Chronology of 1,000 BC to 476 AD

1,000 BC
1,000–750 BC – The Dark Age in Greece

c. 1000 BC – proto-Thracians in the Balkans from which Dacians and Thracians develop

c. 950–900 BC – migration of Arameans and Suteans into Babylonia; in the late 10th or early 9th century BC the Chaldeans followed

965–925 BC – traditional date of Solomon, king of the ancient Israelites

911–612 BC – the Neo-Assyrian Empire:

Kings of Assyria
911–891 BC – Adad-nirari II
891–884 BC – Tukulti-Ninurta II
883–859 BC – Ashurnasirpal II
859–824 BC – Shalmaneser III
824–811 BC – Shamshi-Adad V
811– 808 BC – Shammurāmat (or Sammuramat), regent
811–783 BC – Adad-nirari III
783–773 BC – Shalmaneser IV
772–755 BC – Ashur-dan III
755–745 BC – Ashur-nirari V
745–727 BC – Tiglath-Pileser III
727–722 BC – Shalmaneser V
722–705 BC – Sargon II
705–681 BC – Sennacherib
681–669 BC – Esarhaddon
668–c. 627 BC – Ashurbanipal
c. 631–c. 627 BC – Ashur-etil-ilani
626 BC – Sin-shumu-lishir
c. 627 – 612 BC – Sinsharishkun
612–c. 609 BC – Ashur-uballit II (ruled from the city of Harran)

900 BC

c. 900–700 BC – time of the Villanovan culture proper (Villanovan II), which developed to Etruscan culture

c. 900–800 BC – Scythians (Eastern Iranian speakers) migrate into southern Russia

860–590 BC – the era of the kingdom of Urartu (or Kingdom of Ararat or Van), an Iron Age kingdom situated on Lake Van in the Armenian Highlands. See map

859–824 BC – reign of Shalmaneser III

850 BC – the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III conquers Babylon and makes it king subject to Assyria

811– 808 BC – Shammurāmat (or Sammuramat) is regent of Assyria for her son Adad-nirari III; she becomes the legendary queen Semiramis in Greek myth

800 BC

c. 800 BC – possible migration of Tyrsenian-speakers from north-west Anatolia to Lemnos (with the Lemnian language)

800–500 BC – Tyrsenian culture on Lemnos

c. 800–c. 500 BC – Hallstatt culture in Western and Central Europe, within which was the Proto-Celtic homeland

c. 800 BC – Iranian speakers who became the Medes and Persians migrate into Iran?

776 BC – traditional date of the first Olympic Games

760–656 BC – the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty of Egypt (or the Nubian Dynasty or the Kushite Empire), the last dynasty of the Third Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt

760–740 BC – time of Eumelus of Corinth, a semi-legendary early Greek poet, who supposedly wrote the Titanomachy, Corinthiaca, Europia (Bougonia), and Return from Troy

750–650 BC – time of Hesiod, author of Works and Days, Theogony, and Shield of Heracles

750–480 BC – the Archaic Period in Greece

750–700 BC – Homeric poems the Iliad and Odyssey written down

747–721 BC – rule of Piye, the Kushite king and founder of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty of Egypt who ruled from Napata in Nubia

743–724 BC – the First Messenian War between Messenia and Sparta

738 BC – Tiglath-Pileser III occupies Philistia and invaded Israel

732 BC – Assyria takes the Aramean state of Damascus, deporting many of its inhabitants

c. 728 – the Kushite Nubian ruler Piye invades Upper and Lower Egypt

727 BC – Babylonia becomes independent of Assyria

722 BC – Shalmaneser V dies during the siege of Samaria; Sargon II takes Samaria, ending the northern Kingdom of Israel and deporting 27,000 people into captivity

716–678 BC – rule of Gyges, founder of the Mermnad dynasty of Lydian kings

c. 714 BC – the Cimmerians (from the Pontic steppe) attacked Urartu

c. 710–650 BC – the Lelantine War, the war between Chalcis and Eretria in Euboea over the control of the fertile Lelantine Plain on the island of Euboea; many other city states join in

705 BC – the Cimmerians defeated by Assyrian forces under Sargon II; the Cimmerians conquered Phrygia in 696/5

700 BC

c. 700 BC – dating of Hesiod’s Works and Days and Theogony

687 BC – office of archon is established in Athens

685–668 BC – the Second Messenian War between Messenia and Sparta, after a helot slave rebellion

679 BC – Cimmerians and Scythians cross the Taurus Mountains and attack Assyrian colonies in Cilicia

677 BC – Esarhaddon sacks Sidon

673 BC – Esarhaddon raids Egypt

671 BC – Assyrian invasion of Egypt by Esarhaddon; Esarhaddon drives Pharaoh Taharqa back to Nubia

664–610 BC – rule of Psamtik I (Psammeticus), the first of Saite or Twenty-Sixth Dynasty of Egypt

