Timeline of Antiquity

Year	Events
Late 4th millennium BC	Sumerian cuneiform writing system and Egyptian hieroglyphs are first used.
3200 BC	Cycladic culture in Greece.
3200 BC	Caral–Supe civilization begins in Peru.
3200 BC	Rise of Proto-Elamite Civilization in Iran.
3180 BC	Skara Brae is built in Scotland.
3100 BC	First Dynasty of Egypt.
c. 3000 BC	Stonehenge construction begins. In its first version, it consisted of a circular ditch and bank, with 56 wooden posts.
c. 3000 BC	Cucuteni–Trypillia culture is established in Romania and Ukraine.
3000 BC	Jiroft culture begins in Iran.
3000 BC	First known use of papyrus by Egyptians.
3000 – 2500 BC	Earliest evidence of autochthonous iron production in West Africa.
3000 – 2300 BC	The Pastoral Neolithic culture builds East Africa's earliest and largest monumental cemetery at Lothagam North Pillar Site.
3000 BC	Domestication of the horse in the Yamnaya culture.
2800 BC	Kot Diji phase of the Indus Valley Civilisation begins.
2800 BC	Longshan culture begins in China.
2700 BC	Minoan civilization ancient palace city Knossos reaches 80,000 inhabitants.
2700 BC	Rise of Elam in Iran.
2700 BC	The Old Kingdom begins in Egypt.
2600 BC	Oldest known surviving literature: Sumerian texts from Abu Salabikh, including the Instructions of Shuruppak and the Kesh temple hymn.
2600 BC	Mature Harappan phase of the Indus Valley civilization (in present-day Pakistan and India) begins.
2600 BC	Emergence of Mayan culture in the Yucatán Peninsula.
2560 BC	King Khufu completes the Great Pyramid of Giza. The Land of Punt in the Horn of Africa first appears in Egyptian records around this time.
2500 – 1500 BC	Kerma culture begins in Nubia.
2500 BC	The last mammoth population, on Wrangel Island in Siberia, goes extinct.
Late 24th century BC	Akkadian Empire is founded, dating depends upon whether the Middle chronology or the Short chronology is used.
2291 BC	Pharaoh Teti is thought to be the earliest known victim of assassination.
2250 BC	Oldest known depiction of the Staff God, the oldest image of a god to be found in the Americas.
2200 – 2100 BC	4.2-kiloyear event: a severe aridification phase, likely connected to a Bond event, which was registered throughout most of North Africa, Middle East and continental North America. Related droughts very likely caused the collapse of the Old Kingdom in Egypt and the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia.
2200 BC	Completion of Stonehenge.
2115 BC	Traditional date for the legendary foundation of Armenia by Hayk.
2055 BC	The Middle Kingdom begins in Egypt.
1900 BC	Erlitou culture begins in China.
c. 1850 BC	Alphabetic writing emerges.
1800 BC	The Old Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh constitutes the earliest complete version of that narrative.
1780 BC	Oldest Record of Code of Hammurabi.
c. 1750 BC	Mycenaean civilization begins in mainland Greece.
1700 – 1400 BC	The Proto-Sinaitic script is the oldest alphabet created in Egypt.
1700 BC	Indus Valley Civilization comes to an end but is continued by the Cemetery H culture; The beginning of Poverty Point culture in North America.
1600 BC	Minoan eruption destroys Akrotiri and causes damage to some Minoan sites in eastern Crete.
1600 BC	The beginning of Shang dynasty in China; evidence of a fully developed writing system, see Oracle bone script.
c. 1550 BC	The New Kingdom begins in Egypt.
1500 – 400 BC	Olmec civilization flourishes in Pre-Columbian Mexico, during Mesoamerica's Formative period.
1500 BC	Composition of the Rigveda is completed.
c. 1500 BC	Nok culture begins in West Africa.
c. 1400 BC	Oldest known song with notation.
1200 – 1150 BC	Late Bronze Age collapse occurs in Southwestern Asia and in the Eastern Mediterranean region. This period is also the setting of the Iliad and the Odyssey epic poems (which were composed about four centuries later).
1200 BC	The Hallstatt culture begins.
c. 1180 BC	Disintegration of Hittite Empire.
1100 BC	Use of Iron spreads.
c. 1050 BC	The Phoenician alphabet is created.
c. 1046 BC	The Zhou force, led by King Wu of Zhou, overthrows the last king of Shang dynasty; Zhou dynasty established in China.
1000 BC	The second stream of Bantu expansion reaches the great lakes region of Africa, creating a major population centre.
890 BC	Approximate date for the composition of the Iliad and the Odyssey.
814 BC	Foundation of Carthage by the Phoenicians in Tunisia.
808 BC	Formation of the Kingdom of Macedonia by King Karanos
800 BC	Rise of Greek city-states.
788 BC	Iron Age begins in Sungai Batu (Old Kedah).
c. 785 BC	Rise of the Kingdom of Kush.
