5th century BC

The 5th century BC started the first day of and ended the last day of.

Overview


This century saw the beginning of a period of philosophical brilliance among advanced civilizations, particularly the Greeks which would continue all the way through the until the time of. developed during the 5th century BC, setting the foundation for Western ideology. In and elsewhere in the  world, the 5th century marked a high point in the development of political institutions, art, architecture, and literature. The century was also notable for the, fought between the Greek cities, and the vast. Determined to punish for supporting a revolt by conquered Greek cities in, King  sent a huge army to confront them, only to have his plans thwarted by a storm which destroyed his fleet. His son attempted to finish the job 10 years later, and succeeded in capturing  and burning it to the ground, only to be defeated later on land at. In the latter part of the century the Greeks became locked in a bitter war among themselves, with the major cities and  competing for absolute domination. This series of conflicts, the finally culminated in a short lived,  having finally subdued all her enemies.

Evidence
The events of the 5th century BC come down to us mainly through the works of the Greek historian, who does much to explain the. For Chinese history there is the ' historical text of, compiled no later than , as well as the ' historical text of historian , completed in.

Events

 * becomes the dominant script of

490s BC

 * —, acting on behalf of the , leads a failed attack on the rebellious island of.
 * 499 BC — instigates the, beginning the  between  and.
 * 499 BC — destroyed by  and n troops.
 * — subjugated by.
 * 498 BC — succeeds his father  as king of.
 * — is struck by a.
 * — : A legendary early victory, won over either the s or the s.
 * 496 BC — of  defeats and banishes  of, gaining a temporary hegemony in ancient  during the.
 * — to  on the  in  is built.
 * — The, where take back.
 * 494 BC — Two and two  are elected for the first time in : the office of the  is established.
 * 494 BC — The year changed from an  to a.
 * 493 BC —, the port town of , is founded.
 * 493 BC — captures the an town of  for.
 * — First expedition of King against, under the leadership of his son-in-law . This marks the start of the campaign that culminated in the  in.
 * — succeeds his cousin  as king of.
 * 491 BC — becomes  of.
 * , — The, where  of  is defeated by the  and  under.
 * 490 BC — runs 40 kilometers from  to  to announce the news of the Greek victory; origin of the  long-distance race.

480s BC

 * Cities of unite and start construction of the new city of.
 * — succeeds his brother  as king of  after Cleomenes is judged.
 * — revolts against the.
 * 487 BC — and  go to war.
 * 487 BC —  becomes elective by lot, an important milestone in the move towards radical.
 * — First part of the is built.
 * 486 BC — succeeds  as Great King of.
 * 486 BC — revolts against n rule.
 * 486 BC — at, under the patronage of King . Oral tradition established for the first time.
 * October, —  succeeds  as King of.
 * — playwright  wins a poetry prize.
 * 484 BC — abolishes the  and removes the golden statue of.
 * 484 BC — regain control of.
 * — of  starts planning his expedition against.
 * — The ends a war between  and.
 * — King of  sets out to conquer.
 * 480 BC — and his friends burn horse-bridles as an offering to  and join the marines.
 * 480 BC — succeeds his father  as king of.
 * August, 480 BC — — The  fleet fights an inconclusive battle with the  allied fleet.
 * , 480 BC — The, a victory by ns over the s.
 * , 480 BC — between  and, leading to a  victory.
 * 480 BC — — The  under  are defeated by the  of, led by.
 * 480 BC — troops march against the.

470s BC

 * — The, the s defeat the , ending the.
 * 479 BC —.
 * — Establishment of the at (modern-day).
 * — The is inaugurated.
 * — succeeds his grandfather, who is banished to , as king of.
 * — becomes King of the.
 * — — The  under  defeat the  and end  expansion in.
 * 474 BC —   moves to.
 * — The  is annexed by the.
 * — in  is forced to join the . (approximate date)
 * 472 BC — The  is produced by.
 * —   is.
 * — The philosopher is born.

460s BC

 * —, , defeats  for the.
 * 468 BC — captured by  forces.
 * — becomes King of the  of.
 * — defeats  at the.
 * 466 BC — The  of, in , is defeated by , a native population of ancient ;   falls, with the installation of a  and the expulsion of the.
 * — King of the  is murdered by . He is succeeded by, possibly with Artabanus acting as.
 * 465 BC — revolts from the.
 * — An in ancient,  leads to a  uprising and strained relations with , one of the factors that lead to the.
 * 464 BC — King  is killed by his charge.
 * 464 BC —.
 * — The revolt of against the  comes to an end with their surrender.
 * —   is.
 * — revolts against, starting a six year war. An  force sent to attack  is diverted to support this revolt.
 * 460 BC — becomes  of the.

