1st Millennium BC Classical History


	The 1st Millennium BCE	0000s BC

0900s - 3rd Intermediate Period / Arameans 930 Jewish King Solomon dies, and Jews split into Israel and Judah 925 Pharaoh Shishak conquers city of Megiddo.	0800s - Assyrian Expansion 853 Battle of Qarqar. Plutarch's Legendary Lycurgus
0700s BC: Asyrian Expansion 701 Hezekiah, King of Judah, withstands attack on Jerusalem by Assyrians under Sennacherib. Plutarch's Legendary Romulus 721Sargon II (son of Tiglath-Pileser III) defeats Israel 729 Tiglath-Pileser III captures Babylon; becomes Babylonian king.	0600s BC: Assyrian Empire 667 Assyrians under Assurbanipal defeat Elamites, sack Memphis and Thebes, bringing end to Nubian Dynasty of Egypt. 649 Assyrians under Assurbanipal capture and destroy Babylon. Plutarch's Legendary Numa Pompilius 605? Babylonians defeat the Assyrians. Pharoh Necho II of Egypt arrives too late to help, having been delayed by Jewish forces under King Josiah. Upon arrival at Carchemish, Necho's army is defeated. 604 Babylonians capture Jerusalem, take Jewish leaders into captivity.
0500s BC: Persian / Babylonian Empires 587 Nebuchadnezzar II beseiges Jerusalem for 18 months, takes the city, and relocates Jews to Babylon. 585 Peace established between Media and Lydia (in Greece), with the Halys (Kizil) River as the boundary between the two kingdoms. This establishes a balance of power between the Medes, Lydians and Babylonians, with the Egyptians farther to the south. 551 Zoroaster (Zarathustra) dies. 550 Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II) defeats his Median overlords, and begins expansion through Middle East, establishing the Persian Empire. 539 Cyrus II captures Babylon "without a battle" from Nabonidus. 537 Cyrus II permits the Jews to return to Jerusalem. 525 Cambyses, son of Cyrus, conquers Egypt. 518 Darius I founds the city of Persepolis. 509 Roman Republic begins	0400s BC: Persian Empire / Greek City States / Roman Republic 490 10,000 Athenians under Miltiades defeat Darius' Persian forces at Marathon, Greece. 480 Leonidas I and Spartan army defeated by Xerxes I and Persian army at Thermopylae. 479 Athens under Themistocles destroys Persian navy at Salamis and Platea. Persian army leaves Greece. The History of Herodotus 415 Start of Siege of Syracuse. Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War 404 Spartan alliance defeats Athens, ending the Peloponnesian Wars.
0300s BC: Macedonian / Persian Empire 390 Celts (or Gauls) defeat Roman army at Allia and capture Rome. 338 Phillip II of Macedon prevails at the Battle of Chaeronea. 336 Philip II of Macedon assassinated. His son, Alexander III, ascends the throne. Darius III Codomanus ascends to Persian throne. 333 Alexander the Great invades northern Syria and defeats Darius III at Issus, declares himself King of Persia. 332 Alexander captures Phoenecian city of Tyre after a seige, then Gaza, then enters Egypt unopposed. 331 Alexander defeats Persian army at Gaugamela (or Arbela), in northern Iraq. Alexander then takes Susa and Persepolis, which he loots. 324 Alexander invades the Punjab, but at the Beas River his soldiers refuse to go further, so Alexander turns back. 323 Alexander the Great dies at Babylon, of a fever. 312 Seleucid King Seleucus I Nicator conquers Babylon.	0200s BC: Macedonian Empires Livy's The History of Rome 278 Celts (or Gauls) invade Macedonia and Thrace. Plutarch's Agis 264 Start of the First Punic War. (Carthage vs. Rome) 241 Roman ships defeat Carthaginian ships off the Aegadian Isles. First Punic War ends. 227 Earthquake nearly destroys Rhodes. 219 Hannibal captures Saguntum in Spain. 218 Declaration of Second Punic War (Carthage vs.Rome) 217 Hannibal crosses Alps from Gaul into Italy. 216 Hannibal defeats Roman army at Cannae. 202 Hannibal defeated at Zama.
0100s BC: Roman Conquest / Macedonian Empires 198 Greek Selucid empire expands. 190 Romans, under Consul Manlius Vulso, defeat Antiochus the Great III, then attach the Celts and subjugate them. 169 Selucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes captures Jerusalem. 167 Beginning of Maccabean War of Liberation against Antiochus IV Epiphanes. 164 Maccabeans recapture City of Jerusalem. 146 Roman general Scipio Africanus Minor captures and razes Carthage, enslaves inhabitants. The city ceases to exist.	0000s BC: Roman Imperialism 73-71 Spartacus leads slave revolt, which was crushed by Pompey. 63 Romans under Pompey (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus) capture Jerusalem. 54-55 Gaius Julius Caesar invades Britain. Josephus' The Jewish War 53 Parthians defeat Romans at Carrhae (Harran), northern Syria. 52 Romans under Julius Caesar defeat Gauls 47-49 Roman Civil War (Caesar vs. Pompey} 03 15 44 Julius Caesar assasinated. 42 Caesar's assassins defeated by Octavian Plutarch's Antony 40 Mark Anthony and Octavius sign the Treaty of Brundisium, dividing up the Roman Empire. Herod is appointed "client" king of Judea--rules for 36 years. 31 Mark Anthony's fleet vanquished at Actium, by Roman fleet under Marus Vipsanius Agrippa.