Classical antiquity timeline (500 BC–AD 500)
The age of Athens and Rome, the Han dynasty and the great philosophers, from the Persian Wars to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
103 events, oldest first.
Timeline of Classical antiquity
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490 BC
The Battle of Marathon
Legend says a messenger ran to Athens with news of the victory, inspiring the modern marathon.
Ancient history
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480 BC
The Battle of Salamis
The Greek fleet lured the larger Persian navy into narrow straits.
Ancient history
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480 BC
The Battle of Thermopylae
The famous 300 Spartans fought alongside several thousand other Greeks.
Ancient history
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479 BC
The Battle of Plataea
It ended the Persian invasions of mainland Greece.
Ancient history
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432 BC
The Parthenon is completed
It has served as a temple, a church, a mosque and an Ottoman gunpowder store.
Ancient history
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431 BC
Pericles delivers his Funeral Oration
The speech praising Athenian democracy was recorded by Thucydides.
Ancient history
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c. 430 BC
Herodotus writes his Histories
He is often called the 'father of history'.
Art & literature history
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c. 429 BC
Sophocles' Oedipus the King is first performed
It lost the drama prize the year it was first performed.
Art & literature history
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404 BC
The Peloponnesian War ends
Sparta defeated Athens after 27 years of war.
Ancient history
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399 BC
Socrates is sentenced to death
Found guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens, he chose to drink hemlock rather than flee.
Ancient history
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c. 390 BC
The Gauls sack Rome
Legend says the sacred geese of Juno raised the alarm on the Capitol.
Ancient history
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c. 350 BC
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus is built
The tomb was so grand that every 'mausoleum' is named after it.
Ancient history
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343 BC
Aristotle begins tutoring Alexander the Great
Alexander was about 13 when Aristotle began teaching him.
Ancient history
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338 BC
Philip II of Macedon wins at Chaeronea
His son Alexander, aged 18, led the cavalry.
Ancient history
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333 BC
Alexander defeats Darius at Issus
Darius fled, leaving his mother, wife and children behind.
Ancient history
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331 BC
Alexander defeats Persia at Gaugamela
Alexander beat a much larger Persian army led by Darius III.
Ancient history
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331 BC
Alexander the Great founds Alexandria
It became one of the largest cities in the ancient world.
Ancient history
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330 BC
Alexander the Great burns Persepolis
The great Persian palace was looted and set on fire by Alexander's army.
Ancient history
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c. 325 BC
Pytheas sails to Britain
The Greek explorer's account is the earliest description of Britain.
History of exploration
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323 BC
Alexander the Great dies
He built an empire stretching from Greece to India and died aged just 32.
Ancient history
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c. 322 BC
Chandragupta founds the Maurya Empire
His empire covered most of the Indian subcontinent.
Ancient history
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312 BC
Work begins on Rome's Appian Way
Parts of the ancient road are still used today.
Ancient history
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c. 300 BC
Euclid writes his Elements
It was used to teach geometry for more than 2,000 years.
Ancient history
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c. 285 BC
The Library of Alexandria is founded
Ships docking in Alexandria reportedly had their books seized so they could be copied.
Ancient history
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c. 280 BC
The Lighthouse of Alexandria is completed
At over 100 metres tall, it was one of the tallest structures on Earth for centuries.
Ancient history
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c. 270 BC
Aristarchus says the Earth goes round the Sun
His idea came about 1,800 years before Copernicus.
Ancient history
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264 BC
The First Punic War begins
Rome built its first proper navy to fight Carthage.
Ancient history
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c. 260 BC
Emperor Ashoka embraces Buddhism
He had his edicts carved on rocks and pillars across India.
Ancient history
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c. 240 BC
Eratosthenes measures the Earth
He used shadows in two Egyptian cities and got remarkably close.
Ancient history
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240 BC
Halley's Comet is first recorded
Chinese astronomers recorded it, and it has been seen on every return since.
Science & technology history
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226 BC
An earthquake topples the Colossus of Rhodes
It stood for only about 54 years, but its ruins drew sightseers for centuries.
Ancient history
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221 BC
Qin Shi Huang unifies China
The first emperor standardised writing, coins and even the width of cart axles.
Ancient history
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218 BC
Hannibal crosses the Alps with elephants
He set out with 37 war elephants; very few survived the campaign.