450s BC

 * — succeeds his father  as king of.
 * 459 BC — Destruction of the town of  by, leader of the , according to.
 * 459 BC — leads the second body of  from  to.
 * —   completes the, a  that tells the story of a family blood feud. The plays will have a great influence on future writers.
 * 458 BC — is named  of the  in order to defend it against . Sixteen days later, after defeating the invaders at the, he resigns and returns to his farm.
 * —  ' greatest reform, allowing common people to serve in any state office, inaugurates  of Ancient.
 * 457 BC — — The ns defeat the, near.
 * 457 BC — — The  defeat the  and take control of.
 * 457 BC — Decree of to re-establish the city government of . See Ezra 7, Daniel 9 and Nehemiah 1 in.
 * — A thirty years' concluded between  and.
 * 455 BC — presents his first known, , in the   of.
 * — loses a fleet and possibly as many as 50 000 men in a failed attempt to aid an ian revolt against.
 * 454 BC — The of the  is moved from  to.
 * 454 BC — Hostilities between and, two  cities on.
 * —, a city in , gets flooded.
 * — makes peace with  and wages a war against.
 * 451 BC — The come to power in the . They enact the, the foundation of.
 * — : under  defeat the  fleet.
 * 450 BC — succeeds  as king of ia (approximate date).

440s BC

 * — The between the  and  ends the.
 * 449 BC — Construction begins on the in.
 * 449 BC — The are promulgated to the people of  — the first public laws of the.
 * 449 BC — revolt against the . The  resign and the  is re-established.
 * 449 BC — completes his , which records the events concerning the.
 * — finishes a 9 meter high statue of  on the.
 * — begins construction of the, at the initiative of.
 * 447 BC — — The  are driven out of.
 * 447 BC —, a , shows his first play.
 * — declares  between  and.
 * 445 BC — gives  permission to rebuild.
 * 445 BC — The is created by a lightning strike in . It is consecrated by,  or.
 * — The creates the office of, initially exclusive to s.
 * 443 BC — Foundation of the  of  in . Its s include  and.
 * — writes .
 * — becomes King of the  of  but dies before the year's end.
 * — in.
 * 440 BC — becomes King of the  of.
 * 440 BC — determines the two points of the solstice.
 * 440 BC — proposes the existence of indivisible particles, which he calls s.

430s BC

 * — again became  of the, during which he defeated the.
 * 439 BC — According to, saves  from.
 * — and  finish construction of the, located on '.
 * — The by, one of the seven , is completed.
 * — Conflict occurs between the island of  and its mother-city.
 * 434 BC — tries to square the  with  and.
 * — between  and.
 * 433 BC (or later) — in.
 * — adopts a 19-year cycle of synchronizing  and s.
 * 432 BC — defeats  in the.
 * 432 BC — The  of  is founded by  and.
 * — The begins between  and  and their allies.
 * 431 BC — Defeat of the by the  under the.
 * 431 BC — The  and   articulates the notion that the human body has :, , , and , a belief that dominates  thinking for centuries.
 * — suffers a major, believed to be caused by.
 * c. — First performance of 's .

420s BC

 * — —  and their allies defeat.
 * 429 BC — —  defeats the  fleet.
 * 429 BC — An outbreak of kills over one-third of the population of.
 * 429 BC — King of  invades ia.
 * — rebels against  but is crushed.
 * 428 BC — attempts to crush a rebellion on, but cancels the effort when the Athenians try to intercept them.
 * 428 BC — The Greek colony of in  falls to the.
 * — The leaders of the Mytilenian revolt are executed.
 * 427 BC — surrenders to the Spartans, who execute over 200 prisoners and destroy the city.
 * 427 BC — The Athenians intervene in to blockade Sparta from the island.
 * — unsuccessfully besieges the ian colony of.
 * 426 BC — When invades, they seek help from the Spartans and Athenians respectively. The Athenians then defeat the Spartans in the.
 * — Demosthenes captures the port of in the.
 * 425 BC — The Athenians invade and defeat the Spartans in the.
 * — withdraws from the war and expels every forreign power. Thus,  is forced to withdraw from the island.
 * 424 BC — The Athenians try to capture, but are defeated by the Spartans.
 * 424 BC — The Spartan general captures, which is a setback for Athens.  is held responsible for the Athenian failure and is ostracised. This gives him time to start writing his.
 * — The Athenians propose a cease-fire, which the Spartan general Brasidas ignores.
 * — The Spartans defeat the Athenians in the, where the Athenian and the Spartan  are both killed.
 * — The puts a temporary end to the hostilities between  and.
 * — is elected  of Athens and begins dominating Athenian politics.

410s BC

 * — The is broken when Sparta defeats.
 * — The Spartans win a major victory over the Athenians in the, the biggets land battle of the.
 * — The Athenians capture the island of and treat the inhabitans with great cruelty.
 * 416 BC — The Athenians adheres a plea of help from and starts planning an invasion of the island.
 * - The sacred e busts in Athens are mutilated just before the expedition to Sicily is sent away. One of the culprits,, is captured and is forced to turn informer. He names the other mutilators, among them Alcibiades, who are sentenced to death in their absence.
 * 415 BC — Alcibiades defects from Athens to Sparta after having learned about his death sentence.
 * — The Athenians try to make a breakthrough in their siege of but are defeated by the Spartans.
 * — suggests the Athenians leave Syracuse in order to return to Athens, where help is needed. However,  refuses and they are again  by the Spartans. Both Demosthenes and Nicias are killed.
 * 413 BC — allies itself with Sparta.
 * — The starts preparing an invasion of  and signs a treaty with  about it.
 * — The democracy in Athens is overthrown and replaced by the oligarchic . This council is itself soon defeated and order is almost restored, when the Five Thousand start ruling. Early next year, they are also overthrown and the old democracy is restored.
 * — Athens regains control over its vital grain route from the by defeating Sparta in the.

