ancient history

Ancient history

Brief overview of classical ages:

Hesiod in the 8thC BC named five "ages":
- the Golden Age or patriarchal
- the Silver Age or voluptuous
- the Brazen or warlike and violent
- the Heroic or renaissant
- the iron Age or "present" - an age of misery and crime when justice and piety have vanished.
Lucretius (c. 94-55BC) distinguished 3 ages based on materials used:
- stone age
- bronze age
- iron age
Varro (116-27BC) distinguished 3 ages:
- beginning of man to the DELUGE
- the DELUGE to the first Olympiad - the "mythical period"
- the first Olympiad to his present - the "historical period"

Ancient history:

1 million - 10,000BC (paleolithic "old stone age" period):
- 770,000BC - Australasian tektites "Australites" hit the Australian & Asian region but no evidence of an earth impact crater, so perhaps derived from a lunar impact crater. This era coincides with the last reversal of Earth's magnetic field (the Matuyama/Bruhnes polarity reversal) - is there a connection?
- the ice age (100,000BC - 12,000BC):
  - after north America joined with south America disrupting the flow of the Atlantic to the Pacific, the resulting warm north-bound gulf stream was created which brought moist weather to northern Europe creating the ice age which started at about 115,000 yrs ago and resulted in glaciation up to 2km thick and then the drying up of the North Sea.
  - spreading of glacier ice over more than one-fourth of the land surface of the earth, the sea levels fall allowing migration of humans across continents
    - humans crossed over into the New World by means of the Bering land bridge.
    - animals from America crossed over into Europe.
    - Aboriginals cross into Australia c40,000BC
  - the rise in dominance of Homo sapiens & the extinction of the Neanderthals in Europe c 30,000BC
- world becomes warmer c12,000BC onwards
- see also:
  - Prehistoric times - Quaternary period
  - Evolution of Humans
10,000-3000BC (continental neolithic "new stone age" period):
- Pagan beliefs
- megalithic sculptures eg. British Isles, Brittany
- cave paintings eg. Spain, Australia
- melting ice caused the sea level to rise a hundred feet or more, drowning large areas of land and broadening the continental shelf of eastern North America, isolating regions from each other such as:
  - Britain from Europe
  - Tasmania from mainland Australia
- agriculture, domesticated animals leads to evolution by about 5000BC in northern and central European dairy farming communities of lactase persistence which allows them (and 90% of current Westerners) to tolerate lactose (ie. milk products) in adult life.
- Britain & Ireland:
  - neolithic agriculture and cattle farming starts in Ireland c4000BC with neolithic methods introduced via immigrants from Europe
  - c3500BC: Irish build huge mounds with tunnels as burial tombs for their dead aligned with rising & setting of the sun
3000-2000BC (the bronze age):
- the Bronze Age started in ~4000BC in western Egypt with copper ore being mined in sandstone in Israel's Timna Valley and the Egyptians mining copper on the Sinai Peninsula around 3000BC. Lead found in the ancient ruins of Troy was produced about 2500BC.
- papyrus was used to write on from ~3500BC to about 800-900AD when the more durable paper from the east was introduced to the Muslims having been discovered in China in 105AD by Ts'ai Lun and passed on to Japan 500yrs later. The Moorish rulers erected a paper mill in Spain in 1150AD thereby introducing paper-making to Europe, although France did not start making it till 1348 & England in 1494 - slow spread due to religious reasons having been a "Moslem" technology.
- Mesopotamia:
  - Sumerian civilisation (4000-2000BC)
    - the wheel, irrigation and cuneiform writing invented
    - sexagesimal numeral system using base 60 invented (& still used in our minutes, seconds!)
    - 1st dynasty of Ur
    - Sargon the Great of Akkad (r. 2371-2316 BC) created the world's 1st empire
    - Sargon's line fell to the Gutian tribes from the northeast c 2230BC
    - 3rd dynasty of Ur
    - Gilgamesh - an epic poem written c2000BC
    - imports gems from mountains of northern Pakistan
    - climate change, re-direction of rivers, salination from excessive irrigation and lack of iron in the new iron age all lead to the decline and eventual fall of this, the first agricultural based civilisation.
    - Sumeria falls after ferocious sacking of Ur in 2006BC, allowed the Semitic-speaking Amorites under Ishbi-Erra to establish more effectively a dynasty that ruled the Isin for more than 2 centuries.
  - Nth Syrian Hittites were 1st to commercially produce iron (which required 700-800degC furnace developed in pottery firings), but the "Iron Age" did not occur until ~1200BC when the Hittite empire was overthrown and the many Anatolian ironworkers had to flee their homeland, thereby spreading the usage of iron to other areas of eastern Mediterranean.
- Britain & Ireland:
  - c2400BC: beginning of Bronze Age in Ireland (source of copper) & England (source of tin)
- Egypt:
  - Egypt unified by the victory of Upper Egypt kingdom over Lower Egypt kingdom (3100BC):
    - Menes, 1st ruler of Dynasty I, founded national capital of Memphis, and was regarded as the living embodiment of the falcon god Horus, farmers began to use plough extensively & irrigation introduced & writing developed.
  - Old Kingdom (c 2686-2181BC):
    - Dynasty III (c 2686BC -):
      - Zoser, for whom the Step-Pyramid complex was built
    - Dynasty IV:
      - 1st true pyramid built & technique of construction was perfected under Khufu, Khephren & Menkaure
      - Great Pyramid at Giza completed (2600BC) under Khufu
    - Dynasty V:
      - cult of the sun god Re regained national pre-eminence
    - Dynasty VI:
  - First Intermediate Period (c 2181-2050BC):
    - chaotic, poorly documented period
    - Dynasty XI:
      - Montuhotep II, Prince of Thebes, overcomes his rivals, reunited Egypt, expelled the Libyan & Bedouin raiders, inaugurating the Middle Kingdom
- Greek:
  - Helladic culture
  - Cycladic culture
  - Minoan civilisation
- India:
  - the aboriginal inhabitants of the subcontinent were dispersed and partially assimilated by invading Dravidian tribes, who probably came from the west.