776 BC	First recorded Ancient Olympic Games.
771 BC	Spring and Autumn period begins in China; Zhou dynasty's power is diminishing; the era of the Hundred Schools of Thought.
753 BC	Founding of Rome (traditional date).
745 BC	Tiglath-Pileser III becomes the new king of Assyria. With time he conquers neighboring countries and turns Assyria into an empire.
728 BC	Rise of the Median Empire.
700 BC	The construction of Marib Dam in Arabia Felix, in modern Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
653 BC	Rise of Achaemenid dynasty.
650 – 550 BC	The Urewe culture dominates the African Great Lakes region. It was one of Africa's oldest iron smelting centres.
621 BC	Draco replaces oral law with written law in Classical Athens, considered one of the earliest developments of the Athenian democracy.
612 BC	An alliance between the Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians succeeds in destroying Nineveh and causing subsequent fall of the Assyrian empire.
600 BC	Sixteen Mahajanapadas ("Great Realms" or "Great Kingdoms") emerge in India.
600 BC	Evidence of writing system appears in Oaxaca used by the Zapotec civilization.
c. 600 BC	Rise of the Sao civilisation near Lake Chad.
c. 600 BC	Early Cholas mentioned in Sangam literature.
594 BC	Solon appointed Archon of Classical Athens and begins issuing citizenship and judicial reforms, giving Athenian citizens the right to participate in government.
563 BC	Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), founder of Buddhism is born as a prince of the Shakya clan, which ruled parts of Magadha, one of the Mahajanapadas.
551 BC	Confucius, founder of Confucianism, is born.
550 BC	Foundation of the Achaemenid Empire by Cyrus the Great.
549 BC	Mahavira, founder of Jainism, is born.
546 BC	Cyrus the Great overthrows Croesus, King of Lydia.
544 BC	Rise of Magadha as the dominant power under Bimbisara.
539 BC	The fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and liberation of the Jews by Cyrus the Great.
530 BC	Death of Cyrus the Great.
525 BC	Cambyses II of Persia conquers Ancient Egypt.
c. 512 BC	Darius I (Darius the Great) of Persia, subjugates eastern Thrace, Macedonia submits voluntarily, and annexes the Libyan Kingdom, Persian Empire at largest extent.
509 BC	Expulsion of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, founding of Roman Republic (traditional date).
508 BC	Athenian democracy instituted at the Republic of Athens.
500 BC	Pāṇini standardizes the grammar and morphology of Sanskrit in the text Aṣṭādhyāyī. Panini's standardized Sanskrit is known as Classical Sanskrit.
499 BC	King Aristagoras of Miletus incites all of Hellenic Asia Minor to rebel against the Persian Empire, beginning the Greco-Persian Wars.
490 BC	Greek city-states defeat Persian invasion at Battle of Marathon.
483 BC	Death of Gautama Buddha.
480 BC	Persian invasion of Greece by Xerxes I; Battles of Thermopylae and Salamis.
479 BC	Death of Confucius.
475 BC	Warring States period begins in China as the Zhou king became a mere figurehead; China is annexed by regional warlords.
470~469 BC	Birth of Socrates.
465 BC	Murder of Xerxes I.
460 BC	Birth of Democritus.
458 BC	Oresteia by Aeschylus, the only surviving trilogy of ancient Greek plays, is performed.
449 BC	The Greco-Persian Wars end.
447 BC	Building of the Parthenon at Athens started.
432 BC	Construction of the Parthenon is completed.
431 BC	Beginning of the Peloponnesian War between the Greek city-states.
429 BC	Sophocles's play Oedipus Rex is first performed.
427 BC	Birth of Plato.
424 BC	Nanda dynasty comes to power in Magadha.
404 BC	End of the Peloponnesian War.
400 BC	Zapotec culture flourishes around city of Monte Albán.
400 BC	Pandya dynasty is founded in South India.
c. 400 BC	Rise of the Garamantes as an irrigation-based desert state in the Fezzan region of Libya.
399 BC	Trial of Socrates.
384 BC	Birth of Aristotle.
370 BC	Death of Democritus.
331 BC	Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela, completing his conquest of Persia.
326 BC	Alexander the Great defeats Indian king Porus in the Battle of the Hydaspes River.
323 BC	Death of Alexander the Great at Babylon.
322 BC	Death of Aristotle.
321 BC	Chandragupta Maurya overthrows the Nanda dynasty of Magadha.
321 BC	Establishment of the Seleucid Empire by Seleucus I Nicator. The empire existed until 63 BC.
305 BC	Chandragupta Maurya seizes the satrapies of Paropamisadae (Kabul), Aria (Herat), Arachosia (Qanadahar) and Gedrosia (Baluchistan) from Seleucus I Nicator, the Macedonian satrap of Babylonia, in return for 500 elephants.
c. 300 BC	Completion of Euclid's Elements.
c. 300 BC	Pingala uses zero and binary numeral system.
