates the festival of the Lupercal. Mark Antony twice presents Caesar with a royal diadem, urging him to take it and declare himself king. He refuses this offer and orders the crown to be placed in the Temple of Jupiter. (the Ides of March) – Julius Caesar, dictator of Rome, is assassinated by a group of senators, amongst them Gaius Cassius Longinus, Marcus Junius Brutus, and Caesar's Massilian naval commander, Decimus Brutus. Antony besieges Brutus Albinus in Mutina (Modena), with Octavian, an ally of Decimus, who is one of his uncle's assassins, close by.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Crime & Justice
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 44 BC


label: 431 BCE

lead: The Greek philosopher Empedocles distinguishes the four elements - earth, fire, water, and air - that he claims all substances are made of. He explains the development of the universe by the forces of attraction and repulsion known as Love and Strife. Euripides' play Medea wins third prize at the Dionysia, the famous Athenian dramatic festival. Athens enters into an alliance with King Sitalkes of Thrace, after Nymphodorus, an influential Athenian, marries Sitalkes' sister. Nymphodorus then negotiates an agreement between Athens and Macedon's King Perdiccas II, through which Perdiccas regains Therma. As a result, Athens withdraws its support for Perdiccas' brother, Philip, and the Thracians promise to assist Perdiccas in capturing him. In return, Perdiccas marches on the Chalcidians, the people he has originally persuaded to revolt.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Science & Discovery
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 431 BC


label: 432 BCE

lead: Sparta calls and hosts a conference of the Peloponnesian League. The conference is attended by Athenian representatives as well as members of the League. Following arguments by Corinth against Athens, a majority of the League members vote to declare that the Athenians had broken the peace. Pheidias completes the sculptures that form the decoration of the Parthenon in Athens. The Greek colony of Heraclea in Southern Italy is founded by colonists from Tarentum and Thurii.

sections:
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Science & Discovery
Culture & Society
Births

title: 432 BC


label: 433 BCE

lead: Pericles concludes a defensive alliance with Corcyra (Corfu), the strong naval power in the Ionian Sea, which is the bitter enemy of Corinth. As a result, Athens intervenes in the dispute between Corinth and Corcyra, and, at the Battle of Sybota, a small contingent of Athenian ships play a critical role in preventing a Corinthian fleet from capturing Corcyra. Following this, Athens places Potidaea, a tributary ally of Athens but a colony of Corinth, under siege. Pericles renews alliances with the Rhegium on the southwest corner of Italy and Leontini in southeast Sicily, threatening Sparta's food supply route from Sicily. A set of sixty-five bells, from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng (Zhou dynasty) in Suixian, Hubei, is made. It is now preserved at the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 433 BC


label: 434 BCE

lead: While in prison, Anaxagoras tries to square the circle with straightedge and compasses. Philip, brother of Perdiccas II of Macedon challenges Perdiccas for the throne, and enlists the support of Athens and King Derdas of Elimea. Perdiccas responds by stirring up rebellion in a number of Athenian tribute cities, including Potidaea. Under the leadership of Pericles, Athens introduces a series of measures (the "Megarian decree") imposing an economic embargo on Megara for violations of land sacred to Demeter. According to the provisions of the decree, Megarian merchants are to be excluded from the market of Athens and the ports in its empire. This ban strangles the Megarian economy and strains the fragile peace between Athens and Sparta, which is allied with Megara.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Economy & Finance
Crime & Justice

title: 434 BC


label: 435 BCE

lead: A dispute arises between Epidamnus' oligarchs and democratic forces in the Greek colony. Most of the colony's inhabitants originate from Corinth or Corcyra (Corfu). Epidamnus' oligarchs are exiled and then appeal to Corcyra for help, while the democrats enlist the support of Corinth. Corcyra is then attacked by Corinth as the dispute heats up. Forces of the Roman Republic, led by dictator Quintus Servilius Priscus, captured the nearby city of Fidenae by tunneling in through the hill the town was built upon. He was awarded the cognomen 'Fidenas' as a reward for his success. A gold and ivory statue of Zeus, king of the gods, is completed at Elis by the Athenian sculptor Phidias for the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. The statue becomes one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Olympian Zeus is about seven times life size (or 13 metres) and occupies the full height of the temple.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Culture & Society
Births

title: 435 BC


label: 436 BCE

lead: Following Pericles' visit to the Black Sea, a large Athenian colony is founded at Amphipolis. This is disconcertingly close to an outpost of Corinthian influence at Potidaea in the Chalcidice. Corinth feels it is being indirectly pressured by Athens.

