Ancient Greece

By gbiermann
  • 800 BCE

    Greek city-states emerge

    Also known as 'Polis', these city states emerged majorly due to the mountain filled geography of Ancient Greece.
  • 750 BCE

    Beginning of colonies

    Greek poleis start establishing colonies around the Mediterranean and Black seas.
  • 700 BCE

    First Messenian War

    Sparta defeats Messenia, another Greek city state. They desire more fertile land.
  • 648 BCE

    Partial Greek poleis commandeer

    Earliest tyrants take over some Greek poleis. Reforms of Spartan society begin (attributed to Lycurgus, a lawgiver)
  • 600 BCE

    Second Messenian War

    Followed by an uprising of the Messenians.
  • 550 BCE

    Peloponnesian League created

    The Peloponnesian League was a military alliance of Greek city-states and ran by Sparta.
  • 546 BCE

    Ionia becomes part of the Persian Empire

    An land mass north of Italy which was found next to the Persian empire, which eventually joined it.
  • 546 BCE

    Tyranny of Pisistratus and his sons in Athens

    Pisistratus and his sons were tyrant rulers of Ancient Greece. Tyranny means cruel and oppressive ruling however they did a lot of good for the citizens and helped to implement democracy, ironically.
  • 507 BCE

    Democratic reforms of Cleisthenes in Athens

    Cleisthenes was an Athenian noble vying for power after Hippias (a tyrant) was dismissed.
  • 499 BCE

    Ionian revolt against Persia

    Almost 50 years after Ionia becomes apart of the Persian empire Ionian citizens have a large revolt.
  • 489 BCE

    First Persian Invasion of Greek mainland

    This includes the battle of Marathon.
  • 481 BCE

    Hellenic League created

    This was created in order to fight against Persia and it was a large step of unification for Greece.
  • 480 BCE

    Second Persian invasion of Greek mainland

    This includes battles of Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale.
  • 478 BCE

    Delian league established

    A military alliance between the Greek city-states. This was led by Athens and primarily focused on Naval power.
  • 464 BCE

    Earthquake and helot revolt in Sparta

    Helots were a class of enslaved people in Sparta. The earthquake devastated and destroyed many areas in Messenia which led to a revolt of slaves against their owners.
  • 461 BCE

    Ostracism of Cimon

    In 461 BC, Cimon was exiled from Athens on charges of betraying his city by aiding Sparta. The democratic process of racism let residents to vote to banish another citizen for ten years.