800-323 B.C.E.: Chapter One: World Events: Selected Occurrences Outside Greece

by MICHAEL S. ALLEN

800-550* b.c.e.

800

798-782

790

783-748

776

771

770

765-735

760*

755-735

755

753

748

743

739

738

736

735

734

733-732

733-701

731

728

725

722

722-706

721

720

720*

717-716

715*

714

712

710

709

705

703

701

700*

692

690

689

681*

677

675-674

671

669

668

667

664

663

660*

658

652

650

648

642

639

631

627

626

623-616

622

616*

614

612

611

610

609

608

605

601

600-500*

600*

598

597

592

590*

588

587

586

586-561

585

582

578-534

573

570

561

560*

559

556

555

553

551*

550*

547

545

540

539

534

533

530

525

521-519

520-515

515*

512

510

509

506

500*

496

494

493

492

491

490

487

486

485*

483

480

479

477

474

470*

458-424

458

456-454

451

450

446

445

444

439

438*

431

426

425

410*

409

406

405

404

403

401

400*

396

393

390

385*

384

381

373*

367-349

366-360

362-345

361

360

358-338

356

354

350*

348

343

341

340-338

339-329

336

334

333

332

331

330

328

327-325

327

326

323

Sources

800-550* b.c.e.

• The Indian Aryans continue their expansion on the Asian subcontinent, settling westward along the Gangetic plain. During this period the first of the Upanishads, the chief mystical and philosophical scriptures of Hinduism, are composed.

800

• Menua becomes king of Urartu, or Van. Under his fifteen-year reign the strength of this kingdom north of Assyria is consolidated and its borders expanded.

798-782

• The kingdom of Israel, led by Joash, wars with the Aramaean armies of Ben Hadad II, recovering territories formerly lost to Hazael of Damascus; Judah, including its capital at Jerusalem, subsequently falls to Joash as well, losing its independence.

790

• Babylon makes a treaty with Assyria, submitting to its protection.

783-748

• Under the reign of Jeroboam II, Damascus and Hamath become tributaries of Israel.

776

• A poem later anthologized in the Chinese work Shi-Ching (Classic of Poetry) notes a solar eclipse occurring in this year, the earliest recorded observation of such a phenomenon.

771

• Hao, the capital of the Chou Dynasty in China, is sacked by Western invaders.

770

• The Chou relocate their capital to Loyang, marking the beginning of the Eastern Chou Dynasty.

765-735

• The Hebrew prophets Amos and Hosea, the first to record their prophecies in writing, warn Israel of its corruption during the reign of Jeroboam II.

760*

• The Greeks began colonizing Italy and Sicily.

755-735

• Following in the victories of his predecessor Argishti I, Sarduri II continues to expand the borders of Urartu, conquering Commagene, Melitene, and Carchemish.

755

• Matiel of Aramea submits to vassalage under Assurnirari V, king of Assyria, only to rebel later; he will bring the Aramaean states into a treaty with Ketek, an ally of Urartu, the greatest threat to Assyria’s power.

753

• According to traditional sources, the city of Rome is founded by Romulus, the son of a princess of Alba Longa and the god Mars.

748

• Jeroboam II of Israel dies, and Uzziah of Judah takes charge of a western coalition opposed to Assyria. Zechariah, Jeroboam’s successor, is assassinated by Shallum, marking the end of the Jehu dynasty in Israel. In the midst of the political unrest Shallum is killed by Menahem, who in turn ascends to the throne in Israel.

743

• Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria launches his first major campaign against neighboring states to the west, besieging the Urartean allies at Arpad.

739

• Tiglath-pileser III begins a successful war against the coalition headed by Uzziah of Judah.

738

• Tiglath-pileser III receives tribute from Israel, Damascus, Phoenicia, and other members of the failing anti-Assyrian coalition.

736

• Pekahiah, the successor to Menahem in Israel, is killed by Pekah, the leader of a rising anti-Assyrian faction.

735

• Tiglath-pileser III invades Urartu.

