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The Greek city-states become part of the Roman Empire.
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Birth of Plato, Socrates' most distinguished student.
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Pericles enters public life, rules until 429 BCE. The democracy is perfected and the court system is completed.
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Sparta dominated the Peloponnese region of southern Greece
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According to tradition, Thespis becomes the first actor by reciting poetry as the characters in the poem.
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Pisistratus is ruler of Athens. He establishes festivals, builds temples and fountains, and encourages the growth of olives for export.
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Birth of Sappho, the famous female lyric poet from the isle of Lesbos.
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Sparta was reorganized by Lycurgus, who made the aristocratic city into an oligarchy based on warfare.
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Homer's epic poems first set down in writing
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Hesiod composes his Theogony, Works and Days, and other poems
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First Olympic games (according to tradition)
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Founding of Sparta.
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Myceneans conquered by Dorian invaders
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The "Dark Ages," characterized by decline in architecture, writing, and other forms of material culture in Greece.
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Oracle at Delphi founded
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Myceneans may have warred with Troy and triumphed (as retold in the Homeric epics).
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The Myceneans conquer Knossos and begin to replace the more peaceful Minoan civilization with their own military-centered culture.
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Rule of the Myceneans, based in the city of Mycenae
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Minoan civilization reaches its height on Crete, with its capital at Knossos.
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Socrates condemned to death for impiety and corrupting the youth.
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Emergence of Greek city-states, including Athens, Thebes and Megara.
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"Archaic Period"
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Solon became Athens' chief magistrate. He established the Council of 400 and made other legal reforms designed to give the citizens more voice.
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Thales, founder of school of philosophy in Miletus, is the first to present a rational explanation of the cosmos (namely, that all things are made of moisture).
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Persian Empire founded by the Cyrus the Great
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Mycenean civilization emerges