Ancient history
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216 BC
Hannibal crushes Rome at Cannae
His encircling tactics are still studied in military academies today.
Ancient history
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c. 214 BC
Qin Shi Huang links up the Great Wall
Much of the wall standing today was built much later, under the Ming.
Ancient history
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212 BC
Archimedes dies in the siege of Syracuse
Legend says his last words were 'Do not disturb my circles.'
Ancient history
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c. 210 BC
The Terracotta Army is buried with China's first emperor
Each of the thousands of clay soldiers appears to have a different face.
Ancient history
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202 BC
Scipio defeats Hannibal at Zama
The victory ended the Second Punic War.
Ancient history
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202 BC
The Han dynasty begins in China
China's majority ethnic group still calls itself the Han.
Ancient history
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196 BC
The Rosetta Stone is carved
It repeats one decree in hieroglyphs, Demotic script and ancient Greek.
Ancient history
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146 BC
Rome destroys Carthage
Rome also destroyed the Greek city of Corinth in the very same year.
Ancient history
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138 BC
Zhang Qian sets out along the future Silk Road
His journeys west for the Han emperor helped open the Silk Road.
History of exploration
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100 BC
Julius Caesar is born
He was born into an old patrician family that claimed descent from the goddess Venus.
Ancient history
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c. 100 BC
The Antikythera mechanism is made
The bronze gear device predicted eclipses and planetary positions.
Ancient history
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c. 94 BC
Sima Qian completes his history of China
He is often called the father of Chinese history.
Art & literature history
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73 BC
Spartacus leads a slave revolt
His army of escaped slaves defeated several Roman armies.
Ancient history
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69 BC
Cleopatra is born
She lived closer in time to the Moon landing than to the building of the Great Pyramid.
Ancient history
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55 BC
Julius Caesar's first expedition to Britain
It was more of a reconnaissance than a conquest; the Romans invaded properly nearly a century later.
Ancient history
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52 BC
Caesar defeats Vercingetorix at Alesia
The victory completed Rome's conquest of Gaul.
Ancient history
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49 BC
Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon
'The die is cast,' he reportedly said, as he started a civil war.
Ancient history
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48 BC
Caesar defeats Pompey at Pharsalus
Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was killed.
Ancient history
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45 BC
The Julian calendar takes effect
To realign the seasons, the year before it lasted 445 days.
Ancient history
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44 BC
Julius Caesar is assassinated
He was stabbed 23 times on the Ides of March at a meeting of the Senate.
Ancient history
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31 BC
The Battle of Actium
Octavian's victory over Antony and Cleopatra left him master of the Roman world.
Ancient history
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30 BC
Cleopatra dies
Her death ended the Ptolemaic dynasty and made Egypt a Roman province.
Ancient history
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c. 19 BC
Virgil writes the Aeneid
Virgil asked for the unfinished poem to be burned, but Augustus refused.
Art & literature history
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AD 9
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
Germanic tribes wiped out three Roman legions.
Ancient history
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AD 14
Augustus dies
He reportedly asked friends whether he had played his part well in the comedy of life.
Ancient history
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AD 41
Emperor Caligula is assassinated
Roman writers claimed he planned to make his horse a consul.
Ancient history
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AD 43
Claudius invades Britain
The emperor brought war elephants with him to Britain.
Ancient history
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c. AD 50
Hero of Alexandria describes a coin-operated machine
His vending machine dispensed holy water when a coin was dropped in.
Ancient history
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c. AD 60
Boudica leads a revolt against Rome
Her forces burned Londinium, the Roman town that became London.
Ancient history
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AD 64
The Great Fire of Rome
The story that Nero fiddled as Rome burned is a myth - the fiddle hadn't been invented.
Ancient history
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AD 68
Nero dies
His death led to the 'Year of the Four Emperors'.
Ancient history
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AD 70
The Second Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed
Its Western Wall still stands today.
Ancient history
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AD 79
Mount Vesuvius buries Pompeii
Pliny the Younger's letters give the earliest detailed eyewitness account of a volcanic eruption.
Ancient history
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AD 80
The Colosseum opens
Its opening games lasted 100 days.
Ancient history
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c. AD 100
Roman soldiers write the Vindolanda tablets
They include a birthday party invitation sent by one officer's wife to another.
