Timeline Of Ancient Greece

All dates are BC .

Archaic Period

;776 :Traditional date for the first historic Olympic games.
; 757 The first Messenian War starts. (date disputed by Jerome , Pausanias and Diodorus ; this estimate is based on a reading of Diodorus' Spartan king lists and Pausanias' description of the war)
; reduced to 10 years. Members of the rulling family to hold the office starting with Charops. (dating based on Pausanias)
;754 : Polydorus becomes king of Sparta.
;738 :Alternate date for the end of the first Messenian War .
;735 : Perdiccas flees from Argos to Macedonia and conquers the land.
;734 : Polydorus sends colonists to Italy.
;727-717 : Hippomenes , archon of Athens,who killed his daughter's adulterer by yoking him up to his chariot and then locks his daughter up with a horse until she dies. (Pausanias and Aristotle )
; C. 725 Lelantine War between Chalcis and Eretria . Many Greek cities are allied with one or the other. Dates before this point uncertain.
;719 : Polydorus the king of Sparta is murdered by Polymarchus.
;716 :The reign of the Heraklid s over Lydia is ended when Candaules , known as Myrsilus to the Greeks, is murdered by Gyges because of his wife’s anger.
;690 : Pheidon becomes tyrant of Argos
; established. Any Athenian Citizen can be elected to office if they meet the requirements. Creon elected first annual archon. (dating based on Pausanias)
;685 :The second Messenian War begins
;665 :The second Messenian war ends
;656 : Cypselus subjects Corinth to tyranny
;645-560 : Spartan wars with Tegea all unsuccessful
;642 or 634 : Battus establishes a Greek colony in Cyrene in Libya
;, Athenian noble, seizes Acropolis and tries to make himself king, fails
; is introduced, first in Crete, as a means of population control and an educational modality
;, Athenian lawgiver, issues code of laws where everything is punishable by death – Draconian
;, Athenian statesman, becomes Archon , captures Salamis from Megarians , establishes Timocracy, rule by the richest, constitutional reforms, more vote and trade, abolishes slavery, Know Thyself
;, Greek poetess and priestess, flourishes on island of Lesbos
;, Athenian general, organizes Diakrioi , party of poor people

Late Archaic Period

; takes power in Athens for first time,
; driven out by Lycurgus who leads nobles
; restored by help of Megacles
;, rich king of Lydia , captured at Sardis by Persians
; expelled, makes fortune from Thracian mines
; restored by Thessaly and Lygdamos of Naxos
; dies, succeeded by sons Hippias and Hipparchus
;, son-in-law of Cyrus The Great takes Egypt
; becomes sole ruler afther the death of Hipparchus
; is killed
;, Greek reformer, takes power, increases democracy
; and Miltiades , Athenians, defeat Darius at Marathon , Phidippides runs with news
;, Athenian playwright, wins Athenian Prize