663 BC – Assyrian invasion of Egypt; sack of Thebes

652 BC – the Cimmerians sacked Sardis, the capital of Lydia

645–560 BC – Sparta fights wars with Tegea

632 BC – the Athenian aristocrat Cylon invades Attica from Megara

626–539 BC – Neo-Babylonian empire

c. 619 BC – the Cimmerians are defeated by Alyattes of Lydia

612 BC – alliance of Medes, Babylonians and Susianians conquer the Assyrian capital Nineveh

610–595 BC – the reign of Necho II, a Pharaoh of the 26th Dynasty

609 BC – battle of Carchemish

c. 609 BC – Necho II (610–595) constructs a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea; he also founds Tell el-Maskhuta

c. 605–c. 562 BC – reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire

600 BC

590–580 BC – the reforms of Solon (c. 638–c.558 BC) in ancient Athens

559–530 BC – reign of Cyrus the Great

546–528/27 BC – the tyrant Peisistratos controlled Athens

539 BC – Babylon conquered by Cyrus the Great

528/27 BC–514 BC – rule of the tyrant Hipparchus (528/27 BC–514 BC) and Hippias (528/27 BC–511/10 BC) in Athens

514 BC – assassination of the Athenain tyrant Hipparchus

511/10 BC – the tyrant Hippias from Athens expelled by the Spartans

507–501 BC – Cleisthenes takes power and reforms Athenian democracy

500 BC

480–322 BC – the Greek Classical Period

480–479 BC – the Persian invasion of Greece

480 BC – lions (the Panthera leo europaea) common in Greece; by 300 BC they were dying out and were extinct by c. 100 BC

478 BC – the Delian League founded as an alliance of Greek states

460–445 – First Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta:

460 BC – the battle of Oenoe

457 BC – Athenians defeated at Tanagra

457 BC – the battle of Oenophyta and defeat of Aegina

c. 451 – five year truce

449–448 BC – Second Sacred War

447 BC – the revolt of Boeotia from Athens and Athenian defeat at Coronea

446–445 BC – conflict ends with the Thirty Years’ Peace

431–404 BC – the Peloponnesian War in Greece

431–404 BC – the Peloponnesian War in ancient Greece:

431–421 BC – the Archidamian war; Sparta invaded Attica and Athens uses naval power to attack Sparta; ended with the Peace of Nicias (421 BC)

421 BC – Peace of Nicias

421–413 – the middle phase of the Peloponnesian War

415–413 BC – the Sicilian Expedition by Athens to Sicily

413–404 – the Decelean War (or Ionian War); Sparta incites revolts within Athens’ empire

405 BC – the Athenian fleet defeated at battle of Aegospotami

404 BC – the Thirty Tyrants in Athens

404–371 BC – the Spartan hegemony in Greece; ended by the Battle of Leuctra (371 BC)

400 BC
396–395 BC – the king of Sparta Agesilaus II invades Asia Minor

395–387 BC – the Corinthian War; the city states of Argos, Thebes, Corinth and Athens fight Sparta

387/386 – King’s Peace, peace settlement in Greece

379/378 – expulsion of the Spartan garrison from Thebes

378–355 BC – the Second Athenian League in Greece

371 BC – the Greek city state Thebes defeats Sparta at the battle of Leuctra

371–362 BC – the Theban hegemony in Greece; ended by the Battle of Mantinea (362 BC)

370–369 BC – Thebes liberates Messenia

362 BC – Athens and other Greek cities defeat Thebes in the battle of Mantinea

357–355 BC – the Social War in Greece, a rebellion against Athens by its allies in the Second Athenian League

359–336 BC – reign of Philip II of Macedon

356–346 BC – Third Sacred War; the city of Delphi seized by the Phocians

348 BC – Philip II captures Olynthos

346 BC – the Peace of Philocrates ends the Sacred war and conflict between Athens and Macedonia

338 BC – the Macedonian king Philip II defeats the Greeks at the Battle of Chaeronea

336 BC – the assassination of Philip II

336–323 BC – the reign of Alexander the Great

April/May–October 324 – Leosthenes supervises transport of mercenaries from Asia

320s323
11 June 323 – death of Alexander the Great

c. June 323–July 320 – Perdiccas as regent

June 323 – Athenian boule orders Leosthenes to enrol mercenaries

late July 323 – beginning of the Lamian War

July 323–322 BC – Lamian War

autumn 323 – beginning of the siege of Lamia

November 323–February 322 – siege of Antipater in Lamia

winter 323/322 – death of Leosthenes

322
winter/spring – death of Leonnatus when attempting to raise the siege in Lamia