sections:
Exploration & Expansion
Births
Deaths

title: 436 BC


label: 437 BCE

lead: Pericles, concerned for Athenian trade with Greek settlements to the East, and in order to counteract a new and possibly threatening Thracian–Scythian alliance, leads Athens' fleet to Pontus on the Black Sea and establishes friendly relations with the Greek cities of the region. Mnesikles starts to build Propylaia, Acropolis, Athens. The work is canceled in 432 BC, due to the Peloponnesian War, and thus is never finished.

sections:
Exploration & Expansion
Technology & Infrastructure

title: 437 BC


label: 438 BCE

lead: The colossal statue of the Athena Parthenos, which Phidias has made for the Parthenon, is completed and dedicated. It is made of gold and ivory and stands some 12 metres high. The Greek playwright Euripides' play Alcestis is performed in the Dionysia, an Athenian dramatic festival. Three seated Goddesses (possibly Hestia, Dione and Aphrodite), from the east pediment of the Parthenon, are made (finished in 432 BC). They are now kept at The British Museum in London.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Health & Medicine
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 438 BC


label: 439 BCE

lead: As a result of Persian assistance to Samos, it takes the Athenian army nine months to successfully complete its siege of Samos and force the Samians to surrender. Samos becomes a tributary of Athens. Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus is made dictator of the Roman Republic for a second time to deal with the Maelius controversy. He appoints Gaius Servilius Ahala as his Master of the Horse. Spurius Maelius, a wealthy Roman plebeian, tries to buy popular support with the aim of making himself king. During the severe famine affecting Rome, he buys up a large store of grain and sells it at a low price to the people of Rome – the first time this had been done in Rome. This leads Lucius Minucius, the patrician praefectus annonae ("president of the market"), to accuse Maelius of seeking to take over the government.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Crime & Justice
Climate & Environment
Deaths

title: 439 BC


label: 440 BCE

lead: Democritus proposes the existence of indivisible particles, which he calls atoms. A temple for Poseidon is erected in Sounion. The stela, Demeter, Persephone and Triptolemos, from Eleusis, is made (approximate date). It is now kept at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Science & Discovery
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 440 BC


label: 45 BCE

lead: The Julian calendar takes effect as the civil calendar of the Roman Empire, establishing a solar calendar that is based on the Egyptian calendar of the day. Civil War: In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the younger in the Battle of Munda. Labienus dies in battle, Pompey the younger is executed, but Sextus Pompey escapes to take command of the remnants of the Pompeian fleet. The veterans of Julius Caesar's Legions Legio XIII Gemina and Legio X Equestris demobilize. The veterans of the 10th legion are settled in Narbo, while those of the 13th are given somewhat better lands in Italia itself.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Science & Discovery
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 45 BC


label: 441 BCE

lead: Zhou Ai Wang becomes king of the Zhou dynasty of China but dies before the year's end, to be succeeded by Zhou Si Wang. The Greek playwright Sophocles writes Antigone. The Greek playwright, Euripides, wins his first victory in a dramatic festival.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 441 BC


label: 442 BCE

lead: As a result of his failure to effectively challenge Pericles, the Athenian citizens ostracise Thucydides for 10 years and Pericles is once again unchallenged in Athenian politics.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Deaths

title: 442 BC


label: 443 BCE

lead: No consuls are elected in Rome, but rather military tribunes with consular power are appointed in their stead. While only patricians could be consuls, some military tribunes were plebeians. These positions had responsibility for the census, a vital function in the financial administration of Rome. So to stop the plebeians from possibly gaining control of the census, the patricians remove from the consuls and tribunes the right to take the census, and rather entrust it to two magistrates, called censores who were to be chosen exclusively from the patricians in Rome. Pericles founds the colony of Thurii near the site of the former city of Sybaris, in southern Italy. Its colonists include Herodotus and Lysias.