Classical Period

;, Spartan , makes sacrifice of 300 Spartans at the Battle Of Thermopylae so main force can escape, Xerxes son of Darius is leading the Persians
;
; - Themistocles , Athenian general, lures Persians into Bay of Salamis , Xerxes loses and goes home, leaves behind Mardonius
;, Greek general routs Mardonius at the Battle Of Plataea
; 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 Sea . 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
; elected general each year, he was victorious over Persia and then enforced military power on Delian League
;, Greek poet moves to Thebes from court at Syracuse
; Ostracized
;, Greek playwright, defeats Aeschylus for Athenian Prize
; ostracized
;, Athenian statesman begins Golden Age , he was taught by Anaxagoras , who believed in dualistic Universe and atoms
; dies
;, Greek Historian, writes History of Greco-Persian War from 490-479
; and Callicrates , Greek architects rebuild Acropolis from Persain destruction
;, Greek playwright, wins Athenian prize
;, Greek philosopher, believes everything is mutable
;, Greek sculptor, completes Zeus at Elis 1 of 7 wonders
;, Sparta , Megara and Aegina ally against Corfu , Athens , Rhegium , and Leontini
;s begin Athens under Pericles blockades Potidaea ( Battle Of Potidaea ), Corfu declares war on Corinth ( Battle Of Sybota )
; led by Archidamus II sets out to destroy Athens thus starting the Peloponnesian War
;, Greek doctor, believes body has 4 humors
;, Bubonic Plague year, Sparta takes no prisoners
;, Greek philosopher, believes every natural event has natural cause. Athenian Plague Appears in Athens.
;, Atheinian admiral, wins the Battle Of Chalcis
; dies of Athenian Plague, possibly Typhus or Bubonic Plague
;, Greek doctor, believes diseases have physical cause
; rebels, chief city of Lesbos
; dies, Alcidas , Greek admiral sent to help Lesbos , raids Ionia and flees after seeing Athenian might Athenian Plague returns
; surrenders to Athens , Plataeans surrender to Athens
;, Greek playwright, wins Athenian Prize
; secures island for Athens
;, Athenian general, and Cleon , Athenian demagogue, revitalizes Athenian forces, makes bold plans opposed by Nicias , his first military campaign barely succeeds
;, Nicias resigns
; sends Athenians home
; of Thebes crushes Athenian army at the Battle Of Delium , Brasidas a Spartan general makes a successful campaign, Cleon exiles Thucydides for 20 years for arriving late
; supposed to stop Brasidas but doesn't, Nicias leads Athenian forces in retaking Mende
; meets Brasidas outside of Amphipolis , both are killed ( Battle Of Amphipolis )
; brings temporary end to war, but Alcibiades , a nephew of Pericles , makes anti-Sparta alliance
;, Argos , Mantinea , and Elis confronts Spartan- Boeotia n alliance
;, ruler of Sparta , attacks Argos , makes treaty
;, greatest land battle of war, gives Sparta victory over Argos , which broke treaty, Alcibiades thrown out, alliance broken
; makes plans, is restored to power
;i are mutilated in Athens , Alcibiades accused, asks for inquiry, told to set sail for battle ( Sicilian Expedition ), is condemned to death in absentia, he defects to Sparta
;, Athenian commander killed at Syracuse
; and Demosthenes killed at Syracuse
; is thrown out of Sparta, conspires to come back to Athens
;, Peisander , and Phrynichus , overthrown by Theramenes , Constitution Of The 5000 , Athenian navy recalls Alcibiades , confirmed by Athenians
; rejects Sparta peace overtures
; recaptured by Alcibiades for Athens
; reenters Athens in triumph, Lysander , a Spartan commander, builds fleet at Ephesus
; begins destruction of Athenian fleet, Alcibiades stripped of power
;, Spartan naval leader, loses Battle Of Arginusae over blockade of Mitylene harbor, Sparta sues for peace, rejected by Cleophon
; captures Athenian fleet, Spartan king Pausanius lays siege to Athens, Cleophon executed, Corinth and Thebes demand destruction of Athens
; capitulates Apr 25 Theramenes secures terms, prevents total destruction of Athens, Theramenes and Alcibiades are killed
;, Greek historian, leaves account of Golden Age and Peloponnesian War at his death ( History Of The Peloponnesian War )
;, Greek philosopher, condemned to death for corrupting youth
;, Greek philosopher, founder of Academy , dies
;, Greek philosopher, begins teaching Alexander, son of Philip Of Macedon
; defeats Athens and Thebes in last struggle for Greek Independence at Chaeronea Aug 2

Hellenistic Period

; succeeds father, who was assassinated at the wedding feast of his daughter
;, Oct, but Darius III escapes
;
; Oct 1, Alexander ends Achaemenid Dynasty and takes Persian Empire
;, Greek philosopher, develops Atomic Theory , believes cause and necessity, nothing comes out of nothing

;
;, but his army is despondent and refuses to march further eastwards.
;- Macedon , Antipater - Macedon , Seleucus - Babylonia and Syria , Ptolemy - Egypt , Eumenes - Macedon , Lysimachus , later Antipater 's son Cassander also vies for power
;, Greek playwright, wins Athenian prize
;, Greek mathematician, publishes '' Elements ,'' treating both geometry and number theory (see also Euclidean Algorithm )
; falls to Demetrius , Lachares killed
;, Greek mathematician, develops Screw , Specific Gravity , Center Of Gravity ; anticipates discoveries of integral calculus

SEE ALSO

Hellenistic Greece

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Timeline Of Ancient Greece