The Great Events by Famous Historians/Volume 1/Universal Chronology

CHRONOLOGY OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY

EMBRACING THE PERIOD COVERED IN THIS VOLUME

B.C. 5867&mdash;B.C. 451

JOHN RUDD, LL.D.

CHRONOLOGY OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY

EMBRACING THE PERIOD COVERED IN THIS VOLUME

B.C. 5867&mdash;B.C. 451

JOHN RUDD, LL.D.

Events treated at length are here indicated in large type; the numerals following give volume and page.

Separate chronologies of the various nations, and of the careers of famous persons, will be found in the INDEX VOLUME, with volume and page references showing where the several events are fully treated.

All dates are approximate up to B.C. 776, the beginning of the Olympiads.

B.C.

-5867.- Menes, the first human ruler recorded in history, unites the two kingdoms of Egypt under one crown; introduces the cult of Apis; founds the city of Memphis; rears the great temple of Ptah. See "DAWN OF CIVILIZATION," i, 1.

-5000.- Babylonia is invaded by a race of Semites; they conquer the land and become the Babylonians of history.

-4500 (before)-. A patesi (priest-ruler), by name En-shag-kush-anna, is King of Kengi, Southern Babylonia; Sungir, which later gave the name Sumer to the whole district, is his capital.

-4400.- Shirpurla, Mesopotamia, subjugated by Mesilim, King of Kish.

-4200.- The hero of Shirpurla, E-anna-tum, throws off the Kish yoke and takes the title of king. He is successful in conflicts with Erech, Ur, and Larsa. Walls are erected and canals dug by him.

-3700.- The great Pyramid of Gizeh erected. This was during the IV or Pyramid dynasty; so called because its chief monarchs built the three great pyramids.

Beautiful Queen Nitocris, of the VI dynasty, reigned about this time. She is said to have avenged the killing of her brother, King of Egypt, by inviting his murderers to a banquet held in a subterranean chamber. Into this the river was turned, and they all miserably perished.

-3000.- Nineveh, colonized from Babylonia, ruled by subject princes of that country.

-2800.- Probable date of the foundation of the Chinese empire.

-2500.- Rise of the kingdom of Elam. Asshurbanipal (Sardanapalus), King of Nineveh, records an invasion of Chaldæa, or Babylonia, by the Elamites, B.C. 2300. The records of clay recently unearthed show that Cyrus was originally king of Elam. See "CONQUESTS OF CYRUS THE GREAT," i, 250.

-2458-. Zoroaster (Zarathushtra) founds the religion known by his name. Ancient tradition has it that he was a Median king who conquered Babylon about B.C. 2458. M. Haug assigns the date as not later than B.C. 2300. Be the time when he lived what it may, it is certain that, as the Persian national religion, it dates little further back than B.C. 559 and up to A.D. 641. The four elements&mdash;fire, air, earth, and water, especially the first&mdash;were recognized as the only proper objects of human reverence.

-2300.- A chart of the heavens in China.

-2250.- Commencement of the reign of Hammurabi, King of Babylonia: the earliest compilation of a code of laws was made in this reign. See "COMPILATION OF THE EARLIEST CODE," i, 14.

-2200-1700.- Dominion of the Hyksos, or Shepherd kings, in Egypt. It is not improbable that Abraham made his well-known journey to Egypt during the early reign of these kings. Joseph's visit occurred near the close of their power.

-2200.- Hereditary monarchy founded in China.

-1700-1250.- The new empire of Egypt attains the period of its greatest splendor and power. Meneptah, about 1320 (1322), has been generally accepted as the Pharaoh of the Exodus.

-1500.- Independence of Assyria as the rising of a kingdom apart from Babylonia; the rise of Nineveh.

-1450-1300.- The Hittite realm in Syria attains its greatest power. The Egyptians knew the Hittites as the Khita or Khatta. Recent discoveries indicate that they formed a civilized and powerful nation. Many inscriptions and rock sculptures in Asia Minor, formerly inexplicable, are now attributed to the Hittites of the Bible.

-1330.- Rameses II of Egypt; the Sesostris of the Greeks.

-1300.- Shalmaneser I reigns in Assyria.

-1250.- The Phoenicians, closely allied in language to the Hebrews, begin their colonizing career.

-1235.- Probable date of the consolidation of Athens, See "THESEUS FOUNDS ATHENS," i, 45.

-1200.- Exodus of Israel from Egypt.

"FORMATION OF THE CASTES IN INDIA," See i, 52.

-1184.- "FALL OF TROY." See i, 70.

-1122.- Wou Wang becomes emperor of China.

-1120.- Beginning of the reign of Tiglath-Pileser, King of Assyria.