sections:
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Deaths

title: 443 BC


label: 444 BCE

lead: Nehemiah, the Jewish cupbearer to Artaxerxes I at Susa, is given permission by Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem as governor of Judea, in order to rebuild parts of it.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Deaths

title: 444 BC


label: 445 BCE

lead: The Plebeians demand the right to stand for election as consul but the Roman senate refused to grant them this right. Ultimately, a compromise is reached, and consular command authority is granted to Consular Tribunes ("Military Tribunes with Consular powers" or tribuni militares consulari potestate). A new law, the Lex Canuleia removes the ban on inter-marriage of the Roman classes, i.e. plebeian with patrician.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Science & Discovery
Births

title: 445 BC


label: 446 BCE

lead: Acragas declares war on Syracuse because of the return of Ducetius and is defeated by Syracuse in the Battle of the Himera River. In the Battle of Corbione, Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus leads Roman troops to a victory over the Aequi of north-east Latium and the Volsci of southern Latium. Ducetius, the Hellenised leader of the Siculi, an ancient people of Sicily, returns from exile in Corinth to Sicily and colonises Cale Acte on the north coast with Greek and Siculi settlers.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Births
Deaths

title: 446 BC


label: 447 BCE

lead: Pericles leads Athenian forces in the expulsion of barbarians from the Thracian peninsula of Gallipoli, in order to establish Athenian colonists in the region. Thus Pericles starts a policy of cleruchy (klerouchos) or "out-settlements". This is a form of colonisation where poor and unemployed people are assisted to emigrate to new regions. A revolt breaks out in Boeotia as the oligarchs of Thebes conspire against the democratic faction in the city. The Athenians, under their general Tolmides, with 1000 hoplites plus other troops from their allies, march into Boeotia to take back the towns revolting against Athenian control. They capture Chaeronea, but are attacked and defeated by the Boeotians at Coronea. As a result, the Athenians are forced to give up control of Boeotia as well as Phocis and Locris, which all fall under the control of hostile oligarchs who quit the Delian League. Pericles commissions the architects Kallikrates and Iktinos to design a larger temple for the Parthenon and the construction begins on rebuilding the great temple of Athena (the Parthenon) on the Acropolis at Athens soon afterwards.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Technology & Infrastructure
Culture & Society

title: 447 BC


label: 448 BCE

lead: Following the co-optation of two patricians to the office of Tribune of the Plebs, the tribune Lucius Trebonius Asper introduces the Lex Trebonia, a law forbidding tribunes from co-opting their colleagues in the future. Pericles leads the Athenian army against Delphi to restore the sanctuary of the oracle of Delphi to Phocis. The Athenians begin constructing the middle component of the Long Walls from their main city to its port of Piraeus.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Technology & Infrastructure
Births

title: 448 BC


label: 449 BCE

lead: Pericles places the Athenian sculptor Phidias in charge of all the artistic aspects of his reconstruction program. Construction begins on the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, while the Athenian Senate commissions Callicrates to construct a temple to Athena Nike on the Acropolis. Herodotus completes his History, which records the events concerning the Persian War. The Law of the Twelve Tables (developed by the Decemvirates) is formally promulgated in 450 B.C. The Twelve Tables are literally drawn up on twelve ivory tablets which are posted in the Forum Romanum so that all Romans can read and know them.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Technology & Infrastructure
Health & Medicine
Climate & Environment
Deaths

title: 449 BC


label: 450 BCE

lead: During the siege Cimon dies and command of the fleet is given to Anaxicrates, who leaves Citium to engage the Phoenician fleet in the Battle of Salamis in Cyprus. The Greek fleet is victorious against the Persians and their allies and then returns to Athens. Myron makes a bronze statue called The Discus Thrower (Discobolus). A Roman copy is now kept at Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome (approximate date). The Severe (Early Classical) period of sculpture ends in Ancient Greece and is succeeded by the Mature Classical period (approximate date).