734

• Ahaz becomes king of Judah and is entreated by the Syro-Ephraimite coalition, composed of Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Aram, son of Ben Hadad II, to join their alliance; Ahaz turns to Assyria for support, ignoring the counsel of the prophet Isaiah.

733-732

• In a second wave of attacks against his western opposition, Tiglath-pileser III defeats Israel and Damascus. Gilead, Galilee, and Damascus are made into Assyrian provinces, while Israel is placed under the kingship of Hoshea.

733-701

• The prophets Isaiah and Micah minister in Judah, attacking corruption and warning of God’s wrath and impending destruction.

731

• Revolution breaks out in Babylon; Tiglath-pileser III returns from his western campaign in order to put it down.

728

• Tiglath-pileser III regains full control over Babylon, appointing himself king.

725

• Against the protests of the prophet Isaiah, Hoshea of Israel rebels against Assyria, looking to Egypt for support; meanwhile, Shalmaneser V of Assyria besieges Samaria, the capital of Israel.

722

• Samaria falls to Assyria; Shalmaneser V is succeeded by his son, Sargon II, at whose orders thousands of Israelites are taken away captive into Mesopotamia.

722-706

• Sargon recaptures Hamath, Ekron, and Gaza; he conquers Tyre after a five-year siege.

721

• The Elamites, led by Humbanigash and allied with Merodach-baladan of Babylon, engage in battle at Der with the forces of Sargon of Assyria, but the outcome is indecisive.

720

• Judah capitulates to Sargon II and pays tribute to the Assyrian king.

720*

• In China the Hung Kou (Great Ditch) is constructed, connecting a tributary of the Huai to the Yellow River.

717-716

• The Neo-Hittite city of Carchemish is conquered and annexed by Sargon II; the Egyptian Pharaoh Osorkon likewise meets Assyrian defeat at Raphia.

715*

• Pi’ankhi, advancing north from his capital at Napata, invades Egypt; with little effort he is able to overthrow the Twenty-fourth Dynasty and found a new Ethiopian Dynasty.
• Hezekiah is anointed king of Judah.
• Numa Pompilius, tradition holds, becomes the first king of Rome, after Romulus and Remus; he is also considered to be the founder of Roman religion.

714

• Sargon II of Assyria defeats the Urartean armies and raids their royal treasury, effectively bringing an end to Urarta’s role in world affairs.

712

• The Assyrian armies of Sargon II attack the city of Ashdod, dissolving an alliance between Egypt and the southern states of Palestine.

710

• Babylon revolts against Assyrian rule; Merodach-baladan becomes king.

709

• Sargon II of Assyria sends Merodach-baladan into exile, declaring himself king in his place.

705

• After the death of Sargon II, Sennacherib becomes king of Assyria.

703

• Merodach-baladan reclaims his throne in Israel. Babylon, intending to bring an end to Assyrian domination; Assyria, under the rule of Sennacherib, once again puts down the Babylonian insurgents, but only with great difficulty.

701

• Judah, Phoenicia, Egypt, and Philistia ally themselves against Assyria. Sennacherib marches westward against the new conspiracy and, after easily overcoming the Phoenicians and Philistines, defeats the Egyptian troops of the Pharaoh Shabaka at Elteqeh; he then attacks the armies of Hezekiah, razing almost all of Judah.

700*

• After a lengthy and indecisive siege on Jerusalem, Hezekiah agrees to pay tribute to Sennacherib; Sidon and Tyre likewise submit to vassalage under Assyria.
• Celtic peoples begin to settle in Spain.

692

• Allied with the Elamites, the Chaldean faction in Babylon wrests control of the city away from the Assyrians.

690

• Cimmeria invades Phrygia, devastating the Anatolian kingdom.

689

• In response to thirteen years of continual insurrection, Sennacherib sacks the city of Babylon.

681*

• Esarhaddon, Sennacherib’s son and heir, puts down a rebellion instigated by one of his brothers, who had murdered their father; Esarhaddon becomes king of Assyria.

677

• Esarhaddon puts down a Phoenician rebellion at Sidon, razing the city, dissolving its alliance with Egypt, and annexing the province.

