Significant Events in Ancient Greece By bmajor 1210 BCE Trojan War 776 BCE First Olympic Games 505 BCE Athens becomes a democracy 499 BCE Persian War (499 - 493) 480 BCE The Battle of Thermopylae 465 BCE Earthquake in Lakonia 460 BCE First stage of Peloponnesian War (460 - 446) 421 BCE Second stage of Peloponnesian War (421 - 413) 413 BCE Third stage of Peloponnesian War (413 - 404) 399 BCE Trial and execution of Socrates 395 BCE The Corinthian War (395 - 386) 386 BCE Sparta wins Corinthian War 380 BCE Plato establishes the Athens Academy 371 BCE Sparta defeated in Leuctra 359 BCE Philip II becomes King of Macedonia 336 BCE Philip II assassinated 336 BCE Alexander the Great becomes King of Macedonia 334 BCE Alexander the Great defeats Persian army at Granicus river in Anatolia 333 BCE Alexander the Great expands Greece (333 - 323) 323 BCE Death of Alexander the Great 279 BCE Invasion of Greece by Gauls 214 BCE First stage of Macedonian War (214 - 204) 200 BCE Rome conquers Greece (200 - 86) 200 BCE Second stage of Macedonian War (200 - 196) 172 BCE Third stage of Macedonian War (172 - 168) 30 BCE Death of Cleopatra