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Economy & Finance
Technology & Infrastructure
Crime & Justice
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 450 BC


label: 46 BCE

lead: The Romans had to periodically add a leap month every few years to keep the calendar year in sync with the solar year but had missed a few with the chaos of the civil wars of the late republic. Julius Caesar added Mercedonius (23 days) and two other intercalary months (33 and 34 days respectively) to the 355-day lunar year, to recalibrate the calendar in preparation for his calendar reform, which went into effect in 45 BC. The resulting calendar year, the longest calendar year in recorded history, lasted 445 days – nearly 80 days longer than the sidereal year (the orbit of Earth around the Sun) – and was nicknamed the annus confusionis ("Year of Confusion").

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Health & Medicine
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 46 BC


label: 451 BCE

lead: Following the report of a three-man commission into the design of Roman law, the patricians set up in Rome a Board of Ten, the Decemviri. The first Decemviri, composed entirely of patricians is led by consuls Appius Claudius Crassus and Titus Genucius Augurinus. The first ten codes of the Roman Law of the Twelve Tables are completed by the first Decemvirate. The Persian fleet moves against a rebellious Cyprus to restore order. Kimon, who returns to favour, though not to power, in Athens, plans an expedition to help Cyprus. He gains Pericles' support. Hostilities among the Greek states come to a formal end with the agreement to the Five Years' Truce. Kimon negotiates a five year truce with Sparta, in which Athens agrees to abandon its alliance with Argos, while Sparta promises to give up its alliance with Thebes. During the same year Argos signs the first "Thirty-Years Peace" with Sparta.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief

title: 451 BC


label: 452 BCE

lead: An outbreak of plague spreads throughout Italy.

sections:
Health & Medicine
Deaths

title: 452 BC


label: 453 BCE

lead: The Chinese city of Jinyang is severely flooded in the Battle of Jinyang, where the elite families of Jin, Zhao, Zhi, Wei and Han fight. The Wei and the Han swap allegiances to side with Zhao and eliminate the Zhi house, ending the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. Achaea, on the southern shore of the Corinthian Gulf, becomes part of what is effectively now the Athenian Empire. The Delian League had changed from an alliance into an empire clearly under the control of Athens. Pericles, the ruler of Athens, bestows generous wages on all Athens' citizens who serve as jurymen on the Heliaia (the supreme court of Athens).

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Crime & Justice
Deaths

title: 453 BC


label: 454 BCE

lead: The Roman Plebs, suffering from a number of economic and financial ills, force the city’s patricians to begin the reform and codification of the law. As a first act, a three-man commission is sent to Athens to study that city's laws. Mahavira attains Kevala Jnana at the age of 43, according to the Śvetāmbara branch of Jain philosophy. Hostilities between Segesta and Selinunte, two Greek cities on Sicily, take place over access to the Tyrrhenian Sea.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Crime & Justice
Culture & Society

title: 454 BC


label: 455 BCE

lead: Euripides presents his earliest known tragedy, Peliades, in the Athenian festival of Dionysia. Athens, under Athenian general Tolmides, sends 100 ships around the Peloponnesus and they set fire to the Spartan naval base at Gythion. As a result, Athens gains the agreement of the Achaean cities to join the Delian League. Athenian forces then go on to attack the Spartan allies on the Corinthian Gulf. Athens is now able to confine Sparta to the southern Peloponnesus. The Athenians suffer a severe defeat in Egypt at the hands of the Persians. After being cut off in the Nile Delta, the Athenian fleet is defeated, and the Athenian army retreats across the Sinai Desert to Byblos before its remnants are rescued. The Egyptian rebel Inaros is crucified by the Persians. The Athenians decide against any further military activity in Egypt.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Culture & Society

title: 455 BC


label: 456 BCE

lead: The temple of Zeus in Olympia is finished. The first of the Athenian sculptor Phidias' monuments to Athena, the bronze Athena Promachos, is placed on the Athenian Acropolis, measuring about 9 metres high.