-1100.- Dorian migration into the Peloponnesus.

-1095 (1055; 1080 common chronology).- Hebrews establish the monarchy. Saul the first king.

-1058 (1033).- At Gilboa, Saul is defeated by the Philistines. David becomes king in Judah.

-1017 (998).- Accession of Solomon as king of the Hebrews. The Temple at Jerusalem is built in this reign. See "ACCESSION OF SOLOMON," i, 92.

-1015.- Smyrna founded.

-977 (953).- Israel and Judah become separate kingdoms, following the revolt of the Ten Tribes under Jeroboam.

-973 (949).- Jerusalem captured by Sheshonk, King of Egypt.

-958 (929).- Asa ascends the throne of Judah.

-931 (899).- Omri's accession in Israel.

-917 (873).- Jehoshaphat begins his reign in Judah.

-900 (853).- The Syrians defeat and slay Ahab, King of Israel, at Ramoth-Gilead.

Divambar conquers Armenia, Persia, Syria, and adjacent lands.

-887 (843).- The throne of Israel usurped by Jehu.

-850.- The Tyrians colonize Carthage.

-811 (792).- Uzziah succeeds to the throne of Judah.

-800.- The canal and tunnel of Negoub constructed to convey the waters of the Zab River to Nineveh.

-800 (850).- Sparta: Probable date of the legislation of Lycurgus.

-790 (825).- Jeroboam II becomes King of Israel.

-789.- First destruction of Nineveh: death of Sardanapalus. See "FIRST DESTRUCTION OF NINEVEH," i, 105.

-776.- Beginning of the Olympiads. Olympiad in ancient Greece meant the space of four years between one celebration of the Olympic games and another. In this year it began as a system of chronology.

-772. (748)-. End of Jehu's dynasty in Israel.

-753 (common chronology).- "FOUNDATION OF ROME." See i, 116.

-750.- The Corinthians found Syracuse.

-743-724.- First great war between Sparta and Messenia: the latter is subjugated.

-734.- Syria becomes subject to Tiglath-Pileser II of Assyria.

-731.- Tiglath-Pileser II subjects Chaldea.

-727. (728)-. Hezekiah ascends the throne of Judah.

-722.- King Sargon of Assyria conquers Samaria; he puts an end to the kingdom of Israel. Captivity of the Ten Tribes.

-701.- Siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib; he encounters the Egyptian and Ethiopian forces; his expedition into Syria fails.

-697.- Accession of Manasseh to the throne of Judah.

-685-668.- The second war between Sparta and Messenia.

-660.- Prince Jimmu establishes Yamato as the capital of Japan. See "PRINCE JIMMU FOUNDS JAPAN'S CAPITAL," i, 140.

-650.- The whole of Egypt united under Psammetichus I, founder of the XXVI dynasty. He frees Egypt from Assyrian rule and opens the country to the Greeks.

-645-628.- The Messenians make an unsuccessful attempt to throw off the yoke of Sparta.

-640.- Birth of Thales, one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece. He taught the spherical form of the earth and the true causes of lunar eclipses; discovered the electricity of amber. The Seven Sages, or Wise Men, are commonly made up of Thales, Solon, Bias, Chilo, Cleobulus, Periander, and Pittacus.

Media becomes independent of Assyria; she appears as a single united kingdom.

-625.- Media, Assyria, and Syria have a great irruption of Scythians in their borders.

-623.- "FOUNDATION OF BUDDHISM," See i, 160.

-621.- (624). Date of the legislation of Draco, at Athens.

-612.- Conspiracy of Cylon at Athens.

-609.- Josiah is slain at Megiddo, when Necho, the Egyptian King, crushes the power of Judah.

-607.- Nineveh taken by the Medes and Babylonians, who overthrow the Assyrian monarchy.

-605.- Nebuchadnezzar defeats Necho at Carchemish. Necho maintained a powerful fleet; the Phoenician ships under his order rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Herodotus says that twice during this voyage the crews, fearing a lack of food, after landing, drew their ships on shore, sowed grain and waited for a harvest. It will be noticed that this was over two thousand years before Vasco da Gama, to whom is usually given the credit of first circumnavigating Africa.

-597.- Jerusalem captured by Nebuchadnezzar, who carries away the principal inhabitants.

-595.- The Delphic Games in Greece. See "PYTHIAN GAMES AT DELPHI," i, 181.

-594.- Adoption of the Constitution of Solon at Athens, See "SOLON'S EARLY GREEK LEGISLATION," i, 203.

-586.- Nebuchadnezzar captures and destroys Jerusalem; puts an end to the kingdom of Judah. The Babylonish captivity.