675-674

• Esarhaddon begins his first raids into Egypt, but without a decisive outcome.

671

• Esarhaddon captures Memphis, and the Pharaoh Tirhaqah is forced to flee south to Ethiopia.

669

• Esarhaddon dies at Harran, and Tirhaqah returns to Memphis.

668

• Assurbanipal succeeds Esarhaddon as king of Assyria; a patron of Assyrian and Babylonian culture, he compiles a vast library of tablets chronicling literature, history, science, and religion.

667

• The Assyrians again expel the Pharaoh Tirhaqah from Memphis.

664

• Tirhaqah’s successor, the Pharaoh Tanuatamun, reclaims Egyptian power at Memphis.

663

• Assyria captures Thebes, defeating Tanuatamun and putting an end to Ethiopian power in Egypt. Psammetichus I becomes Pharaoh of the new dynasty; looking back to Old Kingdom Egypt for his model, he initiates what is known as the Saite Revival, a renaissance in religion, art, and literature.

660*

• Zoroaster, the Persian prophet and founder of Zoroastrianism, is born.
• The Cimmerians invade Lydia, but its king, Gyges, allied with Assurbanipal of Assyria, is able to repel their attacks.
• The Ainus in Japan are pushed out by a Mongolian people, most likely coming from Korea; according to tradition, Jimmu becomes the first emperor of Japan.

658

• Gyges of Lydia, breaking his alliance with Assyria, sends Ionian and Carian mercenary support to Psammetichus I of Egypt, who begins a successful campaign to drive the Assyrians out of the country.

652

• The Cimmerians return to Lydia, sacking its capital at Sardis and killing King Gyges.
• Civil war breaks out in Assyria at the instigation of Assurbanipal’s brother Shamashshumukin, king of Babylon, who forms an alliance with the Chaldeans, the Armenians, the Egyptians, and the Elamites.

650

• The anti-Assyrian allies are defeated at the battle of Babsame on the Tigris River.

648

• Shamashshumkin surrenders Babylon to Assyria.

642

• According to tradition, Ancus Martius becomes king of Rome; during his reign he constructs a bridge over the Tiber River.

639

• The Elamite city of Susa is sacked by Assurbanipal of Assyria.

631

• Assurbanipal dies, and rebellion quickly begins to spread through the territories of the overextended Assyrian empire.

627

• Josiah claims the formerly Assyrian provinces of Samaria, Gilead, and Galilee for Judah.

626

• Nabopolassar consolidates Chaldean power in Babylon, declaring himself king.
• Scythian invaders from the north spill into Syria and Palestine; they destroy the Philistines and reach as far as Egypt.

623-616

• Babylon and Assyria wage a long but indecisive war.

622

• In Judah, Josiah inaugurates comprehensive religious and political reforms on the basis of a rediscovered version of the book of Deuteronomy.

616*

• Tarquinius Priscus, the first in a line of Etruscan rulers, becomes king in Rome; the Cloaca Maxima (a canal through Rome), the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, and the Circus Maximus (an arena for chariot racing) are all built under his reign.

614

• Cyaxares of Media allies his kingdom with Babylon.

612

• The Scythians join the alliance already existing between Cyaxares and Nabopolassar; the city of Nineveh falls to the combined Median, Babylonian, and Scythian forces. The Medes and Scythians conquer Urarta, bringing a final end to the kingdom of Van.

611

• Nabopolassar leads his armies against Harran, where Assuruballit II had been trying to muster his Assyrian forces; however, with his Median allies absent, Nabopolassar is unable to capture the Assyrian fortress.

610

• The Medes rejoin the Babylonians, and the Assyrians flee Harran.

609

• The remaining Assyrian armies, allied with Egypt, attempt to recapture Harran, but without success. Neko II succeeds Psammetichus I in Egypt and leads his armies north to aid Assyria.

608

• On his march north, Neko II meets Josiah of Judah at Megiddo. Josiah is killed and Judah conquered, but the Egyptian army is prevented from reaching their Assyrian allies in time to save them from defeat.