400s BC

 * — Athens recaptures, thereby putting and end to its revolt against Athens and taking control of the whole.
 * 409 BC — The city of is founded.
 * 409 BC — The Carthaginians invade.
 * — The Persian king,, decides to aid Sparta in the war and makes his son a . However, Cyrus starts collecting an army to benefit his own interests, rather than his father's.
 * 408 BC — returns to Athens in triumph after an absence of seven years.
 * — The Athenian fleet is routed by the Spartan one in the, which gives Alcibiades' opponents a reason to strip him of command. He never returns to Athens again.
 * — Athens defeats Sparta in the and the blockade of  is lifted.
 * 406 BC — Sparta sues for peace, but Athens rejects this.
 * 406 BC — The once again invade Sicily and return to Carthage with spoils of war, but also with the plague.
 * — The Spartan king lays siege to, which makes the city start starving.
 * 405 BC — rises to power in . He signs a peace with Carthage and starts consolidating and expanding his influence.
 * — Athens surrenders to Sparta, ending the . Sparta introduces an oligarchic system, the, in Athens.
 * 404 BC — rebels against Persian rule.
 * — Some exiled Athenians return to fight the Thirty Tyrants and restore democracy in Athens. The are, however, narrowly defeated by the Spartans in the . After this, the Spartan king allows democracy to be restored in Athens.
 * 403 BC — restores the Athenian democracy and grants an almost general amnesty.
 * 403 BC — The Athenians adopt the Ionian alphabet.
 * — rebels against the Persian king  but is, however, eventually slain in battle.
 * — After Cyrus has been killed, his Greek mercenaries make their way back to Greece, where Sparta is so impressed with their feats in and march through Persia that they declare war on the Persians.
 * 400 BC — The Carthaginians occupy.
 * 400 BC — The Egyptians successfully revolts against Persian rule.
 * ca. 400 BC — has its origins as far back as this time.

Significant persons



 * — death of, king of ia
 * of, Greek mathematician, discoverer of the (–)
 * — death of, of
 * , founding figure of (c. –)
 * , founding figure of (–, )
 * of, the 24th of (possibly –)
 * of, (–)
 * , (reigned –)
 * , n, (–)
 * of, (–)
 * 496 BC — death of, and  of  (most likely a colloquial date)
 * of, (c. –)
 * ,  (–c. )
 * , (–c. )
 * ,, (–c. )
 * — Birth of, early and adherent of  , student of  and  of
 * — Death of ,
 * of, (c. )
 * of, (c. –)
 * — death of, n at
 * 479 BC — death of, of  at the
 * — death of /, King of the  of
 * — death of of ,
 * of, philosopher (–)
 * — birth of,  (d. c. )
 * c. — birth of  of, mistress of  of  (d. c. )
 * —, king of the of
 * 469 BC — death of, king of
 * 469 BC — death of ,
 * — death of ,
 * death of, king of (murder)
 * — death of, King for
 * —, leader of the , assassinated.
 * of, , (–)
 * of, , (–)
 * — death of, King of
 * — death of, legendary victim of the
 * c. — birth of,   and
 * c. 450 BC — death of, major figure in  and the son of
 * c. 450 BC — death of, king of ia
 * — death of, former (suicide)
 * 449 BC — death of, former (suicide)
 * of, (a. –).
 * — birth of,  and  (traditional date)
 * — death of ,
 * — death of, king of the of
 * — death of, ruler, in
 * — birth of ,
 * c. 436 BC — birth of, king of
 * — birth of of,    (d. ).
 * , of  (c. –).
 * c. — death of ,
 * c. 430 BC — death of ,
 * c. 430 BC — death of ,
 * , king of (reigned –)
 * and active in Judea
 * , victim on the   in, possibly the earliest known evidence for worship of
 * , –, student of Confucius, wrote
 * , ?-? and author of the .
 * , ?-? and author of the .

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

 * is first used in the Chinese with the innovation of the, and soon becomes widespread for agricultural tools and weapons during the.
 * is first used by followers of the Chinese philosopher.
 * The Greeks invent the with flukes.
 * The Greeks start to use shear-leg cranes for construction and loading of ships.
 * The Greeks invent linear perspective.
 * The Greeks develop an indirect lost wax process for casting.
 * The Chinese engineer  (西門豹) oversees an enormous  system for agricultural, while employed by  (文侯) (-).
 * The Chinese philosopher writes the Book of Law (Fajing, 法经) in, the basis for the law codes of the following  and partially that of the.