  - Indus Valley civilisation (c. 2500-1700 BC), earliest known civilisation of South Asia, corresponding to the Bronze Age cultures of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Crete.
    - On the basis of archaeological discoveries in the Indus Valley, the civilization subsequently developed by the Dravidians equaled and possibly surpassed in splendor the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.
    - A highly developed civilization flourished in the Indus Valley, around the sites of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, about 2000 BC.
    - Many elements of Hinduism that were not present in Vedic civilization (such as worship of the phallus and of goddesses, bathing in temple tanks, and the postures of yoga) may have been derived from the Indus civilization
  - in ~1500BC, Dravidian India was subjected to the first of a sustained series of invasions by tribes of the Indo-European linguistic stock.
2000-1500BC:
- Egypt:
  - Middle Kingdom (c 2050-1786 BC):
    - Dynasty XII:
      - Amenemhat I (1991BC), founded a new capital at Lisht, south of Memphis because Thebes was too far south to serve as an efficient capital, and began the conquest of Nubia (Sudan)
  - Second Intermediate Period (c1786-1570BC):
    - marked by a decline in power of central govt
    - Dynasty XIII:
      - Asiatic invaders, the Hyksos, broke through Egyptian defences & infiltrated country & eventually secured control with the aid of new military weapons such as chariots
    - Dynasty XV (the Hyksos) (c 1674-1570BC):
      - Hyksos kings did not rule as foreigners but adopted Egyptian titles & culture, but were finally expelled by Kamose & his brother Ahmose, princes of Thebes, forming the New Kingdom
- Jewish:
  - Abraham from the city of Ur, the founder of the Jewish religion espoused monotheistic principles & separated from his family who believed in many Gods.
  - Noah (d. ~1998BC)
    - survived the great flood
- Greek:
  - Myceneans
- Mesopotamia:
  - Babylonian empire:
  - Babylonia dominated by 2 Semitic-speaking dynasties in parallel, until in 18thC BC, Larsa under Rim-Sin overcame Isin to contend with the Babylons for domination of the land
  - Sumerian sexagesimal numeral system advanced into a positional system with 2 symbols (unit & ten) used to create 1 to 59 numbers. (see Babylonian numerals)
  - Hammurabi king of Babylon
    - code of laws written in Akkadian, a semitic tongue (Sumerian used for religious purposes)
    - created an ephemeral empire
  - Hammurabi's dynasty falls at the destruction of Babylon by an attack by the Hittite king Mursilis I in 1595BC allowing the Kassite dynasty to rule for 576yrs resulting in the dark ages of Babylon.
- Nth Europe:
  - Barbarian celts ruled by Druids (2500-1200BC)
  - 2400-1200BC: Ireland dominated by stability & peace as wealth mainly by cattle farming until terminated by 18yr climatic change
  - stonehenge in England (~1700BC)
  - the star disk of Sangershausen (Nebra Sky Disk) in Germany (c1600BC) - discovered 1999AD.
1500-1000BC:
- start of the "Iron Age" in ~1300BC resulting from overthrow of the Hittite empire in Nth Syria causing the ironworkers to flee their homeland & spread their technology.
- Egypt:
  - New Kingdom (1567-1085BC)
    - the god of Thebes, Amun, was elevated to rank of principal deity of the realm & was identified with the sun god Re in the form Amun-Re, king of the gods
    - Dynasty XVIII (c1567-1320BC):
      - kings primarily engaged in keeping Egypt safe from any further incursions by the Bedouin or the Nubians
      - series of campaigns to conquer Nubia & to seize its gold mines
      - Hatsheput (r.c1503-1482BC), wife & half-sister of Thutmose II, on his death, she took control, becoming Egypt's only female leader, and erected giant obelisks as well as built her mortuary temple
      - Thutmose III (child of royal concubine) (rc1504-1450BC) took control once Hatsheput died and subjugated Palestine & Syria as well as completed the conquest of Nubia as far as Napata
      - Amenhotep III (r.c1417-1379BC), the Egyptian court reached height of its prestige, receiving tribute or trade goods from Syria, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Crete & even Greece.
      - Amenhotep's estranged son (presumably because of his Marfanoid appearance), Amenhotep IV or Akhenaton (r. c 1379-1362 BC) changed Egyptian religion by declaring for the 1st time that there is only one god, a sun-god in the form of Aton, sunlight, and moved the capital to his new city of Akhetaten (Amarna), but his idealism which neglected the running of his country, lead to anarchy, and his religious abstraction which was ahead of its time (Moses 100yrs later, again was to declare there was only one abstract god) was abandoned once he died.
      - Horemheb finally restored order.
    - Dynasty XIX (c. 1320-1200BC):
      - Rameses I (r.c.1320-1318BC)
      - Rameses II the Great (r.c 1304-1237BC) in restoring Egypt's power, confronted the Hittites (from Turkey) at the town of Kadesh, with peace finally being sealed by his marriage to a Hittite princess
        
        built hypostyle hall at Karnak, colossus of himself at Luxor, Ramesseum mortuary temple at Thebes, great temple of Abu Simbel in Nubia.
        
        constructed city of Pi-Ramesse, his northern capital, possibly using Hebrew slaves
    - Dynasty XX:
      - Rameses III (r.c. 1198-1166BC) eventually contained the threats from Libyan tribesmen & piratical "Sea Peoples" (Philistines, and perhaps ancestors of the Sicilians), but under his successors, power gradually declined in the face of increasing Libyan incursions & the growth of power of local governors, esp. the high priest of Amun at Thebes.
      - Egypt's foreign possessions of Palestine & Nubia (and thus its gold) were lost & Egypt itself fell under foreign rule
        
        the burial places of the pharoahs were plundered, many of the mummies were thus taken to secret hiding places in caves
    - Dynasty XXI:
      - ruled from Tanis with Thebes being virtually independent under its high priests
- Jewish:
  - Moses
    - lead the Israelites (probably only the Joseph tribes) in their Exodus from Egypt in 2nd half of 13thC BC but "documented" in writing 700yrs later.
    - the "Ten Commandments" and the covenant made with God ("the only god") on Mt Sinai which shifted the focus from how we should interact with God (as in the Pagan beliefs) to how we should interact with each other.