605

• The crown prince Nebuchadrezzer of Babylon overwhelmingly defeats the Egyptian armies of Neko II at the battle of Carchemish, forcing them out of Syria-Palestine. He then becomes king of Babylon and ruler of the newly conquered Assyrian provinces.

601

• Nebuchadrezzar attacks Egypt, but without decisive outcome.

600-500*

• The Olmec, founders of the earliest of Mesoamerican civilizations, abandon their center at La Venta; Tres Zapotes emerges as the new chief city in the region.

600*

• An expedition of Phoenician ships successfully circumnavigates Africa.
• In Lydia the use of coined money is introduced.
• The Book of Odes, an anthology of poetry dating back to the time of the Shang, appears in China.

598

• Nebuchadrezzar launches another western campaign, this time against Judah.

597

• The Babylonian armies besiege Jerusalem. When it falls, after nearly three months, thousands of Israelites are taken captive to Babylon.

592

• Ezekiel begins to prophesize in Israel, maintaining that Jerusalem will be destroyed and eventually rebuilt.

590*

• Cyaxares of Media attacks Lydia.
• The arch is first used in Roman architecture.

588

• Against the counsel of the prophet Jeremiah, Zedekiah allies with Egypt and revolts against Babylon; Nebuchadrezzar once again invests Jerusalem.

587

• The Pharaoh Apries meets the Babylonian armies briefly but then retreats to Egypt, leaving the besieged Israelites without an ally.

586

• Jerusalem falls to Nebuchadrezzar, who razes the city and takes away captive to Babylon a second wave of Jews. This defeat marks the end of Judah as a nation.

586-561

• Nebuchadrezzar lavishes wealth upon the city of Babylon, making it a wonder of the ancient world.

585

• After five years of indecisive war, Media and Lydia make peace.

582

• Following the murder of Gedaliah, the governor of Judah, a third wave of Jews are exiled to Babylon.

578-534

• Rome, under the reign of Servius Tullius, enters the Latin League.

573

• Tyre surrenders to Nebuchadrezzar, after thirteen years of siege.

570

• In an attempt to aid Libyan allies attacking the Greek city of Cyrene in North Africa, the Pharaoh Apries is defeated and dethroned.

561

• Nebuchadrezzar dies.

560*

• Croesus becomes king of Lydia and begins a successful campaign to gain control throughout Asia Minor.
• Siddhartha Gautama, The Buddha, is born.

559

• Cyrus the Great ascends to power in Anshan, in what will later be known as Persia.

556

• Following the death of Neriglissar, Nebuchadrezzar’s successor, the Medes capture Harran. The new Babylonian king, Nabonidus, allies with Cyrus of Anshan against the Medes.

555

• Nabonidus of Babylon lays siege to Harran.

553

• Nabonidus marches south to Teima, a city approximately one hundred miles east of Akaba in Arabia, in an attempt to establish a safer capital; he leaves Belshazzar as his regent in Babylon.

551*

• Confucius is born.

550*

• Cyrus usurps the throne of Media.
• Celtic tribes begin to settle throughout Ireland, Scotland, and England.
• Lao-tzu, traditionally the author of the Tao Te Ching and founder of Taoism, flourishes in China.

547

• Cyrus the Great, having united the Medes and the Persians, conquers Lydia, which had become a sizable power in Asia Minor by this time.

545

• Persia exacts tribute from the Greek cities along the coast of Asia Minor.

540

• Vardhamana Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, is born.
• Cyrus the Great, after first conquering the local Bedouins surrounding Teima, forces Nabonidus to flee from his new capital.

539

• Cyrus the Great takes the city of Babylon, and the Jews in exile are released from their captivity.

534

• The Temple of Juno is constructed on the Roman Capitol, under the rule of Tarquinius Superbus (the Proud).

533

• Cyrus the Great enters India, exacting tribute from cities in the Indus River Valley. He establishes, according to Herodotus, what will become the twentieth of the Persian satrapies, or provinces, in Gandhara.

530

• Cyrus is killed in a battle against the Massagetae, an Asiatic people from a region near the Sea of Aral.

