Ancient Greece

Homer

800 BCE

Homer creates his works Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems which are the central works of ancient Greek literature

Archaic Period

Period: 800 BCE to 480 BCE

Olympics

776 BCE

Traditional date for the first historic Olympics

Polydorus becomes king of Sparta.

754 BCE

Polydorus is known for supposedly supplementing the 'Great Rhetra' of Sparta. According to the Greek biographer Plutarch (writing roughly 700 years after the Spartan king), Polydorus and his co-king Theopompus changed the constitution of Sparta so that the Kings and the Gerousia (28 chosen men above the age of 60) could veto decisions made by the Spartan Apella (the male citizen body)

The First Messenian War

743 BCE

The First Messenian War was a war between Messenia and Sparta. It began in 743 BC and ended in 724 BC, according to the dates given by Pausanias. Outcome: Loss of sovereignty by Messenia; transfer of land ownership to the Spartans

Lelantine War

710 BCE

The Lelantine War is the modern name for a military conflict between the two ancient Greek city states Chalcis and Eretria in Euboea which took place in the early Archaic period, between c. 710 and 650 BC

The second Messenian war

685 BCE

The Second Messenian War was a war between the Ancient Greek states of Messenia and Sparta. It started around 40 years after the end of the First Messenian War with the uprising of a slave rebellion. This war lasted from 685 to 668 BC. Outcome: Messenia remains under Spartan control

In Athens the archon (magistrate) Solon lays the foundations for democracy

594 BCE

Solon was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet, who is credited with restructuring the social and political organisation of Athens and thereby laying the foundations for Athenian democracy. Such were his accomplishments that, in later centuries, he became a sort of semi-mythical founding father figure who had set Athens on the path to the glory and prosperity the city enjoyed in the Classical period.

Persian conquest of Ionian Greek city-states

546 BCE

Persia, under the rule of Darius (r. 522-486 BCE), was expanding into mainland Europe and had subjugated Ionia, Thrace, and Macedonia by the beginning of the 5th century BCE.

Cleisthenes, Greek reformer, takes power, increases democracy.

507 BCE

Cleisthenes was a noble Athenian of the Alcmaeonid family. He is credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing. For these accomplishments, historians refer to him as "the father of Athenian democracy."

Ionian Rebelling

499 BCE

Ionian cities rebel against Persian rule

Persian Wars

490 BCE

The Persian Wars refers to the conflict between Greece and Persia in the 5th century BCE which involved two invasions by the latter in 490 and 480 BCE. Several of the most famous and significant battles in history were fought during the Wars, these were at Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea, all of which would become legendary. The Greeks were, ultimately, victorious and their civilization preserved.