Classical Period of Ancient Greece

Classical Greece was a period in Ancient Greece history that lasted 200 years during the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. This era of Greek history had a profound influence on the Roman Empire and laid the foundations of Western society and politics. The Athens in particular left more written works, literature, and plays than other city-states, which has given historians a unique perspective and greater understanding of the Athenians.

Classical Period of Ancient Greece (c. 500 – 323 BC)

499 BC Miletus led rebellion against Persians with assistance from Athens
493 BC Themistocles_s Themistocles acquires power in Athens, using it to invest in international trade and naval power
490 BC The Persian king, Darius, wanted to punish Athens by invading Greece but lost the battle in Marathon
481 BC Athens and Sparta joined the Hellenic League to fight Persia
480 BC Leonidas_I_of_Sparta_sLeonidas sacrificed 300 soldiers at the Battle of Thermopylae so the rest of the army could escape. Their enemy was Darius and the Persians.
480 BC The Persian king Xerxes started to invade Greece
480 BC Syracuse pushed back Carthage’s attack
480 BC Xerxes_lash_sea_sXerxes sacked Athens
480 BC Xerxes but lost the naval battle at Salamis
479 BC Miletus_Bay_map_sBattle of Mycale freed Greek colonies in Asia
478 BC The Hellenic League conquered Byzantium and Cypress from the Persians
471 BC Themistocles was ostracized
461 BC Pericles-sPericles promoted peace and democracy
461 BC Peloponnesian War broke out between Sparta and Athens
457 BC Athenian statesman Pericles began the Golden Age. He had been trained by Anaxagoras who believed in a dualistic Universe and atoms
454 BC Athens attacked the Persians in Egypt but they ultimately lost
450 BC The first bank was founded in Athens
450 BC Relief_Herodotus_cour_Carree_Louvre_sHerodotus started to write history in a way that involved systematic collection of materials. He was known as the “Father of History”
450 BC Hippocrates, the founder of the Hippocratic School of Medicine, contributed to medical practice in ancient Greece. His efforts established medicine as a distinct field and profession.
440 BC Heraclitus_sHeraclitus, a Greek philosopher, advocated that everything is mutable
438 BC The Parthenon was inaugurated in Athens
435 BC Statue_of_Zeus_sPhidias finished the statue of Zeus at Elis, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World
433 BC Aegina, Megara, Corinth, and Sparta ally to fight against Athens, Rhegium, Corfu, and Leontini
431 BC The second Peloponnesian War broke out between Sparta and Athens
429 BC Pericles passed away due to the Athenian Plague
429 BC Hippocrates_sHippocrates advocated that diseases have physical causes
427 BC Archidamus II dies. The Greek admiral Alcidas who was sent to help Lesbos raided Ionia and fled after witnessing the might of the Athenians. The Athenian Plague also returned
424 BC The Battle of Mantinea ensued. Sparta was victorious over Argos, which violated their treaty; Alcibiades was thrown out, ending the alliance.
416 BC Bust_Alcibiades_Musei_Capitolini_sAlcibiades restored to power
416 BC Massacre of the Melians occurred.
415 BC Syracuse was able to fight off an invasion from Athens with the assistance of Sparta
410 BC Erechtheion-temple-sThe Erechtheion temple was built at the Athens acropolis
404 BC Athens lost the second Peloponnesian War. Sparta imposed a group of aristocratic Spartans known as the Thirty Tyrants, ending Athens’ supremacy
403 BC Athens restored democracy
399 BC Socrates_Louvre_sSocrates was tried for “corrupting the youth” and “impiety” and carried out his own execution (by drinking hemlock)
399 BC Dionysius the Elder invented the catapult in Syracuse
395 BC Athens, Thebes, Corinth, and Argos, initially backed by Persia, revolted against Sparta. This conflict became known as the Corinthian War
388 BC PlatoPlato founded the first university, an academy of philosophy
375 BC Plato wrote the Republic, a Socratic dialogue concerning the definition of justice and moral behavior of individuals and city-states
373 BC The temple of Apollo at Delphi was razed
371 BC Sparta was finally defeated by Athens, Rhodes, Byzantium, Mytilene, Chios, Thebes, and others
367 BC Aristotle_s Aristotle enrolled in Plato’s Academy
359 BC Philip II Temenid became the Macedonian king
356 BC Temple_of_Artemis_sThe temple of Artemis was rebuilt in Ephesus
354 BC King Mausolus’ tomb was built in Halicarnassus
344 BC Phillip_II_Macedonia_sPhilip II of Macedonia conquered Epirus, Illyria, and Thessaly
342 BC Aristotle tutored Alexander Temenid of Macedonia
338 BC Philip II defeated Athens and Thebes at Chaeronea while uniting several Greek cities, forming the League of Corinth
336 BC Philip II of Macedonia was assassinated by Pausanias of Orestis. His son Alexander succeeded him
335 BC Aristotle founded the Lyceum of Athens
334 BC alexander-the-great_sAlexander the Great defeated the Persians at Dardanelles
333 BC Alexander the Great conquered the regions from Syria to Palestine from the Persian Empire
332 BC Alexander the Great conquered Egypt
331 BC Alexander the Great defeated the Persians at the battle of Gaugamela and destroyed Persepolis, ending the Achaemenid Dynasty
325 BC The first papyrus was written in Greek
324 BC Alexander the Great invaded Punjab, India