Ancient Greece Timeline

Petralona scull
(Dating estimates vary widely from 700000 to 160000 years before present)
Paleolithic Period
(2.5 million – 10000 BCE)
Apidima Cave scull fragment is the earliest example of modern humans (early Homo sapiens) found outside Africa.210000 years ago
 13000 BCEMesolithic Period
(13000 – 7000 BCE)
   
Earliest evidence of burials found in Franchthi Cave in the Argolid, Greece7250 BCE 
   
Evidence of food producing economy, simple hut construction, and seafaring in mainland Greece and the Aegean7000 BCENeolithic Period
(7000 – 3000 BCE)
   
First “Megaron House” at Sesclo, in central Greece5700 BCE 
   
Evidence of earliest fortifications at Dimini, Greece3400 BCE 
   
Houses of Vasiliki and Myrtos
Messara Tholoi
House of Tiles at Lerna   
3200 BCEAegean Bronze Age
or Early Bronze Age 

(3000 – 2000 BCE)

Minoan Prepalatial or EMIA, EMIB
(3000 – 2600 BCE)

Early Cycladic Culture
(3200 – 2000 BCE) 

Early Helladic Period
(3000 – 2000 BCE) 
   
 2600 BCEMinoan Prepalatial Period 
or: EMIIA, EMIIB, MMIII 
(2600 – 2000 BCE) 
   
Destruction of Minoan settlements2000 BCEMinoan Protopalatial Period
or: MMIA, MMIB, MMI IA, MMI IB, MMI IIA, MMI IIB, LMIA Early
(1900 – 1700 BCE)

Early Middle Cycladic 
(2000-1600 BCE) 

Middle Helladic Period
or Middle Bronze Age 
(2000-1550 BCE)
   
1750Mycenaean Culture
(1750 – 1050 BCE)
Destruction of Minoan palaces
Settlement of Akrotiri, Thera
Grave Circle B at Mycenae 
1700 BCEMinoan Neopalatial Period
or: LMIA Advanced, LMIA Final, LMIB Early, LMIB Late, LMII 
(1700 – 1400 BCE)
   
Eruption of Thera volcano (sometime between 1627 and 1600) 1627 BCE 
   
Grave Circle A at Mycenae 
Legends:
 Argo Voyage, Heracles, Oedipus
1600 BCELate Bronze Period
or The Heroic Age 
(1600 – 1100 BCE) 
   
Tholos Tomb at Mycenae 1550 BCELate Helladic Period
(1500 – 1100 BCE)
   
Linear B writing (1450-1180) 1450 BCE 
   
Mycenaean Palaces 
Evidence of expanded Mycenaean trade at Levand 
1400 BCEMinoan Postpalatial Period
or: LMIIIA1, LMIIIA2, LMIIIB, LMIIIC 
(1400 – 1100 BCE) 
   
Palace of Knossos destruction1370 BCE 
   
“Sea Peoples” begin raids in the Eastern Mediterranean1300 BCE
   
Trojan War (1250 or 1210) 1250 BCE 
   
Destruction of many Mycenaean palaces
Doric Invasions? (1200-1100)
Sea Peoples (1200-1100)
1200 BCE 
   
 1180 BCE Sub-Mycenaean Period 
(1180 – 1050 BCE)
Destruction of Miletus and resettlement1100 BCESub-Minoan Period
(1150 – 950 BCE) 

Dark Age of Greece
(1100 – 700 BCE)

Proto-Geometric Period
(1100 – 900 BCE)
   
End of Mycenaean civilization
Lefkandi: Toumba building
1000 BCE 
   
 900 BCEGeometric Period
(900 – 700 BCE) 
   
First Olympic Games776 BCE 
   
Greek colonies established in Southern Italy & Sicily
Invention of Greek alphabet 
Homeric poems recorded in writing (750-700)
750 BCELate Geometric 
(circa 760 – 700 BCE) 
   
 740 BCEOrientalizing Period
(circa 740 – 650 BCE)
   
First Messenian War 
Sparta invades Messenia 
(730-710)
Naxos founded (734) 
Syracuse founded (733) 
730 BCE 
   
 700 BCEArchaic Period
(700 – 480 BCE)
   
Earliest Lyric Poets 650 BCE 
   
Second Messenian War
Sparta invades Messenia (640-630)
Cyrene founded (630) 
640 BCE 
   
Sappho born in Lesbos630 BCE 
   
Thales (625-545) born in Miletos625 BCE 
   
Pythagoras (ca. 569-475) born in Samos569 BCE 
   
Solon replaces the Draconian law in Athens and lays the foundation for Democracy.
He introduced to Athens the first coinage and a system of weights and measures
594 BCE 
   
Pisistratos becomes tyrant of Athens546 BCE 
   
Pesistratos Dies. His sons become tyrants of Athens527 BCE 
   
Red-figure pottery developed in Athens525 BCE 
   
Alcmaeonid family and Spartans free Athens from tyranny.
Introduction of Democracy in Athens
510 BCE 
   
Kleisthenes begins reforming Athenian code of laws, and establishes a democratic constitution508 BCE 
   
