Years: BCE to CE [AD] 500

Ancient History: Greece, Rome and Early Britain; Shakespeare's Roman plays; Cymbeline, Lear, Troilus and Cressida.

Legendary dates and information are indicated by square brackets;

ca.="circa" (approximately).

• 2650-2190 B.C. The Age of the Pyramids in Egypt.
• 2800-1425 The Minoan civilization of Crete dominates the Aegean; it is then superseded by the Mycenaeans of mainland Greece.
• 1728-1686 Hammurabi rules in Babylon.
• ca.1250 Moses leads the Israelite tribes from Egypt.
• ca.1200 The Trojan War; the Mycenaean Greeks besiege Troy (Illium) for ten years.
• [The Trojan prince Aeneas flees to Italy, where he marries the daughter of Latinus and later becomes king. He is the common ancestor of the Romans and the Britons.] The Trojan War is the setting of Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida.
• [ca.1115-1075 Brutus, a great-grandson of Aeneas, liberates enslaved Trojans and leads their exodus from Greece; a second Troy (Troia Nova, later Trinovantum) is founded by the Thames river on the isle of Albion--renamed "Britain."]
• ca.1006-966 King David unites Israel and Judah (divided again on the death of Solomon).
• ca.966-926 Reign of Solomon, son of David and Bathsheba.
• [ca.857-802 Leir rules as King of the Britons, followed by his daughter Cordelia.]
• [753 Rome is founded by Romulus, a descendant of Aeneas.]
• 662 Egypt is conquered by Assurbanapal of Assyria.
• 587 Jerusalem is conquered and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II; the "Babylonian Captivity" of Jerusalem begins, and the resulting Diaspora (dispersal) of the Jews.
• 525-456 Lifetime of Aeschylus, the "Father of Tragedy."
• 5th cent. B.C. Celtic invaders introduce Iron Age culture into Britain.
• 500-479 The Persian Wars; Darius I and Xerxes I are repelled in their attempts to conquer Greece.
• 497-406 Lifetime of Sophocles.
• ca.491 Coriolanus, a Roman patrician, leads the Volscians in an attack on Rome; sparing the city at the appeal of his wife and mother, he is put to death by the Volscians.
• 480-406 Lifetime of Euripides.
• 469-399 Lifetime of Socrates.
• 445-385 Lifetime of Aristophanes.
• 431-404 The Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta.
• 427-347 Lifetime of Plato, founder of the Academy at Athens.
• 384-322 Lifetime of Aristotle, tutor of Alexander the Great.
• 343-290 Lifetime of Menander.
• 338 Battle of Chaeronea; Greeks defeated by Philip of Macedon.
• 337 Philip gains hegemony over all Greece as supreme general of the Corinthian League.
• 356-323 Alexander the Great of Macedon conquers the Persian Empire to the Indus Valley, becomes "King of Asia," and spreads Hellenism throughout the Near East.
• 342-271 Epicurus of Samos, founder of Epicurean philosophy.
• 336-263 Zeno of Citium, founder of Stoicism.
• 323-280 Wars of the Diadochi; the empire of Alexander is divided by his generals into Hellenistic states.
• ca.254-184 Titus Maccius Plautus, writer of Latin comedy.
• 223-187 Antiochus III (the Great) rules as King of Syria and successor to the Seleucid empire (see Shakespeare's Pericles, Prince of Tyre 1.1.17-19).
• 185-159 Terence (Publius Terentius Afer), writer of "new comedy."
• 106-43 Cicero
• 85-8 Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace).
• 70-19 P. Vergilius Maro (Vergil).
• 60 The 1st Triumvirate is formed by Pompey, Crassus and Julius Caesar providing for mutual support.
• 59 B.C.-A.D. 17 lifetime of the historian Titus Livius (Livy).
• 55-54 B.C. Julius Caesar invades Britain, defeating a tribal confederation led by Cassivelaunus; Britain begins to pay annual tribute to Rome.
• 49 B.C. Julius Caesar leads troops across the Rubicon river into Italy; he is opposed by Pompey and his supporters in a three-year civil war; in 46 B.C. Caesar is appointed dictator.
• 44 B.C. Caesar is assassinated during the Ides of March; the conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, are pardoned by the Senate and exiled.
• 43 B.C. The second Triumvirate is formed by Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian (grand-nephew and adopted heir of Julius Caesar).
• 43 B.C.-A.D. 17 P. Ovidius Naso (Ovid), author of Metamorphoses.
• 42 B.C. Cassius and Brutus are defeated at Philippi.
• 40 B.C. The Brundisium agreement partitions the empire between the triumvirs: Antony rules the east, Octavian the west, and Lepidus in Africa.
• 36 B.C. Antony marries Cleopatra VII, the Macedonian descendant of Ptolemy I (one of Alexander the Great's generals); Antony gives Roman territories to Cleopatra.
• 32-30 B.C. Ptolemaic War, ending with the defeat of Cleopatra's fleet at Actium; Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide, and Egypt becomes a Roman province.
• 27 B.C.-A.D. 14 Octavian rules as Augustus, beginning 200 years of peace later called the Pax Romana (during this time the empire reaches its greatest limits).
• 8-7 B.C. Birth of Christ.
• 4 B.C.-A.D. 65 L. Annaeus Seneca, tutor of Nero.
• 41 A.D. Death of Cunobelinus (the historical Cymbeline), who defeated the Trinovantes and ruled south-east England; his kingdom is divided between his sons Togodumnus and Caractacus.
• 43 Emperor Claudius begins the Roman conquest of Britain, making it a province of the empire.
• ca.46-110 Lifetime of Plutarch, the Greek biographer whose work The Parallel Lives was used as a source by Shakespeare.
• ca.55-117 Cornelius Tacitus, Roman historian.
• 61 The fort Londinium is overthrown by Queen Boadicea (first historical reference to the site of London); the first city walls are built with the restoration of Roman authority shortly after.
• 70-146 G. Suetonius Tranquillus, biographer.
• 205-270 Lifetime of Plotinus, the Neoplatonist philosopher.
• 313 Edict of Milan; religious toleration is granted to Christians under the emperor Constantine.
• 330 Constantinople becomes the capital of the Roman Empire
• 354-430 The lifetime of St. Augustine, considered the founder of Christian theology.
• 395 Death of Theodosius; the empire is permanently divided into East and West, ruled by his sons Arcadius and Honorius.
• ca.406-409 Constantine III is declared emperor by the army in Britain and rules a north-western empire including Gaul and Spain; after rebellions, Gaul and Britain break from Roman rule; central government is replaced by local potentates.
• 410 Rome is seized and pillaged by the Visigoths under Alaric I; St. Augustine afterwards writes City of God.
• 455 Italy is ravaged and Rome sacked by the Vandals.
• 476 Deposition of the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, by the Germanic chieftain Odoacer.
• 481-511 Clovis becomes sole ruler of the Franks, founding the Merovingian dynasty; most of Gaul is brought under his control, and he lays the foundation of the French monarchy.
• 493 Odoacer is murdered by Theodoric the Ostrogoth, who rules Italy until 526.
• ca.500 Western Europe sinks into relative anarchy; the Roman Empire is succeeded by Germanic kingdoms in the west and the Byzantine empire in the east.