-570.- Egypt attacked by Nebuchadnezzar, who dethrones Hophra (Apries); he places Amasis on the throne.

-560.- Tyranny of Pisistratus at Athens. The Grecian poor were still getting poorer, notwithstanding Solon's legislation; they clamored for relief, placed Pisistratus at their head, and passed a decree allowing him to have a body-guard of fifty men armed with clubs. Pisistratus then threw off all disguise and established himself in the Acropolis as tyrant of Athens.

-550.- Cyrus, at the head of the Persians, destroys the Median monarchy. See "CONQUESTS OF CYRUS THE GREAT," i, 250.

-550.- "RISE OF CONFUCIUS, THE CHINESE SAGE," See i, 270.

-546.- Croesus, King of Lydia, overthrown by Cyrus. See "CONQUESTS OF CYRUS THE GREAT," i, 250.

-540.- Calimachus invents the Corinthian order of architecture.

-538.- Conquest of Babylon by Cyrus. See "CONQUESTS OF CYRUS THE GREAT," i, 250.

-529.- Death of Cyrus; Cambyses succeeds him on the throne of Persia.

-527.- Hippias and Hipparchus succeed their father, Pisistratus, at Athens, in the government of that city.

-525 (527).- Conquest of Egypt by Cambyses, King of Persia. He completely subdued it, and, after an attempted rising, crushed Egypt with merciless severity. Cambyses treated the Egyptian deities, priests, and temples with insult and contempt.

Æschylus, Greek tragic poet, born.

-522.- Pseudo-Smerdis usurps the Persian throne. Cambyses had slain his brother Bardes, whom Herodotus calls Smerdis. A Magian, Gaumata by name, resembling Bardes in appearance, impersonated the murdered prince. A revolution ensued and, owing to the death of Cambyses by his own hand, Pseudo-Smerdis became master of the empire.

-521.- Darius I, by defeating Pseudo-Smerdis, who had reigned eight months, ascends the Persian throne.

-521-516.- The Temple at Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by the Babylonians, rebuilt.

-520.- Birth of Pindar, the chief lyric poet of Greece. He was in the prime of life when Salamis and Thermopylæ were fought. His poems have as groundwork the legends which form the Grecian religious literature.

-516.- Invasion of Scythia by Darius, King of Persia, who seems to have acted according to an oriental idea of right, in that he claimed to punish the Scythians for an invasion of Media at some previous time.

-514.- Hipparchus, of Athens, assassinated by Harmodius and Aristogiton.

-514.- Birth of Themistocles, a famous Athenian commander and statesman. He was largely instrumental in increasing the navy; induced the Athenians to leave Athens for Salamis and the fleet, and brought about the victory of Salamis.

-510.- Hippias expelled from Athens. The democratic party is headed by Clisthenes, the master-spirit of the revolution inaugurated for the overthrow of the despotic and hated sons of Pisistratus. The Athenian democracy was reorganized by Clisthenes.

-510.- The Crotonians destroy Sybaris. Croton and Sybaris were two ancient Greek cities situated on the Gulf of Tarentum, Southern Italy. Little is known of them except their luxury, fantastic self-indulgence, and extravagant indolence, for which qualities their names remain a synonyme.

-510.- Expulsion of the Tarquins from Rome. Founding of the Republic; consulship instituted. See "ROME ESTABLISHED AS A REPUBLIC," i, 300.

-506.- The Persians subject Macedonia, and extend their dominion over Thrace. The Thracians occupied the region between the rivers Strymon and Danube. They were more Asiatic than European in character and religion.

-500 (501, 502).- Rising of the Greek colonies in Ionia against the Persians. Harpagus, who had saved Cyrus in his infancy from his grandfather, while governor of Lydia reduced the cities of the coast. Town after town submitted. The Tieans abandoned theirs, retiring to Abdera in Thrace; the Phocians, after settling in Corsica, whence they were driven by the Carthaginians and Tyrrhenians, went to Italy and later founded Massalia (Marseilles) on the coast of Gaul. Thus the Greek colonies became a portion of the Persian empire. The insurrection of the Ionians continued for six years, the fate of the revolt turning at last on the siege of Miletus.

-499 (500)-. Ionian expedition against Sardis. The city was taken and during the pillage was accidentally burned. The Ionian forces were utterly inadequate to hold Sardis; and their return was not effected without a serious defeat by the pursuing army of Persians.

-497.57- The Latins are defeated by the Romans at Lake Regillus.

-495.- Birth of Sophocles.

-494.- The naval battle of Lade, in which the Persians defeat the Asiatic Greeks. Fall of Miletus.