525

• Cambyses of Persia, the son of Cyrus the Great, attacks the Egyptian armies of Psammetichus III, who surrenders at the battle of Pelusium.

521-519

• Darius I of Persia quells revolts in the extensive empire, which is divided into twenty satrapies. Zoroastrianism is made the official religion.

520-515

• The Jewish Temple at Jerusalem is rebuilt at the insistence of the prophet Haggai.

515*

• Under the reign of Darius I, a canal is built joining the Nile River to the Red Sea, an effort begun by Neko II but left incomplete. A sea route from India to Persia is also established.

512

• With the aid of Greek soldiers drafted from Asia Minor, Darius I invades Thrace; both Thrace and Macedonia are forced to acknowledge Persian rule.

510

• Tarquinius Superbus is expelled from power during a Roman revolt. Tradition holds that the revolt was begun by Lucius Junius Brutus, outraged at the rape of Lucretia by the king’s son, Sextus Tarquinius.

509

• The Roman republic is founded, according to traditional histories; Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus (Lucretia’s husband) are made consuls. The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus is constructed on the Capitoline Hill.

506

• According to traditional sources, Rome and Carthage sign a treaty of mutual noninterference, granting each other sole rights to activity in Latium and Africa, respectively.

500*

• Darius I is forced to respond to a widespread revolt of Ionian Greek cities in Asia. Around this time the Persians undertake to build the vast 1,677-mile Royal Road. Darius I also begins construction of a new capital city known as Parsae (Persepolis).
• The Bantu peoples of Africa begin their migrations.
• Iron is introduced in China.
• The Nok culture of West Africa begins to flourish.

496

• The Roman dictator Postumius defeats the Latins at the battle of Lake Regillus. The Latin armies had been led by Lars Porsenna, allied with Tarquinius Super-bus, the exiled king of Rome.

494

• Darius I sacks Miletus, effectively ending the Ionian revolt.
• The plebeians of Rome leave the city for the Sacred Mount, threatening permanent secession; they demand political reform from the patricians before their return.

493

• Spurius Cassius makes a treaty with the Latin League, agreeing to colonize new lands together and to share the spoils of war equally; marriage and trade are also officially sanctioned between the participating states.

492

• Persia reasserts its control over Thrace and Macedonia but loses some of its ships off the coast of Mount Athos.

491

• According to tradition, Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus of Rome offers the plebeians free grain, hoping they will turn over the tribunate. He is charged with bribery but escapes to Volsci, where he gathers an army of plebeians. The women of Rome, led by Coriolanus’s mother and wife, convince him to lay aside his plans to attack the city.

490

• Darius I loses the battle of Marathon to the mainland Greeks.
• Hanno of Carthage sets out on an extensive voyage of exploration and colonization around the continent of Africa.
• The philosopher Mo Ti flourishes in China.

487

• Under the supervision of the Chinese state of Wu, a canal is built joining the Huai and Yangtze rivers.

486

• The Roman consul Spurius Cassius is executed after a failed attempt at tyranny.

485*

• Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha) dies; his followers convene a council to codify his teachings and to organize the monastic community he had established.

483

• Rome goes to war with the Etruscan city of Veii, which is allied with Fidenae, a town situated on the upper Tiber and therefore essential to Roman power in the region.

480

• Xerxes I of Persia is defeated by the Greek navy at Salamis.
• The Celtic tribes that had earlier spread through the British Isles in small numbers now begin to arrive en masse.

479

• The army of Xerxes I meets defeat at Plataea and Mycale. Following these losses the Persians abandon their attempts to conquer Greece.

477

• The Romans lose the battle of Cremera to the Veientines.

474

• Rome and Veii make peace.

470*

• Confucius’s disciples compile the collection of his sayings and teachings known as the Analects.

458-424

• Chin, a chief state in imperial China, is divided among the three houses of Han, Chao, and Wei.

458

• The Romans entreat Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus to become dictator; he helps defeat the Aequi at the valley of Algidus.

456-454

• Egypt, supported by Greek troops sent from Athens, revolts against Artaxerxes I of Persia; the Greek fleet is destroyed, its armies forced to retreat, and the rebellion put down.