300 BC	Sangam literature (Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், Canka ilakkiyam) period in the history of ancient southern India (known as the Tamilakam)
300 BC	Construction of the Great Pyramid of Cholula, the world's largest pyramid by volume (the Great Pyramid of Giza built 2560 BC Egypt stands 146.5 meters, making it 91.5 meters taller), begins in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico.
273 BC	Ashoka becomes the emperor of the Maurya Empire.
261 BC	Kalinga War.
257 BC	An Dương Vương takes over Việt Nam (then Kingdom of Âu Lạc).
255 BC	Ashoka sends a Buddhist missionary led by his son who was Mahinda Thero (Buddhist monk) to Sri Lanka (then Lanka) Mahinda (Buddhist monk).
250 BC	Rise of Parthia (Ashkâniân), the second native dynasty of ancient Persia.
232 BC	Death of Emperor Ashoka; Decline of the Mauryan Empire.
230 BC	Emergence of Satavahana in South India.
221 BC	Qin Shi Huang unifies China, end of Warring States period; marking the beginning of Imperial rule in China which lasts until 1912. Construction of the Great Wall of China by the Qin dynasty begins.
216 BC	Battle of Cannae – Rome defeated in major battle in the second Punic War.
207 BC	Nanyue Kingdom extends from Guangzhou to North Việt Nam .
206 BC	Han dynasty established in China, after the death of Qin Shi Huang; China in this period officially becomes a Confucian state and opens trading connections with the West, i.e. the Silk Road.
202 BC	Scipio Africanus defeats Hannibal at Battle of Zama.
200 BC	El Mirador, largest early Maya city, flourishes.
200 BC	Paper is invented in the Han dynasty.
c. 200 BC	Chera dynasty in South India.
185 BC	Shunga Empire founded.
167 – 160 BC	Maccabean Revolt.
149 – 146 BC	Third Punic War between Rome and Carthage. War ends with the complete destruction of Carthage, allowing Rome to conquer modern day Tunisia and Libya.
146 BC	Roman conquest of Greece, see Greece in the Roman era.
c. 145 BC	Eucratides I dies; Greco-Bactrian Kingdom collapses. Remnants move southwards to form the Indo-Greek Kingdom.
121 BC	Roman armies enter Gaul for the first time.
111 BC	First Chinese domination of Vietnam in the form of the Nanyue Kingdom.
c. 100 BC	Chola dynasty rises in prominence.
100 BC – 100 AD	Bantu-speaking communities in the African Great Lakes regions develop iron forging techniques that enable them to produce carbon steel.
100 BC – 300 AD	The earliest Bantu settlements in the Swahili coast appear on the archaeological record in Kwale County in Kenya, Misasa in Tanzania and Ras Hafun in Somalia.
c. 82 BC	Burebista becomes the king of Dacia.
71 BC	Death of Spartacus. End of the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic.
c. 63 BC	The Siege of Jerusalem leads to the conquest of Judea by the Romans.
c. 60 – 44 BC	Burebista conquers territories from south Germany to Thrace, reaching the coast of the Aegean Sea.
49 BC	Roman Civil War between Julius Caesar and Pompey.
44 BC	Julius Caesar murdered by Marcus Junius Brutus and others; End of Roman Republic; beginning of Roman Empire.
44 BC	Burebista is assassinated in the same year like Julius Caesar and his empire breaks into 4 and later 5 kingdoms in modern-day Romania.
31 – 30 BC	Battle of Actium. The Roman conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt.
30 BC	Cleopatra ends her reign as the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt.
27 BC	Formation of Roman Empire: Augustus is given titles of Princeps and Augustus by Roman Senate – beginning of Pax Romana. Formation of influential Praetorian Guard to provide security to Emperor.
27 – 22 BC	Amanirenas, the kandake (Queen) of the Kingdom of Kush, leads Kushite armies against the Romans.
18 BC	Three Kingdoms period begins in Korea. Herod's Temple is reconstructed.
6 BC	Earliest theorized date for birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Roman succession: Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar groomed for the throne.
4 BC	Widely accepted date (Ussher) for birth of Jesus.
c. 1 – 50 AD	The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a Graeco-Roman manuscript is written. It describes an established Indian Ocean Trade route.
9 AD	Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, the Imperial Roman army's bloodiest defeat.
14 AD	Death of Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar (Octavian), ascension of his adopted son Tiberius to the throne.
30 – 33 AD	Crucifixion of Jesus, exact date unknown.