Ionian revolt499 BCE 
   
Ionian revolt defeated by Persians494 BCE 
   
Persian Wars497-479 BCE 
   
Battle of Marathon
Athenians defeat Darius and his Persian army
490 BCE 
   
Silver mines discovered near Athens. 
Athens begin building naval fleet
483 BCE 
   
Aristides ostracized482 BCE 
   
Xerxes marches on Greece
Battle of Thermopylae
Persians burn the Acropolis
Athens and allies defeat Persian fleet at naval battle of Salamis
480 BCEClassical Period
(480 – 323 BCE)

Transitional
(480 – 450 BCE)
   
Battle of Plataea
Greeks defeat Persian army
479 BCE 
   
Delian league lead by Athens477 BCE 
   
Earthquake in Lakonia
Helot revolt against Sparta in Messenia
465 BCE 
   
Peloponnesian Wars:
“First Peloponnesian War” 
461-445  
   
Perikles leads Athens through its “Golden Era” (ca. 460-429)460 BCE 
   
Aeschylus produces “the Oresteia” trilogy of tragedies (Agamemnon, Libation Barers, Eumenides) in Athens458 BCE 
   
Delian league treasury moved from Delos to Athens454 BCE 
   
Sophist Protagoras visits Athens450 BCE 
   
Acropolis and other major building projects begin in Athens 
Construction of Parthenon (449-432)
Sophocles produces the tragedy “Ajax”
449 BCE 
   
Thirty-year peace treaty signed between Athens and Sparta in winter 446/445 446 BCE 
   
Sophocles produces “Antigone” in Athens 430-429 441 BCE 
   
Peloponnesian War (431-404) resumes
Euripedes produces “Medea” in Athens
431 BCE 
   
Plague epidemic in Athens430 BCE 
   
Death of Perikles429 BCE 
   
Peace of Nicias421 BCE 
   
Construction of Temple of Athena Nike (420-410)420 BCE 
   
Athenians resume hostilities
Spartans defeat Athens at Mantinea
418 BCE 
   
Athens razes Melos416 BCE 
   
Athens expedition to Syracuse
Alcibiades defects to Sparta
415 BCE 
   
Syracuse defeats Athens413 BCE 
   
Aristophanes produces “Lysistrata”411 BCE 
   
Athens surrenders to Sparta
Thirty tyrants rule Athens 
404 BCE 
   
Democracy restored in Athens403 BCE 
   
Trial and execution of Socrates399 BCE 
   
Plato establishes the Athens Academy 380 BCE 
   
Sparta defeated in Leuctra371 BCE 
   
Thebes defeats Sparta at Mantinea362 BCE 
   
Philip II, becomes King of Macedonia359 BCE 
   
Macedonian army defeats Athens and its allies at Chaeronea
League of Corinth founded
338 BCE 
   
Phillip II Assassinated.
Alexander the Great becomes king of Macedonia
336 BCE 
   
Aristotle founds the Lyceum in Athens335 BCE 
   
Alexander the Great defeats Persian army at Granicus river in Anatolia334 BCE 
   
Alexander the Great defeats Persians at Issus333 BCE 
   
Tyre capitulates to Alexander after siege332 BCE 
   
Alexander invades Egypt
City of Alexandria founded in Egypt
Alexander defeats Persians at Gaugamela
331 BCE 
   
Alexander’s army reaches Bactria (Afghanistan)329 BCE 
   
Alexander marries Roxane (princes of Bactria)327 BCE 
   
Alexander’s army reaches India326 BCE 
   
Death of Alexander the Great323 BCEHellenistic Period
(323 – 146 BCE)
   
Aristotle dies322 BCE 
   
Stoic philosopher Zeno founds school in Athens310 BCE 
   
Stoic philosopher Epicurus founds school in Athens307 BCE 
   
Ptolemy I founds museum in Alexandria300 BCE 
   
Archimedes (287-212) born in Syracuse287 BCE 
   
Achaean League founded284 BCE 
   
Invasion of Greece by Gauls279 BCE 
   
Gauls defeated by king Attalus I238 BCE 
   
First Macedonian War (214-204)
Rome defeats Philip V of Macedon 
214 BCE 
   
Second Macedonian War (200-196)
Victory of Flamininus at Cynoscephalae
200 BCE 
   
Third Macedonian War (172-168/7)
Lucius Aemelius Paulus of Rome defeats Perseus of Macedon at Pydna.
Macedonia divided into four republics
172 BCE 
   
Roman Invasion of Greece
Mummius Achaicus sacks Corinth and dissolves the Achaean league.
Rome rules Greece henceforth
146 BCELate Hellenistic or Greco-Roman 
(146 – 30 BCE)
   
Romans led by Sulla sack Athens86 BCE 
   
Battle of Aktion
Octavian (later Augustus) defeats Mark Antony and Cleopatra
31 BCE 
   
Death of Cleopatra
30 BCEEnd of “Ancient Greece” period 
   

Chapters

This history of Ancient Greece is divided into the following chapters: