Ancient Greece Timeline

Agamemnon

1524 BCE

The king of Mycenae and leader of the Greek army in the Trojan War of Homer's Illiad. He is presented as a great warrior but selfish ruler, famously upsetting his invincible champion Achilles and so prolonging the war and suffering of his men.

First Olympic Games

776 BCE

A competition of athletes from all around Greece. Held at Olympia in the Greek city-state of Elis.

Rise of the Tyrants

650 BCE

Many different areas of Greece, tyrants (a ruler who seized power unconstitutionally or inherited such power) began ruling many areas.

Draco’s Code of Law

620 BCE

The Draconian Law was created by King Draco for the Athenian people. It was harsh due to the fact that many things enabled the Death Penalty, including Minor Crimes

Xerxes

519 BCE

The fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire. He is best known for his massive invasion of Greece from across the Hellespont, a campaign marked by the battles of Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea.

Democracy

508 BCE

Led by Cleisthenes, Athenians established what is generally held as the first democracy.

Pericles

495 BCE

Was a Athenian statesman. Under his leadership Athenian democracy and the Athenian empire flourished, making Athens the political and cultural focus of Greece between the Greco-Persian and Peloponnesian wars.

First Persian War

492 BCE

Stemmed from a revolt by Greek Ionians. It was instigated by Aristagoras, economic burdens, and a feeling of being treated unfairly by the Empire. The Greeks overall won the battle

Battle of Marathon

490 BCE

It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius I. Was fought because the Persian army wanted to defeat the Greek city-states that supported the uprising in, Ionia.

Second Persian War

480 BCE

King Xerxes I of Persia sought to conquer all of Greece. The invasion was in response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece at the Battle of Marathon, which ended Darius I's attempts to subjugate Greece.

Battle of Thermopylae

480 BCE

A battle fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas I of Sparta, and the Achaemenid Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece.

Socrates

470 BCE

A Greek philosopher from Athens, credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. The first moral philosopher of the Western ethical tradition of thought.

Parthenon Completion

438 BCE

Directed by the Athenian statesman Pericles, the Parthenon was built by the architects Ictinus and Callicrates under the supervision of the sculptor Phidias. It was a symbol of the power, wealth and elevated culture of Athens.

Peloponnesian War

431 BCE

Fought in ancient Greece between Athens and Sparta. Sparta feared of the growing power and influence of the Athenian Empire, thus starting a war.

Plato

428 BCE

Athenian philosopher during the Classical period in Ancient Greece, founder of the Platonist school of thought, and the Academy, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world.

Catapult

400 BCE

Ancient siege machine that could hurl heavy objects or shoot arrows with great force and for considerable distances.

The Academy in Athens

387 BCE

Founded and created by Plato. Aristotle studied there for twenty years before founding his own school, the Lyceum.

Aristotle

385 BCE

Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Lyceum, the Peripatetic school of philosophy, and the Aristotelian tradition.

Phillip II

382 BCE

The king of the kingdom of Macedon. Said to have restored eternal peace in his country

Alexander the Great

356 BCE

The king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty. His reign was the beginning of a new era in history known as the Hellenistic Age.

Battle of Chaeronea

338 BCE

Philip II and his son Alexander claimed a decisive victory, effectively uniting Greece under their control. The battle represented the end of independent Greek city-states, and led to the formation of the Macedonian Empire.

League of Corinth

338 BCE

A confederation founded by Phillip II after the Battle of Chaeronea and succeeded by Alexander the Great

Homer

12 BCE

He is famous for the epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey, which have had an big effect on Western culture, but very little is known about the poems alleged author.

Darius I

550

The third Persian King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire. Noted for his administrative genius, his great building projects, and his benevolence toward the diverse peoples under his sovereignty.