  - period of the Judges (~1400-1100BC)
    - historical evidence suggests that in the 12thC BC, the Israelites were the peasants of the Canaanite civilisation and became a people by telling stories rather than by battle.
  - the Israelite tribes gradually come together to form one nation Israel as Saul united the tribes to become the 1st king of Israel, but was killed in a battle with the Philistines, leaving David to become king who had many love affairs impregnating one of his warrior's wives and then kills the husband so that he can marry her, eventually he is forced to confess his sin to God demonstrating that God is above even kings.
  - c1200BC: the Edomites populated the Petra region of Jordan & controlled the trade routes from Arabia in the south to Damascus in the north. The Edomites were eventually forced out of the Petra region by theArab tribes, the Nabataeans, perhaps in 6thC BC.
- Greek:
  - the peaceful & gracious Bronze age society destroyed by arrival of iron and a new period of barbarism that lasted until the Greek city states emerged in the 7thC BC
  - Mycenean tablets
  - Trojan war - Greece d. Troy
  - Dorian invasion of Greece
- Mesopotamia:
  - Hittite Empire:
    - advanced on Egypt in 1279BC with their iron swords but lost a battle with the 20yr old king of Egypt, Rameses II, even though the Egyptians were unprepared and still had only bronze swords. Rameses II then signed peace treaty with Hittites.
    - destroyed by the "Sea Peoples"
  - Kassites dynasty falls to the Elamites in 1157BC
  - 2nd dynasty of Isin rules Babylon:
    - Nebuchadnezzar I (r. 1124-1103BC) - ended Elamite interference
  - Assyrian empire
- Nth Europe:
  - Teutonic tribes settle
- British Isles:
  - 1159-1141BC:
    - Ireland's 1000yr bronze age stability destroyed by 18yr climate-induced failed harvests due to little or no sunlight (?volcanic dust, comet, etc), the stress causing people to become more religious & war-like. Population ~250,000;
- India:
  - the veda, a collection of sacred writings dating from about 1200 BC, contains considerable information on Indo-Aryan social practices, religious beliefs, and cultural attainments.
    - Gods of the Vedic pantheon survive in later Hinduism, but no longer as objects of worship: Indra, king of the gods and god of the storm and of fertility; Agni, god of fire; Soma, god of the sacred, intoxicating Soma plant and the drink made from it
- China:
  - the Chou Dynasty (r. 1122-221BC):
    - developed a post house system for mail
- America:
  - Olmec culture in Mexican lowlands appeared by 1200BC
1000-500BC:
- measurements used:
  - cubit:
    - Egyptian = 20.6 +/- 0.19in = 524 +/- 5mm (divided into palms & digits)
    - Jewish = 17.5in = 447mm
    - Assyrian = 21.5in = 546mm (divided into 2 feet, each being 3 palms long, each palm being 20 susi)
    - Turkey/Persian = 26.6 +/- 0.19in = 676 +/- 5mm (in use until 19thC AD!)
- North Africa:
  - Carthage:
    - 9thC BC, Carthage, near Tunis, founded by legendary queen Dido & was probably established by the Phoenicians as a trading outpost with earliest relics dating back to 800BC.
    - 6thC BC, by the subjugation of Libyans tribes & the annexation of older Phoenician colonies,Carthage controlled the entire north coast of Africa to the western border of Egypt, as well as Sardinia, Malta, the Balearic Islands & part of Sicily.
  - Egypt:
    - Dynasty XXII:
      - unity of Egypt restored by Libyan general Shoshenk I (r. 935-914BC), who founded Dynasty XXII and placed his son as high priest of Amun, but under his successors, unity was broken by civil wars with Egypt being partitioned into city states under independent dynasts, mostly of Libyan origin.
    - Dynasty XXV:
      - founded by Nubian kings who conquered Egypt in 712BC
    - Dynasty XXVI (670-525BC):
      - with the help of Greek mercenaries, Psamtik I (r.c 664-610BC) managed to impose his authority on the whole country and broke with Assyria
      - marked a period of renewed prosperity, but hopes of restoring position as a great power were defeated by the Babylonians in the Battle of Carchemish in 605BC
    - Cyprus under Egyptian rule ?when?
    - conquered by Cambyses, king of Persia (525BC) leading to Persian rule until Alexander the Great in 332BC apart from periods of independence between 404 and 343BC
- Jewish:
  - David (1000-961BC)
    - removed the Philistine threat for power and gained control from Syria to north Egypt
  - Solomon (d. 975BC)
    - David's son, set up a court after the manner of other oriental monarchs.
    - built a palace and the great Temple in Jerusalem, and overtaxed the resources of the country for his luxurious programs.
  - after the death of Solomon, the northern tribes rebelled under his son Rehoboam.
  - the two nations, Israel in the north and Judah in the south, were never again reunited, and they often fought each other.
  - the period of the divided monarchy was marked by threats from the Assyrians, the Arameans, and the Babylonians.
    - in Israel:
      - numerous kings and several dynasties came and went.
      - Israel with its capital Samaria, fell to the Assyrian army in 722-21 BC, its people were deported, and foreigners settled in their place.
    - in Judah:
      - Kings I/II
      - Isaiah
      - Jeremiah
      - whilst many were monotheistic since Abraham, many were polytheistic until the 6thC BC when the far majority became monotheistic after the "discovery" of the newly written Book of Deuteronomy re-telling the story of Moses, which banned worship of other Gods, creating a major religious revolution and allowed Josiah to unify the peoples of Judah with the peoples to the north. A key event enabling this was, for the 1st time, a marked rise in public literacy.
      - the dynasty of David continued until the Babylonians took the country (597 and 586 BC)
      - Judah suffered two humiliations at the hand of the Babylonians:
        
        the surrender of Jerusalem in 597 and,
        
        its destruction in 586 BC.
      - captives were carried off to Babylon on both occasions.
      - The priests exiled to the rivers of Babylon, led by Ezra added further texts to allow the peoples to have a unifying religion despite the destruction of Jerusalem, the death of their king and the loss of their lands.
      - the exiled people with their new Bible were given reason for why God had allowed them to be exiled as punishment and gave them hope if they changed their ways, transforming the ancient Israelite beliefs into Judaism.
