Ancient Greece Timeline - Norah Miler by Norah Miller

776 BC - Olympic Games

norahmiller1 — 2025-04-23 18:13:52 UTC

The first Olympic games take place. This included running, shot put, long jump, javelin, boxing, and equestrian events. There were four festivals honoring Zeus, Apollo, and Poseidon. Wrestling was added in 708 BC.

3000 BC - Minoan Civilization

norahmiller1 — 2025-04-23 20:39:01 UTC

The Minoan Civilization emerged on the island of Crete. It is known for its advanced culture, trade, and impressive palace complexes like Knossos. They traded goods like pottery, wine, and olive oil for metals and materials from Egypt and Cyprus. The Minoan Civilization had a decline, possibly due to a volcanic eruption on the island of Thera.

1600 BC - Mycenaean Civilization

norahmiller1 — 2025-04-23 20:48:03 UTC

The Mycenaean Civilization, known for its strong palaces and warrior culture, dominates the Greek mainland and establishes a powerful presence in the Aegean. Their art and architecture was influenced by the Minoans with their pottery and elaborate tombs. They began to decline around 1200 BC, possibly due to invasions, natural disasters, or internal conflict.

750 BC - Rise of Sparta

norahmiller1 — 2025-04-23 20:56:45 UTC

Sparta emerges as a dominant city-state in Greece, known for its militaristic society and disciplined warriors. It rivaled the size of other city-states like Athens and Thebes. Two kings rules Sparta so when one left for a military campaign, the other could continue to rule. At the the age of seven, boys left home to start military training. In 480 BC, Sparta allied with Athens to prevent the Persian king Xerxes from invading Greece. Not long after, they began fighting each other in the two Peloponnesian Wars and the Corinthian War.

490-479 BC - Persian Wars

norahmiller1 — 2025-04-23 21:02:26 UTC

The Persian Wars erupt as the Greek city-states unite to defend against the Persian Empire's invasion, resulting in significant victories. Two major invasions, led the by the Persians, occured in Greece. The Greeks, even though they were outnumbered, won, stopping Persian influence from entering Europe and preserving their independence.

461-445 BC Peloponnesian Wars

norahmiller1 — 2025-04-23 21:13:05 UTC

The Peloponnesian War breaks out between Athens and Sparta, leading to the decline of Athenian power and the eventual end of the Golden Age. They argued over territorial lines, alliances, and ideologies. The war ended with the power shifting to Sparta while Athen's empire declined. The Athenian navy was destroyed at Aegospotami by the Spartan fleet under Lysander.

420 BC - Construction of Temple of Athena Nike

norahmiller1 — 2025-04-23 21:19:14 UTC

The temple of Athena Nike, designed by the architect Kallikrates, was built between 426 and 421 BC, probably a year or two before the Peace of Nikias, the treaty between Athens and Sparta on a bastion at the southwestern edge of the Acropolis. It replaces older temples whose remains are preserved inside the bastion. It was built entirely of Pentelic marble.

338 BC - Philip II is Assassinated, Alexander the Great becomes king of Macedonia

norahmiller1 — 2025-04-23 21:27:56 UTC

At age 20, Alexander the Great became king of Macedonia when a political rival assassinated his father. Alexander began is reign by subduing rivals in the Greek and Macedonian regions. He was chosen to be the commander of a military invasion of Asia. From age 13 to 16 he was taught by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, who inspired his interest in philosophy, medicine, and scientific investigation.

334-326 BC - Alexander the Great's success in military conquests

norahmiller1 — 2025-04-23 21:32:29 UTC

Alexander had a great career for his short 13 years of reigning as king of Macedonia. He invaded Egypt in 331 BC, founded the City of Alexandria in Egypt, and defeated the Persians at Gaugamela. His army reached as far as Bactria (Afghanistan) and India. He married the princess of Bactria, Roxanne. His death marks the start of the Hellenistic Period.

322 BC - Aristotle Dies

norahmiller1 — 2025-04-23 21:37:30 UTC

Aristotle was one of the world most famous Greek philosophers. He made pioneering contributions to science, invented the field of formal logic, and identified the various scientific disciplines and explored their relationships to each other. He was the teacher of Alexander the Great and founded his own school in Athens, known as the Lyceum. He died of stomach disease at an estimated age of around 60.

214-148 BC - The Four Macedonian Wars

norahmiller1 — 2025-04-23 21:45:53 UTC

The Macedonian Wars were a series of conflicts fought by the Roman Republic and its Greek allies in the eastern Mediterranean against several different major Greek kingdoms. They ended with Roman control over Greece and the rest of eastern Mediterranean basin. Four seperate wars were fought against the weaker power, Macedonia, due to its geographical proximity to Rome, though the last two of these wars were against haphazard insurrections rather than powerful armies.

30 BCE - The Death of Cleopatra

norahmiller1 — 2025-04-23 21:50:56 UTC

The death of the queen of Egypt from 51 to 30 BCE, is often best known for her dramatic suicide in Alexandria and marks the end of the Ancient Greece periods. Popular belief suggests that Cleopatra killed herself by allowing a venomous snake to bite her but according to Roman writers, Cleopatra poisoned herself using either a toxic ointment or stabbing herself with a hairpin with the poison on it.