Timeline of Ancient History 600 B.C. to 4 B.C.
600 B.C.
586
570
c. 563
551
539
c. 512
517/518
509
500 B.C.
490
c. 484
480
479
c. 460
458
445
438
431-404
400 B.C.
399
390
388
384
343
336
331
323
301
Temple Destroyed by Babylonians
Pythagoras born
Siddhartha Gautama Buddha born
Confucius born
Cyrus II of Persia frees captive Jews
Sun Tzu's Art of War
Second Temple construction complete
Founding of Roman Republic
Athens d. Persia @ Marathon
Herodotus born
Battle of Thermopylae/Salamis
Greeks d. Persians @ Mycale/Plataea
Hippocrates born
Ezra goes to Jerusalem
Nehemiah goes to Jerusalem
Parthenon completed in Athens
Peloponnesian War b/w Sparta & Athens
Socrates Executed
Rome burned by Gauls
Plato's philosophy Academy in Athens
Aristotle is born
Aristotle becomes Alexander's teacher
Alexander becomes Macedonian king
Alexander conquers Persia
Alexander dies in Babylon at 32
Ptolemy of Egypt occupies Judah
300 B.C
287
277
265-241
250
221
218-202
200 B.C.
196
167
Archimedes born
Eratosthenes measures circumference of Earth with 2%
First Punic War between Rome and Carthage
Canon of Buddhist scriptures formed
Construction begins on Great Wall in China
2nd Punic War, Scipio def. Hannibal @ Zama
Antiochus III def. Ptolemy V, Seleucids control Judah
Approx. date of Rosetta Stone carving in Egypt
Maccabees revolt against Seleucids in Judah
149-146
146
140
3rd Punic War, Rome obliterates Carthage itself
Rome destroys Corinth, takes control of Greece
Hasmonean Dynasty begins in Judah
100 B.C.
73-71
63
49
44
37
31
27
19
c. 6-4
4
Spartacus leads slave war against Rome
Pompey conquers Judea for Rome
Gaius Julius Caesar's army crosses the Rubicon
Julius Caesar is assassinated on the Ides of March
Hasmonean Dynasty ends, Herod the Great's reign begins
Octavian def. Mark Antony/Cleopatra VII at Actium
Octavian becomes first Roman "emperor", called Augustus
Herod the Great greatly expands the Second Temple
Jesus of Nazareth born in Bethlehem
Herod the Great dies