      - were set free from Babylon in 538 BC, when the Persian king Cyrus established the Persian Empire.
      - the prophets Ezra (Atarxerxes) & Nehemiah were leaders in the era after the exile when institutions were re-established and the Temple was rebuilt. Judah became a province of the Persian Empire, and the people had relative autonomy, especially in religion.
  - contemporaries of the Judeans, the Nabataeans built their hidden city of Petra in Jordan 6thC BC.
- Greek:
  - 1st Olympiad (~776BC)
  - Homer
  - Aesop
  - Age of the "Seven wise men of Greece" - Thales, Pittacus, Bias, Solon, Cleobulus, Periander, Chilo
  - used sun dial
  - Thales predicts solar eclipse for 1st time; knew that magnets attract iron, that amber when rubbed becomes magnetic.
  - Greeks adopt theory of earth being a disk covered by a dome of sky, or as floating free in the sky
  - Theodorus of Samos invents ore smelting & casting, water level, lock & key, carpenter's square & turning lathe
  - Anaximander (d. 546BC) taught that all life develops from amphibians
  - 550BC
    - Greece consists of ~1,000 city states with Sparta being the main military power and dominating most of the region around Sparta.
    - the city states divided into 2 classes, the ruling aristocracy and the serfs who had no power and no assets.
    - the city states in continuous battles between the aristocracy for leadership of the city causing instability
    - travelling bards pass down the legendary history of the ancient Greeks, esp. Homer's tales as these poems were all committed to memory and at this stage written documentation was not available.
    - Greek art becomes independent of foreign influences & becomes more humanised & realistic.
  - Anaximenes of Miletus (586-26BC) - philosopher & student of Anaximander
  - Pythagorus (581-497BC) - philosopher & mathematician; introduces octave to music;
  - 507BC
    - the people of Athens revolt against their tyrannical ruler, and gain control of the city and bring back the exiled former leader Cleisthenes who established the world's 1st democratic governing system, where the people voted on almost every significant event using white stone for 'yes' and black stone for 'no'.
    - the new democratic system, the increase in produce of olives, and its relationship with the eastern Mediterranean trading centres allows Athens to become a dominant city and to eventually create the Greek empire.
    - Olympic games now available for all men not just the aristocracy. Women not allowed to participate or watch.
    - Persians attack Athens
  - Alcmaeon of Croton discovers difference between veins & arteries & also the connection between brain & sensing organs & the Eustachian tubes.
- Italian:
  - Latin tribes settle in Italy
  - Etruscans:
    - based in Tuscany region of Italy
    - rapidly expanded in wealth based on mineral resources, forming an aristocratic society
    - very superstitious with their religion & shared some of the Greek gods
    - buried their dead with status symbols aand goods for their afterlife with the gods
    - although families were couple-based, and it is said that (albeit in controversy) women sexually disinhibited, indulged in free love and exercised naked, while no-one knew who were the fathers of their children
    - borrowed Greek alphabet and modified it which would then be used by the Romans
    - imported vases from Greece & the Greek athleticism
    - developed wine making & introduced it to Gauls & Celts in southern France
    - finally to collapse perhaps in a self-fulfilling prophecy that their society would only last 1000yrs, in the last century BC after weakened by invasions by Gauls & Romans, their language & texts were taken over by latin, while the Etruscans were either killed or became Roman. The final omen being a great comet in 41BC preceding the conquer by Julius Caesar,
  - Rome founded (753BC), engineered by the Etruscans
    - The legendary date of the founding was 753 BC; it was ascribed to Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of Rhea Silvia, a vestal virgin and the daughter of Numitor, king of Alba Longa, a nearby city in ancient Latium
    - peoples derived from Latin, Etruscans & Sabine stocks
  - the legendary period of kings (753-510BC)
  - Roman lunar year has 10 months
  - Roman Republic (510-264BC)
    - founded after overthrow of the Etruscan dynasty led by Tarquinius Superbus
- Mesopotamia:
  - Phoenicians:
    - dominate the Mediterranean seas & record 1st reliably recorded circumnavigation of Africa which took 3yrs.
    - invent soap (~600BC)
    - in Corsica
  - Babylon helped the Medes in the overthrow of Nineveh & the Assyrians in 612BC.
  - Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon (r. 604-562BC)
    - 581BC, destroyed Jerusalem, carried off its inhabitants
    - erected great buildings & monuments including the "Hanging Gardens" making Babylon one of the seven wonders of the world.
  - Persian empire (Achaemenids)
    - Cyrus II, the Great (r. 553-529BC)
      - began as ruler of a small kingdom, Anshan, in south-west Persia
      - 547BC, overthrows the last king of Lydia - Croesus (r. 561-46BC)
      - conquers Medes
      - 539BC, takes Babylon without a fight, and Persia is united for the 1st time
      - 536BC, frees Jews from Babylon
    - Cambyses II (r. 529-22BC)
      - Cyrus' son, conquers Egypt & has himself crowned Pharoah
    - Darius the Great (r. 521-486BC)
      - the great designer of the empire & a fervent disciple of truth & justice, drew up a law code
      - divides empire in 20 provinces & introduces a common currency (1st Persian coin with a ruler on it), regular taxes, & a standing army
      - uses pontoon bridge across Bosphorus in warfare
      - founds city of Persepolis & its great palace
      - explores Indian coast
      - it is generally believed that Zoroastrianism became the state religion
- Nth Europe:
- British Isles:
  - 800BC: Ireland's bronze age culture recovered from turbulence & now had talented gold-smiths
- China:
  - Chou dynasty (c. 1027-256 BC)
  - invented the ingenious link-chain pump which was not used in the West until 16thC AD
- India:
  - By 900 BC the use of iron allowed the Indo-Aryans to move down into the lush Ganges Valley, where they developed a far more elaborate civilization and social system.
  - By the 6th century BC, Buddhism had begun to make its mark on India and what was to be more than a millennium of fruitful interaction with Hinduism.