37 AD	Death of Emperor Tiberius, ascension of his nephew Caligula to the throne.
40 AD	Rome conquers Mauretania.
41 AD	Emperor Caligula is assassinated by the Roman senate. His uncle Claudius succeeds him.
43 AD	The Roman Empire enters Great Britain for the first time.
54 AD	Emperor Claudius dies and is succeeded by his grand nephew Nero.
68 AD	Emperor Nero commits suicide, prompting the Year of the Four Emperors in Rome.
70 AD	Destruction of Jerusalem by the armies of Titus.
79 AD	Destruction of Pompeii by the volcano Vesuvius.
98 AD	After a two-year rule, Emperor Nerva dies of natural causes, his adopted son Trajan succeeds him.
100 – 940 AD	Kingdom of Aksum forms in the Horn of Africa.
106 – 117 AD	Roman Empire at largest extent under Trajan after having conquered modern-day Romania, Iraq and Armenia.
117 AD	Trajan dies of natural causes. His adopted son Hadrian succeeds him. Hadrian pulls out of Iraq and Armenia.
122 AD	Construction of Hadrian's Wall begins.
126 AD	Hadrian completes the Roman Pantheon.
138 AD	Hadrian dies of natural causes. His adopted son Antoninus Pius succeeds him.
161 AD	Death of Antoninus Pius. His rule was the only one in which Rome did not fight in a war.
161 AD	Marcus Aurelius becomes emperor of the Roman Empire.
180 AD	Reign of Marcus Aurelius officially ends.
180 – 181 AD	Commodus becomes Roman Emperor.
192 AD	Kingdom of Champa in Tay Nguyen.
200s AD	The Buddhist Srivijaya Empire established in Maritime Southeast Asia.
220 AD	Three Kingdoms period begins in China after the fall of Han dynasty.
226 AD	Fall of the Parthian Empire and Rise of the Sasanian Empire.
238 AD	Defeat of Gordian III (238–244), Philip the Arab (244–249), and Emperor Valerian (253–260), by Shapur I of Persia (Valerian was captured by the Persians).
266 AD	Emperor Wu of Jin established the First Jin dynasty providing a temporary unity of China after the devastating Three Kingdoms period.
284 AD	Diocletian becomes emperor of Rome and splits the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western Roman Empires.
285 AD	Diocletian begins a large-scale persecution of Christians.
292 AD	The capital of the Roman empire is officially moved from Rome to Mediolanum (modern day Milan).
300 – 1000 AD	Growth of Azanian and Zanj settlements in the Swahili coast. Local industry and international trade flourish.
301 AD	Diocletian's Edict on Maximum Prices.
301 AD	Armenia first to adopt Christianity as state religion.
313 AD	Edict of Milan declared that the Roman Empire would tolerate all forms of religious worship.
316 AD	Emperor Min of Jin executed, with northern China then controlled by various kingdoms founded by non-Han people. The Jin dynasty continues to rule the south.
325 AD	Constantine the Great organizes the First Council of Nicaea.
330 AD	Constantinople is officially named and becomes the capital of the eastern Roman Empire.
335 AD	Samudragupta becomes the emperor of the Gupta Empire.
337 AD	Emperor Constantine the Great dies, leaving his sons Constantius II, Constans, and Emperor Constantine II as the emperors of the Roman empire.
350 AD	Constantius II is left sole emperor with the death of his two brothers.
354 AD	Birth of Augustine of Hippo.
361 AD	Constantius II dies, his cousin Emperor Julian succeeds him.
378 AD	Battle of Adrianople, Roman army is defeated by the Germanic tribes.
380 AD	Roman Emperor Theodosius I declares the Arian faith of Christianity heretical.
395 AD	Theodosius I outlaws all religions other than Catholic Christianity.
406 AD	Romans are expelled from Britain.
407 – 409 AD	Visigoths and other Germanic tribes cross into Roman-Gaul for the first time.
410 AD	Visigoths sack Rome in 410 for the first time since 390 BC.
415 AD	Germanic tribes enter Spain.
420 AD	The general Liu Yu usurps the Jin in southern China, beginning the Liu Song dynasty.
429 AD	Vandals enter North Africa from Spain for the first time.
439 AD	Vandals have conquered the land stretching from Morocco to Tunisia by this time.
439 AD	The Northern Wei dynasty unites northern China, beginning the Northern and Southern dynasties period.
455 AD	Vandals sack Rome, capture Sicily and Sardinia.
c. 455 AD	Skandagupta repels a Huna people attack on India.
476 AD	Romulus Augustulus, last Western Roman Emperor is forced to abdicate by Odoacer, a chieftain of the Germanic Heruli; Odoacer returns the imperial regalia to Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno in Constantinople in return for the title of dux of Italy; most frequently cited date for the end of ancient history.