451

• The plebeians of Rome demand the codification of Roman law; the resulting Twelve Tables will serve as the basis of Roman law for approximately the next three hundred years.

450

• The Persian armies put down another rebellion aided by the Greeks, this time in Cyprus.

446

• Persia and Greece make peace.

445

• Nehemiah becomes governor of Jerusalem.

444

• Chinese mathematicians accurately calculate the length of the year at 365¼ days.

439

• The walls of Jerusalem are rebuilt under the supervision of Nehemiah, despite opposition from the neighboring governors of Samaria and Ammon.
• According to Roman tradition, Spurius Maelius, suspected of attempting tyranny by freely distributing grain to the people, is condemned to death by Servius Ahala, the dictator Cincinnatus’s master of the horse.

438*

• Ezra institutes Jewish legal and religious reforms.
• Fidenae and Veii declare war against Rome.

431

• The Roman dictator Postumius Tubertus expels the Aequi and the Volsci from the Algidus Valley.

426

• The Roman dictator Mamercus Aemilius, together with Aulus Cornelius Cossus, the master of the horse, razes the town of Fidenae, the ally of Veii.

425

• Following the Roman victory at Fidenae, Veii makes peace.
• The biblical book of Esther is composed.

410*

• Celtic tribes later known to the Romans as Gauls begin their southward migration across the Alps.

409

• Carthaginian forces invade Sicily, conquering its Greek inhabitants at the second battle of Himera.

406

• Carthage launches a second Sicilian invasion but is forced to return after an outbreak of plague.

405

• • Carthage and Sicily make peace.
• • War resumes between Rome and Veii.

404

• Persian rule relaxes in Egypt, leaving the country relatively independent. Artaxerxes II, son of Darius II, succeeds his father in Persia.

403

• The official recognition by the royalty of Chin of the state’s threefold division initiates the almost two-hundred-year Era of Warring States.

401

• At Cunaxa, a city near Babylon, Artaxerxes II of Persia brings an end to a rebellion started by his brother Cyrus, the satrap of Anatolia, who had received Greek mercenary support.

400*

• The Indian scholar Panini composes the earliest and still authoritative work on Sanskrit grammar.

396

• After nine years of siege, the Romans sack the city of Veii, without the help of their Latin allies; accordingly, the newly conquered territory is not shared with the Latins, and Rome is thenceforth stronger than its allies.

393

• Achoris becomes pharaoh of Egypt. Allied with Evagoras of Salamis, he prevents Artaxerxes II from reasserting Persian control in his country.

390

• The Romans are defeated by Gallic invaders, led by Brennus, at the battle of Allia. The city of Rome is subsequently besieged, and only the Capitol does not fall. Following the conquest of the Gauls, the Latins and the Hernici end their alliance with Rome.
• Cyprus, under the rule of King Evagoras, again receives Athenian aid in a rebellion against Persia.

385*

• Approximately one hundred years after the death of The Buddha, a second Buddhist council convenes to address the monastic code of discipline.

384

• According to tradition, the Roman patrician Marcus Manlius Capitolinus is sentenced to death after having forgiven plebeians their debts, an act seen as an attempt at tyranny.

381

• King Evagoras makes peace with the Persians, and Cyprus submits to the empire.

373*

• Artaxerxes II launches a major attack on Egypt but without any lasting success.
• • The Chinese philosopher Mencius is born.

367-349

• Rome, in response to Celtic invasions in central Italy, fights four wars with the Gauls.

366-360

• Datames, the governor of Persian-controlled Cappadocia in Asia Minor, revolts; other satraps of the Western Empire follow in rebellion.

362-345

• Rome subjugates the local tribes in Italy. The Hernici are conquered, and the Latin cities that had revolted are pacified; they are forced to reenter the Latin League, but at great disadvantage to themselves. Rome further puts down the Volsci and the Aurunci and takes control of southern Etruria.

361

• Egypt, receiving the aid of Athenian mercenaries and one thousand Spartan hoplites, plans to launch an attack on Persia but is forced to abandon its expediton in order to suppress a domestic rebellion.