sections:
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 456 BC


label: 457 BCE

lead: Athens, the leader of the Delian League, comes into conflict with Corinth and its ally Sparta (leader of the Peloponnesian League) over Megara. Nicomedes of Sparta, regent for King Pleistoanax, leads an army of 11,500 hoplites into Boeotia to help Thebes put down a rebellion by Phocis. The Zeus Temple at Olympia is completed. The forty-foot statue of Zeus inside it becomes one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Athenian forces block the routes back to the Peloponnese, so the Spartans decide to remain in Boeotia and await the Athenian attack. The Athenians and their allies, with 14,000 men under the command of Myronides, meet the Spartans at Battle of Tanagra. The Spartans win the battle, but they lose many men and so are unable to follow up on their victory.

title: 457 BC


label: 458 BCE

lead: The Athenian playwright Aeschylus completes his trilogy The Oresteia (which comprise Agamemnon, Choephoroi (The Libation Bearers) and The Eumenides). Pericles continues Ephialtes' democratising activities by making the archonship a paid office and the lower class of Athenian citizens eligible to hold the office. Aegina joins the Peloponnesian alliance, but their combined fleet is defeated by the Athenians in the Battle of Aegina. The Athenians, under the command of Leocrates, land on the island of Aegina and besiege and defeat the city. Aegina is forced to pay tribute to Athens.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Culture & Society
Deaths

title: 458 BC


label: 459 BCE

lead: The Sicilian town of Morgantina was destroyed by Ducetius, Hellenised leader of the Siculi (according to Diodorus Siculus). The Aequi occupied Tusculum. In response to the threat, the Roman Senate decided to send an army to help the allied city, under the command of consul Lucius Cornelius Maluginensis. In addition, the consul Fabius Vibulanus, who was at that point besieging Antium, moved his forces to attack Tusculum. The Tusculans were able to recapture their city. A truce was then arranged with the Aequi. Athens allied itself with the city state of Megara which was under pressure from Corinth. This alliance leads to war between Corinth and Athens. The first battle of the war, at Haliesis in the Gulf of Argolis, resulted in a Corinthian victory, but the next battle, the battle of Cecryphalea (modern Angistrion), went Athens' way.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Crime & Justice

title: 459 BC


label: 460 BCE

lead: Ducetius, a Hellenised leader of the Siculi, an ancient people of Sicily, takes advantage of the confusion that follows the collapse of the tyranny in Syracuse and other Sicilian states. With the support of the Syracusan democracy, he drives out the colonists of the former tyrant Hieron from Catana and restores it to its original inhabitants. The construction of a sculpture of a Young Warrior (subsequently found in the sea off Riace, Italy) is begun and completed approximately ten years later. It is now preserved at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Reggio Calabria, Italy. A statue of Apollo is cast (approximate date), of which today remains one leg, preserved at the Louvre, and the head, known as the Chatsworth Head, preserved at the British Museum.

sections:
Conflict & Security
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
Technology & Infrastructure
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 460 BC


label: 47 BCE

lead: Caesar and his ally Cleopatra VII of Egypt defeat the forces of the rival Egyptian Queen Arsinoe IV in the Battle of the Nile. Ptolemy is killed; Caesar, with the aid of Mithridates I of the Bosporus, then relieves his besieged forces in Alexandria. Caesar defeats Pharnaces II of Pontus, king of the Bosphorus, in the Battle of Zela (the war Caesar tersely describes as veni, vidi, vici). Caesar's invasion of Africa, against Metellus Scipio and Labienus, Caesar's former lieutenant in Gaul.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
Religion & Belief
Culture & Society
Births
Deaths

title: 47 BC


label: 461 BCE

lead: Ephialtes is murdered by Aristodicus of Tanagra in Boeotia, who is said to have acted on behalf of members of the Athenian oligarchy. Ephialtes, with the support of Pericles, reduces the power of the Athenian Council of Areopagus (filled with ex-archons and so a stronghold of oligarchy) and transfers them to the people, i.e. the Council of Five Hundred, the Assembly and the popular law courts. The office of Judge is made a paid position and is recruited by lot from a list to which every citizen can have his name added. In Athens, Ephialtes and Pericles finally get agreement to the ostracism of Kimon, who had become unpopular for his unsuccessful pro-Spartan policy.

sections:
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Religion & Belief
Crime & Justice
Deaths

title: 461 BC