-494 (492).- First secession of the plebeians from Rome. Creation of the tribunes of the people. See "ROME ESTABLISHED AS A REPUBLIC," i, 300.

-493 (491).- The Latins are compelled by the Romans to enter into a league with Rome, which is threatened by the Etruscans, Volscians, and the Æquians. The Latins obtained the name of Roman citizens; the title disguised a real subjection, since the men who bore it had the obligation of citizens without the rights.

-492.- Mardonius heads the first Persian expedition against Greece.

-490.- Battle of Marathon, in which Darius' Persian host is overwhelmingly defeated by Miltiades, See "THE BATTLE OF MARATHON," i, 322.

-489.- Condemnation and death of Miltiades. See "THE BATTLE OF MARATHON," i, 322.

-486.- Darius Hystaspes, of Persia, is succeeded on the throne by his son Xerxes.

League of Rome with the Hernici.

-484.- Birth of Herodotus, the "Father of History,"

-483.- Aristides, one of the ten leaders of the Greeks at Marathon, ostracized through the jealousy of Themistocles.

-480.- Second Persian invasion of Greece, this time by Xerxes. Defence of Thermopylæ by Leonidas. See "DEFENCE OF THERMOPYLÆ," i, 354. Naval battle of Artemisium. Athens burned. The Persian fleet vanquished by Themistocles and Eurybiades at Salamis. Retreat of Xerxes.

The Carthaginians attempt the conquest of the Greek cities of Sicily. Gelon, the tyrant of Syracuse, defeats their army at Himera.

Birth of Euripides, the celebrated Greek tragic poet. -479.- The Greeks, under the command of Pausanias, at the battle of Platæa, crush the Persian army under the lead of Mardonius. Leotychides and Nanthippus gain a simultaneous victory over the Persian fleet at Mycale. End of the Persian invasion of Greece.

-478.- The tyranny of Hieron, brother of Gelon, begins at Syracuse. He was noted as a patron of literature.

-477.- The predominance in Greece passes from Sparta to Athens, by the formation of the Confederacy of Delos.

-474.- Hieron, of Syracuse, defeats the Etruscans near Cumæ.

-471.- Themistocles exiled from Athens, the Spartan faction having plotted his ruin, alleging his complicity with the enemy.

Birth of Thucydides. -470 (471).- The Publilian law passed in Rome; the plebeians accorded the right of initiating legislation in their assemblies. See "ROME ESTABLISHED AS A REPUBLIC," i, 300.

-469.- Birth of Socrates.

-468.- Democracy triumphs in the cities of Sicily.

-466.- Naval victory of the Greeks, under Cimon, over the Persians at Eurymedon. B.C. 470 Cimon had reduced Eion, after a gallant defence by Boges, the Persian governor, who, rather than surrender, cast all his gold and silver into the river Strymon, raised a huge pile of wood, and on it placed the bodies of his wives, children, and slaves&mdash;all of whom he had slain&mdash;then, having set fire thereto, he flung himself into the flames and perished.

The Revolt of Naxos crushed by Cimon during the expedition against the Persians.

Fall of the tyrants at Syracuse.

-465.- Murder of Xerxes I, by Artabanus, captain of his guard; accession of Artaxerxes I to the Persian throne.

-464.- Sparta destroyed by an earthquake which shook the whole of Laconia, opened great chasms in the ground, rolled down huge masses from the peaks of Taygetus, and threw Sparta into a heap of ruins. Not more than five houses are said to have remained standing. Twenty thousand persons lost their lives by the shock. The flower of the Spartan youth was slain by the overthrow of the building in which they were exercising.

-464-455.- The Messenian helots rise against the Spartans, taking advantage of the confusion caused by the earthquake. This was the beginning of the third Messenian war.

-463.- Mycenæ is reduced by the Argives, who enslave or drive away its inhabitants.

-460.- Birth of Hippocrates, in the island of Cos, who became known as the "Father of Medicine."

-458.- Jews return from Babylonia to Jerusalem, under Ezra.

Esther, the Jewess, pleases King Ahasuerus and is made queen in place of Vashti. This was the origin of the Jewish festival of Purim, celebrated on the 14th and 15th of the month Adar (March).

Beginning of the Long Walls of Athens; built to protect the communication of the city with its port. One, four miles long, ran to the harbor of Phalerum, and others, four and one-half miles long, to the Piræus.

-457.- Beginning of war of Corinth, Sparta, and Ægina with Athens: Battle of Tanagra, in which the Athenians were defeated.

-456.- Athenian victory at OEnophyta; the Boeotians defeated by Myronides, who also secures the submission of Phocis and Locris.

-455.- End of the third Messenian war.

-451.- Ion of Chios, historian and tragedian, exhibits his first drama.