Timeline of Ancient Greece

This page is a Timeline of Ancient Greece

1000-700: Synoikismos of Athens, people of Attica were willing to transfer their allegiance to one city, Athens, because of Theseus
683[?]: office of Archon established King was emasculated
632: Cylon, Athenian noble, seizes Acropolis and tries to make himself king, fails
621[?]: Draco, Athenian lawgiver, issues code of laws where everything is punishable by death -- Draconian
594[?]: Solon, Athenian statesman, becomes Archon, captures Salamis from Megarians, establishes Timocracy, rule by the richest, constitutional reforms, more vote and trade, abolishes slavery, Know Thyself
590[?]: Sappho, Greek poetess and priestess, flourishes on island of Lesbos
565[?]: Pisistratus, Athenian general, organizes Diakrioi[?], party of poor people
561[?]: Pisistratus takes power first time, driven out by Lycurgus who leads nobles
559: Pisistratus restored by help of Megacles[?]
556: Pisistratus expelled, makes fortune from Thracian mines
546: Croesus, rich king of Lydia, killed at Sardis by Persians
546: Pisistratus restored by Thessaly and Lygdamos[?] of Naxos
527: Pisistratus dies, succeeded by sons Hippias[?] and Hipparchus[?]
525: Persian Darius I, son-in-law of Cyrus the Great takes Egypt
507: Cleisthenes[?], Greek reformer, takes power, increases democracy
490: Themistocles and Miltiades, Athenians, defeat Darius at Marathon, Phidippides runs with news
484: Aeschylus, Athenian playwright, wins Athenian Prize
480: Leonidas, Thespian, makes sacrifice of 300 Spartans at Thermopylae so main force can escape, Xerxes son of Darius is leading the Persians
480: Battle of Salamis - Themistocles, Athenian general, lures Persians into Bay of Salamis, Xerxes loses and goes home, leaves behind Mardonius[?]
479: Pausanius, Greek general routs Mardonius[?] at Plataea
479: Battle of Mycale[?] frees Greek colonies in Asia. After the Battle of Salamis, Athens set up the Delian League, treasury on island of Delos, a confederacy of cities around the Aegean[?]. It was intended as a military defense association against Persia but was turned into an empire, collecting tribute and deciding policy of its associates. Sparta formed rival Peloponnesian League
476-462: Cimon elected general each year, he was victorious over Persia and then enforced military power on Delian League
474: Pindar, Greek poet moves to Thebes from court at Syracuse
471: Themistocles ostracized
468: Sophocles, Greek playwright, defeats Aeschylus for Athenian Prize
461: Cimon ostracized
457: Pericles, Athenian statesman begins Golden Age, he was taught by Anaxagoras, who believed in dualistic Universe and atoms
456: Aeschylus dies
449: Herodotus, Greek Historian, writes History of Greco-Persian War from 490-479
448: Ictinus[?] and Callicrates[?], Greek architects rebuild Acropolis from Persain destruction
441: Euripides, Greek playwright, wins Athenian prize
440: Heraclitus, Greek philospher, believes everything is mutable
435: Phidias, Greek sculptor, completes Zeus at Elis 1 of 7 wonders
433: Corinth and Sparta Megara[?] and Aegini[?] also ally against Corfu and Athens Rhegium[?] and Leontini also
432: End of Golden Age, Peloponnesian Wars begin Athens under Pericles blockades Potidaea[?], Corfu declares war on Corinth
431: Sparta led by Archidamus II sets out to destroy Athens
431: Empedocles, Greek doctor, believes body has 4 humors
430: Failed peace mission by Athens, bubonic plague year, Sparta takes no prisoners
430: Leucippus, Greek philospher, believes every natural event has natural cause
429: Phormio[?], Atheinian admiral, wins at Chalcis
429: Pericles dies of bubonic plague
429: Hippocrates, Greek doctor, believes diseases have physical cause
428: Mitylene[?] rebels, chief city of Lesbos
427: Archidamus II dies, Alcidas[?], Greek admiral sent to help Lesbos, raids Ionia and flees after seeing Athenian might
427: Mitylene[?] surrenders to Athens, Plataeans[?] surrender to Athens
427: Aristophanes, Greek playwright, wins Athenian Prize
