55000 BC : First in habitants in Greece

18000 BC : Franchinti Cave First inhabited

8000 BC : Domestication of animals and Development of agriculture

7000 BC : Grecians begin to bury dead and use more sophisticated tools

5000 BC : Egyptian Elite emerges

4000 BC : Neolithic Revolution in Greece

3100 BC : Egyptian Upper and Lower Kingdom merge, Old Kingdom formed

3000 BC : Cities emerge; Mesopotamia, Greece and Egypt

21st Cent. : Minoan Civilization develops

2040 BC : Middle Kingdom forms; Egypt

2000 BC : Amorites found new kingdoms in Mesopotamia

1780 BC : Code of Hammurabi

1750 BC : Hyksos invasion of Egypt

1730 BC : Catastrophe on Crete

1700 BC : Hittites settle in Anatolia

1550 BC : Hyksos driven out; New Kingdom forms; Egypt

1450 BC : Minoan civilization ends, signs of Mycenaean culture appear

1375 BC: Massive destruction on Crete, Mycenaeans move to mainland

ca. 1100 BC : New Kingdom falls in Egypt. Dark Age. Mycenaean burial practices disappear. Religious sites stopped being used. Linear B disappears.

9th Century : More sophisticated pottery develops and use of bronze signals trading.

8th Century : Iron Archaic Age. Population begins to grow. Migration begins. Dorian culture emerges and Homer lives and writes of the Hellenic events of his age. Hoplite warfare. Polis emerges along with city-state system.

7th Century : Kylon attempts to set up tyranny and fails. People of Rome area became one community: constructing a forum, system of town drainage and several large public buildings.

6th Century : Persians expand empire and come in contact with Greeks

595 BC : Solon rewrites justice system

550 BC : Pesistratus becomes the successful tyrant in Athens

500 BC : Kleisthanes reforms government; creates assembly Greeks burn down Sardis

5th Century : Council of the Plebes

492 BC : Persian King Darius sends troops to Greece; navy is destroyed by storm

490 BC : Battle of Marathon led by Miliatades.

480 BC : Invasion of Xerxes. Hellenic League forms. Athens is evacuated. Battle of Thermopolae Themistocles dupes the invading Persians, forcing Xerxes into retreat.

479 BC : Battle of Platea; Greeks defeat Persians

478 BC : Delian League founded

476 BC : Delian League seizes islands from Persians and Pirates

470 BC : Delian League prevents Naxos from leaving

465 BC : Delian League attacks Persians and won; Persians no longer a threat

464 BC : Earthquake in Sparta; Helots rise up Chimon offers to help Sparta. Themistocles is ostracized. Sparta turns back Athenian forces; Chimon has his reputation ruined as a result. People turn towards reformation and Pericles. Delian League turns into Athenian Empire

455 BC : Egypt asks Athenian Empire to assist in revolt against Persia. The Greek nobility decide to move treasury from Delos to Athens

445 BC : Athens and Sparta enter into thirty year peace under the Megeran Decree

431 BC: Peloponnesian War

430-26 BC : Plagues in Athens

425 BC : Sparta offers peace to Athens at Pylos; Cleon does not accept

421 BC : Peace of Nicias- fifty year truce between Athens and Sparta

415-13 BC : Sicilian Expedition

414 BC : War between Athens and Sparta resumes

411 BC : Athens becomes an Oligarchy

406 BC : Battle of Arginusae

405 BC : Battle of Aegospotami. Athens was blocked by land and sea .

404 BC : Athens surrenders. Spartans destroy Athenian defenses and set up Oligarchy

5th Century : Development of democratic polis. Development of Athenian Empire. Theater and drama flourish.

390 BC : Rome burned down and tries to rebuild

360 BC : Phillip II becomes king of Macedonia

346 BC : Athens officially makes peace with Macedonia

338 BC : Thebes and Athens go to war with Macedonia

336 BC : Phillip forms New Greek League: Corinthian League. Phillip assassinated; Alexander takes over

334 BC: Alexander the Great crosses Hellespont and meets the Persian army.

333 BC : Alexander invades Central Anatolia and conquers all Persian cities on way to Phoenicia. Soon after, Alexander turns to Egypt where he is hailed as new Pharaoh and founds Alexandria.

331 BC : Alexander defeats Persian army in Babylon

330 BC : Alexander conquers Persepolis, the Persian capital. Alexander sets sights as far as India.

323 BC : Alexander dies in the Middle East, his empire is divided between his three generals.

280-75 BC : War with Pyrrhus; Rome victorious.

264-41 BC : First Punic War : Rome tries to control Sicily. Pirates on Adriatic. King of Macedonia forges alliance with Hannibal. Aeolian League and Rome forge alliance; Rome helps Greeks against Macedonian aggression. Tensions increase between Rome and Carthage. Rome sets up government in Greece

218-01 BC : Second Punic War, against Hannibal. Rome defeats Carthage.

2nd Century: Rome controls Italy, Sicily, Greece and North Africa :the beginning of the century sees a long series of wars for Rome, with many citizens moving from farms into the city, while the end of the century sees the draining away of the public treasury

133 BC : Tiberius Gracchus

123 BC : Gaius Gracchus

90-88 BC : Civil War

82-79 BC : Sulla's Dictatorship; Pompey and Crassus both want to rule; decide to rule together; Caesar marches his troops across the Rubicon and into Gaul; Crassus goes east and dies; Pompey goes to Spain; Caesar confronts and defeats Pompey

44 BC : Caesar assassinated; Marc Antony takes place, Showdown between Marc Antony and Octavian; Antony, Octavian and Lepidus form second triumvirate

36 BC: Lepidus tries to seize power, unsuccessful

31 BC : Octavian defeats Marc Antony; Antony commits suicide

27 BC-14 AD: Octavian changes name to Augustus; Rome officially transformed into an empire.

14-37 AD : Tiberius

37-41 AD : Caligula

41-53 AD : Claudius

44 AD : Britain added to empire

54-68 AD : Nero

69-79 AD : Vespasian

79-81 AD : Titus

81-96 AD : Domitian

96-98 AD : Nerva

98-117 AD : Trajan

117-138 AD : Hadrian

138-161 AD : Antoninus Pius

161-180 AD: Marcus Aurelius

167 AD : Germanic tribes begin flooding over the Rhine, bringing the beginning of end of Roman Empire

180-192 AD : Commodus

193-211 AD : Septimus Severus

211-217 AD : Caracalla

218-222 AD : Elagabalus

222-235 AD : Severus Alexander

235-285 AD : There are twenty-six emperors enshrined, then killed or die, over a period of fifty years

285-306 AD : Diocletian

304 AD : Four separate people claim position of Caesar

312 AD : Constantine declared emperor; Maximus Daia ruler in East

324-337 AD : Constantine converts to Christianity and moves the imperial capital to Constantinople, Council of Nicea begins to define Christianity

361-363 AD: Julian attempts to reform the Roman state, reverting back to the type of Republican governance practiced during Augustus' reign

378 AD : Visigoths revolt and defeat Roman legions

394-395 AD : Theodosius legislates against the pagan gods and makes polytheism illegal

406 AD : Barbarians begin to cross the Rhine as it freezes over the winter months

410 AD : Emperor grants land to Visigoth tribes in southwestern Gaul, in what is now Bordeaux


Ed. Note: revised by legbagede, August 22, 2003.