- America:
  - Olmec culture and the Chavin style spread throughout central America
500BC-0AD:
- North Africa:
  - Carthage:
    - 409-276BC, almost continual wars with Greece & Rome, mainly over control of Sicily
    - the Punic Wars with Rome (264-241BC, 218-201BC, 149-146BC):
      - in the 2nd Punic War, Hannibal marched across Spain into Italy via the Alps reaching Rome but was finally defeated, resulting in loss of Spain and other possessions. Hannibal flees to Syria but in 182BC commits suicide to avoid extradition to Rome
      - in the 3rd Punic War, the Romans destroyed Carthage in 146BC and banned occupancy of the site for 25yrs
    - 46BC, Julius Caesar visited the site & proclaimed a city should be built there and in 29BC, Augustus founded the city of Colonia Julia Carthago (Roman Carthage) which flourished and became 2nd to Rome in prosperity & administrative importance & also became a centre of Christianity late in the 2ndC AD.
  - Egypt:
    - 334BC, conquered by Alexander the Great
    - 323BC, start of a new Egyptian dynasty under Ptolemy Soter, one of Alexander the Great's generals. This dynasty ended with death of Cleopatra in 30BC.
    - 320BC, Ptolemy Soter invades Syria
    - 285BC, Ptolemy Soter abdicates & is succeeded by his son, Ptolemy II Philadelphus
    - 239BC, introduction of leap year into Egyptian calendar
    - 230BC, temple of sun god Horus at Edfu built
    - Ptolemy III Euergetes (r. 247-221BC)
    - Ptolemy Lagides (a Greek)
    - 189BC, insurrections owing to exorbitant taxes
    - Cleopatra (d. 30BC)
- Jewish:
  - the people had survived the rise of the Hellenistic empire (333 BC)
  - separation of the Samaritans from Judaism, probably by 300 BC
  - the Samaritans recognized only the Torah (the 1st stage of the Hebrew canon) as their Bible
  - the second stage of the Hebrew canon was the canonization of the Nebiim (Prophets) ~200BC
  - the Maccabean revolution (168-165 BC) and rule
  - Book of Sirach was written (c. 180 BC) and the idea of a tri-partite bible, the 3rd stage (the Ketubim or writings) not being finalised by the Rabbi's until after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in AD 70
  - establishment of Roman control in Palestine (63 BC)
  - Herod the Great (tetrarch 41BC-4AD) appointed king of Judaea by the Romans & backed by the Romans, killed those Jews who opposed his rule (as he was not a descendant of David)
  - 4AD, on Herod's death, Judaea is divided among his sons
- Greek:
  - Parthenon built
  - 492BC, Darius I demands tribute of earth & water from Greece
  - 483BC, Themistocles builds navy, founds Athens sea power
  - 480BC, Athens & Acropolis destroyed by Persians then the walls rebuilt in 478BC
  - 477BC, beginning of Athenian ascendancy
  - 465BC, series of disastrous earthquakes hit Sparta
  - 460BC, building of Temple of Zeus at Olympia
  - the Periclean Age:
    - Pericles (500-429BC) - rises in power 462BC; elected Athenian general in 443BC for 15yrs
    - Sophocles (496-406BC) - dramatist
    - Socrates (470-399BC) - Athenian philosopher
    - Euripides
    - Protagoras
    - Herodotus - historian
  - Hippocrates of Cos (460-377BC)
  - Plato (427-347BC)
  - carrier pigeons used
  - Peloponnesian war (431-404BC): Sparta d. Athens - Spartans use chemicals in warfare - charcoal, sulphur, pitch
  - set standards of measurement:
    - Greek foot (the precursor of the British foot) = 1/2 Egyptian cubit = 12.45in = 316.25mm
  - Aristotle (384-322BC):
    - 348BC, travels to Assos, Lesbos, & Pelia
    - 343BC, becomes teacher of Alexander the Great
    - 340BC, lays the foundations of musical theory
    - 335BC, returns to Athens & founds the Peripatetic school of philosophy
  - Ctesibius invented the plunger pump
  - 350BC, Corinthian columns appear in Greek architecture
  - 330BC, Greek explorer Pytheas of Massilia reaches Britain
  - Zeno of Citium (336-) founds Stoic school of philosophy
  - Hellenistic period of Greek arts (320BC-30BC)
  - Euclid "Optica" 295BC
  - Archimedes (287-212BC):
    - introduced the water screw to the West from Egypt, where it became known as the Archimedean screw
    - killed during the fighting (when the Romans sacked Syracuse?)
  - 230BC, introduction of oil lamps
  - Eratosthenes (276-194BC) - suggests earth moves around the sun & makes close estimates of earth's circumference
  - Hipparchus of Nicaea invents trigonometry
- Italian:
  - Roman republic
    - Rome conquers Italy, taking leadership of the Latins, defeating the Etruscans, the Volscians, and the Aequians, although the defeat of the Romans at Allia and the capture and burning of Rome by the Gauls under the leadership of the chieftain Brennus in 390 BC were great disasters, but their effect was temporary. Finally, the Greek colonies in southern Italy were subjugated.
  - 350BC, Gauls leave southern France to settle in northern Italy; Etruscan power on the decline;
  - 338BC, 1st Roman coins
  - Samnite wars
  - 283BC, Romans capture Corsica
  - 272BC, Rome conquers central & southern Italy
  - 266BC, Rome conquers Calabria
  - 265BC, 1st contact of the Romans with Greek medicine through prisoners of war
  - 264BC, 1st public combats of gladiators in Rome
  - 264-241BC, 1st Punic wars against the Phoenicians/Carthagians
    - Rome vs Carthage for control of the Mediterranean sea
    - Rome takes control of Sicily, Sardonia, Corsica & Spain
  - 250BC, 1st Roman prison
  - 240BC, Roman literature began with the translation and adaptation of Greek epic and dramatic poetry, and the various Greek schools of philosophy were formally introduced into Rome in 155 BC.