Ancient history
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AD 105
Cai Lun presents paper to the Chinese emperor
Paper took around a thousand years to reach Europe.
Ancient history
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AD 113
Trajan's Column is completed
Its spiral frieze would stretch about 200 metres if unrolled.
Ancient history
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AD 117
The Roman Empire reaches its greatest extent
Under Trajan, it stretched from Britain to the Persian Gulf.
Ancient history
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AD 122
Construction of Hadrian's Wall begins
It ran for 73 miles across northern England, from coast to coast.
Ancient history
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c. AD 126
The Pantheon in Rome is rebuilt
It is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.
Ancient history
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AD 142
Work begins on the Antonine Wall
It lay north of Hadrian's Wall, but the Romans abandoned it within about 20 years.
Ancient history
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c. AD 150
Ptolemy writes the Almagest
Its Earth-centred model of the universe was accepted for about 1,400 years.
Ancient history
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AD 161
Marcus Aurelius becomes emperor
His private notes, the Meditations, are still widely read.
Ancient history
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AD 165
The Antonine Plague begins
It may have killed millions across the Roman Empire.
Ancient history
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c. AD 200
Teotihuacan's Pyramid of the Sun is built
The city's original name is unknown; 'Teotihuacan' is what the Aztecs later called it.
Ancient history
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AD 211
Emperor Septimius Severus dies in York
He had come to Britain to campaign in Scotland.
Ancient history
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AD 212
Rome grants citizenship to all free men
Emperor Caracalla's decree may have been mainly to raise taxes.
Ancient history
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AD 220
The Han dynasty ends
China then split into the Three Kingdoms.
Ancient history
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AD 248
Rome celebrates its 1,000th birthday
Emperor Philip the Arab staged lavish games to mark the occasion.
Ancient history
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AD 260
Persia captures the Roman emperor Valerian
He was the first Roman emperor taken prisoner by an enemy.
Ancient history
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AD 271
Rome builds the Aurelian Walls
Long stretches of the 19 km walls still stand.
Ancient history
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AD 286
Diocletian splits the Roman Empire
He divided the empire into eastern and western halves.
Ancient history
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AD 312
Constantine wins at the Milvian Bridge
He said he saw a sign in the sky before the battle and later backed Christianity.
Ancient history
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AD 313
The Edict of Milan
It allowed Christians to worship freely across the Roman Empire.
Ancient history
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c. AD 320
The Gupta Empire is founded in India
Its era is often called India's golden age.
Ancient history
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AD 325
The Council of Nicaea
It produced the Nicene Creed, still recited in churches today.
Ancient history
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c. AD 330
Aksum adopts Christianity
The Ethiopian kingdom was one of the first states to adopt Christianity.
Ancient history
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AD 330
Constantinople becomes Rome's new capital
Constantine named the city after himself; today it is Istanbul.
Ancient history
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AD 380
Christianity becomes Rome's state religion
Emperor Theodosius I made it official.
Ancient history
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c. AD 393
The last ancient Olympic Games are held
The Games had run for more than a thousand years.
Ancient history
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AD 394
The last known hieroglyphic inscription is carved
After it, no one could read hieroglyphs for more than 1,400 years.
Ancient history
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AD 395
The Roman Empire splits for good
After Theodosius I died, his two sons ruled the eastern and western halves.
Ancient history
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c. AD 405
Jerome completes the Latin Vulgate Bible
It remained the Catholic Church's official Bible for over 1,500 years.
Art & literature history
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c. AD 410
The Roman army leaves Britain
Britons were told to look to their own defences.
Ancient history
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AD 410
The Visigoths sack Rome
It was the first time in about 800 years that Rome had fallen to a foreign enemy.
Ancient history
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c. AD 427
Nalanda becomes a great centre of learning
The Indian monastery-university once had thousands of students.
Ancient history
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AD 453
Attila the Hun dies
He reportedly died of a severe nosebleed on his wedding night.
Ancient history
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AD 455
The Vandals sack Rome
Their name gave us the word 'vandalism'.
Ancient history
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AD 476
The Western Roman Empire falls
The last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was a teenager.
Ancient history
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c. AD 481
Clovis becomes King of the Franks
France takes its name from his people, the Franks.
Ancient history
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