1300 - 1200 evidence of the use of Linear B alphabet

1184 traditional date of the destruction of Troy

814 Carthage founded by the Phoenecians

c 800-700 Homer and Hesiod

776 first Olympiad

753 foundation of Rome

733 Greek colony of Syracus established in Sicily

c 650-600 Archilochos active in Paros

c 600 -575 Sappho active in Lesbos

587 - 538 Babylonian Exile of the Jews

546 - 427 Peisistratus tyrant of Athens

520 -515 rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem

c. 580 - 500 Pythagoras develops theory of metempsychosis: transmigration of souls

509 Roman Republic established

508 Cleisthenes introduces democratic government in Athens

486 first performance of a comedy in the Dionysia of Athens

484 Aeschylus wins the tragedy competition in the Dionysia for the first time

468 Sophocles wins the tragedy competition in the Dionysia for the first time

456 Aeschylus dies

455 Euripides first tragedy

427 Plato born

430 - 399 Socrates active in Athens

406 Sophocles and Euripides die

399 Socrates put to death

384 Aristotle born

359 - 336 Philip II of Macedon

356 Alexander the Great born to Philip of Macedon

347 Plato dies

333 -332 Alexander the Great conquors Palestine

335 Aristotle establishes the Lyceum in Athens

322 Aristotle dies

300 - 198 Palestine under rule of the Ptolomies of Egypt (Hellenistic Period)

198 - 142 Palestine under Seleucids (Macedonian Greeks) of Syria

175 - 164 Antiochus IV (Ephiphanes) of Syria imposes Hellenization on Jews of Palestine; Temple defiled, Book of Daniel written (but set during the Babylonian Exile)

167 beginning of Hasmonean (Maccabean) revolt

164 rededication of the Temple

142 - 37 Hasmonean period

63 Pompey conquors Judaea (Roman period)

63 - 40 Hyrcanus II high priest

65 Horace born

55 - 54 Roman colonization of Britain begins under Julius Caesar

44 Julius Caesar assassinated

43 Ovid born

37 - 4 Herod the Great

31 Augustus becomes supreme over Roman empire

4 birth of Jesus of Nazareth

4 - 6 Archelaus ethnarch of Judea

8 Ovid banished to Tomis; Horace dies

4 - 39 Antipas tetrach, ruler of Galilee and Peraea

14 Tiberius succeeds Augustus as emperor

17 Ovid dies

18 - 36 Joseph Caiaphas high priest in Jerusalem

26 - 36 Pontius Pilate prefect of Judaea

27 - 29 ministry of John the Baptist

27 -30 ministry of Jesus c. 30 death of Jesus of Nazareth in Jerusalem

c. 33 -35 conversion of Paul

37 Gaius (Caligula) succeeds Tiberius as emperor

41 Claudius succeeds Gaius

41 - 44 Herod Agrippa I king of Herod's former domain, imprisons Peter in 44

44 - 66 Roman procurators rule Judaea, Samaria and part of Galilee

47 -56 Paul's missionary journeys

50 "Q" source of the Gospels compiled, Paul's letters to the Thessalonians

54 - 68 Nero emperor

60 - 62 Paul arrested in Rome

64 persecution of Christians begins in Rome

66 Jewish revolt against Rome

66 -70 Gospel of Mark written in Rome

69 -79 Vespasian emperor

70 Jerusalem falls to Romans, Temple destroyed

79 -81 Titus emperor (conqueror of Jerusalem)

80 - 85 Gospel of Matthew written in Antioch

80 - 90 Luke and Acts written, possibly in Ephesus in Asia Minor

81 - 96 Domitian emperor, Christians in Asia minor persecuted

90 Paul's letters collected

90 -100 Gospel of John written, possibly also in Ephesus

90 Johanon ben Zakkai in Jamnia, 3rd part of Hebrew Bible established (kethuvim)

95 -100 Revelation written

98 -117 Trajan emperor, persecutes Christians

117 - 138 Hadrian emperor

132 -135 last Jewish Revolt against Rome

200 all four Gospels in use throughout Christian world

205 Plotinus born in Egypt

240 Mani begins to preach in Persia

244 Plotinus settles in Rome, writes the Enneads;Neoplatonic philsophy emphasizes self-discipline, purification toward unity with the One

270 Plotinus dies

284 - 305 Diocletian emperor; extreme persecution of Christians

306 - 337 Constantine emperor

312 Constantine's victory over Maxentius, rival for the throne

313 Edict of Milan extends religious freedom to Christians; rise of Christianity

354 birth of Augustine in Thagaste in present-day Algeria

375 Huns attack Ostragoths

386 Augustine converts to Christianity in Milan

397 - 400 Augustine writes his Confessions

410 Visigoths under Alaric capture Rome

413 - 26 Augustine writes The City of God

429 Vandals invade Africa

430 Augustine dies

450 Roman hold in Britain essentially ended

610 - 632 Muhammad's prophesy and growth of his following

633 - 656 spread of Muslim armies to India and North Africa

800 Charlemagne crowned emperor; ruled to 814, unifying Christian lands in Europe

History of the Britons mentions a legendary King Arthur, possibly a Celtic warlord in battles with Angles and Saxons c 500 - 600

1009 Arab conquest of Jerusalem

1054 split between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches

1066 Norman invasion of Britain; William the Conqueror divides estates, establishing feudal system in Britain

1095 Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus asks Pope Urban II for military assistance against Seljuk Turk invaders; First Crusade

1099 Jerusalem captured by First Crusade

1135 -1139 Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain elaborates Arthurian material

1137 - 1193 Saladin, Islamic leader who recaptures Jerusalem from Crusaders

1144 Seljuk Turks capture Edessa, sparks Second Crusade

1177 Chrétien de Troyes writes Yvain

1187 Saladin recaptures Jerusalem

1189 Pope Gregory VIII calls for Third Crusade

1191 - 1192 Richard the Lion Heart of England captures Cyprus and Acre; arranges peace treaty with Saladin

1198 Fourth Crusade targets Egypt

1212 Children's Crusade

1215 Fifth Crusade

1229 Sixth Crusade under Frederick II organizes a treaty to allow 10-year hold on Jerusalem

1248 Seventh Crusade under King Louis IX of France

1270 Eighth Crusade (last one numbered), also under Louis, who dies in Tunis

c 1300 Sir Orfeo

1301 - 1321 Dante's Divine Comedy

c 1300 Ywain and Gawain

1347 - 1351 first major outbreak of the plague in Europe. The Black Death returns in waves of epidemics in 1361 - 1363, 1369 - 1371, 1374 - 1375, 1390, and 1400. In all, 25,000,000 people die, about one-third of the population of Europe.

1353 Boccaccio's Decameron

1390 - 1400 Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

1395-1486 George of Trebizond

1453 Constantinople falls to the Turks

1454 first document in Europe printed with movable type

1455 Gutenberg Bible, first printed book

1485 edition of Thomas Malory's The Morte Darthur printed by Caxon