360

• The Egyptian Pharaoh Teos, faced with a revolt supported by Agesilaus of Sparta, his former ally, makes peace with Persia.
• Gallic invaders again attack Rome but this time are successfully repelled.

358-338

• Artaxerxes III Ochus becomes king of Persia and manages to quell the widespread rebellion seething throughout his empire.

356

• To defend against the Huns, China constructs its first wall along its borders; along with others to be built later, it will serve as part of the Great Wall.

354

• The Romans and the Samnites become allies.

350*

• Artaxerxes III sends Persian armies to Egypt, and their defeats lead to further rebellion in the Persian empire.
• Rome decisively repels another Gallic invasion.
• Tennes of Sidon revolts against the Persians, but Artaxerxes III destroys his Phoenician armies.
• China begins to use coined money.

348

• Carthage signs a second treaty with Rome, agreeing not to attack the Latin states that remain loyal to Rome.

343

• The Romans send military aid to a faction of Samnites facing attack from the neighboring hill tribes, launching the First Samnite War.
• Artaxerxes III personally leads a march against Egypt, bringing to an end the last of the Egyptian dynasties.

341

• After several minor Roman victories, Rome and the Samnites make peace, renewing their alliance.

340-338

• The Latin cities, unsatisfied with their inferior status in the Latin League, withdraw and revolt against their former Roman allies. The so-called Latin War that ensues comes to a close with the Roman victory at Trifanum, under the consul Titus Manlius. The Romans disband the Latin League and force its one-time allies to become its dependents.

339-329

• Chuang-tzu, a major interpreter of Taoism and celebrated literary stylist, flourishes in China.

336

• Philip of Macedon is assassinated, and his son, Alexander the Great, becomes king.
• In the wake of several years of intrigue and murder, Darius III becomes king of Persia.

334

• The Persian army is defeated by Alexander at the river Granicus in Asia Minor.
• The Chinese state of Ch’u annexes the state of Yueh to the east.
• Rome and the Gauls make peace after a series of wars spanning more than thirty years.

333

• Darius III of Persia is defeated at the battle of Issus; following this battle, all of Phoenicia except the city of Tyre capitulates to Alexander.
• Su Ch’in organizes an alliance of six Chinese states in an attempt to stop the expansion of the state of Ch’in.

332

• Egypt is freed from Persian rule by Alexander the Great, who meets no opposition while there. Meanwhile, Azemilkos of Tyre defies Alexander, and his city is besieged; after seven months it falls to the Macedonians.

331

• Alexander the Great founds the city of Alexandria in Egypt. Within the same year he defeats the Persians at Gaugamela, and the Macedonians capture Babylon, Susa, and Persepolis.

330

• In the spring Darius flees from Alexander through Media, but he is betrayed and murdered by the satrap Bessus. The Caspian region also falls to Alexander, who continues south.

328

• Spitamenes leads the Iranians against the Macedonian armies; he is able to delay Alexander’s conquest with some success but is eventually overcome.

327-325

• Alexander the Great invades India.

327

• The Romans once again intervene in Samnite affairs, besieging the city of Naples and entering what is known as the Second Samnite War.

326

• The Indian king Porus is defeated by Alexander the Great at the battle of the Hydaspes, a tributary of the Indus River.
• After penetrating as far as the river Hydaspes in India, Alexander’s armies refuse to proceed further, and they begin the two-year march back to Babylon.

323

• While in Babylon, Alexander the Great succumbs to a fever and dies.

* Denotes circa date

Sources

Stuart J. Fiedel, Prehistory of the Americas (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1987).

Harry A. Gailey, History of Africa from Earliest Times to 1800 (Hinsdale, l11.: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970).

Charles O. Hucker, China’s Imperial Past (Stanford, Cal.: Stanford University Press, 1975).

William L. Langer, comp. and ed., The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of World History, 2 volumes (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1975).

H. E. L. Mellersh, Chronology of the Ancient World (London: Barries & Jenkins, 1976).

Chester G. Starr, History of the Ancient World (New York: Oxford University Press, 1974).