  - 228BC, 1st Roman ambassadors in Athens & Corinth
  - 222BC, Rome conquers northern Italy after defeating the Gauls
  - 218-201BC, 2nd Punic War:
    - 211BC, Hannibal, the Carthagian arrives at Rome via Spain & the Alps, but is defeated in 202 ending the 2nd Punic War
  - 210-168BC, Macedonian wars:
    - Rome gains control over eastern Mediterranean regions
  - Cato the Elder (234-149BC)
  - 192BC, war with Sparta
  - 183BC, Pisa & Parma become Roman colonies
  - 170BC, earliest known paved streets in Rome
  - 168BC, Rome conquers Macedon after defeating Perseus, with Macedonians sold as slaves in Rome, thus the beginning of Roman world domination
  - 159BC, 1st water clock in Rome
  - 149-146BC, 3rd Punic war - Rome destroys Corinth & Carthage (killing 450,000 of the 500,000 population there!)
  - 147BC, Rome takes control of Greece
  - 120BC, German tribe Cimbri start their exodus for better lands from Jutland Peninsula (Denmark) down to northern Italy
  - 112-105BC, war in Africa, with Jugurtha, king of Numidia defeated
  - 103BC, German tribes Cimbri & Teutones become allies & invade Italy but are defeated in 101BC
  - 90BC, civil war in Rome, Marius driven out by Sulla who regains control of Italy & becomes dictator 82-79BC
  - 88BC, Greeks rise up against Roman rule
  - 79BC, 1st cherry trees imported to Rome from Asia Minor
  - 68BC, capture Crete
  - Cicero (106-43BC)
  - Cato the Younger (95-46BC)
  - 63BC, Pompey defeats Mithridates VI of Pontus & then enters Syria, captures Jerusalem & completes conquest of Palestine
  - 62BC, Florence founded
  - Gaius Julius Caesar (b. 100- 44BC):
    - nephew of Marius, wins his 1st victories in Spain in 61BC
    - 60BC, returns to Rome & forms the 1st triumvirate with Pompey & Crassus (who is killed in battle 53BC)
    - 58-50BC, goes to Gaul which he conquers & punitive expeditions sent to Britain
    - 50-49BC, rivalry with Pompey for leadership, so crosses Rubicon to start a civil war & defeats Pompey who eventually is murdered in Egypt by order of Cleopatra in 47BC
    - 46BC, Africa made a Roman province; Caesar returns to Rome but is murdered by conspirators led by Brutus & Cassius in 44BC
  - 50BC, earliest form of the oboe
  - 46BC, adoption of Julian calendar with leap year introduced
  - 43BC, Roman military found the French city of Lyon, then called Lugdunum & build road network.
  - 2nd triumvirate: Marc Antony, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus & Gaius Octavius who defeat Brutus & Cassius in 42BC
  - the final demise of Etruscan society
  - 31BC, Marc Antony & Cleopatra defeated by Octavian & commit suicide; Egypt becomes a Roman province.
  - 30BC, Octavian renamed Augustus & becomes virtual emperor (31BC-14AD), thus Roman Empire founded
  - set standards of measurement:
    - Roman foot = 11.6in = 296mm = 16 digitus (fingers) = 12 uncia (inches) = 4 palmus
    - Roman mile = 1000 paces (mille passus) = 5000 Roman feet = 1480 metric metres
- Macedonia:
  - Phillip II (352-336BC):
    - 348BC, takes Olynthus
    - 343BC, joins with the Thebans in the "Sacred War" against the Phoenicians; reconquers Egypt;
    - 336BC, assassinated
  - Alexander the Great (b.356, r. 336-d.323BC):
    - 335BC, destroys Thebes
    - 333BC, campaigns against Persia, defeats Darius, conquers Tyre & Jerusalem
    - 332BC, founds Port of Alexandria
    - 330BC, occupies Babylon, Susa, & Persepolis; Antipater of Macedon defeats Spartans;
    - 327BC, invades India
  - 321BC, wars amongst Alexander's successors, end in 311BC with Macedonia going to Cassandra, Thrace to Lysimachus, Egypt to Ptolemy Soter, Asia to Antigonus
  - 301BC, Palestine reverts to Egyptian rule
  - 168BC, conquered by Rome
- Mesopotamia:
  - Persian wars (490-449BC):
    - 490BC, Persian army defeated by Greeks at Marathon
    - 485BC, Darius I dies marking the decline of the Persian Empire
    - Xerxes I partly destroys Babylon in 482 BC, then burns Athens & destroys the Acropolis in 480BC, but in same year, Athenians destroy Persian fleet
    - 466BC, Persian army & navy destroyed by Greeks
    - 449BC, Persians, finally defeated at Salamis in Cyprus, recognise in the Peace of Callias, the independence of the Greek cities
  - Aramaic language begins to replace Old Hebrew in Palestine
  - 350BC, Phoenician cities Sidon, Tyre, Aradus, Byblus secede from Persia; Revolt of Jews against Artaxerxes III;
  - 330BC, Darius III murdered
  - 300BC - use of semi-solid asphalt that oozed to the surface, to lay roads & erect buildings; the Dead Sea was known as Lake Asphaltes for thousands of years because of the large amount of semi-solid asphalt washed up on its shores.
  - 167BC, Maccabean revolt against Antiochus IV of Syria
  - 165BC, Judas Maccabaeus rededicates Temple of Jerusalem after expelling Syrians
  - 150BC, the Parthian Empire (from north-eastern Iran) emerges under rule of Mithradates, and ruled Persia until 224AD
  - ~0BC - Arabs & Persians discovered that crude oil could be distilled & were extracting oil suitable as a luminant - this technology was passed on to Western civilisation in 12thC AD when Arabs invaded Spain.
- Nth Europe:
  - c500BC Celtoid tribes from central Europe begin to migrate outwards
  - 450-400BC, Celtic culture & language in British Isles; mythical Celtic iron-age invasion of Ireland; Celts a minority in Ireland;
  - 330BC, Greek explorer Pytheas of Massilia reaches Britain
  - 250BC, invasion of Britain by La Tène, Iron-Age people
  - 55BC, Julius Caesar invades Britain
- India:
  - Magadha, one of the 16 Indo-Aryan kingdoms, which occupied the territory of modern Bihar, became, about the middle of the 6th century BC, the dominant state of India. During the reign of its first great king Bimbisara (r. about 543-491 BC), Buddha and Vardhamana Jnatiputra or Nataputta Mahavira (c. 599-527 BC), the respective founders of Buddhism and Jainism, preached and taught in Magadha.