spring 322 – Peithon defeats veterans

May/June 322 – Athenian fleet defeated by Cleitus at Amorgos

July 322 – Perdiccas in Cappadocia

July/August 322 – battle of Crannon

November 322 – death of Demosthenes

322/321 BC – democracy overthrown at Athens by Antipater

Athenian Political History
322/321 BC – democracy overthrown at Athens by Antipater
321–319/318 BC – regime of Phocion
319/318 BC – democratic revolution at Athens
spring 318 BC – democratic revolution at Athens and the overthrow of Phocion
May 318 – death of Phocion
spring 318–July 317 – restored democracy at Athens
July 317–307 BC – rule of the tyrant Demetrius of Phalerum at Athens
August 307 BC – Demetrius Poliorcetes captures Athens; Demetrius of Phalerum flees from Athens; nominal democracy restored
307–c. 300 – democracy at Athens
c. 300–295 – rule of the tyrant Lachares in Athens
summer 295 – Athens surrenders to Demetrius the Besieger
287–260 – Athenian democracy restored
260 – Antigonus Gonatas captures Athens and abolished democracy.

321
spring 321 – arrival of Nicaea and Cleopatra in Asia; marriage of Perdiccas and Nicaea

summer 321 – marriage of Adea and Philip III

310s320
spring 320 – beginning of the First Diadoch War

spring–c. July 320 – the First Diadoch War

May/June 320 – Eumenes defeats Neoptolemus and Craterus

c. July 320 – murder of Perdiccas in Egypt (spring or summer 320)

summer 320 – intervention by Antipater

August/September 320 – Triparadisus conference where Antipater becomes regent

14 November 320 – Seleucus enters Babylon

winter 320 – Eumenes in Celaenae for the winter; Alcetas defeats Asander

319
winter 319 – Antipater returns to Europe

spring 319 – Eumenes defeated by Antigonus and retreats to Nora

July 319 – Antigonus defeats Alcetas

summer 319 – death of Antipater; death of Demades; Polyperchon is regent

319/318 BC – democratic revolution at Athens; Cassander flees to Antigonus in Asia

318
spring 318 BC – democratic revolution at Athens and the overthrow of Phocion

spring 318 – Second Diadoch War; Ptolemy occupies Phoenicia and Syria

May 318 – death of Phocion; Cassander in the Piraeus

summer 318 – Eumenes in Cilicia; revolt of Peithon

autumn 318 – Antigonus defeats Polyperchon; Eumenes in Phoenica

winter 318 – Eumenes released from Nora

317
317–316 BC – production of the Dyskolos at the Lenaea

spring 317 – Cassander is regent; Eumenes in Susa

summer 317 – Cassander invades Macedonia

July 317 – Cassander (the king of Macedonia 305–297 BC) appoints Demetrius of Phalerum as ruler of Athens

July 317–307 BC – rule of the tyrant Demetrius of Phalerum at Athens

September 317 – Eumenes leaves Phoenicia for the East

between October–December 317 – murder of king Philip III Arrhidaeus and Eurydice

316
winter 316 – death of Olympias (High); Antigonus defeats Eumenes (High)

spring 316 – Eumenes takes control of armies of Upper Satrapies

May 316 – Eumenes arrives in Susa

late spring – Cassander invades Macedonia successfully; siege of Pydna begins

summer 316 – Seleucus’ flight to Egypt (High)

July 316 – battle of Coprates betwen Eumenes and Antigonus

August 316 – Antigonus in Media

October/November 316 – battle of Paraetacene

October 316–September 315 – Cassander rebuilds Thebes

December 316 – battle of Gabene

315
January 315 – death of Eumenes

spring 315 – murder of Olympias by Cassander after siege of Pydna ends (Low Chronology)

spring 315–December 311 – Third Diadoch War (High)

spring 315 – Cassander founds Thessalonica

c. summer 315 – Cassander restores Thebes; Cassander invades the Peloponnesus

summer 315 – Seleucus’ flight to Egypt from Babylon

July 315 – Cassander at the Nemean games

summer 315 – Antigonus declares the freedom of Greece (High)

autumn 315 – Ptolemy seizes Cyprus

314
November 314 – fall of Tyre (High)

spring 314–winter 311 – Third Diadoch War (Low)

spring 314 – Third Diadoch War begins; Antigonus in Syria

summer 314 – proclamation of Tyre: Antigonus declares himself regent and declares the freedom of Greece (Low); Antigonus in Phoenicia; capture of Joppa and Gaza; siege of Tyre