426: Corfu secures island for Athens
426: Demosthenes, Athenian general, and Cleon, Athenian demagogue, revitalizes Athenian forces, makes bold plans opposed by Nicias, his first military campaign barely succeeds
425: Athenian fleet bottles up Spartan navy at Navarino Bay[?], Nicias resigns
424: Syracuse sends Athenians home
424: Pagondas[?] of Thebes crushes Athenian army at Delium[?], Brasidas a Spartan general makes a successful campaign, Cleon exiles Thucydides for 20 years for arriving late
423: Truce of Laches[?] supposed to stop Brasidas but doesn't, Nicias leads Athenian forces in retaking Mende[?]
422: Cleon meets Brasidas outside of Amphipolis, both are killed
421: Peace of Nicias brings temporary end to war, but Alcibiades, a nephew of Pericles, makes anti-Sparta alliance
420: Quadruple alliance of Athens, Argus, Mantinea[?], and Elis confronts Spartan-Boeotian alliance
419: King Agis, ruler of Sparta, attacks Argus, makes treaty
418: Mantinea[?], greatest land battle of war, gives Sparta victory over Argus, which broke treaty, Alcibiades thrown out, alliance broken
416: Alcibiades makes plans, is restored to power
415: Hermai are mutilated in Athens, Alcibiades accused, asks for inquiry, told to set sail for battle, is condemned to death in absentia, he defects to Sparta
414: Lemachus[?], Athenian commander killed at Syracuse
413: Nicias and Demosthenes killed at Syracuse
412: Alcibiades is thrown out of Sparta, conspires to come back to Athens
411: Democracy ends in Athens by Antiphon, Peisander[?], and Phrynichus[?], overthrown by Theramenes, Constitution of the 5000[?], Athenian navy recalls Alcibiades, confirmed by Athenians
410: After several successes, Athenian demagogue Cleophon[?] rejects Sparta peace overtures
409: Byzantium recaptured by Alcibiades for Athens
408: Alcibiades reenters Athens in triumph, Lysander, a Spartan commander, builds fleet at Ephesus
407: Lysander begins destruction of Athenian fleet, Alcibiades stripped of power
406: Callicratides[?], Spartan naval leader, loses Battle of Arginusae[?] over blockade of Mitylene[?] harbor, Sparta sues for peace, rejected by Cleophon[?]
405: Lysander captures Athenian fleet, Spartan king Pausanius lays siege to Athens, Cleophon[?] executed, Corinth and Thebes demand destruction of Athens
404: Athens capitulates Apr 25 Theramenes secures terms, prevents total destruction of Athens, Theramenes and Alcibiades are killed
401: Thucydides, Greek historian, leaves account of Golden Age and Pelopennesian War[?] at his death
399: Socrates, Greek philospher, condemned to death for corrupting youth
347: Plato, Greek philospher, founds Academy
342: Aristotle, Greek philosopher, begins teaching Alexander, son of Philip of Macedon
338: Philip of Macedon defeats Athens and Thebes in last struggle for Greek Independence at Battle of Cheronea[?] Aug 2
336: Alexander succeeds father, who was assassinated at the wedding feast of his daughter
333: Alexander defeats Persians at Battle of Issus, Oct, but Darius III escapes
332: Alexander conquers Egypt
331: at Battle of Arbela[?] Oct 1, Alexander end Achaemenid Dynasty and takes Persian Empire
330: Democritus, Greek philosopher, develops Atomic theory, believes cause and necessity, nothing comes out of nothing

329: Alexander conquers Samarkand
327: Alexander invades Northern India[?], but army is tired so doesn't pursue it
323: Alexander dies, his generals vie for power in Wars of the Diadochi[?] Antigonus- Macedonia, Antipater- Macedonia, Seleucus- Babylonia and Syria, Ptolemy- Egypt, Eumenes[?]- Macedonia, Lysimachus, later Antipaters son Cassander also vies for power
316: Meander, Greek playwright, wins Athenian prize
300: Euclid, Greek mathematician, publishes Elements, treating both geometry and number theory (see also Euclidean algorithm)
295: Athens falls to Demetrius, Lachares[?] killed
265: Archimedes, Greek mathematician, develops screw, specific gravity, center of gravity; anticipates discoveries of integral calculus

Timeline of Ancient Greece

See also