  - Susrata performs cataract operations (~500BC)
  - construction of dams
  - Brahmi numerals using base 10, 1st used mid-3rdC BC (predecessor of our Arabic numerals)
  - heroic epic, "Mahabharata" being written (probably 350BC to 350AD)
  - In 327 BC Alexander the Great led an expedition across the Hindu Kush into northern India.
  - Chandragupta, founded the Maurya dynasty (321-185BC) of Indian kings, after destroying Macedonian overlordship.
  - During the reign (c. 273-232 BC) of Asoka, its greatest sovereign, Buddhism became the dominant religion of the empire.
  - The chief event of Sunga dynasty (c. 184-c. 72 BC) was the persecution of Buddhists and the decline of Buddhism in India and the triumph of Brahmanism.
  - An extensive section of western India was occupied in about 100 BC by invading Sakas (Scythians), then in retreat before the Yue-chi of Central Asia.
- China:
  - the classical age (600-200BC)
  - When the feudal states power eclipsed that of the Chou dynasty, feudal bonds were broken, and widespread interstate warfare broke out in the 5th century BC, developing into political anarchy in the 4th and 3d centuries.
  - 233BC, death of Sun-tsi marks the end of Chin. classical philosophy
  - 221BC, Ch'in dynasty (-206BC)
  - 221BC, unification of all Chinese measures & weights
  - 215BC, Great Wall of China built
  - Han dynasty (r. 206BC-220AD)
  - Meanwhile, the social and economic changes resulting from new currents of trade and commerce were disrupting the simple agricultural society. In this climate of political anarchy and social upheaval a new class of scholar-officials emerged, consisting of men who aspired through their learning and wisdom to reunify the empire and restore order to society.
  - Schools of philosophy developed:
    - Confucius
    - Tao
    - Legalism, Mohism, Naturalism, the Dialecticians.
    - Han Confucianism - a mix of Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism
    - Shuang-tse (350BC), founder of Chines monist religious philosophy
  - 100BC, 1st Chinese ships reach east shores of India
- America:
  - rise of Zapotec culture (~500BC) in southern Mexico
  - rise of Teotihuacan state
0AD-500AD:
- North Africa:
  - 375AD Vandals, a germanic tribe forced to flee by the invading Huns, migrate south to Spain and then to northern Africa, traveling east and finally sacking Carthage & forming a Vandal kingdom which would last over 100yrs until 533AD.
  - Carthage:
    - the newly founded Roman Carthage flourished and became 2nd to Rome.
    - late2nd C AD, became a centre of Christianity
    - 425AD, fortified against barbarian attack
    - 439AD, subjugated by the Vandal king Gaiseric
    - 533AD, Byzantines capture it from the Vandals and rename it Colonia Justiniana Carthago
    - 697AD, seized by the Arabs & destroyed in 698AD
  - Egypt:
- Jewish:
  - 4BC, birth of Jesus
  - a Jewish group, the Pharisees preach that to serve God, one does not need an intermediary such as a priest but one needs to study his laws and practice them which came down to treating others as you would like them to treat you. These preachings later influenced Jesus and are evident in his preachings.
  - 6AD, Judaea becomes a Roman province
  - 30AD, death of Jesus
  - Flavius Josephus, historian
  - Christian disciples & the evolution of the Christian churches
  - 70AD, the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple
  - after an abortive revolution by the anti-Roman Jewish extremists called the Zealots in AD 70 that led to the destruction of Jerusalem and most of the 100,000 Jews within its walls by the Romans, their life changed dramatically.
  - Herod & the Sicari? Jewish rebels holding out from the Romans near the Dead Sea in a well-protected fortress, finally were to be overcome by the Romans who had spent 2 years building a ramp to the top of the fortress, committed mass suicide to prevent capture by the Romans.
  - this left one main Jewish group remaining - the Pharisees whose leaders would become "Rabbi" and have to come to terms with the loss of the temple. They thus rebuilt Judaism around the synagogue and direct prayers which would replace the temple and its sacrificial practices via priests.
  - 130AD, Hadrian refused to allow the rebuilding of the temple, instead planning to build a pagan city in Jerusalem as well as banning Jewish circumcision, creating a messianic Jewish rebellion using guerilla warfare which forced the Romans out of the region - temporarily until 13 legions were sent to counter the rebellion resulting in 580,000 rebels killed, 900 villages destroyed and many more Jews dying from starvation as the Romans aimed to rid Judea of the Jews. Romans changed name of Judea to Palestine and banned all Jews from Jerusalem which was renamed Halia.
  - Rabbi's decided to tell the story of Passover which could no longer be practiced by sacrifices in the destroyed temple.
  - Jewish religion further under pressure by the rapid growth & competition of Christianity and then the conversion of Roman Emperor Constantine who made the Romans even more hostile towards Jews. The Jews sought new homes even further from Jerusalem creating disintegration of the Jewish community & thus required more than just an oral tradition of perpetuating their religion & culture.
  - Rabbi Akeva? created the Talmud, the 3rd stage of the Hebrew bible to document the oral traditions and was instrumental in perpetuating the religion & culture of Judaism.
  - 200AD, formation of Neo-Hebrew language
- Greek:
  - 200AD, period of Neo-Platonism, last of the Greek philosophies
  - Roman emperor Theodosius abolished the Olympic games in 393AD
  - Olympia buried by floods & earthquakes - rediscovered in 19th C AD
- Italian:
  - Roman empire
  - 14AD, Augustus dies, succeeded by Tiberius (-37AD) who is succeeded by Caligula (-42AD)
  - 16AD, 1st definite reference to diamonds
  - Pantheon built in Rome (30-124AD)
  - 50AD, Romans learn the use of soap from the Gauls
  - 65AD, fire destroys French city of Lyon, founded by the Romans.
  - 106AD, Romans take the hidden Nabataean city of Petra in Jordan.