winter 314–313 – Antigonus winters at Tyre

313
summer 313 – siege of Tyre ends

312

autumn 312 – battle of Gaza; Ptolemy in Greece

311
22 February 311 – Ptolemy controls Phoenicia and Palestine

May 311 – Babylonian war; Seleucus in Babylonia

13 May–1 June 311 – Seleucus arrives in Babylon

May–summer 311 – Ptolemy’s invasion of Syria

c. summer 311 – Nicanor (satrap of Media) and Euagoras (satrap of Aria) march on Babylon, but are defeated near the Tigris

autumn 311–310 – Seleucus takes Ecbatana, Susa, Elam, and Media

September 311 – Seleucus conquest of Media and Elam

winter 311 – peace treaty that ends Third Diadoch War

300–310310
spring 310 – Demetrius attacks Babylon unsucessfully

August 310 – Antigonus arrives in Babylon

309
March 309 – Antigonus leaves Babylon

spring 309 – Ptolemy conquers Cyprus

summer 309 – Antigonus attacks the countryside around Babylon

30/31 August 309 – Antigonus returns to Syria after losing a battle with Seleucus

August 309 – Ptolemy in Greece

autumn 309 – Antigonus in Syria

308
winter 308 – Ptolemy leaves Greece

spring 308 – Seleucus’ eastern expedition begins

307
spring 307–summer 301 – Fourth Diadoch War

June 307 – Seleucus in Bactria; liberation of Athens

307–300 – restored democracy at Athens

306
spring 306 – battle of Salamis

summer 306 – Antigonus the One-Eyed becomes king

305
spring 305 – Demetrius Poliorcetes begins the siege of Rhodes

spring 305–spring 304 – Demetrius Poliorcetes’ siege of Rhodes

304
304 BC – Polyperchon still alive

spring 304 – Demetrius Poliorcetes attacks Athens

spring 304–winter 302/301 – Demetrius Poliorcetes’ campaigns in Greece

summer–autumn 304 – Seleucus’ India war

summer 304 – armistice at Rhodes; Seleucus in India

autumn 304 – Demetrius the Besieger in Greece

302
spring 302–spring 301 – Fourth Diadoch War

summer 302 – Lysimachus invades Asia

summer–autumn 302 – Demetrius Poliorcetes’ campaign in Thessaly

winter 301 – armistice; Ptolemy in Syria

summer 301 – battle of Ipsus

autumn 301 – Lysimachus occupies Phrygia; Ptolemy occupies Phoenicia

300 BC
c. 300–295 – rule of the tyrant Lachares in Athens

290s297 – death of Cassander

c. spring 295–spring 294 – Demetrius Poliorcetes’ blockade of Athens

spring 294 – Demetrius Poliorcetes conquers Athens after a blockade

autumn 294 – Demetrius the Besieger proclaimed king of Macedonia

294–287 – rule of Demetrius the Besieger as king of Macedon

289 – Demetrius the Besieger defeats Pyrrhus

280s287–260 – Athenian democracy restored

summer 287 – Lysimachus and Pyrrhus divide Macedonia

283 – death of Demetrius the Besieger

January 282 – death of Ptolemy I

February 281 – battle of Corupedion; Lysimachus killed at the battle of Corupedium

September 281 BC – Seleucus I Nicator is assassinated in the Thracian Chersonese by by Ptolemy Keraunos near Lysimachia

September 281–261 BC – sole rule of the Seleucid king Antiochus I Soter

278 BC – Gauls invade Anatolia
275 BC – Antiochus I defeats Gauls using Indian war elephants
274–271 BC – First Syrian War
27 March 268 BC – Antiochus I lays the foundation for the Ezida Temple in Borsippa

278 BC – Gauls invade Anatolia

275 BC – Antiochus I defeats Gauls using Indian war elephants

274–271 BC – First Syrian War

27 March 268 BC – Antiochus I lays the foundation for the Ezida Temple in Borsippa

260 – Antigonus Gonatas captures Athens and abolished democracy

260–253 BC – Second Syrian War

246–241 BC – Third Syrian War

219–217 BC – Fourth Syrian War

300 BC–AD 300 – the Iron Age Yayoi period in Japan

250 BC–400 AD – Roman Warm Period or the Roman climatic optimum

1 AD

500 AD – Slavic-speaking people rapidly expand from a homeland in eastern Poland and western Ukraine

950–1250 AD – Medieval Warm Period.

Bronze Age
c. 3,300–1,200 BC – Bronze Age in Near East
c. 3,200–600 BC – Bronze Age in Europe
c. 3000–1200 BC – Bronze Age in South Asia

Iron Age
1,200 BC–500 BC – Iron Age in Ancient Near East
1,200 BC–1 BC – Iron Age in Europe
1,200 BC–200 BC – Iron Age in India
600 BC–200 BC – Iron Age in China

BIBLIOGRAPHY