  - 164-180AD, the great plague
  - 200AD, bishop of Rome gains his predominant position as Pope
  - Goths sack a weakened, (?malaria-stricken) Rome ending the Roman Empire which lead to the start of the "Dark Ages" of barbarianism
  - 410AD, beginnings of alchemy with the search for the Philosopher's Stone & the Elixir of Life as the chief objects
  - Visigoths finally create a new homeland as a Roman state in southern France after having been forced from their Romanian homeland by the invading Huns in 375AD, crossing the Danube, travelling to Greece then to Italy where they had sacked Rome but being Christians wanted to be part of Roman culture
  - 453AD alliance of Romans, Visigoths, and Franks finally defeat the Huns who left Europe forever.
  - 476AD - fall of Rome - German soldier Odoacer rules Italy (476-493AD)
  - 487AD, Ostrogoths, led by Theodoric, march on Constantinople, but was bought off by Emperor Zeno who persuaded him to go to Italy & defeat Odoacer which he did in 493AD, forming the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy
- Mesopotamia:
  - Neo-Persian Sasanian empire (224AD- 651AD):
    - the Sasanians (with their base in Persia proper), overthrows the Parthian rulers
    - Shapur I (r. 240-272AD) invaded east through Hindu Kush into India & the Kushan kingdom & westwards to Antioch in Syria & Cappadocia
    - enormous problems in uniting this empire which even in its homeland was composed of Zoroastrians, Zurvanites, Manicheans, Hindus, Buddhists, Greeks, Jews, Christians & pagans. The Christians in particular were politically suspect after the conversion of the ruler of Persia's greatest enemy, Constantine to Christianity. Eventually Zoroastrianism was confirmed as the state religion.
    - in the 5thC AD, Persia was torn internally by the rise of Mazdakism, an abortive form of communism, & in 484AD was invaded from the east by Ephthalites, who were finally defeated by the Persians in 531AD under Khusrau I who also invaded Syria, re-established the power of the monarchy, introduced fiscal, agricultural, social & military reform, the state control of education & a vast building program. The stability he created was so great that it led eventually to the stagnation & decay of the state.
    - in 610-616AD, the Persian armies had military victories sweeping westward to the Bosphorus, Constantinople, Damascus, Jerusalem, Gaza & Egypt
    - in 651AD, torn by internal strife, corrupt & divided, Persia succumbed to the Islamic invasions leading to the rise of the Islamic faith and culture centred in Baghdad & the end of Zoroastrianism as a state religion.
  - Rise of the Byzantine empire based in Constantinople (476-1453 AD)
  - Western Roman Empire (476AD
- Nth Europe:
  - Britain:
    - Cymbeline, king of the Catuvellauni, recognised by Rome as "Rex Brittonum" (5-40AD)
    - 43AD, invaded & defeated by Rome (England ruled by Roman Empire (43-410AD)); London founded;
    - 122-127AD, Hadrian's Wall built
    - 150AD, Ptolemy's map of Ireland shows many tribes but Romans never invaded Ireland, perhaps due to its distance, the large stone forts that were built, Irish piracy & raiders attacking Roman ships & Rome's ability to dictate trade between England & Ireland ensuring it got what it wanted (eg. slaves, cows, wheat) without needing to invade. Irish raiders establish kingdoms in Wales and Scotland (NB. Scot is Roman for Irish) while bringing back the Christian faith to Ireland.
    - 360AD, Picts & Scots cross Hadrian's wall & attack Britain but driven out in 370AD by Theodosius
    - 383AD, Roman legions begin to evacuate Britain & withdraw completely in 410AD to protect Italy from the Visigoths
    - c430AD, Britons summoned the Germanic Angles & Saxons to help them fight the Picts after the withdrawal of the Romans
    - 432AD, St Patrick begins mission to Ireland
    - 477AD, founding of the kingdom of Sussex
    - 495AD, founding of the kingdom of Wessex
    - Angles, Saxons, Jutes migrate to Britain from northern Europe (eg. Denmark), slaughtering the native Britons & Picts
    - Scots from Ireland invade Britain
    - c490AD, (Arthur?) defeats Saxons at Mt Badon (?near Bath)
    - c537AD, Arthur killed in battle of Camlan; semi-legendary
    - 547AD, the plague reaches Britain
  - 360AD, Huns invade Europe forcing tribes to migrate - eg. Vandals to Nth Africa, Visigoths to Greece then Italy & southern France, Ostrogoths who would march on Constantinople & sack Rome, Franks who would attack the Visigoths in France.
  - 453AD Huns finally defeated by Romans, goths & Franks and flee from Europe.
- Asia:
  - India:
    - The rulers of the native Andhra dynasty, which came into control of the former Sunga dominions about 27 BC and endured for about 460 years, made repeated failed attempts to expel the Sakas.
    - Gupta empire in India (320-544AD)
      - In 320AD a Magadha raja named Chandragupta I (r. 320-30?), who had completed the conquest of neighbouring territories, founded a new imperial regime and the Gupta dynasty.
      - His grandson Chandragupta II (r. 375?-413) vastly expanded the realm, subjugating all of the subcontinent north of the Narmada River.
      - Under the rulers of the Gupta dynasty, which reigned for 215 years, Indian culture reached new heights.
      - Brahmi numerals evolved into Gupta symbols which are recognisable as pre-cursors to our Arabic numerals.
      - Hinduism, which had long been in a state of decline, experienced a robust renaissance through absorption of some features of Buddhism.
      - This was a time of great flux, growth, syncretism, and definition for Hinduism, the period in which the epics, the Dharmashastras, and the Dharmasutras took final form.
      - Toward the close of the 5th century, Hunnish invaders, often referred to as the White Huns, pushed into India from Central Asia, eventually breaking up the Gupta empire
  - China:
    - the medieval age (200BC - 1100AD)
      - a period of synthesis and absorption of foreign thought
      - during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, a variety of social and economic causes brought the downfall of the Han dynasty, leading to political disunity and foreign invasion. The philosophical void created by the collapse of Han Confucianism was filled by Taoism and also by Buddhism, a philosophy then new to China.
      - 58AD, Emperor Ming-Ti introduces Buddhism
      - 200AD, silkworms arrive from Korea
      - 271AD, 1st form of a compass
      - 500AD, Tamo brings tea from India
- Americas:
  - Teotihuacan civilisation (~325-900AD)
  - Mayan civilisation (~300-900AD)